DiPoalo, Giovanni C597 (2015054) [21803]

Running head: COMMUNICATION IN A CRISIS 1
Firefighters and Communication
Giovanni DiPoalo
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
University of Southern California
Paper submitted as partial fulfillment of requirements for
CMGT: Communication Research Practicum
May 2015

COMMUNICATION IN A CRISIS 2
Abstract
This study peers into the daily life of Southern California fire departments to uncover the
strengths and weaknesses of the communication between and within fire departments, other
agencies, and the community. Data was collected by performing 12 in-depth interviews with
current firefighters in order to extract qualitative information pertaining to fire service
communication. The results proved that there is a lack of formal communication training;
however the desire for more formal communication did not have a huge presence. The fire
service has a tradition of their learning in the form of mentorship and through experience.
Despite these findings, implementing additional communication classes could improve and
elevate the fire department’s already phenomenal service.

Firefighters and Communication
Before I knew it I was surrounded by firefighters and flashing lights. Even in my daze I was astonished
how well-coordinated they were. How well they worked as a team. The situation was being taken care of.
It wasn’t up to my dad, who had burned 30 percent of his body. It wasn’t up to my mom, who was in shock.
It wasn’t up to me. It brought me comfort knowing there were people in charge, who knew what they were
doing. It was almost the best comfort someone could give me at that moment, to bring order to the chaos
(Mitchell, 2014, par. 13).
When one has an encounter with the fire department, it is most likely one of the worst
days of that person’s life. Whether their car was t-boned by an intoxicated driver, their
grandfather has a heart attack, or their family home goes up in a blaze because of an overworked
extension cord; an encounter with the fire department is usually preceded by disaster. Yet,
despite this unfortunate fact, firefighters’ presence seems to bring a calming wave over an
otherwise chaotic event. The fire departments of today have been tasked with many “…
responsibilities beyond responding to structure, wildland and vehicle fires…[but] medical
emergencies, water rescues, hazardous materials incidents, vehicle accidents…” amongst many
other emergency situations (Hart, 2011, par. 2). But how does this organization manage to
preserve so much control in all of these hectic scenarios? The answer does not seem to be that
these men and women are supernatural in anyway, but that they are constantly emphasizing and
improving on their internal communication, as well as their communication with victims and
other outside entities. Unfortunately, fire departments do not have an answer for every problem
that arises, but their teamwork and communication helps to save lives. The truth is that the fire
department has been forced to evolve and adapt a lot from what it originally was.

The first departments of firefighters were conceived to exclusively fight fires. Now our
nation’s fire department has transitioned into a jack-of-all-trades emergency response team
(Neyfahk, 2007). The catalyst for this movement was actually caused by the efficiency of the
fire department and advances in fire prevention. Our buildings are built with less flammable
material, fire sprinklers come standard in large buildings, and implementation of smoke alarms
and other fire prevention tools have led to a dramatic decrease in the presence of fire incidents
today. When fires finally do get out of hand, fire fighters are so much better at containing them
that they rarely become a problem. Today fires account for 4% of the total calls that fire
departments respond to (Karter, 2014). Fires are not the force that it had once been, “fire use to
routinely devastate America’s towns and cities,” and became a threat to national security at one
point (Neyfakh, 2013, par. 7). It was the progression of organization of firefighters that
eliminated the peril of fires.
History of Firefighting
Traces of firefighting were found as far back as the 2nd
Century BC in Egypt, where
Ctesibius of Alexandria invented a water pump that was used to extinguish fires (FSAA, 2011).
Due to the being nearly destroyed by repeated and uncontrolled fires, Emperor of Rome,
Augustus formed the first firefighters who were called Vigiles (Rohde, 2012). This group of
7,000 men was equipped with axes, and buckets, as well as fourteen ‘fire stations’ across Rome
(Rainbird, 2014). Vigiles would pass buckets of water down a line of by hand from the water
source to the fire; they would use hooks, poles, or a “ballistae”, which is a giant cross-bow, to
tear down buildings in major fires (FSAA, 2011). The next major event was in France in 1254
AD; King Louis had a group of citizens patrol for fires and crime named the Guet Bourgeois
(FSAA, 2011). At the beginning of the 16th
century the manual water pump that Ctesibius

created is rediscovered in Europe (FSAA, 2011). John Winthrop, Governor of Boston, outlaws
wooden chimneys and thatched roofs in 1631 (FSAA, 2011). The fire hose is invented in 1672
by Jan Van der Heyder in the Netherlands; Heyder’s design is still the design in use today
(FSAA, 2011). In New Amsterdam, more recently named New York, is where the first fire
engine company was assembled in 1672, while in 1678, the invention of the “force and suction
pump” is created, increasing the use for the fire hose even more so, and then the invention of the
fire engine came in 1725 to complete the three (FSAA, 2011). In 1733 Benjamin Franklin
visited Boston and was impressed by how much better protected and prepared Boston was for
fires than Philadelphia (USHistory.org, 1995). Franklin recorded what he had witnessed that trip
and published it in the Pennsylvania Gazette:
Soon after [a fire] is seen and cry’d out, the Place is crowded by active Men of different Ages, Professions
and Titles who, as of one Mind and Rank, apply themselves with all Vigilance and Resolution, according to
their Abilities, to the hard Work of conquering the increasing fire (USHistory.org, 1995, par. 2).
Franklin later would continue to prod advancement through the Philadelphia Gazette. Franklin
continuously sent anonymous letters detailing ideas he had on fire prevention (USHistory.org,
1995). The Union Fire Company was established as a group of thirty men in 1736, a spark that
many believe is the genesis of the fire department becoming the organization it is today. In 2013
the “U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated 1,240,000 fires”; that is a mere “…four
percent of 31,644,500 total calls” that the fire departments responded to that year (Karter, 2014,
par. 1). To put these overwhelming numbers into perspective, there are 30,125 fire departments
in the United States and if they all received the same amount of work, each station would
respond to 1,050 calls in a year, and only 25 of them would be fire related, and in 1.5 % of those
25 fires someone would be hurt or injured (Karter, 2014).

Fire prevention and fighting has improved exponentially when looking back to when fires
would almost wipe out entire cities in the 19th
century. Two hundred years later, statistically, it
seems like the U.S. has stomped fire incidents so well that it’s rare that someone burns their
finger. The reason improving communication skills in the fire departments is still such a relative
subject is because citizens and firefighters alike still fall victim to disasters. Despite the
enormous advancement the fire department has made, people pay with their lives because of
firefighters lack of communication. When involved in an emergency-based-career, lack of
communication or quality of communication in many cases costs the lives of those involved,
professionally or not. A report by Homeland Security states that “inadequate communication…
may contribute to the injuries or deaths of firefighters, rescue workers, and civilians” (Theil,
1999, p. 1). “Firefighters are synonymous in American culture with bravery and selflessness;
they are the ones who run toward trouble when the rest of us run away” (Neyfakh, 2013). Being
entrusted to make the rational decision in a high stress environment is no easy task, and is
definitely not one that should be taken lightly. However, if a firefighter decides to not to be
committed to have an attention to detail when it comes to improving operational communications
they should not wear the uniform that symbolizes selflessness and bravery. When lives are in the
balance of your career, there is no place for complacency.
Although this study is targeted toward the fire department, many other fields, especially
those with high stress environments, can likely utilize its findings. The literature review that
follows will contain a collection of key information on leadership, communication in crisis, and
customer service. How can firefighters continue to improve communication in the context of
chaos?

Literature Review
Communication in a Crisis
Communication in a Crisis is an expansive and fairly understudied topic that quite
frankly is very important. Communication within a Crisis is a theory that guides those in high-
stress, high-risk environments how to communicate with those involved in the emergency, those
helping with the emergency, and how to execute those roles through the different modes of
communication (i.e. radio, face-to-face, non-verbal, etc.). There are still many issues that arise
in performing communication in a crisis because of a few reasons. For one, communication in a
crisis is a significantly underexplored topic; and two, there is a lot of anxiety and stress that one
has to work with and many do not know how to manage it effectively.
Internal Communication in a Crisis. Having good communication in any workplace is
important. In a career like the fire department, where one is faced with a high-stress
environment every day, good communication is critical. According to a report prepared by the
Department of Homeland Security, “Communication problems are continually cited as
contributing factors in fires and emergency incidents where firefighters are killed or injured”
(Theil, 1999, p. 2). Performing in a profession like firefighting, the stakes for lack of
communication are exponentially higher than in many other careers. Especially, when
responding to an emergency, “…rapidly processing and communicating information to
coordinate teams [is vital to] protect lives and property” (Toups, 2007, p. 707). Being on a call
in the fire department there needs to be a constant flow of information being dispersed, the goal
is to have everyone fully informed of the situation at all times. A twenty year experienced
firefighter stated “The worst thing on the fireground is when the communication goes

bad...nothing else will screw you up like when the communication starts to drop” (Toups, 2007,
p. 711). Like anything else, when one is trained and informed they are able to perform fast and
efficiently; and when a whole team is trained and informed, they can accomplish truly
impressive feats.
In the fire department’s field of work there are a lot of unexpected obstacles that arise,
and it is important to act fast when lives are possibly at stake. Working within a team of people
one has trained with, lived with, worked with one develops an understanding of how each person
works. This occurrence gives one the ability to know what the other person is going to do before
they do it. “We [as people], apply distributed cognition in the context of teams of people that
interdependently work together to achieve goals” to create this manifestation of “team cognition”
(Toups, 2007, p. 708). One probably experiences aspects of this occurrence on a smaller level.
Maybe when spending time with a friend or sibling you begin to finish each other’s sentences, or
in sports one will know what the person next to them is going to do without having to
communicate it. Those instances are examples of “implicit coordination,” which is a key
element that contributes to team cognition (Toups, 2007, p. 708). Implicit coordination is when
“Mutual understanding is achieved without explicit communication, enabling team members to
better use cognitive resources to accomplish tasks” (Toups, 2007, p. 708). When firefighters are
firing on all cylinders and have a shared trust in one another, it is impressive what can be
accomplished.
Issues. Unfortunately, not every call has been operated with flawless communication and
efficiency. There are many factors that contribute to insufficient communication, a good portion
of the problems arise from technical issues. However, technical issues are always going to come
up, that is why it is important to emphasize the human factor of the issues. “Good human

communication skills and procedures will help promote safety even in the face of technical
difficulties” (Theil, 1999, p. 10)
The importance of team cognition and implicit coordination is not strictly for the reason
of being well-coordinated. Those factors are important because it reduces communication
overhead (Toups, 2007). “Communication overhead, the cost of using a shared communication
channel, inhibits the team’s ability to work because it increases the cognitive load of members
and saturates the bandwidth of the shared communication channel, which might be used for other
purposes” (Toups, 2007, p. 708). When at a scene of any emergency the fire department only
uses one channel for that event, and that channel can be quickly over-crowded if it is being used
up by a bunch of questions and responses. It is also dangerous because only one person can
speak at a given time on the radio channel. Meaning if one firefighter needs to explain the plan
unnecessarily, another firefighter may be trying to alert everyone of a danger but cannot get
through. Being able to utilize implicit coordination is crucial in order to maximize the team’s
ability to carry out whatever needs to be done. The less the radio use the better, the radio should
be explicitly used for absolutely necessary information. Unfortunately, “The cost of using a
shared communication channel [is that the bandwidth is quickly filled inhibiting the team’s]
ability to work because it increases the cognitive load of members” as well as possibly blocking
more important information (Toups, 2007, p. 708). When the team’s cognitive load starts to be
overwhelmed by radio talk they begin to tune it out, which also is a major problem. The report
by Homeland Security cited inactive listening on the radio was a “…contributing factor in fires
and emergency incidents where firefighters are killed or injured” (Theil, 1999, p. 2). This
means that the equipment and technology is all working, but because of firefighters not paying

attention to the information or being tuned out resulted in a firefighter to be hurt or worse.
Communication is nothing without a recipient.
An even more alarming issue than not actively listening in such a chaotic environment is
firefighters not communicating unexpected issues that arise. This problem is actually a cultural
issue. According to the report from Homeland Security, “Studies on firefighter communication
show that sometimes the culture of bravery in the fire service is reflected in a reluctance to
communicate quickly enough when help is needed” (Theil, 1999, p. 2). The question has been
asked if the reluctance is an issue of hierarchy, because of the issues that have been uncovered in
hospitals with hierarchal intimidation (Williams, 2007). However, the hesitation stems from the
inability to complete a task that they were assigned and disappoint or fail, not because of
reprimanding (Theil, 1999). The culture of the fire department has been so engrained into our
culture as being brave and selfless, that it is disrupting what has made it so powerful—teamwork.
Solutions. In the attempt to erect these issues of internal communication in a crisis it
seems as though for some problems there are simple solutions and others not so much. Being
able to implement better radio discipline is fairly simple; however trying to eradicate the
ideology of a firefighter that has been instilled for hundreds of years is difficult. A way to help
reduce the amount of radio consumption is to make the plan very clear from the beginning. Then
the radio would be used for the alterations of this clearly stated plan.
A five-part briefing protocol used by crew chiefs in the Forest Service to give directions to firefighting
crews: #1 here's what I think we face, #2 here's what I think we should do, #3 here's why, #4 here's what we
should keep our eye on, and #5 now talk to me (i.e. tell me if you (a) do not understand, (b) cannot do it, (c)
see something I do not). (Weick, 2002, p. 9).

Making sure there is a clear plan, with clear explanation, with clear direction, and clear
opportunity to ask questions as well as confirm understanding should eliminate a lot of radio
traffic. Then the channel should be free to be used for “Accurate, regular situation reporting is
critical for sound decision-making and for ensuring fireground safety” (Theil, 1999, p. 11).
Also, having the importance of face-to-face communication emphasized will aid in the quality of
communication as well. “Face-to-face communication is generally more effective than radio
communication, since both sender and receiver have the added benefit of using non-verbal cues
to help convey ideas or understanding (e.g., eye contact, physical contact, body language)”
(Theil, 1999, p. 10). These skills are imperative to practice and overemphasize because of the
possibility of faulty technology. The importance of active listening at all times cannot be
understated. The loss or injury of anyone because of not being aware of the situation is
intolerable. Listening to information relayed on the radio “…should be emphasized as an
essential part of firefighter function as a tactical team, not just operating as individual entities”
(Theil, 1999, p. 2). The simplest way to ensure the active listening of the team is to enforce the
“‘loop’ model wherein the sender transmits a message and receives feedback from the receiver to
ensure correct understanding of the message” (Theil, 1999, p. 15).
External communication in a crisis. Being a firefighter requires an immense amount of
training to master not only the physical demands but all the minute details of the job as well.
However, despite firefighting being a result-oriented occupation, it seems to be overlooked that
they are theoretically in the service industry. They are an organization that accommodates
customers rather than producing goods. Meaning, firefighters have to interact with people every
day in a high-stress environment, and yet these interactions are not emphasized in their training.
According to Smith (2001), “Sixty one percent of firefighters would like additional time learning

how to deal with grieving friends and relatives” (p. 35). It becomes natural to be able to
communicate with other firefighter; they have the same vernacular and are familiar with one
another. Being put in the situation to try and explain or console a stranger who is going through
one of the hardest moments in their lives or trying to guide a community to safety is much more
difficult.
With the fire department having to take on paramedic responsibility, dealing with victims
is only half of the battle. Firefighters have to be able to effectively communicate with the
hospital or emergency staff. “The success of communication and coordination can mean the
difference between life and death” in crisis conditions, and one needs to know how to hand-off a
victim and be able to relay information effectively (Toups, 2007, p. 707). Then there is the task
of guiding an anxious community. To attempt to conduct a panicked community, one needs to
be able to give directions while promoting composure. According to Glik (2007), “Crisis
conditions combine unexpectedness, high levels of threat, an aroused or stressed population, and
media looking for breaking news stories, all of which create a communication environment that
is inherently high risk and unstable”(p. 35). One should have knowledge of different
communication tools to be able to handle such a situation. “Crisis risk communication is
essential for saving lives, assisting in search-and-rescue efforts, and ultimately plays a major role
in disaster and crisis mitigation efforts” (Glik, 2007, p. 35).
Issues. Being able to effectively communicate is a gift; effectively communicating in the
face of an emergency takes one who is truly skilled. This skill set needs to be developed, as very
few, if any, are able to control catastrophe with poise. This is especially true due to the effects
that the stresses of a public emergency have on people. Regardless of how great directions are
given, it takes a strong understanding of how people operate in tragedy as well as an

understanding of how to handle the situation to ensure safety. “When people are upset, angry,
fearful, outraged, under high stress, involved in conflict, or feel high concern, they often have
difficulty processing information, which is particularly important to consider when they receive
risk communication” (Glik, 2007, p. 36). Not being aware of this common reaction can lead to a
lot of frustration from a firefighter who is trying to instruct one to safety. If a firefighter were to
reveal their anger and frustration, it would most likely lead to the stressed person to be even less
trusting of the firefighter’s instructions as well as “Lack of trust and credibility [which] can
doom risk communication efforts” (Glik, 2007, p. 35).
The understanding of human behavior in such situations is pinnacle for communication in
a crisis. “Anything that interferes with the ability of people to successfully complete this
sequence of perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral steps, for example, an ambiguity about the
meaning, validity, or urgency of warning, or about what self-protective actions to take- will
result in less than satisfactory compliance with warning messages” (Tierney, 2000). When a
person is experiencing emotions such as anger, anxiety, or sadness, they do not have the same
capacity to attend to directions or new information (Glik, 2007). This byproduct of lack of
cognition is in large part to do with the increased internal ‘mental noise’ that they are
overwhelmed with (Glik, 2007). The mental noise makes it difficult to process external
information (Glik, 2007). This is known as acute stress disorder (ASD), which results in
“emotional lability, inability to make decisions or process new information,” as well as physical
shut down or shock (Glik, 2007, p. 37). Being in a state such as this leads to one becoming very
“distrustful and are less likely to accept the validation of communications” (Glik, 2007, p. 36). It
is for this reason that all firefighters should be trained and educated on the importance and how
to communicate in a crisis. Being able to effectively communicate through the obstacles of

human behavior will hopefully improve the efficiency and safety in an emergency. There should
be more of an emphasis on training communication strategies and tactics than is being taught
today.
The paramedic responsibility the fire department has taken on has forced them to have a
relationship with the different hospitals. However, the interaction is very brief because of the
nature of the action. The role of the paramedic is to go to the scene of the emergency, safely
transport the victim to the hospital and attempt to assess the problem to tell the hospital. The
communication between the paramedics and the hospital must be clear and to the point as
“Paramedics may see each other briefly when they transfer patients to hospitals” (Taber, 2008, p.
523). This small interaction is so important because in health communication, it is in these
events where the responsibility for a patient is exchanged where the most problems occur.
Problems can result from interaction between nurse to nurse, hospital to hospital, and in this case
paramedic to hospital. It is within this shifting of responsibility where “adverse events and near
misses” occur (Williams, 2007, par. 36).
Unfortunately, the fire department is always dealing with these handoffs because of the
nature of the paramedic duty. The communication within handoffs is critical to patient safety. In
hospitals “handoffs have emerged as a core communication process that affects patient safety
risks” (Apker, 2007, p. 885). When attempting to treat a patient with limited information in
result of a handoff is a difficult situation to be put in. Successful communication when
transferring responsibility of a victim’s life to the hospital seems equally important than any
other communication that the fire department uses. Like many of the other communication
responsibilities that firefighters utilize, handoff communication can make a difference between
life and death. Having different information expectations increases this notion of the “gray

zone,” which is characterized as ambiguous and blurred information about patients’ conditions
and/or treatment (Apker, 2007). Being on the receiving end of “insufficient information or
unclear data can quickly turn from annoyance to a potential patient safety problem” when
dealing with someone’s wellbeing (Apker, 2007, p. 887).
Solutions. The communication obstacles that the fire department faces are serious;
however they can be avoided with additional training. There needs to be more emphasis put on
teaching the firefighters what to say, how to say it, and at what time. When dealing with
people’s lives there is always room for improvement. “Risks of miscommunication in crisis risk
communication scenario are high” (Glik, 2007, p. 35). It is never going to be easy dealing with a
high stress audience; however with some polished skills these situations can be more manageable
and safe. When communicating in a stressful environment, “the communication process must
[convey] elements of trust, credibility, honesty, transparency, and accountability for the sources
of information” (Glik, 2007, p. 35).
One must be able to assess and recognize the condition of the audience and be able to
effectively deliver information based on their observations. When a crisis communicator is faced
with a stressed audience, the message must be “stated simply, prioritized and repeated in crisis
situations” (Glik, 2007, p. 38). Specificity is vital when communicating in a crisis as well. One
must deliver the what, when, how, and how long (Glik, 2007). These deliverables should be
relayed often. When evolving or pending information is not being updated on a regular basis it
creates inconsistency in communication, which may bring more anxiety to a stressed audience
(Glik, 2007). Maintaining consistency in communication can promote composure to a crisis.
Consistency refers to “the tone of the message and the information contained therein (i.e.
something bad is happening, but there is no cause for concern)” (Glik, 2007, p. 39). Being

poised and composed as a firefighter is helpful, yet not necessarily contagious when it comes to
dealing with citizens in a crisis. It is important to be familiar and be able to apply strategies to
keep tension down.
Sensemaking. Being in a crisis situation is a very hectic and chaotic situation where any
wrong action can result in disaster. However, even worse than making the wrong decision in a
crisis situation is being paralyzed by the fear of making the wrong decision. One must continue
to act and constantly reassess and act some more in a crisis. This however is still a lot of
pressure when in charge. To be asked to make decisions that can possibly dictate life or death of
citizens and/or fellow firefighters. This is why firefighters have stepped away from the
terminology of ‘decision-making’. “Although most organizational analyses begin and end with
decision-making, there is growing dissatisfaction with this orthodoxy” (Weick 1993, p. 634).
The word decision makes the act so concrete and inflexible. When one makes a ‘decision’ it
gives them the feeling that they must stick to their decision no matter what starts to be the
outcome. The decision-maker feels that they must “stay the course” because of pride or other
factors. “Decision making is a highly contextual, sacred activity, surrounded by myth and ritual,
and as much concerned with the interpretive order as with the specifics of particular choices”
(Weick 1993, p. 634). In a crisis anything can happen, it is a crisis because of its chaotic and
unpredictable nature. “Crises are characterized as low probability/high consequence events…”
and unfortunately, there is no handbook for dealing with the unpredictable, one must be willing
to change and adapt (Weick 1988, p. 305). This is why the term ‘sensemaking’ has been put into
commission over decision-making in the fire department.
Sensemaking is giving meaning to experience by definition and was not originally coined
for acting within disaster. Sensemaking is term for reflection in areas such as sociology,

psychology, and philosophy, and is typically a time consuming action. Sensemaking is not
applicable to fire department in that way because of the past being such an unreliable source of
information when dealing with the present or future (Weick 1993). The way sensemaking has
been implemented into the fire department is a moment-to-moment act. “People often don’t
know what the ‘appropriate action’ is until they take some action and see what happens” (Weick
1988, p. 306). This why the role of enactment is so important, being stagnant in chaos will only
result in relinquishing more control to the crisis. The answer will not appear without action, one
must act to better understand the situation. “Understanding is facilitated by action, but action
affects events and can make things worse. Action during crisis is not just an issue of control, it is
an epistemological issue. If action is a means to get feedback, learn, and build an understanding
of unknown environments, then a reluctance to act could be associated with less understanding
and more errors” (Weick 1988, p. 306). One will make a mistake; it’s unavoidable when
attempting to predict the unpredictable. What is important is to understand is what happened and
be able to reassess and audible into another direction to assure safety and advance toward
success. “The explorer cannot know what he is facing until he faces it, and then looks back over
the episode to sort out what happened, a sequence that involves retrospective sensemaking. But
the act of exploring itself has an impact on what is being explored, which means that parts of
what the explorer discovers retrospectively are consequences of his own making” (Weick 1988,
p. 305). Using sensemaking over decision-making has relieved the some of the pressure of those
making decisions, encouraged action, and made dealing with situations a flexible and adaptive
dance that has led to a more successful path to tackling crises.
Reflection. Through literary analysis it is transparent that communication plays a critical
role in the fire department. Proper communication is needed within one’s department to

accomplish the task successfully as well as safely. Being able to relay important messages to the
community is essential to prevent any injuries or fatalities. Finally, it is paramount to be able to
work with and communicate affectively with outside entities the fire department is working with.
The fire department needs to have the ability to collaborate together and effectively
communicate to ensure their job is done to its potential. It was also uncovered that fire fighters
desired more training on how to console victim’s families and friends. This brings to surface the
questions of how much communication training do these community servicemen receive? If
there have been recent improvements in the fire department’s communication development? If
they desire more communication training? Finally, what aspects of communication do
firefighters feel need to be improved?
Methods
The purpose of this study was to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the
communication in the fire department. The best way to clearly understand where the fire
department’s communication has fallen short was to ask the firefighters. In researching such a
topic as communication in a crisis there are so many details and nuances of the strategies and
situations that need to be accounted for, that quantitative surveys were out of the question. As
much as having hard data on the number of firefighters that believe they need more
communicational training, the focus is on how to improve the system. To further comprehend
how firefighters communicate within their company, to other entities, and to citizens, we needed
to conduct qualitative interviews with the firefighters.

Participants
The interviews were conducted with 12 firefighters in the Southern California area. The
different types of companies that the firefighters were stationed at varied from Los Angeles City,
Los Angeles County, Arroyo Grande City, Montecito City, Santa Barbara County, and Ventura
County Fire Departments. The reason the interviews were selected from a range of fire
department entities was to analyze if the way they operated was standard across the board or not.
If the findings are consistent across these boundaries it brings an elevated legitimacy to the
findings and the ability to generalize.
The participants interviewed were both male and female; however because of the
firefighter career is predominately male, our sample reflected that discrepancy. Those
interviewed ranged from ages 24 to 56 years old with 1 to 37 years experience in the fire
department. The way that the participants were selected went from being known through friends
or acquaintances, and then interviewing another person from that station, which is a form of
snowball recruitment. The firefighters were a variety of ranks from captain, firefighter, and
probationary firefighter with three of the captains being current Public Information Officers.
Conducting interviews from different ranks among the fire department ladder gives a full scope
of how communication in a crisis works from top down.
Measurements and Procedures
In attempt to collect the most uncensored and honest information, the firefighters being
interviewed and mentioned were all given anonymity. The names of all the participants and
those mentioned in interviews have been changed. If the firefighter’s rank was high enough, the
location that they serve was either concealed or altered. The interview took place at the station

that they worked when they were on duty. The interviews took place between January and
February 2015. The participants’ interviews were recorded and later coded for qualitative data.
The interview script was made with the intention to not have any leading questions and for the
questions to be open-ended in order to receive the most information possible. The interview
script consisted of 24 questions and addresses four themes (See Appendix A). The interviews
were one-on-one, and 20 to 45 minutes in length.
The interview script questions can be broken down into four main themes. The first
series of questions were labeled as Background. The background questions consist of a series of
questions that are looking for general information on the individual and their involvement in the
fire department. Examples of these questions were, “Who are you?” and “How long have you
been affiliated with the fire department?” The next theme was known as Fishing. It was named
that because the questions were intended to try and get the participant on the topic of
communication without mentioning the topic. It was important to discover if they would bring
up communication organically without it being led by the interviewer. The fishing questions
were phrased, “What is the most difficult part of firefighting?” or “What is the most important
attribute to have in this career?” These are questions that could have a whole array of answers,
and if communication is mentioned even a few times it should be viewed as significant. The
next section is where the participant should be warmed up and ready to start getting into real
conversation. Communication Explanation centers in on the information that can start to paint
the picture of how communication is within their department. The questions this portion
contains are, “How much does communication play a role in your career?” and “Explain how the
department’s communication is with allied entities (i.e. Police, hospital, Highway Patrol,
Rangers, etc.)”. This portion was the focus of our research, where much of the information

stemmed from. The final section was the longest, Fire Department Education. This inquired
what the fire department has done to prepare and what firefighters think they should do. This
segment asks questions such as, “How did you acquire the tactics you use in dealing in such
events?” and “Did you feel that you have been prepared to properly deal with these types of
communication?” This section was an important part because it brought forward ideas on how to
improve the communication within the department from their point of view. These interviews
brought the information forth to answer the overall research question of do firefighters feel
properly prepared for the communication that their career exposes them to, and how can it be
improved?
Results
Through many hours of interviewing and transcriptions it did not take long to understand
how critical communication is in their career as a firefighter. This in no way meant that the
participants’ responses were the same or what was hypothesized. On the topic of which attribute
is the most important to carry as a firefighter the answers were all over the board. Qualities such
as adaptability, flexibility, integrity, bravery, willingness to help, and a genuine heart are of the
few that were mentioned. Of all the traits that were spewed from each firefighter with such
conviction and belief, communication was not mentioned. However, when asked how important
does communication skills play in the fire service the response was for lack of a better word:
unanimous. From the most inexperienced, the probationary fire fighter who believed that
communication is, “Probably the biggest role because when you go to a fire, especially for me
because I am brand new it’s pretty chaotic. There are a lot of things going on. You are trying to
listen to your radio and everything the police are saying, you need to know what your company
is doing, what your captain or apparatus operator wants you to do…it is by far the most

important,” to the 37 year veteran who preached that it is, “Paramount, communication is
paramount. That’s how you get anything done…what you do can be someone’s life or death.”
And of course everyone in between, “Probably the biggest role…” “They are everything.”
“Everything that goes wrong on the fire ground is because of lack of communication.” There
was not one firefighter who said that communication was not of the upmost importance. Despite
communication in the fire service being as crucial as any other facet of this career, formal
training for communication is close to absent. If the opinion that communication in the fire
service is of the upmost importance was unanimous, and the fact that there is lack of
communication training offered, one would be led to believe that the desire for more training
would also be unanimous. The response from the respondents was not as undisputed. Fire
service communication has evolved exponentially since its conception, yet their training methods
are still deeply rooted in the ‘put you under my wing’ way of doing things.
Fire Department Communication
Although communication is the grease that keeps the machine that is the fire department
functioning, by no means makes firefighters a bunch of conversationalists. The fire department
in large part is an assembly of men from a variety of backgrounds who have been forced to
converse to maintain organization within the chaotic events they are summoned. This does not
mean one will catch them in a circle having many lengthy discussions. Much of their
communication consists of head and hand gestures, body language, and quick orders. One
captain explained that, “You have to make pretty quick decisions and then communicate what
you want done. But you have to do it with very little words.” Firefighters may not be the most
eloquent speakers but they have adapted to better communicate to better the safety of their
community and company. Through these interviews grants a view of the fire service’s

communication internally on the station, on the engine, on scene, and after the incident as well as
how they communicate externally with other agencies, the community, and victims.
Internal Communication. A captain of one of the counties explained the ‘art’ of how to
organize different personality types. There are ‘directors’ or D-type personalities, “‘do this do
this do this’, kind of autocratic, wants to get things done fast. You have your motivators, ‘you
can do this’, they are very encouraging in their communications. Your organizers, and your
analytic people.” In all businesses there are going to be an accumulation of personality types, the
skills obviously are able to cross the lines, a D-type are able to talk to a C-type, but it’s how to
direct each one. “I have people, if your in that D type of communications set or personality, you
don’t want to go to the analytical and say ‘this is what we’re gonna do, this what is what is
happening, this is why we’re gonna do this, this is what is going to happen if we don’t do this’
and explain the whole thing. You just want to tell them ‘go take the hose line into the front door,
wait for me we’re going to move in.’” The captain explained that it takes experience to learn to
be able to relate that and know when to relate that. His answer was training, “You relate it in
training, so when you get up to that point they know and they’re ready to go.” Like any other
industry it is being able to work and adapt to the different styles with higher stakes usually.
Station Life. Pulling into the station at 8 o’clock in the morning, one shift is coming on
and the other shift is coming off. Day starts off with communication skills. One has to be able
to relate to the departing shift, communicate what happened shift prior, what it looks like, and
what is going to continue on. There are typically three shifts for each station and each firefighter
has a particular shift they’re assigned to. With the exception of firefighters working overtime
and trading shifts, each firefighter seldom works with two thirds of the firefighters that are on
their same station. However, they typically all know each other and are all there for one another,

just stronger with the firefighters within one’s shift. People build relationships with the people
they work with everyday like it or not. For the fire service, when one goes to work the coworker
next to you does not just share a cubical wall, they share breakfast, lunch, dinner, training time,
sleeping time, and then going out on emotionally fueled incidences makes it difficult to hide
one’s vulnerabilities. These circumstances create more of a brotherhood than collective
colleagues. No matter how big of a department it is, it is small enough that one knows what is
going on in every battalion, and when someone is going through a tough time or a good time.
Communication gets passed down the line. There is a lot of information that goes up and down,
through the ranks very efficiently. So they know when projects are coming up, everyone knows
what is going on.
This system thrives through ‘macro communication,’ “Macro is just talking very directly,
not over email or tweeting. It’s very old school, shake your hand, good morning, look eye to eye
and say your piece and communicate what you want.” In the mornings we always have our
morning briefing. And the captain goes through that and tells us what his expectations are of me,
of the engineer, different projects. “It’s very direct and it’s nothing fancy, there is no technology
involved in it,” and it is in the simplicity of this communication that is the key. The overall goal
in fire service communication is to not let information fall through the cracks. One tells another
face-to-face what they need done, how it needs to be accomplished, and if there are any
questions. This opens communication up to the other person to confirm that they understood the
task and possibly share a different perspective if it is necessary.
In station is where communication is most lax, most of the time. Sooner or later calls
come in. When the bell starts ringing there is actually very little actual talking. This is a time
for getting suited up and listening. “We have a tac channel, if we ever pop a channel and I am

throwing on my turnouts I’m going to tac-A, I already know that’s going to be my captain or the
first one on scene and I’ll listen. “Communication is probably the most difficult thing for us,
because it’s something we have the most problems with or the thing that breaks down. It starts
right off the get go, the alarm goes off and we are relying on our dispatch center to know where
to go.” There is too little time to question the call and the directed amount firefighters rush into
an engine and hope that if the information is wrong it will be corrected on their way there.
En Route. On the engine for many departments they have installed “The Mobile Data
Computer (MDC) is mounted in every truck, when the alarm goes off it gives the location of the
alarm, the address, a map of how to get there, whose responding, and where all those other units
are, you can actually see them on the map.” The MDC is much like a laptop or tablet that is
mounted in the passenger seat where the captain sits and it tells the engine what it needs to know
before showing up on scene. Los Angeles firefighter explained, “…instead of looking at a map
book like we did in the old days it just tells you like Google Maps ‘turn left, turn right, this is the
fastest way, there’s traffic here’, it also comes up with updates. It starts out as fire alarm, ‘so is it
a fire or a false alarm?’ Then it pops up smoke showing, so then you know it’s a real fire. You
get these things coming in at real time from the reporting party.” The captain of the engine is
getting the information from the MDC and relaying what he needs done to the rest of the crew on
the headset. “We have to know where we’re going; I have to communicate as captain to the crew
what we’re going to. If it’s a fire I look back and say ‘hey this is what I expect you to do.’” The
captain needs to process the MDC information, make decisions and plan out his engine’s
strategy, and then communicate what he wants done before they get on scene to try and handle
the incident as efficiently as possible

From the fire fighter’s perspective, much like when the alarm sounds it is still very much
a time for listening. On the radio they are listening “’Get off at dispatch, we are going to be on
tac-A, De La Vina fire incident’ we all switch over. Me knowing as a firefighter I’m not making
the decision, I have like three radios on my gear, I already preset all that stuff, I’m not talking on
them but I’m getting all that stuff ready because I know that’s how we communicate as a
department. It’s one less thing I have to worry about when I pull hose, or bring a ladder, or
chainsaw a roof or something.” Unless one is a captain or a chief there is no decision making
that needs to be done before arriving at an incident. That time before the incident is about
putting one’s self in the best position to perform. This means presetting the radios to where they
need to be, listening to the captain, dispatch, and the captain or chief already on scene.
On Scene. The first engine that arrives on scene becomes in charge of that incident.
“When you get on scene, if you’re the first engine you have to tell the other engines what you
need.” The captain on the first engine gives orders to his company and then immediately starts
communicating to the incoming engines and what he needs them to do when they arrive, what to
bring, where to set up, etc. That captain is Incident Commander or I.C. until a battalion chief
arrives on scene takes over as the I.C. As a firefighter en route who is not already on scene is
listening to the information given by the I.C. “The I.C. is already giving our assignments. He is
communication ‘Engine 2 hook the hose on this street, park on bravo side for structural
protection’. So we never saw each other, we have not got to the fire yet, but I have a clear view
of what my assignment is.” Now the firefighter knows where the hydrant is, how far it is from
the fire it, where to go after that, and what line to pull because it has been clearly communicated
on the radio by an individual who is already on scene and then updates are coming in on the
radio. “So when I get there I pull the hose to where I was instructed, I radio that I need to have a

fence opened, so I am communicating my needs to the incoming engine. It is like a
choreographed danced because of the communication and training we go through.” He
explained that way they are all doing things in real time before even arriving on scene instead of
getting out looking for the hydrant, and which side of the building to take and ultimately wasting
time.
There are different roles and spans of control. For a structure fire there is the Incident
Commander, then several different people under the I.C. in charge of other branches of the
incident. “…you have a fire attack guy, you have a support guy, you have a rig guy and then you
have crews underneath each of those. If you’re working for the rig you only report to the rig,
you don’t talk to the I.C. If your support you talk to support, then the head guy in support can
talk to the IC.” This chain of communication is used to reduce overwhelming communication or
communication overhead on the radio. Therefore this increases span of control and ability to be
able to give instructions to the crews and confirm that they are adhered to.
After Incident.
Debriefing. What makes the fire service operate as successfully as it does has much to do
with how they handle themselves after an incident. Good bad or indifferent it is protocol to
discuss the events that just occurred and how to improve. Also known as an after incident
debriefing. “Whenever we have a failure…it gets disseminated out to the entire state often
through the country. So we definitely grab hold in the areas of our weakness and we make it
stronger. That’s a real tradition of the fire service to make sure we don’t make mistakes again.”
As much as it has been a tradition that has been carried on for much of the modern fire service’s
existence, the act of debriefing has been much more emphasized after 9/11. The breakdown

within the fire department during that incident was not widely discussed among the public, in
fact firefighters have been put on an even higher pedestal after their bravery at the World Trade
Center. The fire service on the other hand saw a vulnerability and weakness that they had been
overlooked until that day. They were extremely unprepared for such a disaster, but even more
embarrassing to them was their inability to communicate. They have been trying to write that
wrong ever since with constant debriefing and improving how they work. “We talk a lot, we
communicate an awful lot; prior to the call, during the call, and after the call. It’s a great trait,
you learn off it.”
Debriefing is not always about how to improve with what they did, but how to cope with
what they saw. “You are going to see things that nobody should see…just the amount of death
and stuff is just terrible for your brain and your psyche. It sticks with you for a very long time.”
When asked what was the least enjoyable part of the fire service a large majority said that it was
the toll of the terrible incidences that they had been called to. They have a Critical Incident
Stress Debriefing or a CISD, who is a member of the fire department who will go to training to
help the station cope with what they experience. A captain explained that, “It’s just someone to
come out when we are on scene, like I was on an incident one time where we had 7 people die on
a car accident, 5 of them were kids. So it screws with your mind you know and you never know
how a guy is going to react.” Many of the participants said that they try and deal with the
matters internally and informally. “If you are on a good crew usually, just within your crew you
can kind of talk about it and we have different ways of coping with things, but some guys need
an outlet or a little bit more.” The debriefings have made it part of the fire service’s culture to
talk everything out. It makes it really difficult for someone to hold in something that is bothering

him or her because there is always an opportunity arising to communicate. The debriefings do
not only promote a culture of constant improvement but an emotionally healthy station.
External Communication.
Other Agencies/Departments. The fire department works hand-in-hand with a ton of
different agencies because of the nature of the incidents they go on. When there is a traffic
collision they are dealing with the Highway Patrol, when there is a shooting they are there with
the police or sheriff, when there is a wildland fire they are cooperating with the Forestry Service
and so on and so forth. Yet, these entities are not trained together, nor are there any
standardizations of communication established. These relationships have improved through
lessons of trial and error. In theory each new day should be the best day the fire departments
relationships have ever been with other departments and agencies. However, the real strides
have come in the last 15 years. The events at September 11th
brought clarity to the importance of
interagency relationships. “That event really put it on the board that we need to work better
together.” Before that time the differing cultures got in the way of a good working relationship
between agencies. “Fire dept is a culture, law enforcement has a culture, forest service has an
entirely different culture and we work with them frequently. It can be a problem, and it has…”
Even the relationships between other fire departments were not what they are today. There was
such a competitiveness and rivalry throughout the different agencies and departments that their
relationships and communication suffered. A firefighter from Ventura County Fire explained,
“There was not a whole lot agencies working together before September 11th
… communication
was pretty good before that [with other fire departments], but where it really has improved is
with the law enforcement and the other agencies. Whether it’s Fish and Game, Sheriffs, PD, that
has improved immensely.” The relationship between other agencies and departments are not at

all perfect, but at least there is a mutual respect and openness to discuss issues for the good of the
communities they serve. “We have had several after incident meetings where we all got together
and works things out.” The variety of calls the fire department is called to makes the
maintaining of relationships critical to ensure their job is completed to their best ability.
We have people cooking meth. That is a law enforcement gig, but because of the hazards and stuff
involved you need to bring Fire in for that, you need to bring in Environmental Health. There’s so many
agencies, Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, all these agencies are going to come together just because of
the nature of the way that we respond now. Now we have Active Shooter, or a terrorist incident, anything
like that, it all overlaps. Our communication overall is getting better and better. Each year I have seen
huge advancements.
The way emergency response is changing and evolving the interagency relations need to
continue to improve.
Other Fire Departments. The different fire departments’ relationships have always been
decent. Post 9/11 the interdepartmental training and relationships have dramatically improved.
Today fire departments are constantly going through other districts and interacting with other fire
stations. Many departments have several neighbors that they work with regularly, “We have
neighboring departments: Oxnard City, Ventura City, Fillmore, Santa Paula, all with the Ventura
County so we work with all those. Our communication for the most part is very good.” This
unfortunately could not be said twenty years ago. Even when the other departments did work
together their communication did not link up despite there being a standardized way of
communication for the California fire service. When firefighters are dispatched on an
assignment they need to follow the communication the way the state communicates it. This
usually happens for bigger fires that have been burning for multiple days, for example the King
fire, or Shasta fire. Arroyo Grande firefighter explained, “I will go on a OES rig, and that’s like

a state rig. So I will be dispatched on like a fourteen-day assignment…we’ll get deployed as part
of a team for up to fourteen days…we’re operating under a bigger system of the incident
command system that we have all adopted in the fire service.” It took him a while to start to
adapt to the standard state communication system, but “It’s almost like plain text to [him] now.”
For too long the fire department would be left in confusion on what the procedure was
when they went into different areas than what they were assigned to. This is because there was
no clear procedure. Since the emphasis on improving communication there have been
established protocols for those types of scenarios. “Every department in the county is dispatched
by us, so all the command channels, the tactical channels are all used by us except for Oxnard
City. So if we’re on the fire ground with them, they are on the same channels we are on already.
If we go into Oxnard or Oxnard comes into our jurisdiction we either need to go on their
channels or they need to go on to ours and that is communicated through dispatches and goes on
the run ticket.” Much of the improvements need to come from a standardization of tools and
materials. Unfortunately there are departments that have more money than the others, causing
other departments to be behind in their communication technology. The departments are
currently all trying to be on the same communication technology that is able to adapt to each
other’s frequencies.
California Highway Patrol. A large majority of firefighters’ calls are traffic collisions,
making Highway Patrol the agency that the fire service most regularly works with. This means
that their relationship is the most established of all the other agencies, however they also seem to
butt heads the most. The relationship is continuing to improve because of the increased
communication between the two parties. Where problems arise is from differences in priorities
between the two. Los Angeles firefighter said, “One of our jobs is to protect ourselves when we

roll up on a scene, we will use our apparatus as a wall of protection. But when we do that, we’ll
block more lanes that are actually blocked by the accident to give us a good shadow to work
behind.” For highway patrol, anytime the freeway is closed notifications go all the way up to
Sacramento to the governor’s office; they want to get things open. This creates two different
objectives. Fire department is there with life safety objectives; the Highway Patrol is handling
commerce. High Patrol is dealing issues with people being delayed, “…they are thinking life
safety too but they are trying to push things a little bit more and that can lead to some friction
from time to time.” The difference now is the effort to resolve working issues. “We have had
several after incident meetings where we all got together and works things out.”
Highway Patrol is the Incident Commander on all traffic collisions. There have been
parameters put in place of how the two conduct and communicate with each other on an incident.
However, the Arroyo Grande firefighter explains, “There have been times when maybe there is
conflict between the CHP and the fire department because somebody didn’t do something or
whatever and it kind of boils over. I’ve seen those resolve with just again what happened, lets
resolve that, what’s your perspective, what’s our perspective, lets nip it in the butt and move
forward.” He talks about how the two companies can’t afford to not communicate or assume
anything because if, “…our clients, our community will suffer.” It forces the two to always try
and find the middle ground or be the better person to ensure the best service and safety.
Police/Sheriff. Previously there was surprisingly not a whole lot of communication
needed between the fire service and law enforcement. They would work together on health calls
caused by violence: responding to stabbings, domestic violence, and shootings. However, when
on a call together the two entities would let the other do their job and have minimal interaction.
Ventura County captain explained, “…law enforcement are doing their thing, the firefighters are

doing their thing. We have separate jobs but we’re on the same incident. And yeah we don’t have
communication. And it’s actually we’re working on now, its radios that are compatible with law
enforcement radios.” The catalyst to turn the corner in the relationship was the ‘Active Shooter’
program. It started because of the streak of the active shooter incidents, the starting at the
incident in Littleton, Colorado. The reason this program was launched is because of the amount
of people passing away in these mass shootings waiting for help as the event is taking place.
Santa Barbara firefighter said, “What they were finding for trauma patients, there is a period of
time they call the golden hour. What happens with the golden hour is if a trauma patient doesn’t
receive medical care, as in surgery within that first hour, their chances of survival drop
dramatically.” The reason why these trauma victims were not receiving medical attention is
because of the way police and firefighters handled those scenarios. “The law enforcement would
get on scene and set up a perimeter because they want to contain the suspects. First responders,
firefighters and ambulance, would set up outside and wait until they cleared the scene and that
would take longer than an hour and a lot of people expired while they were waiting for help.”
Since the conception of the Active Shooter program the relationship between law enforcement
and the fire service is more intertwined than ever. Ventura County Captain says that now,
…there is communication cross cultural lines and jurisdictional lines who [now] come together and train
together in a program where we work together. The positive thing about that is we learn a lot about their
culture, their language, they learn what we do. We work together in a stressful environment and we built
this working relationship that kind of crosses barriers. It’s really worked out, we’ve trained with over 1500
law enforcement officers in the county that was developed here. We’re on different frequencies than the
police officers and law enforcement. We’re working on that right now to get radios that have the
capabilities to be able to talk to them.

Hospital. The hospital and fire service have become intertwined because of the fire
department’s responsibility as a paramedic. Unlike their other relationships the hospital and
paramedics communicate by mobile phone. The fire department is in communication with the
hospital so often that the firefighter tells them over the phone everything they need filled out on
the sheet in order. They have the forms that need to be filled out memorized so they can be filled
out before they even arrive with the patient. This communication helps expedite the process to
more efficiently get the patient medical treatment.
Once the firefighter paramedics arrive at the hospital they are responsible for debriefing
the doctors. A firefighter paramedic said, “You will go in with 15 people in the room and you
have to debrief the situation in a minute or less and there are side conversations going on so you
have to be loud and clear. That can be pretty intimidating…” The fire service is handed many
daunting communication tasks, however the fire department does not put someone in that
position until they are properly prepared. The firefighter paramedic continued saying that, “…
they don’t just throw you in there. You would have a paramedic next to you to make sure you
relay all the necessary information. And you just get more comfortable as you do it more.”
The Community. The community is why the fire service is there. The fire department is
a career to protect civilians; they are the priority. “The community looks at the fire department
as an authority. You have to be confident when speaking to them, they are looking to you for
direction.” There are incredible amounts of trainings, meetings, and drills committed to
attempting to best protect the community from different situations. Santa Barbara firefighter
explains, “There is certain pre-planning in place for things like a catastrophe, an earthquake, a
tsunami, a flood. There are certain things that we already know that we are going to be
initiating, like I already know what my role is if we have an earthquake, and I already know what

my role is if there is a major fire.” He further explains how these plans and drills have been so
instilled that it is second nature when events occur. All this to ensure things don’t get worse
when things are already going wrong, and yet the fire department is still under a microscope.
When something goes wrong the community is going to know about it. The fire department is
expected to not make mistakes. So when a fire is put out and no property or person is hurt, there
is no recognition. This may sound similar to a bad riddle but the fire department is not there for
recognition. The fire department lives and dies with the community’s best interest in mind.
Fortunately, the fire department has been able to maintain a good reputation with the community.
An appearance from the fire department is usually greeted with a sigh of relief, opposed to how
the public views law enforcement.
Service/Education. The fire department believes their relationship with the community is
established far before an incident occurs. The fire department boasts of its community presence
and service. Their good standing with the community makes it easier for them to do their job
well when an incident does occur. Every station has made it a priority to have good relationship
with the nearby communities. Captain of a Ventura County station said, “[their station will] go
to the homeowners and talk to them about how to make their house safer, go to their community
meetings, and just being a presence out there.” The fire department is constantly having
community service events to close the gap even further between them and the community. “We
have a pancake breakfast for the community to show people what we are all about. The little kids
loved it. We gave out presents at Christmas to the kids over at the museum.” In addition to
putting on events for children of the community the fire department have programs to educate
adults. “…We try [to] be proactive by informing them how they can protect themselves in the
event of an emergency, prevention, education.” Motivating the public in a way that gives them

some control in their lives can bring a great deal of control to a chaotic situation. In Ventura
County they have launched a fire program called ‘Wildman’ and ‘Ready, Set, Go’. “[Now] in
the event of an emergency they know what to do, how to help themselves, and that does take a
big burden off us. We try to empower the public by way of keeping them informed and giving
them measures or actions they can take to help themselves.”
There is a federal program, the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which
is a volunteer group that helps the community in crisis situations. CERT is the majority of the
time trained and operated through the local fire department. The fire department invests their
time in educating this program to help “…instill a bit of calmness in the face of disaster.” The
CERT program takes a load off the shoulders of the fire department by helping bridge the gap
between them and the community in a crisis.
Notification. In the midst of an event the fire department does not have a lot of
interaction with the community. When notifying the community there are other things in place
to help warn the community. The CERT program will have representatives notifying the public
on a crisis that is happening. The Sheriffs are also responsible for distributing that information
to the community and possibly going door to door or over a public address system, more
commonly known as a P.A. Another tool to help notify the public is the reverse 9-1-1 call.
Santa Barbara firefighter explains, “We have a reverse 911 system that works very well for
people who have landline phones. Our dispatch will find the target if it’s a bad guy in their
neighborhood, a fire in their neighborhood, a mountain lion sighting. The dispatch will send a
reverse 911 call to the area; it’s kind of like a robo-call so that they can be informed that way.”
However, the fire department is trying to utilize alert texts because of the decrease of landline
phones in homes today. The fire department is responsible for so many tasks during an incident

that they do not have the capability of being able to address the community on their own.
However, there is one position within each fire department whose sole responsibility is public
correspondence.
Public Information Officer. The Public Information Officer (PIO) is a captain in the fire
department. They started as firefighters, worked their way up the ranks to captain at a station.
The PIO is an administration job within the fire department and works within the Incident
Command System (ICS). The PIO does not work at a station but has an office at the
department’s headquarters. Their responsibility is to get information out to the public. “…when
something goes wrong they send the Public Information Officer. My job is taking down
information constantly and when I get there I put it together in a way that the public can
understand it. I boil down to way that it is digestible for anyone.” The PIO is put through more
education to be able to better communicate with the public and trained for media relations and
communication. “… I take communication classes because I deal with the public directly. I took
a class yesterday for four and half hours on communication skills… it went over messaging.”
The Public Information Officers explained that their job description is being forced to
continually evolve with technology.
When I first got this job as Public Information Officer, I would spend a lot of time writing up a news
release, everything is perfect, I’d cross my t’s and dot my i‘s, and everything’s done, I’d put a little photo
with it and send it out. Now that the news media has changed so much, they don’t want that anymore. They
the facts and they want it fast. They want to be first they don’t want to necessarily be accurate a lot of the
times, but they want to be first. For me I have this news line sort of thing and I can update the news fairly
quickly, but I also use twitter so I can get my facts out really fast by twitter.

The job of PIO use to entail sitting down and typing a news release for an hour or two. The PIO
of Santa Barbara County explains at that point, “…it’s too late. So now I can take a photo with
my phone with some information and send it in two minutes.” People are getting their news
from an array of sources now, forcing the Public Information Officers to get the information out
in a plethora of ways. “Media is a huge tool for us, again a lot of information out over the news
broadcast, whether it’s breaking news. We give them information, we have a good relation [with
the reporters], they put that out and it’s very important.” By utilizing Twitter, Facebook, and the
technology we have today, the information is getting to where it needs to be faster than ever.
The Santa Barbara Public Information Officer says, “I use my phone as a guide. If my phone is
ringing and I’m at an incident, I’m not doing my job; I’m not answering questions. If my phone
is not ringing that means that everything is pretty good.”
Victims. The unfortunate reality of the fire department is that they cannot save everyone.
There are times where they show up on scene and there is nothing they can do for a person or
they show up and the victim has already passed. There is very little guidance for how
firefighters need to act in this situation, despite it being a common occurrence. “Usually it’s very
difficult for us, because we’re really not trained. It’s something that just kind of evolves.”
Dealing with the mourning of a family member of a victim is simply not something the fire
department is trained for. Most firefighters pull lessons from the experiences in their life to
apply to these situations. “I was left to console the mom who was hysterical. And it’s really
difficult, and it’s something you do your best and it’s all based on your life lessons, your own
experiences, the fact that you’re a mom or a dad. And it’s really difficult and it stays with you,
it’s not something you can just forget.” Most of the participants when asked the question how do
they communicate with a victim or victim’s family they either answered having to do with

respect or life experience. However, none of their answers talked about being trained for that or
being shown to do it a certain way. There is no training for communication between victim and
firefighter, despite the major role they have in these situations. The Arroyo Grande firefighter
explained how complicated being in that sort of situation is,
We kind of change gears and have to give support because these are very emotional times and we have to
be sympathetic to that because at the end of the day fire fighters are there to serve the community. There is
a lot of communication that has to take place in those situations. You need to find out if the victim has a
DOA, like a Death on Arrival, is there a legal certificate not to bring the person back if he or she flat-lines,
do I perform CPR? So there is a certain communications that we need to have with the spouse, the people
there at the care facility. But again it is all about communication.
The fire department’s top priority is to save lives and property. However, their job is made much
more complicated when having to see if the victim has documents asking not to be saved. The
possibility of a lawsuit for saving a person’s life has made it much more difficult on the fire
department to save lives. With the amount of responsibilities on the firefighters’ plate during
these sorts of incidents in addition to the added communication for legal purposes, the fire
department in most cases calls a chaplain. The captain communicates with the family of the
victim what has happened and asks if they would like a chaplain to come of their religious
denomination. “My captain is the lead for communicating with the family, not myself. He or
she makes the determination to call the chaplain, find out what their religious beliefs are. You
have to turn to running a code and trying to save somebody’s life to becoming a conduit of
support. We’ll ask if they want us to call a chaplain or call somebody from your church, any
family.” Even though the fire department has contacts for better-qualified people to handle the
emotional event they are often caught having to be the support for the mourning family. “…We
will stay if somebody wants us there, we will stay or we will find someone to stay until they are

not needed.” And when they are faced with this heavy task they lean on the experiences of their
own lives as a parent, sibling, and friend.
Communication Training
Communication is held as one of the most important attributes to have as a firefighter. It
is utilized in every facet of the career, and yet there is little to no training specifically for
communication skills. The hypothesis of this study was that the amount of training for
communication was unsatisfactory and that firefighters desire more communication training.
According to the qualitative data acquired is that there is very little training to no training
specifically geared towards communication skills, but there is little desire for implementation of
required communication classes. When asked if there should be communication training
implemented the overall response was neutral to negative. “I think offered would be a better
way to put it,” “Not formally. Maybe a class offered and available,” “…it wouldn’t hurt,” a few
of the responses. This was found extremely interesting, especially because each of the
participants felt as though they had been properly prepared. If there is seldom training for
communication how do the firefighters prepare for the rigorous communications of the fire
service? If there was any concept that came up over and over when it came to acquiring the
necessary communication skills was learning from experience and mentorship.
Mentorship. Since the fire service’s conception the veteran firefighters mentor the
oncoming firefighters. It has been a tradition to forge the new firefighters with all the best
attributes of the firefighters before them. A Ventura County captain explains that the rookies “…
work three months at one station, three months at another, and then three more at one more, plus
throughout their career they are working with a ton of people. So they are picking up mentors

and people with different skills and the beauty of the whole thing…” Each rookie is going to
pick and choose the attributes of the multiple mentors they have and try to emulate them. Then
hopefully all of those great qualities from several firefighters now will be embedded into one
firefighter to ensure the generation of firefighters now is better than the last. A captain from
Ventura County said, “We have a focus on succession, which has really become important the
last few years of my career. I think to myself, ‘wow I’m not going to be here for forever, what
am I leaving behind for these guys.’”
A Los Angeles City probationary firefighter gave an insight of what it is like in one’s first
year as a firefighter. “You are being evaluated every single day. You have your mentors who are
looking after you…[and] grading you. The first year is about learning the best that you can. We
get proficiency exercises they will pick a tool on the truck like a chainsaw, rotary saw. Then you
give a lecture in front of the crew and then you demonstrate that you can use the tool…” To be a
rookie on a fire station has intense mental demands. There is so much to learn and for better or
worse, “You have to just learn by experience. The longer you have been in the better you know
how to handle the situation.” This does not mean that rookie firefighters are metaphorically
thrown into the fire as soon as they get out of the academy. The first year is all about learning
and then more responsibilities are given the longer one is in the fire service. The captain has the
communication responsibilities. The captain gives the orders to the other engines, makes sure
the scene is clear to do their job, and give news to victims’ families. “He is picking up their
skills. It’s not his job on that scene where the person is going nuts where he has to deal with it,
it’s the officers job, so he has got to see it more and knows how to talk people down and how to
get into it. [That’s] how they learn a lot of it.” The firefighters are busy putting out the fire,
dealing with injuries, and recovering people from totaled cars. It is not their job yet to have to

give orders, explanations, and condolences. “When something happens you are doing all the
busy work and you get to observe those in charge of communicating to the families, until one
day you are in charge and you have to apply all you learned just from watching.”
Experience. Once a firefighter gets to the point of captain and is responsible for giving
orders, explanations, and condolences they must rely on both their experiences from the fire
service and life alike. A Santa Barbara County captain shed some light on the transition into a
communication role, “Usually it’s very difficult for us, because we’re really not trained. It’s
something that just kind of evolves.” Fire captains are placed in some of the most difficult
situations that one can deal with. Attempting to soothe a person who has lost a loved one
tragically does not come easy. The captain continued by saying,
That is one of the most difficult things we have to deal with is to try and settle someone down. I know one
thing that will probably stick with me forever is a young child was dying, and I happened to be the last one
who walked into the door. And so four guys were working on the child so I was left to console the mom
who was hysterical. And it’s really difficult, and it’s something you do your best and it’s all based on your
life lessons, your own experiences, the fact that you’re a mom or a dad and it’s really difficult. And it stays
with you, it’s not something you can just forget.
Multiple participants brought up this concept of reaching into one’s private life to help console
someone in the face of a tragedy. A Ventura County captain adds, “you are learning it on the
job, you are learning it off the job. Even being in a married relationship, knowing how to speak
to your wife as funny as that sounds it translates into this job.” It is not something that comes
naturally to a person and it is an emotional event that is difficult to simulate. Unfortunately it is
a part of the job a captain will have to be a part of multiple times and they learn something each
time. The Ventura County captain said, “I have realized that through the years, I have gotten

better. So I think it falls on experience.” That was the main argument against implementing
formal training for communication. They believe that one only learns from being in that sort of
situation, and that there is no way to replicate a realistic enough situation to make real strides in
performance.
Improvement Emphasis. A fire captain gave insight into what makes a successful
firefighter, “Look at yourself, critique yourself first, learn new stuff. This is a career where you
need to be constantly improving and if you are staying the same then you are falling behind.”
Several participants spoke of how important the continuing to educate one’s self is a part of the
fire service. There are so many facets to the fire service that one can learn or specialize in that
education is always apart of the job. One can strive to be knowledgeable in all the facets of the
fire department’s operations or focus to specialize in one in particular. One can go into Urban
Search and Rescue, Hazardous Materials, Water Rescue, as well as several other avenues. In
addition to that ongoing education there is also a required amount of education to keep
firefighters licenses updated, “We are faced with so much mandatory training and things that we
have to do constantly just to keep our certification and keep our skills up.” The fire service has
made it a priority to keep all its members sharp and continuing to improve.
Along with the continued education, the debriefings are also a way to ensure that they are
doing everything they can as a department. “And we talk a lot, we communicate an awful lot;
prior to the call, during the call, and after the call. It’s a great trait, you learn off it.” The fire
department has an emphasis on making sure no stone is left unturned to help improve their
service. It is addressed when a call goes well, if a call goes bad, if there was a problem within
their operation, or that the fire department and another agency clashed. Arroyo Grande
firefighter explained that whenever a call isn’t executed to their standard they will research what

went wrong and then debrief the department. It does not matter if it is a small matter of the fire
truck not getting there fast enough because of subpar dispatch communication or a larger more
devastating mistake; it is always discussed and improved. The smaller incidents might just be
debriefed to one station but if the incident is large enough the lesson could be echoed across the
country to make sure they do not make the same mistake twice. Ventura County firefighter
spoke of a miscommunication at a Santa Barbara wildland fire saying, “Whenever we have a
failure like that it gets disseminated out to the entire state often through the country. So we
definitely grab hold in the areas of our weakness and we make it stronger. That’s a real tradition
of the fire service to make sure we don’t make those mistakes again.”
Analysis
The original reason to perform this study was based on the hypothesis that the fire service
desired more formal training for communicating in their job. However, there is not an
overwhelming want for a communication class to be required. Although, many did express that
implementation of a communication course could be beneficial for many firefighters beside
themselves. As much as teaching through mentorship works well for a lot of firefighters, some
firefighters do not learn that way and desire additional resources to ensure they can best service
their community. In the spirit of the firefighter tradition this study is going to leave something
behind to attempt to better the fire service. There are a few additional protocols this study would
suggest implementing. These theoretical protocols were made based on suggestions from
firefighters as well as observations made during this study.

Communication Training.
One way or another there should be more efforts to educate the fire service in
communicating. It is acknowledged that the firefighters are already required to go through a lot
of classes throughout their career, however this should not make them exempt from sharpening
arguably the most important attribute a firefighter carries.
Required Class. One of the concerns with requiring an additional required class to the
fire department’s regimen is that there are already a lot of required classes. The fire industry has
been faced with many new advancements in technology that has or could improve their service.
A required communication course annually would help bridge the gap between the generations
working together as well as sharpen their under trained communication skills. If the department
wants all its members to be equally equipped to handle their equipment, a required class is the
solution. The class could incorporate public speaking with an emphasis with public safety, new
technology instruction, interagency communication, as well as how to deal with a person in
different scenarios. This class is meant to provide additional tools that can be utilized every day
in the fire service. Not only will the captains be more prepared to deal with their responsibilities
but also it can lift the overall communication of the department.
Multiple firefighters expressed concern about how technology may be negatively
affecting their work. The worry is about the lack of adaptability from the veteran firefighters
with the new technology introduced to the department. There was a concern that the fire
department is not where it should be from a technology standpoint because the resistance to
change from the older generation of firefighters. The suggestion was to have them be reeducated
on the current communication standards with the new technology so that it can be second nature

like it is for the new and incoming firefighters. However, there was also unease from the other
end. A captain brought up the concern for a decline in communication skills from the incoming
generation of firefighters because of being raised in the text message/social media era. He
admitted the next generation may actually be quicker and more efficient in their communication,
however the quality and clarity in how the new generation communicates is suffering.
There are clearly some concerns with the communication among the fire department
despite the resistance to add more education. The fire captains are already required to complete
communication training because of their unique responsibilities to the public. Why not open
those classes to the entire department. They can either expand the class size and course load to
educate the entire group or create additional classes to have smaller class sizes and more focused
materials.
Offered Class. For one reason or another, the fire department decides to not pursue
initiating a required communication course there are alternatives. An offered class was the more
accepted idea among the participants. They believed that the concept was a necessary and
helpful addition to their education, but they did not believe they needed it personally. It is this
response that makes it seem important that the communication education is required instead of
offered. Despite their pride in continuing to improve themselves, the firefighters do not want to
volunteer themselves for a course that isn’t required. However, if this is the way the fire
department decided to go it should incorporate a referral system. It became obvious in the
participants’ accounts that many of the firefighters in the department need additional help with
communication skills. Assigning firefighters who need further education outside of mentorship
can benefit from a more focused communication curriculum and be caught up if not strive in the

fire service’s communications. This may lead to firefighters feeling insecure after being pointed
out for their struggles, however creating the best firefighter possible is the goal.
Captain Led Class. There is nothing that helps one learn more effectively than being
able to teach someone else. Fire captains are the only position as of now that take a class
specifically geared towards communication. In increasing what the course covers and adding
station education presentations to the curriculum the fire captain will solidify more of the
information he learned as well as educating his station. This route is probably the most cost
effective if budget is an issue. If the courses were made up of six class days spread out over
three weeks, the class would require the captain to create and give a presentation on the
important lessons he would like to implement or emphasize to the station. This could be one
final project for the course or a weekly assignment; it can be done in a variety of different ways.
If this concept is done right it can be a great alternative to a required class.
Technology
Today is a very dynamic time and the fire service is not immune to that, just like any
other industry. There is technology out there that will improve the fire service not only from a
communication standpoint but also in many other areas. There is a need to stay on top on that
new technology to ensure the best service. However, one must understand that technology and
training marry up. One needs to recognize that when you are introducing new technology to the
fire service you are altering the training and have to implement new training so the fire service is
improving not digressing. Making sure the equipment is being used to its fullest capacity.
Training is not enjoyable, but if it means gaining technology that improves the rate of speed the

department is getting the information, responding to calls, and diagnosing the problem, it can
create better firefighters and in result save more lives.
Webinar. When implementing new protocols for communication, technology, or other
information there has to be new training or classes implemented. This fact can slow the process
of evolution for the fire department because of the time and money that it takes to train an entire
department. A way to help overcome this obstacle in fire department modernization is to update
the way trainings are accomplished. These courses do not necessarily have to be in physical
classrooms. With the emergence of videotelephony applications like Facetime, Skype, and
Tango there is no reason information cannot be dispersed through virtual meetings.
There is so much information and experience that the country’s fire departments can
share with each other to improve the way the fire service operates. This is information that can
be constantly be shared and discussed, and yet they are so isolated from each other because the
fire department has yet to become technically current. Teleconferences are utilized everyday in
Fortune500 companies, there is no reason the fire service cannot benefit from this way. This
grants the country’s fire departments real time information rather than waiting and gradually
getting classes started to get information out. As it stands now, important information is being
held everyday from the rest of the country because it takes too much to disperse it. As soon as
the information is out there and has been analyzed and collected, the data should just be flowing
throughout the state or the country. There are so many small technological updates that can be
implemented into the fire service, updates that could greatly elevate the department’s situational
awareness. Whether they put into operation devices that expedite the process in which they
receive information on an incident or even device to raise the knowledge about each firefighter
in an event.

Self-Monitoring. A small step towards becoming a more technically savvy department
would be to issue firefighters a heart rate monitor for when they are training or on call. This can
increase firefighters’ self-awareness tremendously. One of the firefighters interviewed shared
that he would wear a heart rate monitor when he was a paramedic. He would wear it to notify
himself when the stress of the situation was getting to him so he could attempt to calm himself.
The heart rate monitor would beep once his heart rate hit 100 beats per minute (bpm). His heart
rate would spike not because of the physical activity, but from the stress and adrenaline from the
situation. Once one’s heart rate goes above 100 bpm a person loses a lot of cognition. They lose
a lot of their focus and rational and experience tunnel vision. That is why it is important to train
above that threshold and keep calm and comfortable despite the stress factors affecting the body.
Many athletic programs have utilized heart monitors as a part of their training and performances,
including here at the University of Southern California. It is utilized to ensure the athletes are
able to perform under the stressors of their body being put through situations of high intensity.
Many athletic programs have found this technology tremendously helpful, and yet their objective
does not implicate life-threatening scenarios.
This technology can be utilized to help firefighters understand how their body reacts to
certain stimuli, how to calm their heart rate, as well as how to stay focused with a high heart rate.
When the adrenaline and the stress of an incident are high is when communication skills are most
critical. It is important for firefighters to have knowledge of these factors about heart rate and
how it relates to rationality and focus. Unfortunately this information is only dispersed in the
communication training for captains. They educate the captains on the effects of heart rate to
understand irrational citizens and how to handle them. This information should be shared with
every member of the fire department to ensure good practice by ensuring great self-awareness.

DiPoalo, Giovanni C597 (2015054) [21803]

DiPoalo, Giovanni C597 (2015054) [21803]

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