By David F. Peterson, EFO

Having been associated with a hazmat team for two decades, I can say that only a handful of team members really have ever committed to the team by trying to improve the response capability, the training efforts, and the overall team morale. In my experience, less than 10 per cent of the team members really gave a “hoot” and contributed towards making things better. Most of the team members merely showed up to training sessions and actual emergencies, but they sure enjoyed the extra pay. Consequently, I have often thought about how to better engage all team members and get them all pulling in the same direction. Here are some of my thoughts:

Earn It!

Special teams should be reserved for the best and brightest, and membership should be by strict recruitment practices. That is, openings for the team should be announced, people should apply, and through a well-defined selection process, team members should be picked. This weeding-out process should find the best candidates and discard the personnel who only are seeking extra compensation. In other words, the personnel who seek to be members of the hazmat team should “earn it.” This is done by working hard at the basic job level such as firefighter, showing initiative by going to hazmat conferences and seminars, and being actively involved in hazmat issues before they are accepted on the team.

Own It!

Once personnel are accepted on the team, they need to “own it.” This is done by studying the team SOG’s, attending training sessions, being attentive, and being active in completing tasks that need to be accomplished. Personnel should volunteer for assignments and promptly complete them. Owning it also means that personnel show responsibility and accountability for everything they do as team members. For instance, when it comes to equipment checks, such as with monitoring instruments, they should learn everything about each instrument. This takes initiative, and even tenacity; but in time a confidence level appears. Essentially, this is a leadership task at a most basic level. As John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.””

Teach It!

After being on the team for awhile, personnel should strive to teach others. If their own development grew, they should be somewhat of an authority in many areas of team operations in a short while. They should also feel a responsibility to show others how to do things, including not just incumbent team members, but also new team members. An old mantra from medical school students applies here: “See one, do one, teach one.” I would even add to the last phrase that teaching needs to be repeated. This is because a person really does not know a subject until they teach it. And, by teaching it over and over, it becomes innate. This is Maslow stuff where the highest level of knowledge is “unconscious competence.” This learning comes from being able to do something very well, even without thinking. This is ultimately where you want all of your hazmat team members to be!

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