Our first clue was when 3M announced that they were phasing out production of PFOA and PFOS in 2000. Per- and Polyfluorinated (PFAS) are synthetic chemical compounds, all very similar and extremely toxic. Persistence is key to their usefulness but…
The world is changing… are we?
I am extremely proud, honoured and humbled to write this comment as the newly appointed Chief Fire Officer for the Cayman Islands Fire Service. June 2022 is the first Interschutz for seven years and my first visit to Hannover. I…
Recruiting for inclusion
As a young girl I never once thought about not being able to pursue any specific career choices, at least not due to being a woman. Fortunately, I grew up in a home where the narrative just didn’t exist. As…
Flawed global wildfire strategy: kicking the can down the road
This year will not soon be forgotten for its devastating escalation of the global wildfire crisis. Unfortunately, 2021 hasn’t been much different from 2020, and in both years we witnessed the compounding impacts of Covid-19 – wildfire smoke contributing to…
Service and sacrifice – it’s in the DNA
Here we are mid-winter 2021 and I can’t help but to think that, under normal times, we would be focusing the bulk of our time on operational policy and strategy – i.e. planning for the next snow storm, rolling out…
Take that transformation leap
It is exactly 27 years since I joined the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) back in November 1993. While it is not long by the standards of a full career, I have been privileged to be involved in a fair…
It’s all about Trust
Over the course of my almost 30 year career in the fire and emergency services, I have had the opportunity – as a chief fire officer, conference speaker, crisis manager, consultant, and Eisenhower Fellow – to work across the United…
Our People, Our Decisions, Our Future
I write this as the world is facing a global pandemic from Coronavirus (COVID-19) and entering new territories through uncharted waters. I begin by wishing colleagues from the fire and rescue family around the world best wishes during these challenging…
Australian conditions demand adaptation
As I write this, the state of Victoria in Australia, is again facing significant weather extremes. It’s hot with a shifting wind pattern that keeps us all on high alert. There has been rainfall in parts of our state but…
Crisis management: create meaning to stop the chaos
Navigating a multi-stakeholders environment Crisis management requires intellectual agility. A crisis often involves experts and decision-makers from various organizations with very different viewpoints and approaches to solve problems. Responding firefighters need to understand its many dimensions quickly to organize a…
Invest in the dream
The “bravest”. That is what our cities call us. The bar of expectations is set very high by our communities. But, do we fully understand that level of performance? That level of expectation? Looking back at your days in recruit…
The need for more multi-agency training
Seldom if ever, is vehicle extrication carried out by a single agency. In every single one of the over 100 countries where I have delivered training, the role of the other agencies is discussed and considered and is always done…
Is there ‘Real Collaboration’ amongst the Fire and Rescue Service?
Recently the plight of a youth football team and their coach in a cave system in Thailand became the focus of international interest along with an international rescue response. The incident proved both the effectiveness of international response to an…
Getting the job done
Over the course of my 26-year career in the fire and emergency services, I’ve been fortunate to travel beyond the United States and visit colleagues in multiple fire services around the world. In every country I’ve visited, despite some outward…
Why do people find diversity so difficult?
When I joined the Fire and Rescue Service as a firefighter in 1992 – 10 years after women started to do so – I was one of three women that had successfully completed the recruits’ course in Bedfordshire and Luton…
Changing the culture of the Calgary Fire Department
In January, 2015, I became the Fire Chief of the Calgary Fire Department (CFD). It is both an efficient, well-run organization and one existing in an environment of increasing diversity and seemingly endless change. What then, is required to be…
Change and Opportunity – Are They One and the Same?
As a leader in a Fire and Rescue Service I regularly hear the saying that ‘the only thing that is constant is change’. Of course with the competing demands of public expectation against a backdrop of enforced budget reductions the…
The Millennials are Coming
From fighting fires to onboarding Millennials, times are changing. Embrace the changes. Over the past 30 years, I’ve had the opportunity to visit fire services in more than 75 countries around the world. It’s always humbling to meet with our…
Applying business ideas to fire service leadership
How do we create a template for success in an ever-changing dynamic environment? In a time where we are having a hard time getting enough candidates to apply for Fire and EMS Service jobs, it may be time to rethink…