This week I am speaking about all of the aspects of construction that might relate to roofs. You could take this training idea and use it in any number of ways but we will throw out some suggestions for argument sake.

Make sure your troops know that in many cases the roof of a building is designed to keep the rain out and not much else. Of course it adds stability to the overall building but it is really not designed to take significant weight loads above it’s design maximum. Obviously in the Northeast and points where it snows, roofs are designed for snow loading as well.

Framing up a drill for roofs (no pun intended) would go something like this:

* Go to the local building department and determine what weight per square foot residential roofs are supposed to be able to hold in your area.

* Discuss and define the following terms with your personnel: Concentrated Load, Dead Load, Design Load, Undesigned Load, Distributed Load, Live load, impact load.

* Find out from building department what local materials are being used in roof construction in a typical residential.

* Take photos of buildings in your response area during and after construction so you can show your members what the roof support structures really are.

* Review all of the various types of roofs with your personnel and the characteristics of each, how you change your operations for each and any peculiarities which could lead to failure.

*Roof Types: Gable, Gambrel, Hip, Mansard, Shed, Lantern, Butterfly

* Discuss truss construction. Not every type of truss is bad, but primarily prefabricated truss construction materials may be. Truss construction using large substantial members has been used in churches for years. That is not what the fire department has concerns about, but really the engineered truss. Discuss the following bowstring truss, engineered wood truss, open web steel joist.

* Discuss Engineered wooden structural members such as the wooden I beam type.

* Discuss parapet walls as roof attachments and facades and their failure.

* Discuss and review existing roof loads such as HVAC and other machinery.

* Discuss heavy sign loads that may be creating an eccentric load pulling a parapet wall forward.

* Discuss commercial roofing such as membrane roofing that may have to actually cut away to get to subsurface areas. Also discuss the rapid fire spread that may occur with this type of roof covering.

* Discuss fires that have occurred while roof repairs were being made to commercial roofs using hot tar, and liquid propane burners up on the rooftop.

* Talk about the tools and equipment that should be brought to the roof.

* Talk about the dangers of locating the roof edges in heavy smoke conditions.

* Talk about two means of egress for crews operating and a number of other safety tips.

This is not all inclusive but you should have enough material to research in IFSTA or Delmar publications, coupled with your own digital pictures of your own community to create a good drill and get the personnel to focus on just this one aspect of building construction.

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

If training is the road map and the basis for making things happen in your department where the hell are you headed? You should be headed for a place called “prepared”.

I have been having many discussion with lots of folks and what I am seeing disturbs me. I see that in many departments the training officer might be the junior guy (or gal) who has a lot of zeal and zest but gets put into this position by default.

I see a lot of departments that are “pencil whipping” training programs. That is to say that they have written procedures which require training hours per day or per shift or before riding and they are complying but there is no real meat. I also see “pencil whipping” in the fact that departments today are attempting to train only for the sole purpose of complying with some regulation and conducting a mandatory training will relieve them of some liability or make them comply with some regulation.

In some states there are other benefits to training that become more important than the training itself. In some states firefighters receive EMS re-certification credit for attending fire training. In the last seminar I ran I had a department call me and ask me if there were EMT recert credits being issued. I said no. That department chose not to send anyone to the training. I guess training is only good if it prevents me from having to go to any other training??????

Departments are also becoming too trendy with their training. Please do not mistake me we should be aware of the hazards that surround us and we will certainly be the ones responding on the front line, but should we make this the priority or should we insert it into our training plan or road map as one of our regularly scheduled stops on our trip for knowledge.

We seem to plan our trip for knowledge to our destination a place I will call “prepared” and every other week we keep getting side tracked on this journey.

I believe that sightseeing is good on vacation, and once you arrive at your destination you should take little side journeys, but what I am seeing is all of the sightseeing is going on along the way.

A small department with limited resources should be able to REACT to an incident of terrorism. I m not sure if any fire service agency is going to PREVENT one.

Let us make sure we know what could happen, let us preplan and Targets we have have in our response district and let’s do a whole bunch of what ifs.. but also lets us do post incident reviews of our current responses and make sure we are doing what we do every day correctly.

Our road map should start with making sure we know what we are doing in the first place.

Look at your current responses and decide what categories they fall in.

Look at what things and responses you handle really well.

Look at how well your department’s sops are being followed on routine emergencies. ( I know I know nothing is routine, don’t get hung up on semantics on me now….see you were getting lost again, back to the map now!)

Plan your training to get your members to that place you call prepared and maintain a steady course and a time frame for arrival.

The training officer is the travel agent, and the firefighters are the passengers on a trip booked by the chief.

As the travel agent remember the following:

You won’t please every passenger.

You should be well prepared yourself and keep to a schedule.

The journey should be interesting, exciting and involve all.

As the tour director (training officer) fill your own tank frequently and you won’t run out of gas. (Make sure you keep going to training yourself so you are current)

Decide what is nice to see and what must be seen.

Never every tour group is ready to climb mount Washington!

(Figure that one out yourself!)

Passenger safety is always important.

Don’t keep changing directions it makes the passenger motion sick!

It is OK to change modes of transportation. (Slides, hands on, field trips, PowerPoint, simulation etc.)

Proper preparation prevents time delays and breakdowns.

Training should be the road map that your department follows on it;’s journey to prepared.

There I fueled you about, you are now free to move about the website!

Have a safe trip!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

What do we want for our professional reputation? If our reputation is being built each and every day by our actions, what do we want others to think of us?

This question applies to us if we are firefighters, fire officers, fire instructors, people in general as human beings, and the agency we work for. Our personal and professional reputation also breeds the reputations of persons around us and our acceptable culture.

Remember also, your perception of your reputation and what others may think are vastly different.

Let’s start at the department or agency level for a minute and think about some reputations…

XYZ department is extremely professional, they look and act smart, and they are very effective in doing their job.

XYZ department looks professional, has great equipment, but boy those guys couldn’t fight a fire if it was their own station.

XYZ department is small, has limited equipment, low manpower, but boy do they train every week. I am surprised at how good they perform given the tools that they have.

XYZ department, all those guys are just there because it is their second job.

XYZ department are great firefighters, but they do nothing with inspections and code enforcement.

XYZ department…..What a great bunch of guys.

Now the above were just a bunch of views, and you could probably put names on them all, but the point was if you recognized, your department in there ….are you proud to say that is the one you belong to?

As firefighters….

FF. XYZ is a great “Jake” that really knows his job.

FF. xyz really doesn’t give a damn anymore.

FF xyz works his side job while he is on duty.

FF xyz is all smoke and mirrors, he really cannot do the job.

FF xyz would help anybody at any time.

FF xyz is my friend.

FF xyz is a no nonsense level headed person.

Which of those do you want to be known as?

As fire officers….

Lt. xyz forgot where they came from.

Lt. Xyz understands.

Lt. xyz really knows his job and he will never get us hurt.

If you have a technical question, or a personal problem go talk to Lt. xyz you will find help.

Lt. xyz is a sneak and a liar.

Lt. xyz is book smart, studied hard, but cannot do the job.

Lt. xyz hides and shy away from tough problems.

Lt. xyz won’t make a decision.

Which of these officers do you want to be?

It applies to training, life in general and all around. After you read this week’s column, take a few minutes, sit in a chair and think about how you are being viewed, and think about how your agency is viewed by others.

Heck if you have the least amount of intestinal fortitude, ask your boss, officer, or supervisor how they perceive you, and maybe if you are steering wrong, they might have the nerve to tell you honestly and help and guide you.

If they seem too timid too answer or evade you….print this column and leave it for them, maybe it will help!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

This week I am suggesting you give the troops a week off, and you, the training officer take some time to get your records in order.

I am not sure what system you are using to keep track of your training events but you should have some similar information available if it is computerized or manual you should make sure your records are up to date. The items below are some items you should have as part of your training record system.

* An individual file on each member containing name, address, contact numbers, usually a social security number or employee number, and current emergency contact information.

* A record of each training session attended at your department and off site at any other professional development seminars they attend.

* Copies of certificates for training they attended.

* A record of a number of hours for each training session.

* Somewhere in a master file you should have a lesson plan with objectives for each training session you have done. This does not have to be in each individual file but you should be able to look at an individuals record and then go back to a lesson plan to see exactly what information was covered.

* Records of any written or practical examinations should be kept with each individual’s file. This would include pass and fail both.

Training records are important documents in the case of any injury, or liability questions that might arise within your department. The challenge that ” Nobody ever taught me that” should never be raised in your department.

Also you should caution members to operate only within the boundaries of things they have been trained at. We are very good at this from the EMS side, we do not practice beyond our license level, but on the fire side we take a few more chances.

The days of writing one topic on a line and passing around an attendance roster are OK, but make sure you go far enough and have a documented syllabus or lesson plan to back up that attendance sheet.

The simple rule about these records is simple. If it is not written down and can’t be validated it didn’t happen.

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

Sunday November 10, 2013 at 8:00 PM Eastern time I will be broadcasting a live discussion of our Firefighting Roundtable discussion.

This week we will be talking about how to start a SWOT analysis on your own organization. (Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats)

The event will be able to be viewed on YouTube and folks will be able to comment and interact with the panel.

You will also be able to view it on a special page setup at petelamb.com at 8:00 PM.

Come and take a look and join us if you like!

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

A few months back I received an email from a battalion chief who had just witnessed and participated in a large scale disaster mock exercise. His comments were sent to me a while ago but I chose to list them and work with them here today. His comments as submitted are here and highlighted and then I will make some additional comments after.

TRAINING. Are we training for real? Do we train as if it is the real thing or are we training and trying to cover our asses? I think that there are a lot of good training courses out there but when it comes time to be put to the actual test, we are not doing what we would normally do in the real emergency. I think that the time frame is totally lost during a training exercise. Train like you are going to the real thing and then critique yourselves. I think that you will get more out of that then faking the training and pretending that you are doing it properly. I am not against training at all, I just think that there needs to be more realistic time frames in what we do.

The training session and exercise that he witnessed had elaborate times and procedures which really did not make it realistic. Are your training sessions “real” or do you just go through the motions.

There are some significant issues that must be discussed and considered when doing training simulations. Some and many of those may hinder the operation but are absolutely necessary to provide safety to the incident and members participating.

* Paramount is the first thought that must be given when originally designing the exercise. What is your objective? Is it the purpose of this exercise or simulation to teach a procedure? Is it your intention to test a procedure? Those are really two different objectives and often times we confuse our original objectives.

* We should consider all aspects of responder safety as well as spectator and civilian impact. This would include but not be limited to civilian exposure by having apparatus respond vs. being staged close by.

* If live fire, smoke or simulated smoke is used, make sure there is adequate PPE provided.

* Make sure there is a medical EMS provision for the “actors” or participants should there be a real life emergency on scene.

* Make sure that the scenario is complicated enough to get the issues you want surfaced, but realistic enough to be believable. If your personnel don’t believe this is a real event they will not participate appropriately and then no learning will take place. It will only be an “act”, not a drill.

Think back on all of the “disaster” drill and mock exercises you have participated in. They don’t call them disaster drills for nothing!

Lots of planning should go into the mock simulations whether they are tabletop or full scale field drills. The amount of planning and thought that goes in up front will yield the results that come out the other end.

If anyone has any ideas they would like to share with the group about successful ways to provide realistic training, please feel free to submit them and we will share them here.

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

For several years the Fire Service has been conducting extensive testing to identify the cause of intermittent transmission quality problems. As many of you know at times transmissions are garbled or have static that makes communications difficult if not impossible.
Until the problems are corrected, personnel need to keep in mind some steps that can be taken to maximize the ability to provide clear communications.

Companies shall “Repeat back” tasks assigned via the radio.
In most cases the person sending the transmission will not know the
transmission quality. The person receiving the transmission needs to inform the sending unit their message is ” Unreadable “. The sender can then attempt transmission again following the steps outlined below.
Move a few steps in any direction and attempt communication again.
Speak in a normal tone of voice.
Hold microphone 5 to 6 inches from your mouth or ESP.
Keep transmission clear, concise and pertinent.
Re-keying the mike and attempting the transmission again may provide a clearer message.
Keep antennas on portable radios, pointed vertical and away from your body.
If transmitting on a speaker mike, try getting your portable out and away from your body if you are unreadable.
Do not handle radios by antenna.
Keep radios as dry as possible.
Keep batteries fully charged.
Be sure you are on the correct operating frequency before going on shift or committed to work.

If an URGENT CALL FOR HELP or other IMMINENT EMERGENCY RADIO TRANSMISSION is not successful on the assigned OPS channel, any member who hears the transmission should relay it to command or dispatch immediately.

Until we can get reliable commnuications in the hands of every firefighter, make sure you do all that you can to reduce the potential human factors.

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013

My thoughts this week are to shed light on the aspects of public perception of the fire service and my hope is that you can take some of this information and use it within your own department.

Your community’s perception, or civilian perception of the fire service in general is based upon a lot of things. The civilian perspective and view of us is one of those external factors that affects us in many ways. The most obvious way is the public funding and support of our department and it’s mission. If the public is less than confident in your department or of firefighters in general, then funding and our future can look a lot different.

I think many of us in the fire service would agree that the image of the fire service was high after the events of September 11, 2001. It is my humble opinion that we as a fire service have now probably slipped to a level that we were previous or actually in some cases below that.

My point this week is that if we look at how our perception is formed we might be able to impact this in a positive way.

We are all very familiar with the fire triangle. I am now proposing a discussion on the public relations triangle. This triangle like all others gathers much strength when all the pieces are together but sever any one of the legs and the triangle or image crumbles.

The public Relations triangle is made up of the Department Head (Chief), the individual members, and the union or volunteer organization. The actions of any one of these three will have a positive or negative effect on your department and it;s public perception. Let’s take a look at how this works.

The Chief: If the chief is presenting some negative image at meetings at town hall, or within the community somehow, then the folks that have contacted him will have a negative image of the community. If they perceive the chief as distant or aloof then the department could also be cast in that light. Now a fire chief has a fine line to walk, because as a natural course of the performance of their duties they can negatively impact some folks. Take for example a fire chief that attempts to enforce the fire code and inspection procedures, well it is very likely that some business owners may not like him so much and may have adverse thoughts toward the department. I think that this is very different from a fire chief who plays favorites with some business people and some follow the code and others don’t. The perceptions are both negative, but one is certainly for a proper and correct reason of enforcing the fire code properly. I ask you to think of local or national things where the fire chief may have negatively impacted their department. Has the chief allowed themselves to be non functional and have they become the weak leg of the triangle?

The individual members: If one of your members has a negative experience either personal or professional it will impact the strength of this triangle. The person on the street as a civilian will say, “Did you see what the firefighter did?” The local newspaper will say ” Local Firefighter xyz….Blah Blah” but in any case it will still say firefighter. In one recent case I have seen in the northeast it was actually “Former fighter charged with….” so this leg of the triangle of members might even extend to former or retired members in some cases. If you have large or overweight firefighters, what public perception does that give as it relates to our “readiness”. If you have firefighters that may not be there on the department for the right reasons, they may injure your perception by their overt actions or statements in the public.

The Union Local or department organization: When the president of the volunteer organization or the local union president takes actions, those actions become reflective of the entire department. These actions could be and are usually of a public nature to attempt to speak and advocate for the department or the interests of all of the members. It is important to note that most organizations are to look out for the well being of the members, it is very rare that they actually speak for ALL of the members. This results in public statements that might be contrary to the thoughts of individual members, and in may cases adverse to the position of the fire chief. In addition while advocating for their membership, they may be at odds with the public, or the economic realities of the community or area.

What can we do about the public relations triangle? Here are some thoughts. I hate to raise problems without some possible solutions.

First is to be aware that your organization’s image has three distinct parts and pieces to it and that any of them are fragile and interdependent so be vigilant of all three to protect your image.

Second if you are a member of an organization or department, remember the old adage, of ” Don’t embarrass your boss.” Your actions on and off duty are scrutinized by the public and the public might not always be fair. It is what it is. Know it and understand it.

If you are a chief and / or a department administrator remember that your individual actions and issues that arise at town hall have an impact on your department. Sometimes as administrators we do not realize that our advocacy for our department can backfire. Life just ain’t fair and sometimes politicians will make a “department pay” for the actions of the boss.

If you are the president of the local or the president of the association in a volunteer setting realize that you are not the chief, and the “Us and them” trap is an easy one to fall into. Your actions, statements, and comments will be perceived as coming from the department in general. While your interest is the best for all members, just understand that not every member of your organization will always agree 100% of the time. You may not be speaking for all.

Finally communication is the key to all of the public perception. The member have to know where the boss is going, and the organization or the union has to also be in agreement on the overall department mission. When everyone knows where the bus is headed, it makes the trip go a lot smoother.

Work with all three legs of the public relations triangle to build a strong and unbreakable department image.

Pete Lamb
Copyright 2013