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Quick Clip: What to do when firefighters lose confidence in a chief

It’s easy for a fire chief in a large organization to become decentralized, which makes it difficult to have good communication

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In this week’s quick clip, Chief Rob Wylie and Lt. Rom Duckworth discuss why firefighters in San Francisco have penned a letter asking the mayor to replace Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White’s position.

“What’s specifically being called into question is the large number of incidents where it took quite a bit of time for ambulances to arrive at calls,” Lt. Duckworth said. “This is related to under staffing of the department and not enough ambulances being on duty.”

Chief Wylie said it’s easy for a fire chief in a large organization to become decentralized, which makes it difficult for a chief to have good communication.

“I think they need to lock themselves in a room and come up with a joint solution that not only addresses the fiscal and operational constraints, but also has the guys that are out there as part of the solution and see what they think,” he said. “As a chief officer, you can’t sit in your office and come up with policies and plans. You have to include the people that are going to be affected and carry those plans out. Otherwise, they’re not going to buy it.”

Stay tuned for the full Command Post podcast to premiere Friday.

The Command Post, a podcast series that features Lt. Rom Duckworth and Chief Rob Wylie, brings expert perspective to hot topics, frontline tactics and leadership lessons that firefighters and officers need to be safe and successful.

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