Our profession often has been tagged with a reputation for resisting change. Practically everyone has heard some variation of the old cliché that the fire service is “300 years of tradition unhampered by progress.” But the cliché is absolutely wrong. We should substitute another expression: “The fire service is 300 years of progress guided by traditional values of courage, commitment and competency to protect our communities.”

If you look closely, there's ample proof that the fire service is changing by adding new tools to those we already use to protect life and property. Last year at Fire-Rescue International, a Technology Expo provided many attendees with information and knowledge on a series of innovative solutions. This same information may help your fire agency continue to be a community leader in innovation.

There are two ways to help you and the members of your department determine how and when new technologies can be introduced to your organization: the change process and the wave of change.

Ways to accept change

To begin the change process you must start by acquiring knowledge. This acquisition isn't hard to do and can be done in a fairly short time frame. Once a person has acquired knowledge, he or she has to choose to accept or reject it. That decision prompts an individual's action to change. Once individuals begin to change, then organizations also change.

Almost every day we're given the chance to obtain knowledge about emerging technologies that can be of assistance to our organization if we look around. The degree to which you and your organization's members accept these ideas can begin the process of adoption. Of course, adaptation to meet your specific needs is another matter!

The second model is the wave of change that occurs from the creation of a new idea to its eventual acceptance as a mainstream concept and finally to its potential demise as an accepted practice. This model points out that all new ideas must go through a period of being considered, made to work in the real world, adopted by those who want to be on the leading edge of change and then made part of the way we do things in a modern world.

Once an organization has seen the way that a technology can help it, its members have a choice to make as to whether a particular solution can improve the organization's overall efficiency or effectiveness. Some ideas eventually become obsolete and abandoned because they no longer function.

The argument that the fire service is traditional has its roots in the symbolism of the fire service. For example, we often use the speaking trumpet as a symbol of the fire officer. At one point that was the state of the art in fireground communications. The speaking trumpet was replaced by the radio, and the radio has now progressed to the point where both voice and data aren't transmitted but flow like water.

No fire officer today would proceed to the fireground using a pewter trumpet to command and control an event. What this means is that tradition and technology are inter-related. As technology gains acceptance in the fire service, it comes to represent what firefighters do. The wooden ax, the leather helmet all of our tools are symbols that reflect part of the job. But today's toolbox is much bigger. Axes have been supplemented with power tools, and the fire helmet has evolved to meet today's demands.

Evolution of tools

Technology is the tool of the well-informed, and it's instrumental in leveraging a person, a department and perhaps even a whole profession to a higher level of accomplishment. Consider the many engineering contests based on creating a firefighting robot. Robots have been developed for various applications in the fire service and actually have been put into service for such tasks as dealing with bombs and hazmat situations.

Who knows when a firefighting robot design will emerge that works for us. But if the past is any indication of the future, the evolution of technology will create a newer and more sophisticated way of doing the job. From bucket brigades to hose carts to today's engine company, the fire service has been marked by many successes and some failures, but progress always has depended on the professional making it work.

Those who visited the Technology Expo at Fire-Rescue International in Dallas were reminded that the ability to cope with change doesn't start with the purchase order. It starts with an idea. The more knowledge that you have of how technology functions and the more you apply that knowledge to your department and your problems, the more likely the solution will be accepted within your organization.

Time stands still for no one, and the speed of ideas is a function of the base from which these new ideas spring forth. Expo visitors felt very free to question anything that they saw. They challenged the vendors. They explored possibilities. The goal was to understand what made the technology work. Some rejected ideas that didn't meet their criteria of being useful, but many continued to focus on those things that gave their fire agency the competitive edge to win the ancient battle to protect lives and property from the ravages of fire.

Throughout the year, Fire Chief will highlight the types of technologies that are evolving today. Taken together, these articles will create a snapshot of the future. If you're on the same wave of change, perhaps your department will become the early adopter of the next generation of the fire service's latest “traditional” solutions.

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With more than 40 years in the fire service, Ronny J. Coleman has served as fire chief in Fullerton and San Clemente, Calif., and was the fire marshal of the State of California from 1992 to 1999. He is a certified fire chief and a master instructor in the California Fire Service Training and Education System. A Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, he has an associate's degree in fire science, a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in vocational education.