November 2006

Media Monitor

“[T]he fire service does in inadequate job of meeting the emotional needs of its membership,” wrote Scott Ferguson in Fire Chief. The inadequacy shows up in how departments deal with the symptoms of stress, like alcohol abuse. According to Ferguson, a deputy chief from Peoria, Arizona, with a master’s degree in management and psychology, most departments take better care of their apparatus than members’ emotional well-being. He wrote: “Every so often, the department’s mechanic lifts the hood to change the oil, tighten the belts and grease the zerk fittings. It’s time that we pledge to grease our members’ emotional zerks.” Ferguson suggests getting management and unions to work together to identify qualified counselors and make them fire service savvy. But even “with a clear set of guidelines in place, regular training and significant buy-in, the process most likely will fail,” Ferguson wrote. But, keep trying. “Psychology is not a perfect science, and neither is personnel management,” he suggested. “We can no longer scurry into the darkness.”

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