Get it Fixed…NOW

How many of us in the fire service today have seen something that’s not right and ignore it and think to ourselves, “I’ll get to that later” but never do?

For a career where attention to detail is a key safety consideration, you can walk into virtually any fire station and find where the “little things” are getting missed and not being addressed as they should be.

For example, how many fire station apparatus bays have you walked into where the valve for the hose to wash the truck is leaking? No big deal, right? It’s not until a member of your crew or a visitor slips on the water and sprains an ankle or breaks a leg. Then there will likely be some tough questions asked about “who knew about this” and “why didn’t anyone do something about it?” They are both fair questions.

How about the windshield wiper on the apparatus is starting to leave streaks and doesn’t work well but we defer the maintenance on it until the next time we can’t see responding to a house fire with people trapped inside in a driving rainstorm.

Or the brakes on the apparatus have been pulling to the left and seems to be getting worse but they aren’t bad enough for the hassle to take it out of service for the shop to get it fixed.

Unfortunately, no one in the fire service is exempt from making these decisions or falling in into these pitfalls. So, the question is, how to we prevent these scenarios from playing out where we work and serve?

First, we must decide that this is a true safety concern and something that we must proactively watch out for a correct as soon as a problem is detected. When we run across the leaky hose, don’t walk by it, grab a wrench and try and fix it. If you can’t do that easily, then follow your procedure for getting it reported and corrected by those who are qualified and responsible for affecting the repair. We shouldn’t have to wait for someone to get hurt to have the motivation to get it fixed. Hospital bills and lawsuits should not be our motivation to act. Doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do should be!

Let’s take the windshield wiper. Windshield wipers are a known wear item on every vehicle on the road. From our personal vehicles to our fire apparatus and everywhere in between. Most of us do not get in the habit of changing a windshield wiper on a regular interval which is something that we should consider if we want to be proactive with maintenance. But we also shouldn’t wait until the wiper is delaminating on the arm and leaves more dirt and water on the windshield than it wipes away either. We need them to work when it really counts. If we don’t, we increase the risk of a apparatus crash running off the road, hitting a civilian vehicle, and not arriving at the scene we are called to and requiring more resources to cover two incidents instead of the original one. And this potentially happens all because of a less than twenty-dollar part that should have been replaced earlier instead of later when they no longer work as designed.

Now, let’s talk about the brakes. They are a big deal. And they wear out, fail to adjust automatically, and other issues despite the improvements in design and durability that come with modern fire apparatus today. In spite of all of this, brake fade, overdriving the apparatus for its design, and other “people issues” can all contribute to a significant event involving the apparatus. This needs to not just fall on the individual behind the wheel either. Everyone on the apparatus is responsible for speaking up when they see something, hear something, or smell something in the case of an overheated brake. This could easily be an indicator of a real mechanical issue that needs to be addressed by taking the apparatus out of service.

Have the courage to say that they vehicle isn’t drivable even when doing so creates problems by doing so by needing to transfer to a reserve apparatus or having to call for aid from your neighbors until repairs can be affected and the apparatus returned to service.

If you report this to a supervisor and they suggest that you ride it out for a while, you need to ask yourself if that is the right course of action for issue or not. Remember, not handing this issue can make the difference between answering the next call, helping a member of your community when they need you most, and your ability to return home safely to your family at the end of the shift. So do the right thing and if people try to defer maintenance for any reason, escalate it until the correct action is taken. The stakes are too high not to.

So, the next time you walk into your own fire station or someone else’s, look for water leaks on the floor, worn windshield wipers, or excessive brake dust on the rims of the apparatus. But also check out the proper storage of the SCBA’s, tools secured in the compartments, and proper tire tread on the tires. These are all issues that should require regular vigilance to always keep mission ready.

Remember, when you discover something wrong, get it fixed. Do it now. 

Stay Safe, and Be Well!

Firedog