ACCOUNTABILITY, ATTITUDE AND AFFIRMATION
BY PAUL STEIN AND ETTORE BERARDINELLI

In today’s culture, there are certain words that seem to be used frequently, and often their actual meaning can get lost in the rhetoric. As most of us in the Fire Service know, getting “back to the basics” is always a good idea. In this article, we will try to get to the essence of a few important words and their application, both in our daily lives, and in our Fire Service careers.

Accountability is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot these days. As citizens, we want our government to be accountable; as parents, we want our children to be accountable to us; and in the work place we want accountability to be a “two-way street,” as our supervisors want us to be accountable to them, and we require the administration to be accountable to us. Like most words that seem to get overused, it’s always a good idea to define the actual meaning. Accountability is defined by Webster as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” (more…)

THE CHANGING FIREGROUND ENVIRONMENT

Additionally, two additional concerns related to the fireground environment should be carefully evaluated:

• Has the fireground environment decreased your endurance and ability to make sound decisions? It is a fact that when the human body is fully encapsulated by protective equipment and is subjected to a hot-working environment, the body will try to ventilate itself by sweating. As there is minimal air flow over the skin, the body will continue to sweat to provide some degree of relief from rising body temperatures. (more…)