Boost Morale by Letting FF's do FF's Things!

In any organization, morale is one of the most important facets of the group, whether they are volunteers at a religious facility, workers in a mill, or the staff of a huge law firm encompassing an entire floor of a high-rise. Yet, it plays an even more important role for a cadre of first responders, especially, the fire service.

Most of us have seen a fire department, maybe our own or a neighboring, where morale is low. While vigorously trained to fight structure fires and perform death defying high-level or collapse rescues, this group often loses morale when they do not respond to those types of call in a period of months or for some, years! Thus the question: “How do we boost their morale?”

My guest, Capt. John Lovato, Jr., understands the predicament. In this podcast, Capt. Lovato shares his ideas of using required drill time to allow the “troops” to use many of those skills that they learned and developed. While live burns are rarer these days, he has his crews, drop feeder lines, throw ladders, stretch hoses, and more. And, there is little doubt that, whether day or night, these drills will often result in firefighters who are better prepared for many of the challenges that they will face. As you listen to Capt. Lovato, ask yourself, “Can my department think along these same lines for us?”