Issuing Praise within the Emergency Services

[Guest]

In lieu of recent events and discussions i think its time that the EMT Bravo community tackle issues concerning the issuing of public praise across all branches of the emergency services.

Rendering EMS, Fire suppression, and law enforcement services is what we do - be it in a career or volunteer flavor. Each of us associated with a department or agency have made a conscious and informed decision to engage in potentially life threatening work in an effort to bring the public populations we protect the best services possible. Likewise, its my firm belief that its improper for us to issue public "blanket" praise on ourselves.

Responding to fire alarms with the proper equipment and manpower, covering all calls for EMS assistance, and responding to all law-enforcement related incidents is what we have committed ourselves to doing. The same applies for mutual aid assistance calls. Every incident, large or small, that goes improperly manned, staffed, responded to, or unsafely coordinated/handled, is a collective failure on our part to properly do our jobs. We fail the public, ourselves, but most shamefully put the lives of those we protect and the lives of our partners/crew in additional and undo harm.

Am i saying we don't deserve praise? Absolutely not! Given the nature of our work, its necessary to praise each other when we tackle a tough medical call, snuff out a stubborn fire, or defuse a potentially deadly dispute. However, lets take the good with the bad. Lets set time aside for praise and review. Every incident should be a learning experience. There is and will continue to be something to learn, alter or fix after a proper debriefing or discussion with all parties involved.

As i see it, failing to be critical of ourselves in every aspect of our job is only going to hurt us and those we are tasked with protecting. We should never fall back on complacency!

So, lets use these forums to the best of our advantage. If you had a big job, a busy day, or just a challenging job - share it. Share the praise, but don't stop there. Point out what you and your crew highlighted as points of improvement. These forums are stuffed with hundreds of years of combined experience and countless opinions, it would be a bit silly to bypass a resource of this nature.

Maybe its me, but i get nothing out of, "GOOD JOB ALL!!!!" or "GREAT STOP BOYS!" Why was it a good stop? What made it a "good job by all?" Lets break it down: what was good, what was bad, why, how can we improve our response/attack plan the next time around, how can we improve the safety of everyone on scene? Not only does this foster positive discussion, but it helps spread the knowledge!

Take this as you will, but make it known i'm not here to degrade or put anyone down. I'm here because i love my job and take it very seriously and will never settle for the status quo, the only way to grow as a responder is to poke, prod, ponder, question and practice.

Edited March 26, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[efd184 59]

good post 66

[LCFD968 10]

So what are you trying to say? That when there is a praise on here you and a band of followers are going to question the praise and pick apart why they are being priased!! Of course there are issues on almost every call and hopefully they are handled with in the department.

But why start bickering over who is getting prairsed and who is getting praised that doesn't deserve to be.

[Guest]

What i am saying, and i think its quite clear, is that if someone is going to post a "Good Job By All" post, they should 1) detail the incident(s) 2) they should elaborate on the "good job by all" 3) they should also detail the lessons learned and open up discussion to other members. Most often incidents are not unique to one locality, thus everyone can learn and bring the knowledge from this board into the field. Thats the whole point, isn't it?

Edited March 26, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[LCFD968 10]

if it's something worth bringing up, Yes! If not than no. If I bring something up like yesterday and I want to give Kudos to a few departments then I can. If there was is something specific that happened on one of those calls and someone knows that there is an issue and it should be brought up in another post. There is absolutely no reason why you should take the POSITIVE POST and make a negative. What was done in the last thread you took what i said and put a damper on it instead of starting another post and saying that" something happened and if was to happen to you what would you do."

We all learn from our mistakes and yes that is what this site is all about.

[Guest bibbles10504]

Either way... I do think Alpha 1 is right. I agree that saying "good job" is not informative and it is helpful to learn what happened and how things can be improved. Whether or not it is in a new thread, I think that is up to the discretion of the Moderators, and the person who posted the "critique" or "what can be improved" to decide whether or not to make it a new thread or move the topic.

[helicopper 1,050]

Responding to fire alarms with the proper equipment and manpower, covering all calls for EMS assistance, and responding to all law-enforcement related incidents is what we have committed ourselves to doing. The same applies for mutual aid assistance calls. Every incident, large or small, that goes improperly manned, staffed, responded to, or unsafely coordinated/handled, is a collective failure on our part to properly do our jobs. We  fail the public, ourselves, but most shamefully put the lives of those we protect and the lives of our partners/crew in additional and undo harm.

As i see it, failing to be critical of ourselves in every aspect of our job is only going to hurt us and those we are tasked with protecting. We should never fall back on complacency! 

You're absolutely right - for us to commend each other or ourselves for a positive outcome despite less than optimal performance is a disservice - to ourselves and everyone else. I can't tell you how many times I've been at exercises and the critique afterwards is nothing more than a circle of people patting each other on the back. No discussion about what worked well, what would be done differently next time, or Oops, that was not the way to approach this. I think in many cases people are afraid of criticism because it exposes weaknesses and none in our business like to admit weakness.

Analyzing an incident, identifying strengths and/or weaknesses and discussing them to bolster the strengths and reduce the weaknesses in the future is something we should all be doing after every job, large and small.

After-action reports may sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow and for sure, some people like to armchair quarterback but not doing the AAR is worse! We can all learn something from almost every incident - I think that's the point 66 is trying to make. "Great job" is appropriate but why not follow up with "here's what we did, here's what we didn't do"...

When someone questions performance, we all can use a little less defense and a little more reflection - could I have done this better/differently? It's not a "band of followers" its peer review and that is why we're here.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I agree to a point. I've seen way to many "good job guys" for instances where there were serious safety and operational issues. Just showing up and having some form of outcome IMO doesn't just warrant "good job." However I also work in an environment where recognition is just about absent. No matter how you chalk it up even adults like to know they are doing well and are appreciated. Its one of the foundations of having a healthy work environment...but again I have to go back and agree that just simple "good job," cheapens any real recognition when it is obviously warranted. And we all know for that some people and agencies that is extremely difficult to comprehend...or for that matter it is but they still can't bring themselves to do it.

I think a few are not getting Alpha's point clearly being he was very direct in his tone. If you want to say "good job," let's share why it was a good job.

[Guest nkfd52]

I have been following this post and reading all the comments and everyone has some positive and negative opinions. That is what these forums are for. Everyone gets to express their opinion on subjective matters. On that note, everyone does not have to agree with each other you just have to respect each others opinion. If you compare the fire service to private industry, and this is the trend, you will find their are many subjects on the way critisism should be handled. First of all any negative critisism should be handled behind closed doors within the department. This is the golden rule in any managment or leadership book. Remember we are a team and we succeed and fail as a team. Maybe some of the parts did not have a favorable outcome but again this should be addressed internally. If the department feels others can benefit from their shortcomings than they can go public with whatever they feel will benefit the service.

It is very easy to Monday night quarterback an incident when we have hours to analyze situations instead of seconds. We are all guilty of this. We should not utilize this time to critisize an incident. Critique would be a better avenue and when it is critiqued it is a learning experience. After reading the posts I do not recall, I may be wrong, anyone that was actually on the scene, so rumors start flying. So saying good job by all is akin to saying hey thanks for the effort. Was everyting perfect? Probably not. I critique myself after every incident and there are things that I could have done different. That does not make them wrong. Remember as a manager if everyone is happy you are not doing your job, you are pacifying everyone. So do not stop the praise and do not stop the constructive critisism they both have their place.

[Guest]

The way i see it, if your going to make the effort to publicly (and i did my best to stress the publicly in my original post here) pat yourself and your crew on the back, why not take it a step further and turn it into a learning experience? If your going to take something public, then that should include the good and bad, there should be no room for sugar coating or brushing under the rug. If something went wrong, share it, because chances are that incident can occur again somewhere else.

ALS - i agree wholeheartedly. Getting a pat on the back, a thank you, and a good job is important, more so in the line of work we find ourselves. It keeps the morale up. From personal experience, i can think of maybe one instance where i've been thanked for doing my job. Some days it drags on you, no question about it. I tried to make the point in my post that praise is necessary and important, i only hope it was clear enough.

All im asking is that if your going to say good job by all, let us all know what went down. This is a very brief example of what i'm talking about:

We had such and such type of MVA, everyone o/s did a great job! The rescue company encountered heavy entrapment and after formulating a quick game plan they were able to remove the roof, which gave EMS proper access, and then remove the steering column and dash which freed that patients lowered extremities. EMS packaged the patient quickly and efficiently using the rapid extraction/removal technique. The pt. was put in the back of the bus where EMTs and Medics were aggressive in treating the injuries as they transported to the LZ. The ground contact engine did a superb job in keeping the LZ clear and ensured safety. Once the bird landed the engine directed the ambulance into the LZ to intiate patient transfer. After reviewing the incident we could have stabilized car a bit better, used a blanket instead of a sheet to cover the patient given the extensive extraction....

Completely made up situation, but i think it helps illustrate what i'm talking about.

Edited March 27, 2007 by 66Alpha1

[Guest bibbles10504]

Not to get on the argument of Paid vs Vollies, but I think both groups should get praise, and I think it wouldn't hurt both groups to follow Alpha1's advice. Whether or not your are paid or volunteer, we all basically do the same thing, protect and serve the public. We can all learn from everyones mistakes and accomplishments.

[Guest partyrock]

Yeah, maybe volleys don't get as much into after incident reports as some paid depts. After all, they do have lives they need to get back to, but don't start making it sound like this isn't an issue on the paid side. There are plenty of bosses on my job that are more than happy to give out atta-boys but never push for critiques and I've seen the same thing go on in Westchester. Volleys at least have an excuse, that they have places to be. What excuse do we have for not going over every incident we face?

[x242Steve 1]

Fun with definitions!! (From dictionary.com)

hobby

1. an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation... *

* If anyone finds that their position as a FF, EMT, PO, etc. is generally "relaxing" or is "pleasurable" beyond an adrenaline rush or the satisfaction of helping people and getting a job done, please let us all know where you work and when they are hiring.

volunteer

1. a person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking.

service

1. an act of helpful activity; help; aid

9. the duty or work of public servants

duty

1. something that one is expected or required to do by moral or legal obligation.

obligation

1. something by which a person is bound or obliged to do certain things, and which arises out of a sense of duty or results from custom, law, etc.

bashing

3-b. verbal abuse, as of a group... (Usually by an ignorant individual or group thereof.)

Edited March 27, 2007 by 242steve