Category Archives: Featured Interviews

Feature Blog: Interview with Mr. John Murphy Part 3 of 3

Week 3: “Pencil” and “Whip” Shouldn’t Describe Your Department’s Training

Finally, John brought up the issue of training documentation. Both John and I have experienced the overwhelming pressure within agencies to not only perform the mission but also do all the required training. Sometimes this leads people to “pencil-whip” their training paperwork in order to save time, money, and headaches. However, the opposite is most likely the case.

Just as important as having quality training though, the training needs to be documented properly so that there is some proof of what training was done if lawsuits are filed. John described a case where a firefighter’s family brought suit against the city for not enforcing the fire department’s fitness standards, and won. As sad as this situation is, hard lines have to be drawn sometimes and turning a blind eye to a situation or letting a standard lax may actually cause more harm than good.

John describes that the best solution is not really a new one. Training needs to be meaningful and documented. The first place lawyers are going to go if something happens is the department’s training records. If the department is consistently maintaining all applicable training hours and the department’s training manager documented this training in each employee’s training record, there are far fewer issues. However, frequently the case is that even if the training was done, it wasn’t documented or was a mere “check-the-box” training event that was done half-heartedly. Though it is hard work, maintaining meaningful and documented training will not only yield benefits in court, but will also ensure your department can serve the public they are charged with protecting to the best of their abilities.

Impact on Emergency Management

            Frequently Emergency Managers are responsible for planning exercises varying in different scopes and sizes. These are essential training events designed to test an agency’s ability to implement a plan, and the ability of the plan to be implemented. If exercises are done and not documented or documented but haphazardly done, it is essentially like they were never done if the agency is called into court over an issue post-disaster. However, if exercises are meaningfully planned, executed, and documented, there are far fewer issues when the lawyers come knocking.

Feature Blog: Interview with Mr. John Murphy Part 2

Part 2 of 3: Talk to the Lawyer Before Something Bad Happens

We all have really good ideas sometimes, which is great. Innovation and improvisation is the way things get done in Emergency Management. However, Emergency Managers tend to be a one-person show, having many more things to do than time to do it. The important thing though is to involve the lawyers early. If done right, they can help you craft a plan, agreement, or strategy that is nearly bullet proof should something happens.

John shared a situation in Washington that he observed, which was luckily caught in time. At one point, if a firefighter was deployed in support of another agency fighting Wildfires, a question arose “who is financially responsible if the firefighter gets hurt?” Luckily, the lawyer got together and decided that if anything happened to a firefighter deployed in support of another agency’s emergency, the freighter would be covered under Washington State’s Worker’s Compensation program.

 

Impact on Emergency Management

An easy example of when Emergency Managers should talk to the lawyers is in mutual aid agreements. When you boil it down, mutual aid agreements are essential a contract between two or more government entities. Because of this, it is an extremely good idea to let the attorneys in on the process early to help craft the most effective agreement possible. The key is to not look at involvement of lawyers as a roadblock, but a protection. John stated that by having adequate legal counsel, Emergency Managers will ensure that plans and agreements can be made nearly bullet proof. Involvement early also helps preserve relationships by addressing issues early in agreements instead of waiting until they blow up into litigation later on.

Featured Interview with Fire Service Attorney John Murphy

Perspectives on Emergency Management Law

Interview with Mr. John Murphy

I recently had an enlightening opportunity to interview Mr. John Murphy and get his thoughts on the field of Emergency Management Law and how legal aspects of the Fire Service intersect with it. As we all know, many (though not all) Emergency Management Departments and Offices can be found within the Fire Department. This relationship gives the two fields—Emergency Management Law and Fire Service Law—more similarities and relational issues than you might initially think. The major thing to consider is that sometimes Emergency and Disaster Management goes well beyond just making plans and getting grants. It involves people—and the relationships built with them. If those relationships break down, no matter how good the plan is it will never get implemented the way you want it

Part 1: Leadership Makes the Difference

Lets face it we’ve all had those bosses that we just don’t like. Sometimes they can be just down right toxic. Here’s some of the ideas John shared that apply whether you stack on a wall to clear a building or make entry on a structure fire.

“Who cares if they like me, I get results”

Many times, management issues stem from the fact that manager lacked the interpersonal skills to resolve the issue and provide leadership on the subject. Other times, the manager has the interpersonal skills but just wanted to take the easy way out of a personnel issue. As Public Safety Professionals, we are in the “people business”. John stated that he has seen many personnel management issues spiral out of control and end up in litigation. Many of these lawsuits involve Title 7 U.S.C. (Anti-Discrimination) and due process during hiring or firing with the department.

“So what do can be done about it?”

The way managers interact with subordinates and peers can make a huge difference. Just because the manager gets results, doesn’t automatically mean they are the perfect person to be in charge. In today’s day and age, supervisors and managers absolutely must be able to deal with people in order to avoid litigation. Sometimes the issue is that the supervisor or manager just “didn’t know” what they should have done. John stated that departments could prevent issues in a couple of different ways.

(1) Selection of Managers. One way departments can prevent issues is by ensuring the supervisors and managers within the department already possess appropriate interpersonal skills. The problem with this situation is that not everyone naturally possesses interpersonal skills.

(2) Interpersonal Skills Training. The second option is to implement a combination mentorship and training program to help supervisors and managers develop interpersonal skills to lead in the department. Though this is the harder option to implement, it is the most effective because it builds the capacity of the department to internally develop their supervisors and managers over time. This type of training doesn’t need to be done through “death-by-power point” like we’ve all seen before, but simply with a “Leadership Development Plan”. Any way its built, the plan should focus on providing supervisors and mangers with the interpersonal skills and knowledge necessary to lead their team at the various echelon.

 

Impact on Emergency Management

Leadership is a universal issue that needs serious consideration even within the Emergency Management field. Though the majority of Emergency Management Offices are one or two people, others can be very large. However a common thread is that Emergency Management has a lot to do with relationships. Having the interpersonal skills to internally resolve conflicts can also help resolve issues and conflicts on a larger scale between different agencies. The ability to resolve these conflicts help to bring stakeholders to the table during planning, response, and recovery to an emergency.

—

Visit John’s Website by clicking here.

Next Week’s title is “Talk to the Lawyer Before Something Bad Happens” and is part 2 of the 3 part interview.