In our previous quint articles, we discussed several quint considerations such as financial and design criteria, staffing, and training. In this last article on quints, let’s look at several additional considerations such as compartment space, ground ladders, and operations.

COMPARTMENT SPACE
Single chassis quints are not blessed with an abundance of usable compartment space. When the middle portion of the apparatus is reserved for a pump, hose, water, and ground ladders, the depth of most compartments will be reduced, resulting in the need to prioritize commonly used equipment. The comment that quints have adequate compartment space becomes a wishful dream when engine and truck company tools-equipment are placed into shallow compartments. (more…)

Gordon Graham here – and as hard as it is to believe 2010 is half way done and I hope that you are having a good year. While I look forward to summer and fall – I dread the inevitable “wildland” season and would like to take this opportunity to remind all of those reading this who are still active to remember that a “wildland” fire is a “high- risk/low frequency event for most municipal and county personnel. As such, this event poses peculiar risks. Absent frequency all you have to rely on is training – so as time allows, get out the training materials and build some memory markers through this process.
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After my wonderful, fun and rewarding 31 years with the Santa Monica Fire Department, I was asked and accepted to become the Interim Fire Chief for the Lakeside Fire Protection District. The Lakeside Fire Protection District is in San Diego County and is home to over 60,000 residents living in the communities of Lakeside, Eucalyptus Hills, Moreno, Winter Gardens, Lakeview, Johnstown, Blossom Valley, Flinn Springs, and other areas of unincorporated El Cajon. The service area is primarily suburban residential, but also has several core commercial zones, some light industry, and many rural/agricultural properties. The district also has a significant wildland/urban interface. There are four stations, 10 pieces of apparatus and 65 members of the department.
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In our first article, we discussed several quint considerations such as financial and design criteria. In this article, let’s look at several additional considerations such as staffing and training.

STAFFING AND TRAINING

As we have previously discussed, a quint is comprised of an aerial device, water, hose, ground ladders, and a pump. This equipment gives a quint the flexibility to become an “engine company” or “truck company”, and able to perform multiple specialized fireground operations, depending on the needs of an incident. However, and this is the big however, this concept can be limited by staffing and training as follows:
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Gordon Graham here – and thanks for taking the time to visit my little corner of the Credit Union website – and I hope that all is going well for you and your family as we approach the summer months. I was prepping this piece over the Memorial Day weekend – and holidays at home are always nice as I have plenty of time to get caught up on all the reading.

Not to jump way ahead in life – but if I ever retire, it would be nice to be able to spend the day reading as there is so much great stuff out there to digest. Most of the reading I do today involves job related stuff – and as a lawyer, I have to read the Daily Journal – the legal paper that I have been perusing now for thirty years or so.

And as I was reading the “Daily Appellate Report” (one of many from last week as it comes out daily – which probably is linked to the name of the document) here is a case that caught my eye – and I like the logic of the court which probably means it will be overturned by someone with opposing views on these issues, but here is the case summary.
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In the early days of the American fire service, the proliferation of buildings quickly highlighted a frequent problem: structure fires. In the absence of specific firefighting apparatus and equipment, citizens of municipalities formed “bucket brigades” to combat the devastation of fire.

As specialization and ingenuity began to change the way water was used to extinguish fires, hand drawn pumpers, horse drawn steamers, chemical pumps, motorized apparatus, portable water towers, aerial ladders, and snorkels collectively combined to change the way water was delivered to extinguish fires.
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Gordon Graham here and here we are now in May – and summer is around the corner and sadly wildland season comes with that and while I have written about the dangers of wildland season for everyone in the fire service – that danger is particularly high for those of you who are municipal firefighters as the task of fighting such a fire is “high-risk/low-frequency” meaning you don’t have the “memory markers” or “behavioral scripts” or “been there done that” experience – and absent experience all you have to rely on is training – so take advantage of any training you can in this regard prior to the season getting started. But this is not the focus of this piece.
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As mentioned in my last article, the chain saw is becoming increasing popular due to its effectiveness. Although the rotary saw and chain saw are similar, they can also be diametrically different in their application. Let’s conclude this two-part series as we discuss the advantages and disadvantages and review several operational considerations of the chain saw. (more…)

Gordon Graham here again – with my monthly opportunity to say hello – and give you some thoughts about what is going on in your profession – and beyond – with the goal of better protecting yourself, your team and your organization from future problems.

And in this effort today, I want to talk about an issue of a very “individual” nature – that applies to some of you, but not all of you. I know it applies to me – and I know a bunch of people on the cop side that it applies to – and my guess is that it applies to the fire side of things – and if it does not apply to you then you can close this document out after the next paragraph and I will try again next month to give you something that applies to you. (more…)

When opening the compartment doors of a typical fire engine in the United States, a wide variety of tools and equipment will normally be observed. These various tools and equipment are generally based on a combination of tradition, NFPA standards, district needs, and the always popular “its always been there.” Several standard tools and equipment that readily come to mind are the pike pole, pick-head axe, ground ladder, and rotary saw. However, a tool that is becoming more popular due to its effectiveness is the chain saw. As the rotary saw and chain saw are similar, they can also be diametrically different in their application. For my next two articles, we’ll review the advantages and disadvantages and review several operational considerations of the two saws. First, we’ll review the rotary saw. (more…)

Gordon Graham here again – and I hope all is going good for you and yours and that you have successfully weathered the most recent series of storms – and of course the good news regarding the wet weather is that it may help out with some of the “serious” water issues that our State is facing. I suspect that we will be having some major “water” concerns in our future – but this rain (and more importantly the snow) is certainly necessary to help abate the recent drought conditions in our state.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have a “flood of money” all of a sudden showing up to help our current financial situation – but that is not going to happen – and continuing on with my last piece for this site – we must remember that it gets down to “money in” and “money out” – and if you can’t increase the amount of money coming in – then we must somehow reduce the amount of money going out – and I don’t want to see people getting laid off when there are other expenditures that I view as “unnecessary” (and I listed them in the last piece) – and apparently my thinking made some of you think – and I sincerely appreciate that some of you took the time to give me your thoughts – including some of the emails that came to my personal account. (more…)

Of all the various types of tools and equipment utilized by the fire service, the common hose coupling is likely the most underrated and least appreciated piece of equipment in use today. Consider that high-tech apparatus, pumps, hose, water additives, nozzles, and personnel would be ineffective in “putting the wet stuff on the red stuff” if hose was unable to be attached to pumps and nozzles, and that fire attack personnel could not effectively follow a hose line out of a building in an emergency if sections of hose were not able to be connected together. With these thoughts in mind, let’s consider how we can increase the effectiveness of most hose couplings when applied to fireground operations: (more…)

Greetings to All and a Happy New Year:

In this month’s credit union BLOG I have written a follow up to the to the Fallen Heroes article I wrote last October. In the article I said you will be hearing from me in the future about the organization. Well, here it is: (more…)

Gordon Graham here – and I hope all is going good for you. So much is going on in the world of “government” and most of these goings-on are linked to “money” issues. As I prepare this piece I am reading more about public safety pay, benefits, retirement plans, and related issues.

It all gets down to this. In order to survive, a business (or government entity) must balance “incoming funds” with “outgoing expenditures.” This is not advanced rocket science. You and I do this on a monthly basis – taking a look at how much is coming in – and making sure that our family expenditures do not exceed this amount. And since you are reading this on the LA Firemen’s Credit Union site – you know this better than 99% of the people you will see on the street today. (more…)

PART 2

In part 1, we began to consider the implementation of OSHA two in-two out. Let’s continue with several more considerations.

Customer Service
Several years ago, Alan Brunancini, Chief of the Phoenix Fire Department (ret.), focused attention on the concept of enhancing citizens’ perception of the fire service expending its maximum effort to meet their needs in emergency and non-emergency incidents. Without a doubt, the concept of customer service can maximize public support of the fire service. With that thought in mind, how does the initial company at a structure fire explain customer service to the homeowner(s) who watch their house burn while the initial company protects exposures while waiting for the arrival of another company? (more…)

I hope the past year will go down in your book of life as one filled with great pleasures and grand memories. But whether the year was good, bad, or indifferent, I hope you’ll enter the new year wiser and stronger for your experiences and optimistic that the best is yet to come.

As you look forward to the future – the place where you’ll spend the rest of your life – it’s smart to look back at the immediate past and objectively assess what went well and what didn’t in your job, your relationships, your health, and your overall sense of fulfillment. What did you learn that can make your life better? (more…)

Gordon Graham here and of course it is time to say Happy New Year – and I certainly hope that your 2010 is a great year with health and happiness – and since you are on the Credit Union site – I trust that all your financial affairs will be wonderful. And along that line of thinking – let me briefly use this iteration of my writings for this site to talk about the finances of your organization – and for those of you who are retired there will not be a lot of stuff in this writing that you can use – but nonetheless it may be of some interest to you because my guess is that some of you had involvement in this issue over the last few decades. (more…)

PART 1

As most firefighters are now aware, the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released the revised respiratory standard 28 CFR Parts 1910 and 1926, Respiratory Protection, on January 8, 1998, was effective on April 8, 1998, and has been in effect since then. This new mandate is commonly referred to as the 2-in/2-out rule, is a federal mandate, and has the potential to dramatically affect every public and private firefighter in the United States. As this regulation is being billed as “the most important advance in firefighter safety in decades”, and “a regulation that goes a long way in making one of the most dangerous professions safer”, let’s briefly review some of its highlights: (more…)

Our lives are often shaped by direct and indirect influences. In the past we’ve discussed the various experiences that often affect our lives. It’s always interesting when we find ourselves doing or saying something that our parents did, and it’s usually a shock! However, there are so many other examples that have an effect on us, even though we don’t always realize it when it is happening.

These lessons are available to us throughout our lives. NFL pro football player Irv Cross was a defensive back with the Philadelphia Eagles and the L.A. Rams who transitioned into broadcasting at the end of his professional career. He spent fifteen years as the co-anchor of the “NFL Today” show. His success in the broadcasting field opened the door for other minorities to become play-by-play announcers and analysts. This year, Mr. Cross was the recipient of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award for his “long-time exceptional contributions to radio and television in professional football.” In his acceptance speech, he told the gathering that his fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Ewing, was his inspiration to succeed in life. Her positive influence on him led him to tell the Hall of Fame crowd that shortly after his mother died, Mrs. Ewing had consoled and encouraged him and he believed that “had she not put her arm around me that day, none of this would have ever happened”. (more…)

Gordon Graham here and thanks again for taking the time to visit the LA Fire Credit Union site – and thanks for all you are doing in the world of fire service operations. For those of you who follow my monthly contribution to this site, you know I am not part of your world – but rather on the other side of the fence – the law enforcement side.

My interest in firefighter safety – and issues related to the fire service – started in Graduate school and has grown since then and I have been very fortunate to have assisted in developing many firefighter safety programs over the last few decades. More on this topic of fire fighter safety later in the piece – I promise. (more…)

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…)

THE CHANGING FIREGROUND ENVIRONMENT

Now, let’s turn our attention to 2009. Today, attack personnel are exposed to two significant considerations (and hazards) that attack personnel of the pre-1960 era never encountered.

First, the increased use of synthetic materials that began to increase during the 1970′s and 1980′s are now common as applied to carpets, furniture, wall coverings, plants, electronic appliances, and the list goes on. When these products burn, they produce smoke and fire gases that are more susceptible to flashover-type conditions. (more…)

By Paul Stein

I write this month’s article with a heavy heart. I just learned that two Los Angeles County Firefighters died while fighting the Station Fire. The Station Fire is currently the largest of at least eight burning across California after days of triple-digit temperatures and low humidity.

So far the fire has scorched 104,960 acres of brush, destroyed 53 homes and threatened more than 12,000 others. (more…)

Gordon Graham here and hello again. Thank you for visiting this great site, and as you know I have a monthly opportunity to give you some thoughts on your business – from the eyes of someone outside your business and because of my “outside” status I tend to look at things that go on inside your business just a bit differently. (more…)

THE CHANGING FIREGROUND ENVIRONMENT

For a moment, let’s briefly consider three scenarios:

Scenario #1
The first arriving engine company to a reported structure fire finds a fire in a 2-story hotel. A quick size-up indicates a working fire in one of the apartments on the first floor has charged the apartment and first-floor hallway with heat and smoke, resulting in minimal visibility and heat conditions that are steadily increasing. Two firefighters quickly develop an attack line into the hallway. As it is 1960, the firefighters do not have the protection of SCBA and hoods. However, as they slowly and cautiously advance down the hallway toward the seat of the fire, they stay as low as possible and monitor the heat levels with their ears. Reaching the open door to the involved apartment, they stop to the side of the door and deftly direct a spray stream towards the upper portion of the apartment and quickly close the door. After a short period of time, the firefighters open the door and observe the fire has virtually been extinguished. Final extinguishment quickly follows. (more…)

By Paul Stein and Ettore Berardinelli

In previous articles, we have been discussing the fact that everyone is really a teacher in some way, shape, or form and the fact that our actions will always speak louder than our words. Our actions tell people a lot about our integrity, our commitment, and our enthusiasm towards our careers. When we are new in the fire service, we look to others for guidance, whether it is formal instruction or simply observing what appears to be positive and successful performance. We look for a “model of behavior” to follow in order to insure our own success. This is pretty normal in any walk of life, from athletics to politics. And occasionally we may realize at some point that we need to make a change, especially when our role model’s actions do not match up with their words. (more…)

Gordon Graham here again – and thank you for taking the time to read my little corner of this great site – and thank you for your continued efforts in protecting your communities. In the news today as I prepare this piece for the September 1 deadline are the wildland fires around California – growing in terms of number and size – and sadly as I prepare this piece on Sunday evening I have just learned about the tragic death of the two Los Angeles County Firefighters on Mt. Gleason. (more…)

Organizational Values and Competence
By Paul H. Stein and Ettore A. Berardinelli

Our previous article in this series discussed everyone’s opportunity to be a teacher through setting the example and mentoring, and how one person’s example can be such an effective method of imparting valuable principles. Then there are those individuals that are given the opportunity and responsibility to become the formal trainer of departmental personnel. During our combined 60+ years in the Fire Service, both of us have had the privilege of being Training Officers. Yes, we did say privilege! (more…)

Gordon Graham here again, and thanks for taking the time to glance at my little corner of the Credit Union site. There are a lot of great people providing some comments for you to read and perhaps glean a couple of thoughts for your usage – and I am honored to be able to give you my “nickel’s worth” on a monthly basis.

And the focus of my brief piece today is the importance of “inter-department” cooperation. When a major event occurs – and there are a lot of them on the horizon
including a terrorist attack, a technology failure, a transportation tragedy, a mass casualty event, or an Act of God (and I wonder who came up with that description) – will your fire department be able to work with other responders – like police – and will your efforts be complementary and fully integrated – or will it end up in a “clustermess” – and I just invented that word to get it past the editor of this piece. (more…)

EXPERIENCE
Does the fire service experience more or less fires today as compared to yesterday? The obvious answer is- – - – - – - -LESS! Just as sprinklers, smoke detectors, and other similar factors have collectively reduced the number of fires, the experience level of personnel has also been reduced. Therefore, when a modern firefighter arrives at a typical one-room fire in a single-family dwelling (which NFPA indicates is 60-70% of our fires), the excitement level can be abnormally high (more…)

By Paul H. Stein and Ettore A. Berardinelli

It’s fair to say that most of us think that the requirements to be called a teacher are a four-year college degree and a state certified teaching credential. But think about this. Have you ever shown someone that special knot you use to tie things down in your truck? Have you ever set an example for your kids by doing the right thing, even though it would have been more convenient to simply ignore the rules? Are you aware of safety issues and share your knowledge with fellow crewmembers? Do you believe that you need to set the proper example at all times? Well, according to the following definition, you are a “teacher”, even though you probably won’t be able to get a position at your local high School’s Physics Department! (more…)

Gordon Graham here and again thank you so much for taking the time to visit my little corner of this great website. I hope that you are enjoying your vacation – and thinking just a bit about some of the “risks” involved in traveling to new places and doing things you normally don’t do. (more…)

Change is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “to put or take in place of something else, substitute, to make different, alter”. When applied to the modern fire service and the fire service of just 25 years ago, it is readily apparent that changes have significantly altered apparatus, communications, staffing levels, operational capabilities, and numerous other factors. However, when the definition of change is applied to the fireground of 2009, there are four areas that have collectively combined to significantly modify or change current fireground operational considerations and firefighter safety as follows: (more…)

To the reader. I came across this graduation advice from the Michael Joesphson WEB site of character counts. I added some of my own thoughts and sent it to my grandson who is graduating from high school. I thought it would be a nice departure from my leadership articles. (more…)

Gordon Graham here – and once again, thank you for taking the time to visit my little corner of this website – and for all your work in fire service operations. I met many of you at the CFED event in Palm Springs last month and I was so impressed with how you are keeping America safe.

The title of this piece was designed to catch your attention – but for those of us over fifty, it may be a thought you have had yourself. I picked it up from my Dad a long time ago and it became a joke between us – never pass up a restroom. And every now and then, I will violate that rule – most recently in an airport when I just wanted to get in my car and go home – and about half way home I was wishing I would not have violated that “rule.” (more…)

CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

In the last several articles, we considered closing the interview by (1) making no statement and just leaving the interview room as soon as possible, (2) looking at covering any missed points (in the interview) and making no statement, and (3) considering an option that is based on the principle of “you have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” IF, your final response is able to adhere to an extremely specific criteria. That criteria is spelled SHORT and RELEVANT! (more…)

By Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli Sr.

THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION
PART II

In this final section of preparing for the written portion of promotional exams, we will talk about the myth of the “good test taker”, and discuss effective reading, study partners and test day pointers.
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Gordon Graham here again with my regular opportunity to give you some thoughts on life and some of the things going on in our world – and specifically what is going on that might impact you who are associated with the fire service. Unless you have busied yourself with watching all the reruns of the CHiPs episodes, there is quite a bit of stuff going on that impact your profession.
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CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

In the last article, we considered closing the interview by looking at covering any missed points (in the interview) and making no statement. Lastly and most importantly, lets consider an option that is based on the principle of “you have nothing to lose and everything to gain,” IF, your final response is able to adhere to an extremely specific criteria. That criteria is spelled SHORT and RELEVANT! It is possible to give the interview board a short, positive, upbeat statement and challenge without exhausting your welcome. This viewpoint can be used to close an interview and can accomplish the following:

• Leave the interview board with a fresh positive image of you when they are determining your final grade.
• Give the interview board a positive statement based on your demonstrated performance.
• Leave the interview board with a positive challenge relating to your future job performance.

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By Paul H. Stein And Ettore Berardinelli Sr.

The Oral Interview

In this article we will discuss good rules to follow and pitfalls to avoid when going through the oral interview process. We will analyze the components of the oral interview and identify concepts to help you do your best in the interview process.
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Gordon Graham here with a sincere apology for being late (way late) with this piece but between taxes and traveling and preparing and planning and family duties – not to mention getting ready for the auction of MJ’s stuff at Neverland – there has been so much to do. Just kidding about the Neverland thing – I have a nose (the original from 1951 albeit bent just a bit from some pavement contacts) and I am happy with it!

And before I get going on my focused topic today, I want to thank each and every one of you – and all of the rest of the firefighters around California for their show of support and concern at the funeral of the four police officers who were murdered in Oakland. What was done in so many cities up in NorCal was just classy – and one of those things that will not be forgotten – by me, by my former peers on the law enforcement side – and by our public. Enough said. Thank you. (more…)

CLOSING THE INTERVIEW

INTRODUCTION

For the past several articles, we have looked at preparing an opening for a promotional interview, so for this article let’s shift gears and look at how you can close a promotional (or any ) interview.

Once time constraints have expired and/or the interview board has asked the appropriate questions and has a general idea of your interview performance, it is time for the shortest and easiest portion of an interview-the conclusion. This is normally accomplished by the interview board chairperson concluding with a final question such as “do you have anything else you want to say or add.” At this point, most candidates (99%) will quickly thank the interview board members for their time while thinking “if you are done, so am I. Have a nice day and I’m outta here,” and then make a hasty exit. (more…)

By Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli Sr.

THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION
PART 1

Believe it or not, taking a promotional written examination brings on a state of nervousness for most of us. We all worry about what to study, try to figure out how much time to spend on certain topics, how to develop an effective study program and all the other troubling thoughts that go through your mind.
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Hello Again! Gordon Graham here with my monthly opportunity to say hi to all of you viewing this great site, and I sincerely thank you for taking the time to read this piece. I put the catchy title on this one for a reason, and it was not to dissuade those of you younger than fifty from reading this – but rather to make the over fifty crowd (and I am part of that group) feel just a bit special – as if this was especially prepared for them. And it was prepared for the over fifty crowd, but if you are truly over fifty – you already know all of this because we lived through all of this.
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PREPARING FOR THE OPENING
If you have been following this series, this article will continue on from the article last month;

“My qualifications in the area of fire prevention” – - and so on. Note: These concepts can be used on the remaining portions of your overview of the position and your qualifications.

Note the difference (primarily delineated in the last article). The first presentation summarized the candidates qualifications which are likely to be similar to other candidates qualifications. The second presentation described the position of Captain, summarized the candidates qualifications, and related how these qualifications would apply to the position of Captain.
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By Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli

We thoroughly enjoyed our years in the fire service, and as we look back on our careers, we both believe that some of our best times were served as Training Officers.

Think about it. The Drill Tower experience is usually the very first contact that recruits have with the rigors and traditions of the Fire Service, and it is definitely their initial contact with the culture and philosophy of your Fire Department.
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Gordon Graham here again, and thanks for taking the time to visit this little corner of the Credit Union website – and specifically thanks for taking the time to click on my monthly effort to get and keep you interested in the discipline of Risk Management. I am absolutely convinced that if more people at the Federal Level of our Government understood the breadth and depth of this discipline, we would not have the huge problems that face us now.
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PREPARING FOR THE OPENING

For this article, let’s consider the common opening interview question, “Summarize your background” and consider two different approaches to answer this question. Utilizing the resume that we have previously discussed, the first approach could parallel the following:

“Members of the board, I have 11 years of experience with this department. This experience includes the positions of firefighter, paramedic, hazardous materials responder, and an engineer. I have worked in the high-incident areas of the city and have been exposed to a wide variety of various types of emergency incidents.
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A Look At Work Relationships And Generation Gaps
By Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli

As we discussed in part one and two of the previous “Getting Along In The Work Place” articles, sometimes we just don’t understand our co-workers. The culprit is often the simple fact that we don’t appreciate the difference in generations and the values they have acquired while growing up. Remember “values”, as previously discussed, are beliefs that come from aspects in a person’s background. These factors include; where they grew up, their family and friends, their socio-economic status, etc. These factors create values that shape how a person looks at the world and reacts to it.
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Gordon Graham here with my first column for this great website in 2009. I have to get used to writing 2009 instead of 2008. It was always easy to do when I was a working cop because I would write traffic tickets with a court appearance usually six weeks out, so I was writing the next year on citations long before January 1 showed up and for some reason I did not often write down the wrong year when the new year came. But since I retired a couple of years ago, I note that I am writing the prior year in the date box more often – but that is not the end of the world – just a minor problem that I am working on.
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PREPARING FOR THE OPENING

If the interview board must ask you about the position you are applying for and your qualifications for that position during the interview, lets take some initiative and incorporate the concept of simultaneously overviewing the position you are seeking, your qualifications for that position, and answering the question that has been asked. To accomplish this seemingly difficult task, lets consider a method to develop an opening statement (which is a difficult portion of an interview), and ensure that you overview and relate your qualifications while answering the opening type question. Most candidates find it difficult to develop an outline that overviews their strengths and qualifications and then be able to also relate these qualities to the new job.
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A Look At Work Relationships And Generation Gaps
By Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli

In the last article we wrote on generation gaps in the fire service and we spent a lot of time on the Traditionalist (Born 1935-1945). In this article we will identify birth years and the impact they have on one’s life orientations and tendencies. The birth years defining generations are generalities, definitely not scientific and are not “carved in stone”.
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Gordon Graham here again (at 41,000 feet the pilot said) with my monthly opportunity to give you some thoughts on your job in the fire service. I know that you (those who are still on the job) have once again been busy with the “late” wildland issues all the way into November but hopefully things will have calmed down on the fire front by the time you read this in early December. So now you can get ready for the floods and mudslides!
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PREPARING FOR THE OPENING

Once you have been seated in the chair near the interview table, it is time to begin the next portion of the interview – - the opening. Normally, the board will attempt to put you at ease (if that is possible with a blood pressure of 340 over 270, a mouth full of cotton, and sweat cascading from your face), and try to get you talking by asking you a simple introductory question. The opening or introductory type of question is normally similar to the following examples:
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A Look At Work Relationships And Generation Gaps
Part 1 by Paul H. Stein and Ettore Berardinelli

INTRODUCTION
Workplace tension, due to the different generations in today’s workplace, is a topic getting a lot of discussion. The combination of several generations working together along with the influx of women, minorities, people with different sexual orientations have made things interesting for today’s supervisors. This thought especially applies to the historically conservative culture in fire departments.
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Gordon Graham here with my monthly thoughts for you to consider as you peruse the website of the Credit Union and look at all that is going on in the financial markets that without a doubt has negatively impacted your net worth. I will say this quickly and move on to other things. This is America – and we have faced tremendous adversity in the past and have recovered. We will recover, although I do not know the duration of this current economic mess that is now global in nature.
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CONCEPTS

4. ORAL BOARDS ARE LOOKING FOR CANDIDATES WHO WILL RELATE THEIR QUALIFICATIONS
It is a fact that every candidate competing for a promotion is the most qualified candidate on this planet! It is also a fact that every candidate has done something worth mentioning. So, when a candidate is in front of an interview board expounding on their numerous qualifications, what gives those qualifications any credibility? The answer to that important question is understanding and using the concept of “relating and demonstrated performance.” To demonstrate this concept, let’s look at two different responses to the trait of leadership (which is a prime ingredient in every position within the fire service, including the position of firefighter).
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Supervisors should regularly analyze their actions, behavior and leadership style. True critical analysis would reveal how a supervisor rates from a team member viewpoint. However, since self-criticism is very difficult for everyone, asking your team members to rate you can reveal areas that could be improved. This type of rating process can shed some light on how team members perceive their supervisors job performance.
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And hello again to all the visitors on the LA Fire Credit Union website and thanks for taking a look at my little corner of this site where I tend to ramble about things that may or may not be important to you, but for some reason I thought it was important enough to prepare and distribute to you. And over the last several of these pieces I have repeatedly thanked all of you for all your great work on the wildland fires around our Great State, and once again I must thank you – not for your performance on a fire – but rather your performance on the recent train wreck in Chatsworth.
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In our last article, we looked at the perspective that interview boards must ask 3 basic questions. Let’s continue with the question that challenges a candidate to be able to do the position they are interviewing for.
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In Part 1, we discussed the need to have a strong organizational commitment and accountability in order to conduct effective performance evaluations. The many benefits of properly conducted performance evaluations to team members, supervisors, and organizations were examined. This article focuses on the specifics of conducting the performance appraisal interview.
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Gordon Graham here and hello again. Time again for my monthly opportunity to say hi to all visiting this great site and to thank you for your continued great work. I am so grateful that the majority of the fires around our State are finally out, but what a price we paid for this year in terms of lives. I was chatting online earlier today with a fellow (a forty year veteran in the wildland community) who was on scene at the helicopter tragedy in Northern California near Shasta. Oddly enough, his eighteen-year-old daughter was working with a crew not to far from the site of this tragedy. Like any LODD families continue to mourn and hopefully the investigation will identify the true cause(s) so that something like this will never happen again.
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CONCEPTS
In our last article, we discussed the three main portions of an interview. Now, let’s turn our attention to what an interview board is primarily looking for in a candidate and discuss four types of concepts that must be evaluated during an interview.
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Making Poor Performers Good and Making Good Performers Better Part I

In the next couple of articles I am going to focus on developing effective, meaningful, personnel performance evaluations. I will deal with performance evaluations from two perspectives. The first focus will revolve around performance evaluations that the supervisor develops for his/her team members. Second, I will discuss methods for team members to evaluate their supervisor.
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Hello again – and thanks for taking the time to glance at my little corner here on this great website. This is my monthly opportunity to say hello to you and give you something to think about. And the mere fact that you are visiting this site tells me you have an interest in financial matters – and there certainly is quite a bit of news out there today regarding finances. In no particular order, a scan of any news source is filled with stories and data regarding the financial issues around the world – and very little of it is good and it is certainly not an issue that has a lot of humor associated with it. In no particular order there are stories about the real estate mess, foreclosures, major companies with major financial problems, a lack of capital, slowing economies, the cost of the war effort, the cost of health care, under-funded pension plans, a lack of personal savings and it goes on and on. And of course the big one for most of us is the price of gasoline which some say will be in the $5.00 gallon range by the end of summer.
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ANATOMY OF AN INTERVIEW

After navigating through the basic elements and challenges of Parts 1-4 which primarily focused on the concept of improving your public speaking skills in concert with self confidence (which are not overnight projects), lets shift gears and consider the primary elements of an interview before we dovetail the previous parts with the concepts we will now discuss. When a promotional interview (or any type of interview-civil service or civilian) is dissected into its basic components, they can be summarized as interview structure and interview concepts.
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When I was the Department Training Officer for the Santa Monica Fire Department we conducted several recruit classes. I really enjoyed this part of my job. From the first day at the drill tower, we tried to instill our department’s value system in the new recruits. We shared our formal value system, as well as our informal value system and ethical expectations.
Our formal value system contains values such as:
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Hello again and I certainly hope that your summer season is going well. As I prepare this piece, I am reading about the eight hundred plus fires around our State – and all the great work that all of our State’s firefighters are doing in trying to get them knocked down and under control. People talk a lot about the “Big Sur” fire and the “Top Gun” diner lost near San Diego, but everyone of these hundreds of fires is devastating to anyone who loses real and personal property. Perhaps someday there will be some “tech” approach that will allow these lightning generated fires to be eliminated. But they are still occurring and once again I am so pleased to see all the interagency cooperation and the cooperation and coordination between Municipal, County, State and Federal agencies.
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PUTTING THE PROGRAM TOGETHER

Once your study program for the written examination has commenced, I suggest you make a radical departure from conventional study programs. Typically, most candidates will study for the written portion only for a predetermined amount of time, and then take the written. After the written examination, the typical candidate will take a break, and then delay studying for the interview portion as long as possible. The reason for this is nobody enjoys placing themselves in a weak or embarrassing position/environment (if you are new to this game, take a practice interview to experience the full impact of the last sentence).
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Hello again. Gordon Graham here with my monthly contribution to this great website. I sincerely hope this finds you and your family doing well – and if you have kids I hope that you have great vacation plans for the summer. Of course I hope that all of you have a great vacation – you certainly deserve it, but for some reason vacation with the kids is always something special. I remember those days fondly – both as a kid and as a Dad when our kids were young. So please enjoy your vacation and please be safe.
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To the reader. I came across this graduation advice from the Michael Joesphson web site of character counts. I added some of my own thoughts and sent it to my grandson who is graduating from high school. I thought is would be a nice departure from my leadership articles.

I have verbally shared these thoughts with you many times in the past. I thought I would write them down for you just in case you wanted to review some of our conversations.
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BALANCED APPROACH (cont)

Initially, all material should be read through at least once and preferably twice to:

• Develop an overview of the material to be studied.
• Indicate what portions of the material need specific or additional emphasis.

Study material can be separated into the following categories: (more…)

A firefighter who promotes crosses over from one frame of mind to another. As a firefighter, an individual’s mindset might revolve around fair compensation, benefits, the job, belonging to a group, and self satisfaction. As an officer, one of your highest priorities is to carry out the mission of the organization. This is not to say that an officer should not be concerned for the welfare of his/her crew. Crew welfare is always a part of the leadership equation. It does indicate that as a company officer, you must direct your actions and activities to meet the requirements of the position.
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And hello again to all my friends in and associated with the fire service. Gordon Graham here with my monthly opportunity to talk to you regarding your profession and what is going on. In my last piece I talked about the value of “systems” – processes, procedures and structured approaches to doing a given task. And the bottom line for that piece was that when systems are properly designed, kept up to date, and fully implemented – things go right and we stay out of trouble. And also I did tell you that too many of our problems come from a lack of implementation – and that three of the reasons that systems were not taken seriously were “arrogance, ignorance and complacency”.
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BALANCED APPROACH
Unless a candidate is a naturally “gifted” speaker (which is extremely rare), the amount of time that a candidate intends to devote towards a promotional examination process should be balanced between studying for a written examination and preparing for an oral interview. This will allow a candidate to master the technical knowledge necessary for a written examination and develop the experience, confidence, and presentation techniques that are necessary for an oral interview. Remember that regardless of how well a candidate performs on a written examination, it is generally the interview (or assessment center) that determines your future job position. From an analogy perspective, assume you are about to take a ride on a train. Your performance on the written examination will purchase your ticket, and your interview performance will determine where you will sit on the train (ahead of first class, in the middle of coach, or at the end of economy).
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In last months article we discussed the roles and responsibilities of the company officer. Another aspect of your new job is to impress your boss. You can be sure your boss will be watching you very closely. You want to impress the boss with your maturity, decision making ability, job knowledge, sound judgment. Most of all, you want to show that you can be trusted. You expect your boss to hold you accountable. You want your boss to have confidence in you. Your boss expects you to train your team members, and hold them accountable in both a positive and negative sense. When you accomplish all of the above, the end result will be to make your boss’s job easier.

So, where do you start? Respected and successful leaders believe that in today’s work world the foundation to success is to know your job, do your job, lead with character and integrity, and to be a role model. That will also be the foundation of this article and perhaps additional articles to come.
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Hello again! Gordon Graham here with my monthly contribution to this great website. I sincerely hope that all is going well for you and that this spring season will be fantastic. I always enjoy coming out of winter (although the weather has been a bit odd around America this year) and headed into spring and then summer and we are so fortunate to live in sunny Southern California. I am preparing this piece on United Flight 116 to Chicago where (according to the Captain) it is 32 degrees with an inch of snow on the ground. I was in Ohio last week and it was snowing and they had to “de-ice” the plane prior to takeoff from Cincinnati. I think the Captain that they referred to this as the “de-icing” process. Which brings me to the point of this brief piece.
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Introduction

Of all of the challenges that employees of the fire service encounter during their career, the ability to be “first-in” to a structure fire and put the “wet stuff on the red stuff” is potentially the most dangerous, but definitely the most exciting. Particularly if the fire was in another district other than yours. However, the most enduring experience members of the fire service will ever encounter is the opportunity to promote to a higher rank and/or additional responsibility for the following reasons:

• You will either succeed or fail in your endeavor. Remember, some memories can last a lifetime. Make them positive and memorable.
• Your success or failure will impact your standard of living for the rest of your career and lifetime. That also includes retirement.
• Promotional opportunities (i.e., interviews) are normally accompanied by periods of high stress levels. Blood pressures of 320/200 can be easily attained and maintained for brief periods.

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Wow, you are getting promoted. After several years of honing your skills and becoming comfortable in your position, you decided to add another dimension to your career, getting promoted.

You mapped out your study strategy. You worked hard to learn as much as you can about the officer’s roles and responsibilities. You also studied the aspects and components of the testing process. Because of your hard work and diligent effort – you made it. You are going to become a fire officer/supervisor.

Now what?
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Gordon Graham here. This is my monthly opportunity to say hi (and thank you for your fine work) and to give you some thoughts on what I see going on in public safety today and perhaps give you a look into the future of our profession.

February was a tough month nationally on public safety personnel with too many deaths and injuries. Los Angeles was hit hard with the tragic loss of Officer Simmons of LAPD. He indeed was a fine man and his loss will be felt for a long time. Sadly many other firefighters and cops perished this month around America and each has an individual story of how they lived and how they died. While this issue is extremely important, it is not my focus today.
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For many years now, I have had the opportunity to travel around the country conducting leadership training for many organizations. Whenever I ask about positive leadership characteristics, trust and respect are the two most often mentioned terms. The dictionary defines trust as “a firm reliance on the integrity, dependability and character of a person,” and respect as a “feeling of appreciation, esteem or regard with honor.”

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Gordon Graham here again with my monthly opportunity to say hi (and thank you for your great work) and to give you some thoughts on what I see going on in public safety today. Today’s iteration of this piece is not filled with good news. When I wear my “Risk Management” hat, I spend a lot of time studying accumulated data. Pretty exciting stuff, huh! Well, I do it for a living. I spend a ton of time reading “stuff”. I love reading things, particularly “studies” and “final reports” that contain analysis of raw data.

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Gordon Graham here again and a Happy New Year to all of you! I have the opportunity to send a monthly contribution to this site and I sincerely appreciate your taking the time to visit the site and read my brief writing.

This time of the year a lot of people (perhaps some of you) will be making New Year’s Resolutions. Some people make all these grand “resolutions” to change the way they behave or eat or drink or whatever and sadly a lot of these “resolute” people “fall off the wagon” quickly, oftentimes within the first few days or the first time the “temptation” is present and they have that drink or that cookie or whatever. Perhaps the behavior they wish to modify is deep seated and it will take more than a couple of “resolutions” to change those long participated behaviors.

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Sometimes emotion and ego get in the way of changing the unrewarding decision and course we are traveling and we keep right on trucking and digging a deeper hole. We kind of “cut off our nose to spite our face.” (more…)

In my last posting, I discussed and asked for input regarding the appearance of a firefighter abusing sick leave. Allow me to add a little twist to the scenario. Let’s imagine you were the off duty Captain that saw the firefighter at the home supply store. You decided not to confront the firefighter or mention this incident to anyone else. (more…)

Hello Again! Gordon Graham here with my contribution to the Los Angeles Firemen’s Credit Union website. Before I go any further, a sincere thank you for the excellent work over the last month with all the wildland fires here in Southern California. And not to be negative, but I can recall my days as a young cop in the 70’s working traffic control at the wildland fires in Malibu. And oddly enough as a young Sergeant in the 80’s I supervised a bunch of cops working on the wildland fires in Malibu. And as a new Lieutenant in the 90’s I set up plans for my department’s participation in the wildland fires in Malibu and I see that the CHP had a presence last week in the wildland fires in Malibu. (more…)

Hello. Gordon Graham here with a contribution to the ongoing BLOG here at the Fire Credit Union website. My hat is off to you for the fine job you do everyday as a fire service professional, and particularly with respect to your recent fantastic work during the wildland fires throughout Southern California. (more…)

Scenario:

You are a new officer and just finished your shift. One of the firefighters’ scheduled to work today has called in sick. You have him replaced. On the way home you stop at the local home supply store to get some gardening supplies. On the way out of the store you see the firefighter who called in sick. He has a load of wood that he is returning to the store. (more…)