Standard:

Ive had recent conversations lately with people I hold in high regard. Not just people I know from the fire service but people from the military, the fine arts, and education. Alot of the times a specific word comes up no matter what the initial topic. That word is standards. Standard by Websters definition is: something set up and established by authority as a rule for the measure of quantity, weight, extent, value, or quality. In short it is the minimum.

The standard in forth grade used to be before you went to fifth grade you had to know your multiplication tables, write in cursive, and name the 50 states. Shockingly enough these are no longer the standard. No longer is it required to do any of these things in school. In some curriculum's teachers aren't even required to teach the value of money to their students anymore! Thankfully there are many teachers that still do! They don't do this for the accolades and definitely not the money. They teach it because their students deserve to get the best education that will help them be a productive member of the world. What good is it to have a diploma if you cant even balance a check book or understand the news paper? These teachers understand that standards are just the MINIMUM of what should be expected of our youth.

If its messed up...

fix it!

I grew up a military brat. Wake up when your told, Thursdays were house cleaning day (field day), hair stayed cut short, and you said yes mam no mam. If you didn't you got punished. Mom and dad didn't care what Joe Shmukately down the street did or how he behaved! "Hes not my kid!" was my moms patented line. The kids in my dads armory were no different than I was. My dad was very good at what he did. He pushed the line a lot and got in trouble but he had his reputation of being good at his job! He was good enough that he went on to teach at the only school the Marine Corps had for his MOS (job title). He held his Marines to a higher standard than that of the Corps. Not only because his name was tied to their work, not only to instill pride in their workmanship; but because someones life depended on their work on that weapons system. If they only did the bare minimum to that rifle to fix only the problem that was written up,and problemsthey as the armorer found but did not fix caused a failure in that weapon, someone could die. If they saw a crack in something and had the "It'll work for now." attitude that weapon might fail when it needs to be up! By holding his Marines to a standard higher than that of a manual the old Corps lives on. Men and women live on. My dads legacy will live on.

Teachable moment!

I am still very young in both years and service. I yearn to be held to that high standard. I want every day to be looked at under a microscope. Sadly I don't get that right now. Luckily my career is just starting and I have all the time in the world to be judged. I am like many others in that I can get in the swing of "this place sucks" and "he doesn't know what the hell hes doing" but I have to remember that its all temporary. My two battles in life are to wait it out and keep my mouth shut. Alot of times one tags onto the other. Those are the times I get frustrated and mouth off at the wrong time near the wrong person. That is usually followed up quickly with me polishing the brass!

I want every shift to be a learning experience. I was told once that when you stop learning you have given up! When I stop learning, Ill be dead. If I stop learning and pushing to learn I will have failed the guy next to and behind me. I refuse to do that. When my captain of BC looks at me and gives me an assignment, I will knock that assignment out like its nothing. I will look proficient in that task day in and day out. When a kid comes into the house to see the trucks or new parents come in to have their car seat looked at, they will leave informed and inspired by the work we do. If we get a call where its blowing out every window on floors one and two with people hanging out on three and four were gonna do EVERYTHING we can to take them home. I and the guys in my house want this to be out attitude always and forever.

Sadly sometimes this is much easier typed or said than carried out. I am not 100% proficient at pulling hose, throwing ladders, cutting roofs, pumping trucks, or stabilizing cars. I want to be but complacency kills. Things "come up" sometimes and the basics get put on the back burner. That's when the bottom guy starts to suffer and the yearning quickly turns to apathy. Kids come to our house all the time. Were downtown and are readily visible in the community. Sometimes I'm in the mood to play with them and teach them about the truck and fire safety. A lot of time I'm just like you and want nothing to do with them. Same thing with car seats. Alot of times I loath a car seat! They always seem to come at dinner or workout time or just as American Idol is getting started! But like my driver pointed out to me the other day, no matter how much we hate putting them in, even if the parents aren't paying attention at all, we have seen them save lives. Sometimes even seen seats we have put in do their job.

Don't let yourself get complacent. Don't hold yourself to the "standards" of your department. Hold yourself to higher standards. Make house and company standards. make personal standards. Use biblical standards. Set these standards and do everything you can to exceed them. Try and get your guys to buy in to them and hold each other to the higher standard. If were told to be out the door in a min, strive for 45 seconds. If were told to be able to throw three ladders in 5 minutes shoot for 4 ladders in the same amount of time. Make training a competition. Push each other. I read an article today by Mike Kirby of the Cincinnati Fire Department. His article was entitle "Needed Engine Company Traits." It talked about every position on the rig and what they needed to hold themselves too. His final note read as follows.

"The goal of every engine company should be to continually improve. To accomplish this, every officer must effectively communicate their expectations to their crew, train their crew to meet those expectations and then hold themselves and the members of the company accountable when expectations aren't met. Remember: What makes a good engine company are the people in it, plain and simple."

Thanks again guys! Step up!