We all know that you don’t need an advanced degree to pull ceiling. So why are departments placing a greater emphasis on higher education and advanced degrees these days, particularly when the process of getting a degree can be expensive and time-consuming?
Firefighting is a dangerous, difficult and inherently risky job. Tools and tactics are evolving, and our best firefighters stay abreast of change through study, whether formal or informal. They leverage technology to make the job safer. We’ve seen dramatic improvements in every piece of our PPE, and our tools and equipment are changing for the better. Navigating electronic valving on our apparatus, correctly interpreting a thermal image, using our state-of-the-art breathing apparatus, and operating communications computers (formerly known as radios) requires even the saltiest veteran to be tech-savvy.
We stand firm on tradition, and one of the sacred cows in many firehouses is the traditional helmet. A high school fire explorer recently asked me why my helmet brim was embossed with an ivy-vine scroll. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know; it was essentially invisible to me. Ever since retiring my salad bowl-style helmet, every helmet I’ve worn was emblazoned with an ivy pattern. Within seconds the explorer Googled it, and shared with me that the ivy was based in Roman tradition of awarding a hero an ivy crown following a life-saving episode. This event reminded me that the brain inside of the fire helmet is the most important tool for a thinking firefighter.
An investment in yourself
I’m often asked my opinion about college for firefighters. For me it’s a pretty simple answer—just do it! You never know what’s in store for your career, and a degree is your best investment in yourself. I understand it is easy for me to make the statement because I’m in a department that places a high value on education. It’s required to promote. An associate’s degree is required of our lieutenants, a bachelor’s degree for captains, and a master’s degree to be a chief officer. We support education with tuition reimbursement, and pay differentials.
I’ve invested an incredible amount of my time and money in advanced degrees. I’m closing in on a PhD in fire service administration and emergency management from Oklahoma State University, one of only a few universities supporting doctoral programs in our field. If I’d invested the same amount of time and money in other endeavors, I’d have more in the bank or perhaps even a qualifying spot for the Ironman World Championships in Kona. I chose education, and I couldn’t be happier with my decision.
Benefits at every level
Higher education has incredible benefits across the fire service. Specifically, the development of critical-thinking skills drives innovation, increasing earnings and, ultimately, secures our survival as a profession. Each of these benefits transcends the back step (firefighters), the front seat (fire officers) and the front office (fire chiefs).
The rising cost of college has many firefighters questioning if an advanced degree is worth the investment. According to a Bloomberg Business report, the cost of college has increased tenfold in the last three decades—more than four times the increase in the consumer price index (CPI). The CPI is often the basis for cost of living increases in wages in all industries, including ours. An increasing cost of living and greater payroll deductions for benefits like healthcare are impacting the bottom line on paystubs for volunteer and career firefighters. Earnings are not keeping pace with increased tuition and fees for college. There simply isn’t as much discretionary income to invest in higher education, making the investment anything but a “no brainer.”
Higher education develops higher-level thinking skills in a setting without life or death consequences. Critical thinking—the primary stated goal of higher education—is defined by American psychologist Diane Halpern as “the deliberate use of skills and strategies that increase the probability of a desired outcome.”
Think about that statement from the back step, the front seat and the front office of your fire department. What firefighter would not want a higher probability of a desired outcome on the fireground? As fire officers engage in hazard zone incident management, aren’t they deliberately applying skills and strategies to produce standard outcomes? As a fire chief fights for budget, aren’t they working for a funding increase that will increase the probability of success?
For the firefighter, the benefits of critical-thinking skills include the ability to size up complex situations. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriters Laboratory (UL) studies are currently flooding the publications, journals and conferences. Operational strategy and tactics require the ability to think at a higher level in order to synthesize complex information to make decisions. This is no longer a luxury; it is a requirement of the job.
Synthesizing research
The International Society of Fire Service Instructors’ Principles of Modern Fire Attack (PMFA) class asks firefighters to think rather than just react. Having a basic understanding of fire behavior, fire development as well as ventilation and flow path are necessary to plan and execute the most effective attack on a fire. The synthesis of data and size-up of current conditions happens from arguably the best seat in the house—on the nozzle. These are higher-level thinking skills, essentially at the top of Blooms Taxonomy, a systematic way of describing how a learner’s performance develops from simple to complex levels (Figure 1). Today we ask the consumer of the research (the firefighter) to judge the value of the material.
This article is not about the research; it’s about being a good consumer of research by developing higher-level critical-thinking skills. The proven path to develop these skills in situations without life-or-death consequences is through higher education.
Fire personnel like Dan Madrzykowski and Steve Kerber are providing us the fodder to make our own decisions; they are not telling us what to do or think. Those who question tactics based on PMFA and those who endorse it are analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating its merits. These are critical-thinking skills, best honed in the academic setting.
So what’s the big deal about a degree? Is a firefighter with a sheepskin hanging on the wall a better firefighter? Do initials behind your name “impress” a fire into submission? Absolutely not. Some of the greatest firefighters and fire chiefs are graduates of the School of Hard Knocks, not Oklahoma State or any other “formal” institution. I’m not stating that a degree should be the first and highest priority for a firefighter. It is, however, an incredible stone to sharpen your most important tool—the brain that lies beneath the salty ivy-vine-emblazoned helmet. The “best” of the School of Hard Knocks is a very small and elite group. The academic path is simply an alternative path with a higher pass rate.
A firefighter who is able to assess a fire’s progression in the context of the new time temperature curve is an example of a firefighter using synthesis skills to anticipate growth based on existing conditions, available fuel and ventilation. This is not to say that a firefighter needs a scientific calculator on the fireground; however, a firefighter will need to be able to combine the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required in order to assess scene conditions and both create and implement a successful plan.
Expanding perspectives
Fire officer communication, or presenting clear direction to crews in an articulate manner, is supported by higher education as well. The ability to boil a message into the key elements is learned in the many hours of formulating thesis statements of academic papers and distilling the key supporting points and arguments. Firefighters today want to know why—why we’re doing this or not doing that. Being able to answer that question accurately and articulately is essential for a company or chief officer to gain and maintain credibility.
Higher education pushes innovation across all ranks. Not being able to see the forest for the trees sounds like a watch-out situation from the Standard Fire Orders (the 10 & 18). This analogy goes far beyond the literal interpretation of situational awareness. Simply put, exposure to other viewpoints and fields necessary for success in college translate directly into the innovation we need to keep our profession from stagnation.
An example of the benefits of viewing a problem from multiple perspectives is seen in the development of integrated plans to respond to active threats. A tool used in my region is an active shooter preplan that integrates law enforcement activities, fire response, school security, and life safety systems. There are many moving parts, and being able to evaluate, synthesize and then create a plan requires critical thinking. The credibility of an emergency service professional with an advanced degree ensures that we have a seat at the table in planning for these unfortunately inevitable events that put so many at risk.
A fire chief with highly developed critical-thinking skills has an advantage to finding another way to fund a department or provide a particular service. For example, my department is dealing with an aging population. Sending a medic unit and a fire response apparatus is “the way we’ve always done it.”
My innovative (and degreed) EMS chief, in conjunction with my supportive (and degreed) fire chief, proposed a solution to make some headway with this challenge. Through a partnership with degreed professionals in the private medical field, we developed an Advance Resource Medical Car. A nurse practitioner and an advanced practice paramedic, in a medical lab-equipped SUV, handle many of the calls that previously tied up six personnel and two response apparatus. We’re getting the service of a degreed and credentialed nurse practitioner at virtually no cost to the department. We have access to medical records that were previously out of our paradigm. Many departments have similar programs, and the acronyms vary across the country.
These partnerships are a proactive way to address changing practices in healthcare and billing. If we turn a blind eye, we will quickly be forced into a reactive role when the degreed and credentialed professionals in the hospital and private systems are striking deals with our degreed politicians for the services compromising the majority of our business.
In sum
So if you’re on the back step today or pulling celling tomorrow, I encourage you to look toward an advanced degree. If your department has tuition reimbursement and you are not taking advantage of it, you are leaving money on the table. If you seek a promotion, a degree will pay for itself in increased earnings over a career. Critical-thinking skills will make you a better consumer of research. You will have the structure to formulate and articulate your position on fire service research.
If you’re in the front seat today and leading the discussion at the kitchen table tomorrow, just do it! A degree makes you a better company officer. The “deliberate use of skills and strategies that increase the probability of a desired outcome” will increase your effectiveness. Your success in the ability to make life-and-death decisions will be based on academic experiences, with much lower stakes.
As for the chiefs, you have a very important decision to make. First, ask yourself if you are one of the elite graduates of Hard Knocks U. Do you have the higher-level thinking skills necessary to lead in our changing profession? The police chief has a master’s degree or better, as does the city manager or board president. You may have the “street cred” with the troops, but do you have the “boardroom cred” with your boss? You need both to be successful.
Higher education is an investment in yourself, your department and our profession. Choose wisely, and be a great consumer of research. Hone your skills in the classroom. Apply them in a professional manner and earn the ivy-crest on your helmet, from the inside out.
Kevin Milan
Kevin Milan serves as the assistant chief of preparedness for South Metro, CO, Fire Rescue and oversees all training for this accredited organization. Milan served for seven years as the training division chief in a combination fire department and is a 24-year veteran of the fire service. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy (NFA) Executive Fire Officer Program, holds the Chief Fire Officer Designation through the Center for Public Safety Excellence, and has a master’s degree in executive fire service leadership. He is pursuing a PhD in fire service administration through Oklahoma State University. Milan is past president of the Colorado Training Officers Association, state advocate for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, a past director for the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI), and a Governor’s appointee to the Colorado Fire Safety Advisory Board.
