It comes down to one (or two) people.....

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There has been a lot of discussion recently about incident resources being requested, and the system-wide problems that are hindering them from being able to respond.

But, at the time they are needed, it comes down to that one person. The Incident Commander. Whether it be a simple MVA w/ Fluid Spill, or fully involved Commercial Structure Fire, that person needs the skillset to make the resources work, whatever resources they are, available or not. Master of improvising. The one IC can make or break the incident.

Our roles as non-Incident Commanders is to make sure that our leadership is competent, and has the latest proven standard tools and training to do their job.

Career guys need to continue the never ending fight to make sure leaders are promoted on merit. Volunteers need to make sure leaders are elected based on training and experience, not popularity or "it's his/her turn".

And the IC needs to respect the dispatcher, because, during that incident, that dispatcher will be the I/C's best friend or worst enemy, depending on the relationships that are built over previous incidents. So we need to make sure our dispatchers are trained and experienced properly, and given the respect they deserve and the opportunity to do their job, which is to make what the IC requests happen.

And dispatchers, at least in Westchester, like Hap, Gina, Terry, Paul, Marty, Ray, Glen, Munson, Dave B., Jen, Susan, and all of the "legends" that have been there forever that have dispatched more diverse major mutual aid incidents then IC's have ever been on. That knowledge needs to be tapped and entrusted more, and they need to be given more authority to make decisions themselves. because they see things with resource availability that the IC's can't. For instance, they should be the ones assigning which apparatus covers what firehouses during incidents.

The system's not getting fixed anytime soon. So let's work together day to day on the basics of leadership to at least get things done.