Santa is an Fire Officer / Instructor !

It is Christmas and I began letting myself think of what makes Santa so magical and wonderful even as adults. As I sat sipping my egg nog (No I am not telling you if it was spiked or not!) I had some interesting thoughts.

I ask you to indulge me for a few minutes and consider the following:

* Santa is looked up to and folks look forward to him coming into their life. Be the kind of person and officer that your personnel are happy to see. Be firm and fair but don’t ever let it be said “Boy are we lucky you weren’t there Capt.” Make your troops believe in you and lead and inspire them to want to work and wait for you.

* Santa brings gifts to everyone. Bring small gifts to your personnel. Give them parts of yourself and your knowledge and experience. Allow them to make small mistakes and give them freedom to make some decisions. These are all gifts you can give.

* Santa has a list of who is naughty and nice. Evaluate your personnel on a regular basis and tell them how they are doing in meeting your expectations. Know and understand what each of your personnel’s capabilities are and their level of training.

* Santa has lots of helpers. Make sure you surround yourself with people who will help you. Do not be afraid to delegate responsibility and authority to others. No officer or instructor is an island and when you begin to micro-manage you cause more damage then you can imagine. Have lots of helpers and get out of their way!

* Santa prepares 364 days for one night’s work. I hope that you train each and every day, because tonight could be the night that impacts many many lives. It could be positive or negative, but remember…..just like Santa, everyone is counting on you! Be prepared.

* Santa is never seen out of uniform. All right enough said!

* Although there is a “naughty and nice list” everyone gets a present. be sure that you make an attempt to share knowledge opportunities and experiences with all. Even the members of your department you may not be especially close to. Give of yourself to everyone.

* Santa takes cookies and milk from lots of folks. As an officer or instructor take a little something from all of those that you interact with. Do not believe that you are the only one who can give”presents”. Lots of folks have lots to give….be sure you don’t ever believe you know it all. Learn from others.

* Santa is very good at time management. Hey you don’t get all around the world in one night by sitting in the recliner watching TV all night you know! As an officer remember to make your time on duty count for all that it is worth. Not only is Santa watching but so are the rest of the troops and they have really good memories!

* Santa feeds and takes care of the reindeer all year long even when he is not using them. Make sure all of your apparatus and portable equipment is ready to go!

* Santa has kept up with the times. Although the origin of Santa is always debated, Santa has lasted for the ages. Make sure that you remain current with all of the latest and greatest trends in the fire service. Don’t get stuck in a time warp and repeat the same year over and over again. Be timeless and ageless. Not everyone really cares “about the way it used to be”.

* Santa is most appreciated by the children. never underestimate the power you have on new members of our profession. These “young folks” look at each and every move you make and attitude you foster. Make them all really believe in Santa.

* Santa always make sure he makes it home to Mrs. Claus. Enough said about this one too.

OK, so he is a little overweight and he knows that heart attacks can kill us, and I realize that the beard doesn’t meet the NIOSH/OSHA standard for wearing SCBA…….but you gotta admit Santa has some pretty good traits for an officer or instructor, doesn’t he?

Stay Safe, take care of one another, appreciate your families and please accept from me my sincerest wishes for a safe and Merry Christmas to all!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

TRAINING WEBINAR

Firefighter Training that allows the firefighter to review firefighting concepts, enhance size-up and situational awareness on the fireground.
Some of the topics you will learn about size up, rate of flow, building collapse, electrical hazards, Building construction and much more.
The goal of this training is to make firefighters more alert and safer on the fireground.
This program allows for a small class size that will give the student individual contact and allow for questions and answers, and interaction with the instructor.
See the website at http://www.petelamb.com and click the links for the current blog and the podcast archives.

REGISTER FOR JANUARY 8, 2014 HERE. 7:00 PM Eastern time

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Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

I pretty much hate the rumor mill and I truly believe it is detrimental in so many ways to the fire service, but I also know I am not smart enough to figure out how to make it go away. Hey maybe you don’t have a rumor mill or grapevine in your department, so this week’s commentary might not be for you. (Stop reading right now, I wanna talk about you later on in the piece!) It really doesn’t matter what you do to minimize, manage, or deal with it, the rumor mill exists and will continue to exists as long as one person hears a single piece of information prior to someone else, or prior to department administration being able to get it out there. I also acknowledge that while the rumor mill or grapevine will always exist I do submit to you that there are some things you can do to help the situation out in your own department.

Here are some basic thoughts: (Warning these may not get you any birthday presents or nuthin’ cause they are not real popular!)

When someone approaches you and says “the rumor mill says….” or “rumor has it….” immediately and directly ask where they heard it. More often then not they will not answer. In that case neither should you.

Try to be open and up front with information if you are an officer or department administrator. This will help to minimize the effects.

If you are an officer or department administrator know your personnel and know who you can have a conversation with, without it being spread throughout the department.

The simplest of all…….Don’t spread rumors yourself. Think of a time when you have been injured mentally or emotionally about some of the crap that may have been spread about you.

If the rumor mill is talking about other members, they are talking about you too. Make sure you know what they can say bout you. If you do good stuff and perform well on the job, then only good stuff will be said.

Build your reputation to be able to withstand the rumor mill. Each and every day behave in a positive manner.

What is being said about you at work? When you are out sick, or vacation is the shift happier? When you don’t make a meeting or company drill does it go smoother? When you miss a good incident do the personnel say “it’s a good thing you were not here cause somebody might have gotten hurt”. Are your personnel happy to see you take command?

All of the things I mentioned right here are being said about you today. Your work habits, appearance, and behaviors are all being talked about.

Make sure you behave in a manner that will make your mom proud when she hears the rumor about you!

Make sure you don’t get involved in spreading rumors about others. If everyone takes care of their own, then we can help make firehouse and the fire service just a tiny bit better, but each one of us doing the right thing!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013