As public safety professionals, we have a natural desire to be effective. Being in a situation where our effectiveness is being subdued can lead to the greatest feelings of frustration that we may ever face.

Imagine this: You are at the scene of an emergency where a person is trapped. The fire department and/or rescue squad is attempting to extricate the victim, but it appears to you that they could use help. You believe that, with the knowledge, skills, and equipment you possess as a professional towing operator, a positive outcome could be achieved much sooner. You know that you could make a difference if they would just let you. You've offered your help, but you've been told to wait in your truck until the vehicle you've been called for is ready to tow. Stop reading for a minute and think about how being in this position would make you feel...

The New Guy

In the fire service, a rookie firefighter is not just one who is new to the service. He could have 10 years under his belt — a legitimate professional — and still be a greenhorn when he lands in a new department, station, or company. I know from experience — I write this from the perspective of a three-time probationary firefighter. From 1997 to 2010, I had the privilege of serving the taxpayers of three different fire districts.

During my career, I learned that the new guy’s ideas never work. When you’re new to an organization, it takes a while before things you’ve learned elsewhere aren’t passed off as impractical. I wish that I had kept count of the number of great ideas that were passed up because the new guy thought of it. The ideas weren’t bad or impractical — it’s just that the person offering them was untested and unknown.

Does any of this sound familiar? With that in mind, I offer here suggestions to the towing community on how to relate to the fire service and be an effective asset when operating with this distinguished group of public safety professionals.

A New Tool

A key difference between towing professionals and fire service professionals is the amount of training they do. The departments that I volunteered and worked for wouldn’t allow a new tool or technique to be used in the field unless it had been thoroughly tested and trained with by the firefighters. This commitment to training was to assure the effectiveness of the tool and the safety its operators.

An emergency-scene commander is more likely to use a wrecker service to aid in a rescue if he or she has firsthand knowledge of the towers’ abilities. As towers and recovery operators, we need to present ourselves to our fire service counterparts as a tool to be tested.

Fire Captain Richard Bliven, the president of IAFF Local 3972, stated, “Consideration of local training with first responders would be very beneficial. It puts faces to names and could create those ‘working relationships’ that could make the difference in a stressful and complicated situation.”

We are far more likely to be utilized effectively if our skills and equipment have been tested by and proven to them. To improve safety and operational effectiveness, we towers must organize and implement training at the local level that includes the fire departments and rescue squads.

They Are Watching

If you’re still sitting in the cab of your truck watching the rescue unfold, the reason may be a bad impression left some time ago. Captain Kevin Brown of Lyndon Fire and Rescue in Kentucky described when he would utilize a wrecker service at a rescue scene: “For me, it is experiences that I have with them, not so much what I know about them. An example is Burrows Wrecker; I have seen you in action, so I would feel comfortable calling you again. Keep in mind that you are entering into a relationship where one screw-up can ruin a lot of attaboys.” Brown continued, “We had an incident at Harrods Creek where the driver was pulling a pickup onto a rollback and it came loose and almost ran over two of our guys.” If your company has had incidents similar to this, as unfortunate as it may be, don’t expect to be utilized when a victim’s life depends on your actions. Captain Brown said it best: “You almost need to think of the FD as a customer in addition to the person you are towing.”

Many times at crash scenes, just because the vehicles are damaged, we carelessly load the vehicles leaving many of our normal procedures aside in haste. This carelessness can lead to accidents and, trust me, we are being watched!

I can recall numerous comments from brother firefighters regarding towers hurrying away from accident scenes without having secured the vehicles to the wheel grids, or having one chain and the winch rope securing a vehicle to a carrier. Leaving a bad impression during a routine towing call will not help your chances of being an asset when the non-routine rescue occurs.

Who’s The Boss?

Your understanding and respect of the Incident Command System will also contribute to the potential effectiveness of your company at a rescue scene. In Kentucky, where I operate, state laws give the fire chief or his designee ultimate control of an incident where his department is operating. An understanding of a concept called Unified Command will enlighten you to your potential role in the management of an emergency scene.

However, regardless of what color lights are in your wrecker’s light bar and because you own the tow truck, you are not in charge of the scene. Bliven commented on making the choice to utilize a towing service during a rescue: “I think the ability to communicate effectively would be paramount… and understanding that emergency services are in control of the operation and being able to share information or provide feedback relative to the towing aspect of the operation while still being able to appreciate the intricacies of being able to effect a successful rescue without inflicting further in- jury to the person(s) involved.” Bliven added, “If I was a command officer at such a scene, I would want to feel confident that the person the towing company sends me is competent and able to perform the tasks assigned to them and able to assist the operation in achieving the ultimate desired outcome — a successful operation.”

A little humility can go a long way. When you arrive at an emergency scene, your first priority should be to locate the incident commander, introduce yourself, and ask for instructions. If his or her instructions are to wait, then you wait patiently. If the instructions are to lift a coil of steel off of a car, then you must be ready to do so as you have trained to do before.

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If you have the desire to be an effective asset to the fire and rescue community, keep in mind what I have learned:

A critical situation does not turn you into a Superman — you default to your level of training. Training not only prepares you to handle a situation, it fosters relationships.

Always remain a professional and treat the fire department as a customer even when they aren’t paying the bill. You can be making an impression on a future customer (good or bad) at any time.

Finally, understand and accept your role in the Incident Command System. You have the potential to provide the life-saving key to the incident even without being “in charge.”

Remain humble, professional, and competent. Effectiveness will follow.