TWENTY-TWO WAYS TO REDISCOVER YOUR JOB
RAY McCORMACK
Firefighters, like all people, can become bored with work. Reasons for a lack of enthusiasm for your job can range from personal problems and simply being in a “rut” to work-related problems such as lack of challenging calls and changes in responsibilities. If this sounds familiar, here are 22 ways to help renew your interest in the job.
1. Look around you. Study the co-worker who has his hand in everything around the fire station, who runs the functions, who has time to fulfill all requests. This is the guy to emulate.
2. Commit to keeping abreast of any new departmental procedures or changes. It`s always best to know firsthand what`s happening.
3. Become an expert on your apparatus and tools, especially the ones you`ve tried to avoid using in the past.
4. Ask your officer to hold a drill on a topic you feel would benefit your company`s operations.
5. If you`ve been away, make a point of checking the fire and emergency log for calls you missed, and try to find out the lessons learned from those jobs.
6. When meeting new officers, ask about their most unusual emergency calls and how they were resolved. Most officers will be delighted to share “war stories.”
7. Tap your senior firefighters for advice and tips. The years of accumulated experience hold a wealth of valuable insight into how to do your job.
8. Study the tools you use daily. Could they be improved? Many fireground tools were designed or redesigned by firefighters.
9. Leave your personal problems at the fire station door. The firefighter who is always complaining about something but can never come up with a solution is the one everybody tunes out.
10. Resolve to always check your own gear, no matter how redundant it may seem.
11. Take on a personal project at the fire station–whether it be organizing a cluttered room or updating a mailing list of former members.
12. Approach your job with questions such as, Could we be doing something differently? If you come up with a better way, send the idea up the chain of command.
13. Take some time to study the basic procedures you use. They are the foundation of a knowledgeable firefighter.
14. Treat all responses as if they are more serious than they appear to be on the surface until proven otherwise. This way, you`ll never be caught off guard.
15. Help newer members gain the knowledge they need to become better firefighters. Take some time to train with them on a one-on-one basis.
16. Don`t let others discourage you from doing what you feel is important. Persistence pays off in the long run.
17. Read periodicals from outside your job to learn how other departments handle their jobs.
18. Volunteer to inventory your company`s tools and order the necessary duplicates or tools you lack.
19. Try to anticipate what special tools you may need at the scene of your next emergency. A successful outcome often hinges on resourceful firefighters.
20. Develop a new firefighting persona. Become the firefighter who does more than what is expected of him at every fire.
21. Put extra effort into everything you do around the fire station. Make your mark as the one others seek out for answers, the one who is truly into the job.
22. Get psyched up about your job. You`ll find that the feeling is contagious. Knowledgeable and aggressive firefighters make the difference between a decent company and a great one.
It`s easy to be enthusiastic about work when you`re busy. The real challenge, how-ever, is to maintain that level of enthusiasm when things are slow. The most dynamic firefighters embody these traits. Take the time to rediscover this most demanding, dangerous, and rewarding job.
RAY McCORMACK is a lieutenant and 18-year veteran of the fire service, assigned to Engine 69 in the Fire Department of New York. He has a bachelor`s degree in communications from the New York Institute of Technology. He is a New York state-certified fire instructor and P.A.D.I.-certified in advanced scuba diving.
