Gifts Found Under the Department’s Christmas Tree…..and New Years Resolutions
I hope this article finds all of you having a happy and safe holiday season. With the holidays, it is often practice to find some presents under the tree (some wanted, some unwanted like the fruit cake from last year that got thrown in with the decorations). My question to all of you is "what did you find underneath your department's tree and how does it affect your training goals for this upcoming year?"
For many departments, the beginning of the New Year spells a change in officers which, for better or worse, usually means a change in culture to the way our departments operate. Maybe, it's the same set of officers, but they have new goals for the year ahead or, the need may lie in the fact that we need to just "gather the troops back in" or work on some of the weak spots. For some departments, mine included, we found new apparatus under the tree or will be soon taking delivery which will entail directing the training resources to prepare for that unit going in service such as getting the drivers trained on the operations and getting everyone familiar with the new tools and equipment. Perhaps you've identified a service that is needed in your area and you are beginning to train in that discipline or are looking for professional development to better serve the department.
Whatever you found, make sure to include realistic and attainable goals in your training schedule for the upcoming year. This actually breaks down into several levels in the fire service. You can have regional goals, departmental goals, group goals (such as your drivers, or RIT qualified people, or Truck guys), and of course personal goals. When I say "realistic", make sure that the goals challenge you and your department to strive to meet them but, at the same time make sure that they are attainable. It's hard to set a departmental goal of "being an efficient truck company by the end of the year" if you are in the first year of providing truck company service. The same scenario applies with setting the personal goal of completing the Fire Officer II program if you haven't taken the Firefighter I exam.
Using the above examples, the goals held by the Chiefs and Training Officers might rather be to require all personnel to take Truck Company I and II and by the end of the year to develop SOP's relating to Truck Company Operations and implement them as the standard practice. On a personal level you may decide to take the upcoming Firefighter I exam this spring and the Firefighter II in the fall of this year, while planning to prepare for Fire Officer I next spring with the goal to be enrolled in Fire Officer II next fall. Whatever your goals may be, make sure that you have an outline and can measure your progress. Also have a back up plan and don't get discouraged over things that you can not control such as bad weather or classes being cancelled. When you do have the opportunity, make sure that you are prepared to take full advantage of it. Some of the best training held is because an opportunity came along "by chance" and we happened to be in the right position at the right time.
Speaking of opportunities, there are a lot of them for us to get involved in, some I don't think that we remember or take the full advantage of. Of course there is going to be a "full plate" planned at our training center but I'd also encourage some other experiences such as classes at the local community colleges, the State Fire Academy, The National Fire Academy (in my opinion, gets overlooked a great deal, especially since it is in our back yard), as well as the large seminars such as FDIC and Firehouse Expo.
In closing, I hope that all of you found something you wanted under "your department's tree" or even if you didn't at least can put something to good use. Make some goals, set some new year's resolutions, continue the planning, and remember be prepared to take full advantage of the opportunities as they arise.