Chief Reason Art » baltimore

Be Honest; Call It Bureaucratic Bulls**t!

chiefreason — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:35:54 +0000

I will provide the pertinent links at the end of this blog. But first…the blog.

On February 9, 2007, a terrible tragedy occurred in Baltimore, MD.

Fire Cadet Racheal Wilson died during a live burn training exercise at an abandoned row house. Her death lit up the fire service discussion boards across this country over a multiplex of issues. The incident brought swift and sweeping changes within the Baltimore City Fire Department; most notably the removal of the Director of Training and the resignation of Chief William Goodwin.

Despite our opinions for some of the many issues involved in this tragedy, it cannot be refuted or disputed that Fire Cadet, Firefighter Apprentice, Firefighter Candidate, Firefighter Trainee, Probationary Firefighter* Racheal Wilson was employed by the City of Baltimore and more precisely, by the Baltimore City Fire Department at the time of her death.

*(There was some confusion over the proper terminology with regards to a firefighter in the process of completing their training)

Who can argue that Cadet Wilson was not an employee of the fire department? It would seem pretty obvious. The NIOSH LODD report (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200709.html ) states in its opening sentence, On February 9, 2007, a 29-year-old female, career probationary firefighter died…

Pretty specific, wouldn’t you say? So; what could be the issue?

Fire Cadet Wilson was at work on February 9, 2007, was involved in a training exercise as part of her final phase of training, died while training at work for her employer and at the time of her death, engaged in tasks that were required as part of her job as an employee of the Baltimore City Fire Department for the City of Baltimore.

Therefore, under the Public Safety Officers Benefits (PSOB) program, Fire Cadet Wilson’s surviving family members-in this case, her two children-should receive a lump sum pay out of PSOBs in the amount of $295,194.

Nope!

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), at least for the moment, is DENYING THIS CLAIM submitted on behalf of the children by their father.

The reason (because there is ALWAYS a reason)?

According to sources, it is because the Baltimore City Fire Department failed to submit paperwork establishing her eligibility for the funds.

WTF? (This means, “What did I just read/hear”)

Now; I have two questions to ask: 1) WHERE IS THE NATIONAL OUTRAGE OVER THIS BUREAUCRATIC NONSENSE? And 2) Why wouldn’t the application for PSOBs be included in everyone’s insurance packets, post employment paperwork or beneficiary designation documents, as part of their Human Resources employee management tools?

It is strange that we will bust our asses to get the all-important exit interview from some bottom-feeding under-achiever, but we can’t insure that death benefits are properly AND promptly paid? (Hey; HR gurus…write PPP on your whiteboards. If you can remember what SHRM means, you should be able to decipher Properly Promptly Paid death benefits.)

Baptism By Fire Or Death By Diversity?

chiefreason — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:38:14 +0000

We use the term “baptism by fire” in the fire service to measure that milestone that we achieve with our first big fire; our first true test as a firefighter. The “baptism” welcomes us into a world where ranks are closed very tightly and bonds are never to be broken. And when one dies, the aggrieved mourns the loss, but it is the fire department that captures all of the attention.

This blog is done with respect to and in honor of Fire Paramedic Apprentice (FPA) Rachel Wilson of the Baltimore City Fire Department, who died during a training exercise on February 9, 2007.

The intent of this blog is to examine pre-incident issues, post-incident issues, recommendations that were made post-incident and corrective measures taken to date. Comments are welcome, but they will be respectful, thoughtful and most of all, civil. I expect there to be differences of opinions, but again; they will be respectful replies.

Because of the many issues involved, I believe that it is important that a dissection of available information takes place and we intake them as lessons learned.

First of all, I know very little about the “inner” workings of one of our storied fire departments in this country; Balitmore City Fire Department. After all, they were the backdrop for the feature film “Ladder 49”.

However; though I may not know how BCFD fulfills their mission statement, I know how it should work at ANY fire department, because firefighters are NOT supposed to die during their training. They are supposed to be learning the skills that will keep them alive!

I will tell you that, based on the information circulated after the death of FPA Rachel Wilson and since, it appears that this tragic incident has become a political football and though inappropriate, it is the exclamation point to a series of decisions that may have been made for the wrong reasons that culminated in the death of a 29 year old mother of two small children.

After I read the NIOSH report for this LODD, I was reminded of a training death that occurred on September 25, 2001. Bradley Golden died during a training exercise in Lairdsville, NY.

I was reminded because, in my opinion in both cases, leadership failed. Those who were charged with protecting these new probationary firefighters, failed to do so. Make no mistake; that “protection” begins from the selection process through the rest of their tenure with the fire department.

They are similar incidents because, in both cases, national standards that could have protected them were either violated or ignored. They certainly were not followed. As an example; in both cases, more than ONE fire was set and materials containing petro-chemical components were used as fuel for the training fires.

The other, obvious similarity between the two was that; post-incident, no one was willing to accept responsibility for their actions/inactions. Baltimore Mayor Dixon wasn’t accepting responsibility for Rachel Wilson’s death, even though she pushed for diversity for city employees.

BCFD Chief Goodwin fired three officers because he wasn’t accepting responsibility for Wilson’s training death, even though it was his personal pick heading up the training academy.

In the Lairdsville, NY case, at least the person who refused to take responsibility for his actions was arrested, charged, tried and convicted of contributing to the death of Bradley Golden.

FPA Rachel Wilson was described in the NIOSH report as a 29 year old female, who stood 5’ 4” tall and weighed 192 pounds. According to the CDC Body Mass Index Calculator, Wilson’s BMI was 33; considered to be “obese”. A weight of 110 – 140 pounds for that height would produce a “normal” range BMI stat. This could have been a factor with Wilson’s inability to self-evacuate through a window with a 41” high sill.

Furthermore, there were accusations made early on in the investigation that diversity was a key consideration in Wilson’s hiring. In addition, at the time of FPA Wilson’s training death, the fire department did not have any physical fitness requirements. In other words, NO CPAT (Candidate Physical Ability Test)!

During the post-incident investigation, all fire department officers interviewed, stated that the “city had removed physical fitness requirements” some years before, in an “attempt to recruit a more diversified work force”. The fire department had a physical agility test that lacked national consensus and it relied on “self-elimination” of candidates. The environment at the fire academy was to pressure the less qualified recruits to drop out,” according to interviews.

So; if a candidate made a poor decision to apply, what are the chances that they will make the decision to “self-eliminate”? It is common during the agility portion of a CPAT certified course to FAIL. This tells that applicant: (a) better luck next time and (b) go get into better physical shape and come back. BUT; you don’t get hired until you can pass and damn the diversity initiatives, because being fit for the job has NOTHING to do with race, gender or religion.

Without knowing BCFD’s complete testing process, reports stated that FPA Wilson experienced “mask claustrophobia” during previous training evolutions. Additionally, Wilson had not met the minimum time of the physical agility test. It was reported that Wilson tested again just prior to the live burn and produced a slower time than her initial test time.

So; it is clear that FPA Rachel Wilson’s firefighter skill sets were being brought into question, but only after her death.

Reports were saying that certified fire instructors in Maryland were in short supply. Plus, it was costly to schedule and hire them for training, so, under the watchful eye of Chief Goodwin, the fire department was going to save money by hiring “adjunct” instructors and pay them with more time off, which simply means that he was going to use HIS people and instead of paying them overtime, they would be given more Kelly days. But, wouldn’t someone have to cover them in the rotation and wouldn’t they be paid overtime to do it?

It was reported that, on the day of Wilson’s death, none of the adjunct instructors participating had any training as a fire instructor. Also reported was that the adjunct instructor in FPA Wilson’s squad was doing so for the FIRST time.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a very important component to personal safety and especially to a firefighter. Turnout gear is literally their barrier to extreme heat and death. According to reports, turnout gear was replaced on the “front lines” and the throwaways were taken to the fire academy, where cadets would select their “gear” for training. On February 9, 2007, FPA Wilson was wearing a coat that was 5 years old and was dirty, but within compliance. Her pants, on the other hand, were 10 years old and well past their useful life and beyond repair. The crotch area shows extreme wear and tear and it was reported that the moisture barrier was no longer effective.

Radios, flashlights and SCBAs were provided on an “as needed” basis. Through interviews, it was noted that some of the participants did not have Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) devices and some instructors did not have radios.

One could suppose that poor communication caused NINE (9) fires to be set, with seven (7) of those fires set underneath the “fire floor”; in this case, the third floor, where Wilson’s crew was to extinguish a training fire (s).

For the training fires, according to NIOSH, a mixture of excelsior, wooden pallets, tree branches, an automotive tire, bed mattresses and foam rubber from a chair were used. Anyone with even a tacit knowledge of NFPA 1403 knows that you only use material with “known burn characteristics”.

The fires were arranged in “teepee” and “lean-to” fashion, both acceptable; however, stuffing excelsior into voids and vent areas are not.

Reports (NIOSH) state that FPA Wilson had difficulty controlling the hose line. As the fire that stood in their way on the second floor grew, her instructor took the hose, knocked down the fire on the second floor and then they advanced to the top floor, where conditions soon deteriorated.

Their exit was a window that led to a second story roof top. The window was approximately 28” wide and the window sill was 41” from the floor (see report). FPA Wilson could not self-evacuate through the window with the rest of her crew. It took a valiant effort for crews to push through the second floor and up to the third floor in order to assist with the rescue of FPA Wilson. She was in serious condition, quickly transported to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries.

Mayor Dixon expressed outrage in a press release. Chief Goodwin stated that, if policies were violated, people would be held responsible. His recommendations were sent to the mayor for her press release.

An interesting termination occurred with the officer who was in charge of RIT. According to reports, the RIT officer was on “light duty” and could not actively participate. Had NFPA 1403 been followed, the likelihood of activating the team would have been highly unlikely.

On the day of the incident and during the press conference afterwards, Chief Goodwin praised everyone involved for their “valiant efforts” to rescue FPA Rachel Wilson. So; why would the officer in charge of RIT be one of the three terminated from the department? How was this reward for a “valiant effort”?

Why would anyone on “light duty” be involved beyond the planning stage of a live burn exercise? Who made the decision to place a person on light duty at the scene of a live burn and be put in charge of RIT?

Who made the decision to use this three story, dilapidated piece of crap as a live burn training exercise?

Who made the decision to set more than one training fire at a time during the training evolution?

Who allowed materials with known petro-chemical properties to be used as fuel for the training exercise?

And at the very beginning that led to a very sad ending: who made the decision to hire FPA Rachel Wilson?

Was the decision to hire Rachel Wilson made by city hall to achieve diversity? If so, then the mayor should be held accountable.

If Chief Goodwin allowed the culture that ultimately led to the death of Rachel Wilson, then he needed to be held accountable.

Who was accountable for Rachel Wilson on the day she was hired and on the day that she died?

How can the fire service be the face of compassion, if we show little, if any for our own? It becomes increasingly harder to save lives if we kill the ones hired to do that.

And at the end, there is a hypocrisy that allows for a middle aged, out of shape, paperweight to decree CPAT for everyone…else!

That same hypocrisy allows us to spin our information. I applaud BCFD for implementing the corrective actions to the ten (10) NIOSH recommendations. Note that I didn’t say “changes” as Chief Clack did. “Change” is what will occur within the department AFTER the recommendations are implemented.

And if anyone is looking for “justice” out of all of this?

Let’s just say that there must be a “sliding” scale, because in New York, you can go to jail if you don’t protect your people’s safety, but in Maryland? You just move on to bigger and better things.

Here are the links that I promised:

http://www.abc2news.com/news/local/story/Final-Report-On-Firefighter-Death-Critical-Of/6LEmfr4uBEWPXYcEKZzQEA.cspx

http://www.emsnetwork.org/artman/publish/article_25310.shtml

http://www.baltimoresun2.com/talk/showthread.php?t=112618

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200709.html

http://wjz.com/topstories/firefighter.injured.west.2.425362.html

http://www.baltimorecity.gov/news/press/02-22-07StatementonWilsonInvestigation.pdf

http://www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/fire/downloads/1208/121908%20NIOSH%20Report%202008.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_BMI/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.htm

http://www.citypaper.com/news/story.asp?id=13835

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/reports/face200138.html

http://media.www.loyolagreyhound.com/media/storage/paper665/news/2007/11/20/News/Baltimore.Fire.Chief.Goodwin.Resigns-3111021.shtml

http://www.cwhms.com/news.php?id=1

http://www.firefighterclosecalls.com/pdf/BaltimoreTrainingLODDFinalReport82307.pdf

TCSS.

This article is protected by federal copyright under The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie© umbrella. It cannot be re-produced in any form without the expressed permission of the original author.

chiefreason — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:17:44 +0000

First Published 1/1/08

From The Secret List:

The Fire Apparatus Driver of the Baltimore City apparatus and the Fire Officer supervising that driver and crew on the rig at the time of the fatal crash earlier this month, were both suspended without pay on Friday. In that crash, 3 civilians were killed. The Fire Apparatus Driver, FF Nathaniel D. Moore, and the Company Officer, Lt. Thomas Moore (no relation), were suspended pending a hearing on administrative charges that will be held soon. Baltimore City Truck 27 was 3rd of 4 fire vehicles responding on Dec. 9 to a report of a fire. The truck company collided with the SUV as the apparatus came through the intersection against the red traffic signal. In Baltimore City, all emergency vehicles responding are required to stop at traffic signals and make sure it is clear before proceeding though.

What better lead into my current blog? During my time here at this website, I have seen numerous discussions on lights/sirens on POVs, vollie/paid, women in the fire service, truck colors, singles looking to hook up, jokes, plagiarism and just about anything else your stomach can stand, ad nauseam. The topics that I reference are all worthy of discussion, but how in the world did they become SO IMPORTANT?

What is more important than firefighter and the public’s safety?

The answer had better be “NOTHING”! There is nothing more important than getting to the fire station, then getting to the scene safely. I am constantly amazed at how much air is sucked arguing about the rights of the firefighter vs. the motoring public when responding to the scene. YOU DON’T HAVE ANY MORE THAN THEY DO! As hard as you find this to believe, only under a very strict and narrow set of exceptions can you replace “will” with “should”! I know of no laws anywhere that gives any emergency vehicle the right to blow through a traffic control device. NONE! But if there is, then I would want to see two things: 1) A signed statement from every driver of any piece of emergency equipment agreeing to public hanging if they strike another vehicle at an intersection. Not being struck, but striking another. 2) Absence of that, recognize Murphy’s Law and obey traffic devices regardless of whether or not it is law. Keep in mind that OUR actions must mesh with the actions of the public. We have to factor in to our actions the possibilities that there are some real idiots behind the steering wheels out there. ON BOTH SIDES!

Are many of you thinking that this is all about my lead-in? Well, it’s not. It is an on-going matter and a final report is not available, so I will reserve comments on the specific incident. However; it is a scenario that is central to my article.

I have been an advocate for better/required emergency vehicle drivers’ training for several years. Our department started doing drivers’ training in 1990. It remains at the top of the training list. The class on safely operating fire apparatus is also expanded to include conduct while operating personally owned vehicles (POVs) while enroute to the station. Note: it is “to the station”. We do not advocate POVs at the scene. When a firefighter drives their POV to the scene, when the call clears, they are required to submit their explanation as to why they did not report to the station at the time of the call and if cause is found, they could face discipline. If your department allows you to dress your POV with lights, sirens, reflective tape, FD logo and you carry your turnouts and tools in your vehicle, then you are my target audience. Let me warn you: this is an argument/discussion that you WILL NOT WIN with me. There is absolutely nothing/zilch/nada that you can tell me that is so compelling of a reason for you to drive to every call in your POV. I know that, on many volunteer departments, chiefs often go straight to the scene in their POVs, just as the IC vehicle on career departments would do. Our chief keeps his gear at the station and responds from there in an apparatus 95% of the time.

Now; we have everyone encapsulated in a professionally built piece of apparatus, everyone is seat belted in and you are not getting dressed on the way to the scene. If you are responding POV, you are hurrying to get there, so that you can jump out, get dressed and join the fight. Don’t insult my intelligence and say that you don’t. YOU DO! You can’t control the adrenaline, people are counting on you; you have to be “faster than a speeding bullet”!

Let’s switch to psychology; in particular, behavioral psychology. It is about positive/ negative behavior and positive/negative reinforcement to maintain or CHANGE behavior.

As an example, if you take a risk-in this case, run a red light-and nothing happens, would you do it again? 85% of you will answer “yes”. If there is a “close call”-you almost got hit-you will run the red light again, because there was no negative result of your unsafe behavior. However; if the other driver reports you to your chief or an LEO, then more than likely, negative reinforcement will be introduced to change the negative behavior and your behavior will change. If unsafe behavior (negative) is not changed through negative reinforcement, then the unsafe behavior will continue. It will continue and the unsafe behavior will worsen, because by ignoring it or not doing anything to change it, we are reinforcing it. You must address the behavior in order to fix it. It’s not that complicated. Think about when you were growing up. You get good grades; you get something good. Get bad grades and you would get something bad. If you didn’t, then chances are the grade didn’t improve. With sports, it was the same deal. If you wanted to be a starter, you had to amass a lot of hard work/good behavior in order to be rewarded with a starting position.

So, the moral of this blog is this: you will continue down that road in a careless/reckless manner if a lack of control allows you to, if you haven’t had an accident “yet”, if you believe that you have a “right” to and if you believe that you won’t get into trouble because you were “responding to a call”, then go back to the top and read my lead-in. THREE PEOPLE ARE DEAD and careers of two firefighters are changed FOREVER, regardless of the outcome of the investigation and the rest of the fire service is once again under the microscope. If you have a lack of remorse for the deceased and little compassion/emotion for the brothers in this case, then you have no business in this business, because when we get to the point where it is easier to blame Murphy’s Law than to fix a growing problem, then we have failed our mission statements, pure and simple.

My hearts go out to all involved in this tragic incident.

TCSS. (Take Care/Stay Safe)

The article as submitted is published under The Adventures of Jake and Vinnie© umbrella and is the intellectual property of Art Goodrich a.k.a. xchief22 and ChiefReason. It is protected by federal copyright laws and cannot be re-printed in any form without expressed permission from the author.

Chief Reason Art » baltimore

Be Honest; Call It Bureaucratic Bulls**t!

Baptism By Fire Or Death By Diversity?

Getting to the Scene by Accident©