Every profession has a list of what to do and what not to do based on the body of knowledge developed throughout the ages. Some have developed these lists as an oath. Physicians promise to “do no harm,” Marines to be “always faithful” and police officers to “protect and to serve.”

We, too, have a long list of dos and don'ts, bought and paid for by the blood of those who have gone before us. These are life-lessons that should stand the test of time, but we have all been guilty of letting our number-one killer — complacency — seduce us into forgetting those lessons. If we forget, we will repeat these lessons at a great cost, greater than the price already paid.

In early 1980, an East Coast fire department experienced a line-of-duty death. The lessons were clear to the fire service; the improvements and preventative actions became common practice. More than 20 years later, this same fire department suffered an identical occurrence with the same fatal outcome. Another department repeated those circumstances, and another firefighter is dead.

As trainers, we are challenged to share these critical lessons for the benefit of our newer, younger and less-experienced members, but we also need to refresh the skills of the veterans. If we don't make the effort, we are doomed to lose the benefit of the sacrifices that have been made, the lessons that have been identified and the progress that should be their legacy.

I've been involved in sharing case studies for the health and safety of our members for more than a decade. I am grieved and weary at the number of members who are dying on a seemingly regular and routine basis. The campaigns, training sessions, videos, lectures, demos, columns, courses and posters have not made a significant or sincere bearing on the annual number of fatalities. In one aberrant year we reduced the LODD rate by nearly 25% by focusing (collectively) on wellness, fitness, and occupational health and safety. Unfortunately, we could neither sustain nor replicate that feat once in the past 15 years.

I am again going to share some of the most-basic safety rules that should be written on all hearts and minds. These may be new to some; some of you have heard these before but have become complacent. Many of you will remember the specific incident or event that I'm referring to. Others of you will personally match the event with the faces of those who gave their all. Good for you. Don't ever forget, for then such sacrifice is not in vain.

These lessons aren't the only 10, nor are they the critical 10 or any other superlative. These are just 10 of the situations that again and again kill our friends. They deprive families of some of the finest human beings ever to walk the planet. It's for their sake that I'll give it one more shot. These rules are:

1. Until all responders are seated and belted and the doors are closed and locked, we will not put the fire apparatus in drive. All of us are responsible for using, enforcing and maintaining a mandatory seatbelt policy. All 7-year-old children can perform this consistently, yet many adult “professionals” still are having trouble.

2. At defensive fires where we elect to use master streams on initial attack because of fire volume and intensity, we will not downgrade to small handlines and rapidly enter the structure for final knockdown and extinguishment. A slow, methodical structural assessment is in order before we commit personnel to the interior.

3. Drivers will not back up if there is no backup spotter available. Spotters must maintain a situational awareness of the hazards present when working around backing apparatus. Whenever the spotter and the driver lose eye contact in the mirror for any reason, the vehicle must stop.

4. Apparatus responding with lights and siren will stop at all uncontrolled intersections and all uncontrolled railroad crossings. Apparatus will come to a full stop at all red lights and stop signs while responding.

5. We will never allow a member of the team to leave the firefight alone to change out an SCBA bottle, or to run a message outside or to do any other task or activity. We always will arrive together, go in together and go home together.

6. If we can't put a minimum of 500gpm at the point of fire impingement on a flammable liquid pressurized tank, we will isolate, evacuate and let the fire do its thing.

7. In any reported fire in an area where explosives are said to be stored, we will isolate, deny entry and stay at a safe location until we have either confirmed that the explosives aren't involved or until the fire burns out. We won't bring victims or the exposures to the fire.

8. In a well-involved fire in a vacant commercial structure with no exposures, we will not risk the lives of firefighters for a vague, unconfirmed report of persons inside.

9. We won't ever breathe smoke, vapors, powders, mists and other exotic materials without appropriate respiratory protection. PASS devices will always be on and supervisors will know where we are, what we're doing and when we're supposed to be back.

10. We won't ever operate outside the established incident command system. If we are off-duty or on-call, we will check in to the command/accountability system before we go to work. This includes when we are in pairs, on a team or part of a company. When a fire company makes up its own rules and assignment, it's still freelancing.

We have to improve our performance. There are no more excuses. One of the most common methods we use to do this is through training and exercises. We also must avoid complacency by enforcing the standards and procedures that exist in our organization. A seatbelt must be worn by every member, period. SCBA must be donned on every event where respiratory hazards exist. Period. We are all either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Firefighters, do your jobs. Follow the rules. Don't take unnecessary chances and look out for your team. Hold them accountable and ask them to do the same for you.

Officers, set the example and “inspect what you expect.” Don't turn a blind eye to complacency. If you have been part of the problem, draw a line in the sand and start over. Every day is a new opportunity to start fresh.

I know of a West Coast fire department that had a driver burned from gasoline at a vehicle fire. At the time, the department had a policy of allowing personnel to wear brush pants or “day pants” on non-structural responses. After the incident, the administration didn't immediately change the policy. Instead, they told their company officers to “lead by example” and start putting on bunker pants and boots on vehicle-related calls for service. On the first vehicle fire after the event, the firefighters were looking to see what the officers' PPE choice was, and 100% of the personnel followed the lead. A new practice was established with the power and authority of trusted leadership instead of the bureaucratic stroke of the pen.

Chief officers, set the organizational tone. Is it friendship and social relationships that you crave, or will you step up to the plate by offering immediate feedback for positive steps that you see and immediate correction of negative behaviors and complacent activities? You may alienate the lazy by pushing them up to the standard, but those who are playing by the rules and those who strive for organizational improvement will respect you as an officer who cares about their welfare and isn't afraid to take corrective actions for the good of the order.

How do we reduce the number of firefighters who are dying among us? We need leaders who will lead and followers who will support them. And we need peers who evoke positive peer pressure to sustain these efforts until they are part of our habitual, daily routine.

We mustn't keep doing the same thing and expect different results. These firefighter deaths and injuries that you and I have witnessed throughout our careers are preventable. If we expect different results, we have to do business differently today than we did yesterday.

I recently sat with a chief officer who lost a member during an emergency response. He looked me in the eye and told me that the fire service is responsible for this tragic event. I don't disagree with him. But I'm not a member of his department and I'm not a member of your department. And I'm not in one of your fire stations — you are.

John Linstrom is a senior associate with Citygate Associates, a municipal consulting practice in Sacramento, Calif. He's an adjunct faculty member for Texas A&M University and the National Fire Academy. Linstrom currently serves as a battalion chief/paramedic in Apple Valley, Calif. He also serves as commander of the DHS/FEMA DMORT for Region IX and has been involved in the national USAR program since 1996.