IS OUR SERVICE CHANGING...

Is our service changing? And by service I mean the Fire Service.

In order to answer that question lets take a look at the history of the Fire Service...

The first fire brigade was established in Rome by a Marcus Crassus. Crassus and his brigade of 500 strong men would rush to burning buildings as soon as the cry of fire could be heard. Upon arriving on scene of the burning structure Crassus and his men would do nothing until they negotiated and accepted a price for extinguishment. If one could not be reached the structure would be left to burn. (Heard a story very similar to that not too long ago, maybe times aren't changing) After Crassus, a man by the name of Augustus took the same basic principles that Crassus had used and formed the Vigiles. The Vigiles would combat fires using bucket brigades and hand pumps as well as other tools such as poles and hooks. These Vigiles were versatile, serving as the fire brigade and a police force as well.

In Europe the fire service and firefighting was quite rudimentary until the 17th century came around. The change came in 1666 or there after due to the Great Fire of London. This fire started in a small baker's shop and burned nearly over 2 square miles of the city of London. This left thousands of people homeless and hopeless. Prior to 1666 and the Great Fire, London had no organized fire service. After this fire insurance companies created their own fire brigades. But they would only protect their clients property. These properties would be marked with the insurance companies "fire mark".

In the United States, during roughly the same time, the Fire Service was just as crude. In 1631 in Boston wooden chimneys and thatched roofs were outlawed. Citizens were appointed as "Rattle Watchers" - these appointed men patrolled the streets at night and would carry large wooden rattles. If a fire was spotted the men would spin their rattles and direct the citizens as to where to form the bucket brigade. In 1678 the first Fire Engine Company went into service and in 1736 Ben Franklin established the Union Fire Company of Philly.

Now the United States did not have any government run fire departments until the time of the American Civil War. So prior to that time private fire brigades would compete with each other (sometimes sabotaging each other) to be the first to respond and first to arrive on scene of a fire because the insurance companies only paid the first due.

Now let's remember there were no full time paid firefighters until 1850. And even after the formation of paid fire companies there were problems. Problems over territory. Fire companies would send runners to the fires with barrels to cover hydrants so that competing companies could not get water to extinguish the fire and not get paid. It was not uncommon to see 2 different fire companies physically fighting over who would put out the fire and collect the pay, while the structure burned. THE PAY WAS THE DRIVING FORCE. Also remember this pay did not go to the individuals, but rather to the fire company and the fire house.

Today's Fire Service and Fire Companies are a mix of public, private, paid, volunteer, etc.

So now that I am done with the very short history lesson, you are probably asking what the hell is the point of this blog?

Well I would like to pose a few questions....As you read my brief history of the Fire Service, what was the driving force behind all of the fire brigades and fire companies? Well if you read correctly you would see that the main driving force was the money/pay/insurance. The money they would collect from the insurance companies. Ok, here is my second question - Is our fire service today any different then those in the past? The answer is not quite so simple to me...

Yes we are different in equipment, tactics and strategies. We are different in that we understand building construction and fire behavior better today. But what is your fire service's main driving force? Is it providing high quality and highly proficient fire service? If you are a fire based ems system, is the main driving force of your fire service the quality of care you provide? Is it providing extremely trained professionals to the community? I would hope that the answers to all these questions is yes. But there are things that are happening in the fire service that may change those answers.

I have seen a trend as of late where the fire service seems more concerned with reports and insurance information then they are with the actual service they provide. Now I understand that this information is needed for reasons. Reasons such as putting statistics together and attempting to receive payment for services rendered. But is this information more important then the quality of care or level of service we provide? It shouldn't be..

Any slightly educated person can fill out a report and make themselves sound competent, but does that make them so? Not really, it just means they have good writing skills or have filled out those reports thousands of times.

Is it that someone who has good reports is providing good care or is proficient at the service they are said to have provided?

Is it that someone who has bad reports is providing bad care or is not proficient at the service they are said to have provided?

The answer to both of those questions is no..

Now there will be those that say "if a lawyer gets a hold of that" or we need that for insurance purposes. To those I say, maybe your right. I personally have a few friends that are lawyers and they have told me that they could pick apart a good report just as well as a bad report if they really wanted to. Remember that is what they are paid to do. As to the insurance, I am pretty sure that anyone that is in the fire/ems service business will agree that retrieving that information is attempted but not at the expense of the quality of care or level of service that should be provided.

I would love to believe that the fire service has changed in more then just equipment, strategies, tactics, and knowledge of buildings and fire, since the time of the negotiating Crassus. But when the fire service seems to be stressing collecting reports for stats and money over the actual level of service provided I have to say hmmm...

How many times do you drill on your fire engine or ambulance? How about with hoselines? Maybe Ladders? Probably alot, if not everyday.

How many times have you drilled on reports? Probably not as many, yet they stress how important they are.

Again I understand that these things play a role in the fire service, but hopefully they will never play a bigger role then in the quality of care or level of service you provide...