Sweeping in the Corners

I was watching a program on TV today; the commentary was between two NFL analysts about how some great teams have difficulty maintaining consistently great results. Herm Edwards, the former coach of the perennial powerhouse Indianapolis Colts, threw out a phrase that struck me. He said that great teams that flounder often “forget to sweep in the corners”. I think that statement can often explain the shortcomings for individual shifts, fire stations, and maybe at times entire departments.

If you haven’t figured it out, I’m not talking about sweeping floors; O.K. maybe just a little. The issue I’m addressing in this posting is paying attention to the minute details in our workplace. We are in a business where the adapt-and-overcome mentality usually keeps us from making fools of ourselves. I’ve seen, and participated in, any number of calls where hoselines were incorrectly deployed, pump operators failed miserably, officers set-up apparatus in the wrong place and many other mistakes that come from “not sweeping in the corners”. In each instance, we were able to make it out of the situation through the action a few quick thinking firefighters (or officers). The shame is that any number of our members thinks this is the norm, not the exception.

So how do we avoid such calamities in the future? By “sweeping in the corners”. By that I mean we need to re-educate our members to understand that the little things mean a lot. If one reviews the NIOSH reports of firefighter deaths, you will find that very few of our brethren perish because of a single point failure. Indeed, nearly every fatality is due to numerous small factors or errors that added up to a situation that claimed the life of a brother/sister.

So how do we get where we want to be? We start paying attention to details…and making sure everyone else is sweating the details. When checking our apparatus, each of us should know how everything works, and if you don’t know ASK to be taught. I’ve been to stations where I’ve asked a firefighter how a tool that I’m not familiar with works and gotten the reply that “no one on the shift really knows how that works, it just showed up one day.” Unacceptable. I have heard tales of current apparatus drivers (compensated) not knowing how much supply line their engine carries (no not the reserve). Unacceptable. If you don’t know your apparatus and how everything works on it, you shouldn’t be riding it. If you’ve got more than six months on the floor and you don’t know how it works, you should be disciplined.

I fear that one of the reasons people aren’t being taught mastery of their apparatus is that officers and apparatus drivers (you know the ones that are supposed to be experts) are not familiar with the tools either. Again, unacceptable. If you don’t fully understand how something works you can never master its use. If you don’t know, ask someone. Keep asking until you find that someone that knows how it works and how to maintain it. If you can’t find someone who knows, call Zimm.

Just when you think I’m done rambling, I have a couple of tangents that have not been explored. When is the last time while doing a weekly you pulled everything out of the compartment and swept it out, then wiped it down? If you said you do it every weekly, you’re either an exceptional firefighter or a liar. Be the exceptional firefighter. The reality is that we have plenty of time to do this. Let’s not be in such a hurry to get everything done, let’s take our time and get everything done right and done well. The same goes for the house work. Why are people showing up and hour early and cleaning the toilets before most of the off-going shift is even awake? A lot of recruits have this drilled into their head for some reason. I don’t get it. Is it so we can sit down and be done all the housework at 07:30? Yea, now we have 23.5 hours to kill. This of course doesn’t factor in 10 minutes for apparatus checks and about 20 minutes for an apparatus weekly.

Get out there and take your time, check and clean your equipment/apparatus thoroughly, seek to master every tool at your disposal, ask questions, and last but not least… sweep in the corners.