Accountability: More Than Just A Tag
We can all recall when we have arrived at a working incident and before we can exit the rig the incident commander is screaming
for our accountability tags, so, he or she can clip or attach them to a board. Meanwhile critical tasks and objectives are being delayed on the fire ground. Citizens are put to the wayside, and the domino effect of a rapidly dynamic fire ground, starts to tumble in a spiraling tornado. All in the name of a system which really does little to make us safer, because the tags aren’t what make us accountable.
Fireground accountability starts with the company officer. Our accountability starts with ourselves.
Now, granted I could spin this particular article in one of two
ways. However, I think it’s important, especially with the younger generation coming in, to promote holding ourselves accountable. Integrity is defined as doing the right thing, even when no one is watching. Accountability is similar. A standard must be set, by ourselves, our officers, our chiefs; and then we must hold ourselves accountable to meet that standard. We also need to provide positive reinforcement to continue building individuals up and watch the growth of one’s well-being.
Company officer expectations and firefighter to firefighter expectations should be set forth by both. It’s imperative that the foundation is set and mortared in place. Something as simple as a |roll call| or a |morning briefing| allows all parties involved to better understand the expectations for that day, that shift for each individual and the events throughout the day. This formal, but informal meeting keeps the guess work to a minimum. It allows both the officer and firefighters to hold one another accountable, because the expectations are laid out.
The fire service is a big fish bowl. This can often cut both ways. On one hand it forces us to be accountable, because everyone is watching and there is nowhere to hide. On the other hand, everyone is watching and there is nowhere to hide, so our mistakes often become public faster than we can make them.
Law enforcement, our military and some of our trade professions take the initiative or liberty of conducting a get together in the morning. This allows all participants to understand the assigned tasks for the day, discuss pertinent information such as road closures, detailed events, detrimental information details that should be disseminated throughout.
Tailboard talks or critiques are another method for us to be accountable. What better opportunity to allow the incident commander and all companies involved to discuss and learn from their trials and errors, that are still fresh in their mind. It’s frustrating, to wrap up an incident and go home without ever having an opportunity to break it down and figure out what went well and what didn’t. Now this doesn’t have to happen after every incident, but any incident that is substantial or dynamic in nature should have some sort of hot wash. This opportunity allows the members to collectively discuss everyone’s rolls and actions, allowing the members grow their psychomotor and cognitive skills. This critique is a proactive measure that allows our members to be accountable to their training, and the expectation placed upon them.
Accountability, it’s a method of tracking companies on the fireground and it’s a method our holding ourselves responsible for doing the job the way it is supposed to be done. We must do our part to hold both ourselves and individuals accountable. It is truly the only way we can ensure the job will be done correctly.
