“Last month at the Fire Department Safety Officers Association’s 2026 FDSOA Health, Safety and Apparatus Conference, there were some candid and strong conversations about firefighter safety, from firefighter mental health and wellness and cancer to on-scene operations and emergency vehicle operations. The collection of people who gathered at the event was a hybrid of those who function as safety officers, chiefs and officers who are looking for the latest findings and to bring home wellness and safety programs and those who are focused on ensuring that members return to the station after every call.
In one session, an attendee commented about the fact that most of the weekly safety messages that he introduced to his department via email were unread or deleted. They weren’t inspirational quotes, he later shared with me, but 30-second reads that were pulled from an article, report or story that was shared with him. He was trying to get his members to pull little nuggets from each email and spark a positive change, this after his region saw a firefighter die in a house fire, two serious apparatus crashes and a group of firefighters diagnosed with cancer in a short period of time.
He shared that he wanted to create a positive outcome for his members and spark a fire that would have area fire departments look at ways to reduce the incidents that were occurring, taking the lives of their friends or preventing them from returning to work.
Oftentimes in a fire department—or a business—they say that the root cause of “problems” is systemic, whether in regard to policies or equipment, and rarely do fingers get pointed at the people who ignore policies and procedures. Now, insofar as the dynamic world of firefighter responses, I’m not saying that policies must be follow to a T, but most policies are created because of a “been there, done that” scenario that resulted in a negative outcome.
Back to the people aspect: One person can have a positive effect. That effect can be powerful and change and save lives. Firefighters see that every day, more so than most people ever will experience: