Consider This – "I Try To Help Out Wherever I Can"

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By Training Officer Jerry Knapp, West Haverstraw Fire Department

"I learned that in the service. I try to help out wherever I can." That’s what Stuart Gates said to me when I complimented his very clear radio procedure. Gates always identifies his unit, then the unit he is trying to reach – always. Speaking slowly and clearly, his message always gets through on the first try. Not only does "less rush make more speed," but also there is very high confidence that the receiver understood the message. This "lesson learned" alone could be the focus of an entire column. How many times do you hear poor radio discipline? All the time is a good estimate!

Consider that normally, this issue is not a problem... Folks on either end of the radio can recognize voices and know who said what and more importantly, what they need. Don’t forget, we are not usually ordering pizza in the emergency services business – our requests or transmissions are pretty important.

Consider when things are not so normal... For example, when you’re rolling into a working fire, a bad motor vehicle accident, etc. It is at this time that radio discipline is most important.

Here is one of my favorites – "Charge the line!" Is that the hydrant line or the preconnect you want off tank water? So Joe Firefighter at the hydrant charges the supply line... He can’t see what has or has not been done, you laid a line around a corner... and the entire bed on the first due engine is now swelling like a twisted ankle. Bad radio discipline just crippled your fire attack operation. Can you unscrew the problem? Sure, but how much time and manpower will it take? How much do you have on the scene? I guarantee that with all the hands now involved in trying to get water to the rig and trying to fix the problem (how long has it been since you used a hose clamp?), not only is the monkey at the rear of your engine, the football is as well! By the way, the guys inside with their face in the fire need a reliable water supply and it’s your duty, obligation, and mission in life at this time to provide it. "Engine 1 officer to Engine 1, charge the green line."

Let’s take another everyday example, "Charge the preconnect!" It’s an easily understood request, so the driver charges the preconnect... one of two that was stretched. Unfortunately, he meant the green line, not the blue line... The blue line just snapped up into the nozzle man’s face, breaking his jaw. So the nozzle man is instantly out of service, with his entire crew now assisting him, trying to stop the bleeding and ease his pain. Consider this instead – "Engine 1 officer to Engine 1, charge the green line." It’s not that hard. I guess guys that were in the military think radio discipline is pretty important. Better to bring the artillery down on the bad guys than the good guys. Hot steel frag traveling at supersonic speeds doesn’t have time to discern the good guys from bad guys, and neither does a nozzle jumping off the ground toward a firefighter. Maybe we should learn and practice what Stuart Gates learned in the service; we’d be safer for it.

But, Stuart Gates’ radio procedure is not what this column is about. There’s more to be learned. The topic is much bigger than that. "I try to help out wherever I can." That statement says a lot. Stu Gates has been around the fire service since 1944. That’s 68 years. Do you think maybe we can learn something from him? Na, probably not, time has passed him by. He can’t stretch a line, air packs are too complicated, he probably can explain how a thermal imager works, but don’t ask him about a website and he doesn’t have a Facebook page... blah, blah, blah. Maybe we all can stay informed on the state-of-the-art aspects of fire suppression, like Stu Gates does by attending department drills, fire training center courses, and conferences.

So at this point in his 68-year career, being a radio man and a superb lay chaplain are about his physical limits. Actually, I forgot to mention that he is (and has been for 44 years) "Ye Editor," staff writer, and hands-on publisher for The Trumpet, Rockland County’s fire service newspaper. Oh yeah, he’s the delivery service as well. Here’s another Stu-ism... "Jerry, did you get your copy of this month’s Trumpet?" He’s the customer service rep as well. I should note that with the help of Sheryl Rose, the paper is also published electronically. Pretty impressive progress since the old hand crank mimeograph days! Maybe time has not passed him by? Maybe there is something everyone, especially the young guys, can learn from his experience? Got anyone like Stuart in your house?

"I try to help out wherever I can" – maybe we should include his statement into our swearing in process for new members. Maybe it should be part of our mission statement and training for new members. "As a member of this fire company/department, I swear to the best of my ability to help out wherever I can."

It could be a generational thing. Or it could be, as Tom Rinaldi mentioned in a recent SIZE UP magazine column, maybe we have not told the newer members what we expect.

This is what I tell younger members – "This is not high school, this is not Little League. Look around – other members’ lives will depend on what you can or can’t do some day or night. It may not be tomorrow and they may not say thanks, but you owe these guys and they owe you." That is the Brotherhood in one statement.

The common debt is to be the best you can be. Someday, you will have the opportunity to pay up. You had better be ready. If not, you will never stop being sorry for letting your team down. If you are successful, you will never stop feeling the joy. So for now, look around and figure out what needs doing and try to help out wherever you can. It is not about you, it is about making this company/department better, safer, and more effective. You are part of a bigger organization now... lives depend on you.

Somewhere along the line, someone told Stu Gates! It was probably the drill sergeant who told him he’s expected to help out wherever he can. Or it could have been his battle buddy. Or maybe it was his father, Leroy, who taught him, "Our faith/religion teaches love and do for others (service); do your best!" Perhaps he just picked it up himself... he looked around, saw what needed doing, did it, and continues to do it. There are still people in the world like that. You should try to be one of them. With our younger members, you have the opportunity to mold them, if you take the time, and to mentor them.

Wouldn’t it be great if your newer members simply said, "I try to help out wherever I can?" They will if you and the "Stuarts" in your department step up and explain it to them.

About the Author:
Jerry Knapp and Chris Flatley will present NYSAFC’s Fall Seminar Series. Knapp is a 37-year veteran firefighter/EMT with the West Haverstraw Fire Department and is employed as a training officer at the Rockland County Fire Training Center. He is a battalion chief with the Rockland County Haz-Mat Task Force, a former nationally certified paramedic, and holds a degree in fire protection. Knapp is the author of the fire attack chapter in Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I & II and numerous articles in state, national, and international fire service trade journals. He is retired from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point where he was the plans and operations specialist at the Directorate of Emergency Services.