Wow! What a change of events for all of us. At this time we would normally be talking about the great time we all had at the convention, the old friends we visited with, and the new relationships that we developed. Amazing how one virus and all the associated onslaught of under and overreactions can completely change the course of well-placed plans. My thanks to the folks in Kearney for taking the steps to postpone the convention in the best interest of maintaining a unified front to our members and our communities that we follow the guidelines we preach to the public. I guess we will see everyone in July, at least at this point. Speaking of being unified, let’s talk a bit about unity. I take pride in the fact that during my various time spent working in law enforcement and the fire service both professions are a place of unity.
We always talk about both professions individually being a “family” and we are normally unified in our concerns and goals. Where I sometimes see a bit of a speed bump is the lack of unity between some law enforcement and some fire service agencies or even just between fire service agencies. I can remember the “good ole days” when most law enforcement and fire people spent time together and truly were unified in our efforts to serve the public and take care of each other. Time and life demands have changed and we don’t always see the same level of interaction we once did. In more recent times I have read and heard the horror stories of fire personnel being arrested on scenes by law enforcement and law enforcement officers being assaulted by fire service people, and a few cases of fire people assaulting fire people.
Unfortunately, these types of activities that generally become headlines on the local and national news do not speak well for our unity on a public stage. I would think it would be hard to embrace calling for law enforcement or fire assistance as a member of the public if the 6 o’clock news keeps telling us how the two professions on that local level cannot work together. These types of activities continue to deteriorate working relationships long after the event is “over” and can pretty well cripple everyone’s attempt at providing our public and each other a quality product.
What is amazing to see however is how quickly the fire service, law enforcement, and the two professions combined can become a unified group when something major takes place.
Throw in a responder’s death, pandemic, mass shooting, or other similar occurrence and suddenly everyone wants to get along and work together. This observation is not just looking at the two professions but also looking at each profession individually. On a day to day basis, we sometimes struggle to find the middle ground from department to department but throw in the calamity and we suddenly are ok with each other. Wouldn’t it be a bit mind-boggling to see what we can accomplish as public servants if we could stay on a unified approach each day? Imagine a world where career fire agencies don’t belittle the volunteer agencies or work against their best interest. Imagine a world where the volunteer agencies don’t refuse to ask for help from the career agencies because they fear they will be “overrun”. Imagine a world where law enforcement and the fire service shared mutual knowledge and training and became unified in the approach to the many shared incidents. Why should it take an internal loss, a pandemic or some other major event to force all of us into being unified?
With this in mind let me ask you a question, what have you done to become or remain unified within your agency, with the other agencies in your area or across the various disciplines of emergency service providers? Have you reached out to your counterparts in that career or volunteer agency to see how you can mutually benefit each other? At the risk of starting a debate, I will share a line I have used for years when speaking with the public or industry groups, “Fire has no knowledge if the person attacking it is career or volunteer so all must be adequately trained and prepared for the battle.” If your department has certain amenities like a training tower or training center do you ever reach out and make those facilities available to those in the area that don’t have them available? If you don’t have these things do you ever reach out and ask your neighbors if the use of theirs would be possible?
For those of you that may not enjoy a close relationship with the law enforcement in your area, when was the last time you reached out and included them in some planning or training or just general knowledge or events? If we believe deep down that we are all “family” then wouldn’t it be appropriate to invite all of the family to be involved? We all should be working toward a common goal so why not be unified in our approach daily instead of just when a major event takes place.
If we don’t step up and “reach across the aisle” to get unified where do you see the future of our respective industries? Again, not to start a heated debate, but when you look at today’s national political scene by the people who supposedly represent and have the best interest of the citizens in mind do you see very much unity? It would appear that more and more division has taken place and the actual beneficial work product has lessened.
Throw in a major event like a pandemic and suddenly most want to work together. Wouldn’t it be nice if this happened every day? Now move the national level concept to our local agency level and just imagine what can be accomplished daily on a local or even regional level if we worked a bit harder at approaching our responsibilities with a focus on unity. Unity across our profession starts with YOU! Pay attention to what is going on around you and take the necessary steps to bridge the gaps and bring things together, internally in your agency or with your neighbors and other emergency service disciplines. Let’s not wait for the next large scale event to figure out how to work together in a unified manner to provide the highest quality product to ourselves and those we protect.
If I can be of any assistance to you or your agency please let me know. Be Safe!
FFAM
