Last week, we read the news about a young man wearing a fire department T-shirt who was goofing around as a passenger in a car. He was filmed by a witness who made the video public – and it went viral. This led to the firefighter’s suspension from the department.
I had been thinking about how young people in particular need to be educated about the power of social media and the need to keep their fire service identities separate from any personal acts. After all, someone is always watching, and any action taken in a public forum could become clickbait on social media. On the other hand, it’s important that organizations and their leaders avoid overreacting in response to minor transgressions of youth. After all, we all did impulsive and stupid things when we were young, and it would be a shame to dismiss an otherwise good member due to one bad act.
That last conclusion does not apply to some more recent incidents that have emerged.
Assassination attempt comments
Two similar social media gaffes hit the news this week, both related to comments posted following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, an incident where bystanders were injured and one killed:
- Pa. fire chief resigns after sharing social media post following Trump assassination attempt
- Pa. fire captain resigns after social media post about Trump rally shooting goes viral
Let’s just say the officers noted what they had hoped for as an “alternative” outcome to the shooting.
There are three critical differences between the joyriding firefighter and the captain and chief who commented on the assassination attempt:
- The content of the behavior: While described by one person as “dark humor,” the shooting-related posts alluded to violence and were clearly inappropriate, under any circumstances.
- The position of the person posting that content: Who were the shooting-related posts made by? It wasn’t an immature new firefighter but rather a captain and a chief – people who had been selected by their organizations to advance into positions of trust and leadership; people who are supposed to be setting standards and the example that others will follow.
- The voluntary, public nature of the content: The shooting-related posts were made public voluntarily. No one secretly recorded these people saying what they did. The two officers resigned from their positions as a result of these incidents. And rightly so. They used poor judgment, and that, more than anything else, is what gets firefighters in trouble. The community demands more from its emergency responders.
It’s all about decision-making
Sometimes, when I was teaching a class on a topic like diversity or harassment, participants would demand that specific rules be given for behavior. They wanted a list of what they could or could not do, with anything not specifically addressed being assumed to be OK. But that is not the world we live in, and it is certainly not the essence of a firefighter’s job.
Being a firefighter is all about exercising judgment and making good decisions. Training can address basic skills and provide guidelines for strategy and tactics. Firefighters can learn by studying others’ responses and outcomes. But every fire, every rescue, every medical call is different and requires unique decision-making based on the circumstances at hand.
The same is true for professional behavior outside the realm of emergency response. Guidelines can be stated for using social media. Some obvious ones would include not making threats, not libeling anyone, not violating confidentiality. But written guidelines and rules can never cover every contingency. If you only want people to follow rules and never use their personal judgment, being a firefighter wouldn’t be that hard. What is most challenging is making good decisions, especially under pressure.
If there had to be one rule to follow, it would be this: Never do anything that violates the trust of your coworkers and your community. Firefighters are among a select group of people who are assumed to be trustworthy and whose ability to function depends on that trust. Destroy that trust and you’re out of business.
Firefighters depend on one another in emergency situations, and they also need to depend on each other in other circumstances. If someone is in the process of making a bad decision, say something. Speaking up in this way not only protects a coworker but also firefighters generally, since the bad act of one reflects on everyone.
