Firefighters consistently score highly on the most trusted professions in surveys. However, you can’t please everyone all the time — and sometimes it’s firefighters themselves who are responsible for dragging the good name of the fire service through the mud. In today’s political climate and with the heroism of the 9/11 response a distant memory to many, fire departments are under increasing scrutiny from the public.
So we asked our Facebook community what might help make the public trust firefighters more. We got some disbelief that anyone wouldn’t trust firefighters, but we also got some great suggestions (“Two words... chili cookoff” - Eric Fischl). See our top picks here, and add your own suggestions in the member comments.
Q. What would make the public trust firefighters more?
A. Keeping on-duty behavior in check
“Better background checks. Chief officers not using their work vehicles for personal stuff.” - Robert Schmidt
“Maybe if firefighters took a moment to think before doing something stupid, and considered the consequences, the public would trust us more. Nothing creates negative publicity quite like the brainless, immature things firefighters and fire officers do that puts their department, and the fire service as a whole, in a bad light.” - Christine Sarracino
“Not horseplaying on scene or in public view whatsoever.” - Ryan Claypool
“No beer in the firehouse.” - Aaron DePack
“Just stay humble, smile to the public, and do your job. Don’t give them a reason to not trust you. Keep it simple.” - Joshua Tiemann
A. Improving public outreach
Photo Offutt Air Force Base via Flickr
“Quit taking pics of bad wrecks or dead people and posting them on Facebook! ... not letting [people] wear anything with a department logo off-duty. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen drunk idiots at the river or at a bar with a department shirt or hat on acting like an idiot. We as a whole are doing it to ourselves! Let’s start using some common sense, which isn’t that common anymore.” - Robert Schmidt
“Having people go through more Citizens’ Fire Academies like we have here in Gwinnett County, Ga., would be a big help! Learning about everything our FFs do was an eye-opening experience for me!” - Elizabeth Kane Carter
“Get out and interact more with the public instead of hiding in the firehouse all day.” - Sean Hoang
“A lot of it has to do with departments not having the money to get out there and show the public what they do.” - Jill Stever
“The departments have to start putting on demos again during fire safety week. Like what FDNR did.” - Greg Hannan
“Teaching kids when they are young that firefighters are some of the people who save lives, homes, and memories.” - Jake Young
A. Getting better education and training
“OSHA mandated pt: I’m not gonna trust a FF/medic to work on me if he’s in worse shape than me or if he gets winded putting his pack on.” - Robert Schmidt
“In small towns, making sure they have the EDUCATION to be providing the services they are giving us!! I know in rural America sometimes positions are given to firemen that are not qualified for such positions!” - Jennifer Pepper Geiger
“The best thing we can do is be selective. There are too many people that misrepresent us. We give them a T-shirt because “Every body helps.” Too bad that is far from the truth. Select those that are hardworking and trustworthy. Turn those few into your brothers and sisters. And train those few to have your back and the back of every citizen they serve.” - Travis Bearden
A. Having members of the public do the job
Photo Morning Calm News via Flickr
“Have them work a couple calls.” - James Rosse
“I think the public would trust firefighters more if they knew what we do, the hard work that is involved, the time we take away from our families to help complete strangers, how hard it can be to wake up from a dead sleep at 2am and drive in a freezing car, only to stand outside in -10° for 45 minutes. They don’t know about all the community activities we assist with, fire prevention and the bond we have with our fellow brothers. If they knew, then perhaps they would trust us more.” - Amy Williams Britain
“We are not appreciated until they are trapped in a burning building or in a car wreck. It is only then that our importance in the community is recognized.” - Melanie Bostick
A. Holding the media accountable
Photo hugovk via Flickr
“More publicity in the media about what we do. It’s kind of hard with HIPAA that we don’t talk to the media, so seeing firefighters on TV doing what they do is few and far between. Besides, the media is all about gloom and doom these days so they don’t care when firefighters bring a happy ending to a situation.” - Garrett Crumby
“Headlines that don’t read ‘Fire Chief tasers a 19 year old firefighter 9 times at department Christmas party.’” - Zachery Hornung
“You want the public to trust [firefighters] more, just end the irresponsible reporting by the media that spreads lies about the fire service! All their hard work goes right out the door when some person with the news decides it’s their right of press to print and report outright fallacies! Make the media more responsible for erroneous reporting!” - Jeffrey DePauli
“I think in the society we are living in people lost what use to be. Media plays a huge part of the down fall.” - Jill Stever
“Joe Q Public is always going to think what they want to think no matter what your job is: FF, EMS, PO. The media does not show enough of the good things that are done. They overkill on the not so good things that happen. Speaking for myself, people need to think for themselves, stop judging and really see what is done for them on a daily basis. After all, [firefighters] will always be there for all of us no matter what. Think about that.” - Mary A Boucher
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