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evaluates personnel safety by reviewing after-action reports and conducting effective post-incident analysis. Walk the Walk. This colloquialism means that leadership should show their commitment to a safety culture by their activities and actions. They should actively make safety a top priority by allocating the necessary resources (time, personnel, equipment) to developing an ASARA organization. I recommend going to the Firefighter Safety Culture website and downloading the Safety Culture Measurement Tools.2 Evaluate your own organization’s safety culture. Understand that the measurement tool is designed to generate analysis and debate among personnel. The tool should be viewed as subjective with the results varying depending on an individual’s perspective. Research has shown that the most effective method to change the norms, beliefs, and values (culture) of the fire service is to conduct effective post-incident analysis. By using the NSCCI measurement tool to review incidents, such as Brandon’s, our perspectives can be challenged. Most importantly, by learning and changing from incidents such as Brandon’s, we honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by positively influencing future behavior of our personnel.
David Matthew has 30 years of fire service experience in Kansas and, most recently, in California. He is a current instructor for the UFRA Hazardous Materials Science Program and is a member of the UVU Test Team for the Jack Rabbit II Program at Dugway Proving Grounds. He is an active fire service researcher and served as the curriculum developer for the NSCCI project.
http://www.bcfd3.com/daleymemoriam.html
1
http://www.ffsafetyculture.org/Education
2
Climbing the Ladder
Roy Fire Department
Promoted from firefighter to engineer:
Shawn Stanger
David Bates
40 | UFRA Straight Tip
Josh Gorder
Robert Percival
Mike Hadley
Josh Wead