VentEnterSearch’s own Jimm Walsh was recently featured in the Firefighterspot.com 10 Questions Series. They have a pretty interesting column where they ask various people throughout our industry the same ten questions and post the responses. Click here to take a look and see what Jimm’s responses were.
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I read his responses. so great!
Good responses, especially question 3!
LOL Just for you Firemutt this is posted all over our house.. stay safe
Probie Rules For The New People
• Golden Rule Number 1 – What is said here, when you leave here, stays here.
• Thy Mouth Is Open- You weren’t brought on the department to give speeches. This isn’t the United Nations; feel free to ask pertinent questions or to speak up about safety concerns. This doesn’t grant you license to wax philosophically on the “way this department runs.” NOTHING is worse than a mouthy probie.
• What We Should Do… – You don’t have an opinion yet. Veterans have opinions because they earned the right to speak up. Again, in an emergency, speak up. Refrain from “This is what we should be doing”
• What WE Used To Do – No one cares what you did at your old department. If you volunteer at another department no one cares what happened there either. You aren’t “there” you are “here.” Focus on learning all you can about this place.
• Arrive Early – old salts can roll up right at the change of tour/shift, drills, and meetings. The probie should show up early AND be the last to leave.
• TV – Why are you watching television? Do you know everything you need to know as a probie? If not get out a book, go out to the RIG AND LEARN.
• Mobile Phone – Stay off the phone unless someone is ill or your wife is pregnant.
• Dishes – YOU wash dishes.
• Ears – Take both hands and wrap them around your head. Do you feel ears? Good. Use your ears to learn when to speak up. Soak in the great information and remember it.
• Broom/Mop – Your new best friends. Use them. There are many like them but for a year these are yours.
• “I’ll Do It” – This is the best attitude to take. If something needs to be done you do it.
Yup brick, doing a cut, paste and post on Jimm’s comment and your response!
LOL,,, spread the word brother,,, if ya have any to add let me know.
NEVER pet a burning dog!! ;o)
what about the good ole 4 UPS by Tim Klett FDNY
Seems to say it all
The first is,
Listen up: When you are first starting in the Fire Service, there is a lot going on. You are entering a culture that is unlike any other one on this planet. You will hear stories, tales and just plain BS. But listen carefully. That is our past talking. All of the information has value; it is up to you to determine how much value it has to you. Listen to the older, over-the-hill, past-their-prime, malcontents, for the little “pearls of wisdom†that aren’t in any textbooks. A lot of important information that will help keep you safe and alive on the fire ground is not written down. The fire service is very young. We are losing our experience. The F/F’s that went to fires during the war years are slowly retiring. Talk to them before they leave. We are losing our history, we are losing our past. Don’t let this happen.
The second up is,
Clean up: The firehouse is your second home. Treat it as such. And if you are the junior F/F working, you are the lowest on the totem pole. You get the dirty work, you get to do the dishes, and you get to mop the floors, and you get to clean the toilets. This is not based on any prejudices of race, sex, or religion. It is based on the fact that all the junior people before you did it, or should have done it. You do it until the next probie is assigned to that company. It is part of belonging; it is doing what you should be doing. And it is always pretty funny, because in my experience, the ones that piss and moan about doing the chores usually end up doing them by themselves for a long time. But the ones that just do it, the ones that are the first to get up to head for the sink after a meal, usually find that they have help. They become accepted into the “family†a little quicker.
The third up is,
Step up: this goes hand in hand with the previous “up†but there is more. Be involved in your company and in your department. Attend company functions, help run them if possible. In NYC every company I ever worked in would have a company picnic in the summer, a Christmas party in the fire house in December, and a dinner-dance sometime during the year. Become a productive member of your Company.
Above all, go to funerals and services, especially the line of duty ones. Pay your respects. Become a part of the fire service by deed and not by mouth.
The last up is my favorite;
Shut up. This one goes well with listen up, but actually goes a little further. Spend more time listening and doing than talking about it. Show by your actions and your deeds what type of F/F and member of this great Brotherhood you are.
Always remember to Do the Right Thing.
Say as you do; do as you say.
Say what you mean; mean what you say.
Remember, A man is only as good as his word.Talk is cheap; backing your talk up is priceless.
Ok, Ive sat idly by long enough. Let me give you my take on this subject. The primary problem in the fire service is that the old f@#ks don’t know how to harness the ambition of the new guys. The other problem is that anyone in the fire service more than 10 years thinks they’ve deserve respect. Bullshit. Respect is earned. This is just like the paid vs. volunteer argument Im in on facebook. You’re either a firefighter or you’re not. I once read id Fire Chief magazine “Seniority has nothing to do with years of service.” So if we are gonna pipe off about new guys, let’s look at ourselves. There’s a hell of a lot more know-it-all old guys than new guys. The problem that I see the most is that the old guys don’t think they need training or certification, and the new guys think that they only way to do stuff is how they learned it in a class they just took. There has to be a middle road. The old guys need to realize that there’s more than one way to skin a cat and the young guys need to realize that the old guys HAVE been doing this shit for a long time and probably mostly have seen it all. Now, Im not bashing anybody’s comments on this really, and Im all for f@#king with the new person, but seriously guys, it’s mostly old guys that are the problem STATISTICALLY. Now I don’t know if this has anything to do with what we’re talking about, but I felt the need to get that out there. So old, young, new, seasoned, officer, probie, FFI or FO I, be the guy that YOU would want behind you. Now, Im not gonna list my resume, because Im sure everyone is gonna assume Im a new guy, but I’ll just assure you that Im not. Be safe, brothers. Now that you’ve read all the VES.com posts, get up and go practice some of this stuff!
OK damn it, which one of you old farts pee’d in DMAN’s oatmeal??? Come on, fess up!!
I’ve gotta agree whole heartedly with DMAN. I know a lot of guys who throw around their 20 years of experience, when in truth they simply repeated their 1st year 20 times, by learning what was taught in the academy and never progressing from there.
DEMAN,,, I think Tim said it best and it applies to all fire fighters young, old, and everyone in-between. Now that I think about it, hell just people all over the world, If this simple advice was followed think how nice life would be..
Shut up. This one goes well with listen up, but actually goes a little further. Spend more time listening and doing than talking about it. Show by your actions and your deeds what type of F/F and member of this great Brotherhood you are.
Always remember to Do the Right Thing.
Say as you do; do as you say.
Say what you mean; mean what you say.
Remember, A man is only as good as his word. Talk is cheap; backing your talk up is priceless.
And in closing happy 4th and a huge thank you for all the service men/woman that serve to protect myself and my family’s rights of freedom,, stay safe all
Good point, brother.
Well well said guys!!! Happy 4th everyone. Be safe fellas! And a tip of the lid to those serving our country!!
God bless those that protect our country , those that fight on foreign lands and those that protect our cities…..firefighters are my heroes!!!!!!!!stay safe
Listen up, Clean up, Step up, Shut up. All you forgot was Stand Up. Get out of my chair in front of the tv and learn some of the duties.
I love Dman’s comment and pointing out guys that think their time alone should earn them respect.You hit the nail on the head. They assume years means knowledge, WRONG, you can be in for 20 years still not be as good a firefighter as a guy with 5 years on the job.
I totally agree, there has to be a middle of the road. New ideas (training,certs,etc.), and old experience together can make one hell of a firefighter.
Refering to questions 3 and 4. There are times when I just get stopped in my tracks. The other night, after 10 minutes, probie comes to advise my buddy that he has, “never used a socket and ratchet before”; so he can’t open the A/C unit……………….. I have to ask, “who is at fault here? It has caused me to start thinking about this. In the morning truck checks I don’t want to hear, “It’s all there.” My attitude is, show me how to marry those tools together. I’m going to show you now how to use that as a step stool. Deploy the reflective traffic triangles; now put them back so you can close the case. This is how you make a horizontal cut with the cutting saw. This is how you change a chainsaw blade; angle’s towards the tip; EVERYTIME!! But then you get the probie who found a loose coupling two tiers deep in a crosslay. We need more kitchen table talk. I don’t know, man.
Brick; that is now in our house; Classic
Well put.
Ali Jahanfard
Ali Jahanfard
Refering to questions 3 and 4. There are times when I just get stopped in my tracks. The other night, after 10 minutes, probie comes to advise my buddy that he has, “never used a socket and ratchet beforeâ€; so he can’t open the A/C unit……………….. I have to ask, “who is at fault here? It has caused me to start thinking about this. In the morning truck checks I don’t want to hear, “It’s all there.†My attitude is, show me how to marry those tools together. I’m going to show you now how to use that as a step stool. Deploy the reflective traffic triangles; now put them back so you can close the case. This is how you make a horizontal cut with the cutting saw. This is how you change a chainsaw blade; angle’s towards the tip; EVERYTIME!! But then you get the probie who found a loose coupling two tiers deep in a crosslay. We need more kitchen table talk. I don’t know, man.
Brick; that is now in our house; Classic
Probably the limp dicked quacks on the hiring board responsible for hiring some space cadet straight out of high school. “No Go” in my book.