What do George Washington, Isaac Newton and Firefighter PhDs Have In Common?
We should all be wondering how the American fire service blundered along for so long without the “degreed fire fighter”. We are now in an era when many promotions and certainly those to the officer ranks often require a Bachelor degree. It has been said that some fire departments even require an Associate degree in order to be considered for employment. In fact, it’s not unheard of for Bachelor and Graduate degrees or higher to be necessary for the most senior positions.
Do any of the functional positions on Fire/Rescue companies really require a college degree? They demand a very high level of technical expertise and professionalism but it’s hard to imagine that being able to recite Chaucer or discuss the latest article from the Harvard Business Review will make you more effective at the point of delivery in our business.
Firefighters, paramedics and company officers are analogous to enlisted personnel and non-commissioned officers who require superb training programs closely targeted to their direct and associated job tasks. If a Marine Corps non-commissioned officer ranked E-5 and above can supervise a unit of thirty or more personnel with a high school diploma, or in some cases a GED, surely a company officer within the fire department can oversee three or four individuals without having a college degree. Requiring degrees for these personnel, many of whom will never be administrators of any kind, is not only costly but a serious distraction from their continuing preparation for duty.
Boston Globe
When we automatically or blindly equate the need for a college education with the competence necessary to be an effective line fire fighter, paramedic or company officer we are committing an egregious error and perpetuating a false myth. All of the high priority tasks necessary to check a fire, make a rescue or treat a critically ill or injured patient can be learned outside of a college environment. We have come to believe that knowledge and wisdom require letters after your name.
Isaac Newton, scientist, philosopher and mathematician, is regarded as being one of the most influential people in world history. His contributions in math, gravitation and mechanics are titanic. One of his greatest discoveries, of the forces of gravity, was based on basic intuition after watching an apple fall from a tree. Yet Newton was partially schooled at home, was described as a middling student at Cambridge and avoided high academic honors as they conflicted with his personal views.
In 1775 and again in 1787, when the smartest (and most educated) men in America met in Philadelphia to first choose a general to lead the War for Independence and then to choose the person to oversee the creation of a government for our Country, they settled on one of the least educated among them, George Washington. (One of those men, Thomas Jefferson, schooled at the College of William and Mary, and the brilliant author of the Declaration of Independence, referred to Washington as a “fox” calling attention to his intellect and cunning.) George Washington, whose father died when he was young, had little formal schooling and was chosen for his experience, bravery, judgment and character–great qualities for a firefighter, all.
So the answer to the question posed in the title is that they have absolutely nothing in common. Now, George, Isaac and the veteran firefighter with a high school diploma, or God forbid, a GED, who is also an experienced expert in his field—that’s another story.
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Ready For More Credentialing?
Comments OffCredential Us?
The Federal government is about to step up the credentialing process once again. If you recall, several fire service personnel were players in the last credentialing effort and completed the fire service piece of the initiative in 2005. Currently Federal agencies are racing forward to credential their employees and will soon focus on first responders. We as a profession and all of our associated special operations leaders must stay tuned and ensure we are fully engaged in the process to solidify our rightful place in prevention, preparedness, response and recovery operations involving natural and manmade disasters.
As time passes, credentialing may be required to be eligible for Federal reimbursement for operations prior to, during and after a federally declared disaster. Other implications include certification to become a recognized asset in federal and state databases when request for assets are made from federal or state EOCs. Fire and EMS services have the potential and means to make a huge difference in national and regional emergencies when the first waves of fire and EMS departments and communities are overwhelmed.
Let’s be honest. When a fire chief or EMS incident commander has run out of local and regional human or material resources, they will most like to see their own kind rolling into the staging area. These are people who know the vernacular, are trained and skilled in the equipment needed and understand command and control operations. Firefighters are also nimble and able to adapt to changing conditions and required tasks.
What is our responsibility? Our responsibility is to figure out a process where local public firefighters and EMS personnel can be organized, trained, credentialed and deployed to these major disasters in support of their comrades. The US Fire Administration is working to ensure this opportunity for the American fire service is given its best chance for success.
Just my thinking.