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Opportunities of a Firefighter

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Published: Mar 19, 2024

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Introduction, community engagement: connecting with the heart of society, specialized training: the pursuit of excellence, leadership development: guiding others in the face of adversity, lifelong learning: a journey of continuous growth.

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Fire Engineering Training

Character, Attitudes, and Values: Defining the ‘Good’ Firefighter

Recruiting and retaining the right people for the work we do requires understanding the characteristics of a high-performing, functional fire service member.

by Tony Correia

You get a new firefighter who joins your organization with a portfolio of classes and certifications that would be the envy of a 30-year veteran. He’s also been in four departments in the past three years. Within six months he becomes unbearable; regularly creating dissension, arguing with officers all the time, and freelancing on the fireground.

Then, there’s the other new firefighter who has no training and has never been in a fire or emergency services organization. She also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity and at the senior citizen home two evenings a week. She has been in your department now for three years. She was assigned a mentor when she first joined, and now is the model firefighter. She attends classes, listens, and learns from the senior man, and performs proficiently at emergency incidents as part of a high-performing team. Sound familiar?

It’s been estimated 10 to 15 percent of what firefighters do involves hoselines , halligans , and hydraulic tools. One-hundred percent of what firefighters do involve character, attitude, and values , yet we mostly emphasize tactical skills, not the people skills we use most often. Although having the tactical knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA) to do the job is critical, without the affective domain, firefighters with KSAs will lack the interpersonal skills that are integral to being a good firefighter. According to retired Chief Ed Kensler,

“Although there are three specific domains that we identify as our KSAs ( Knowledge or cognitive domain, Skills or psychomotor domain, Ability/Attitude, or affective domain), we often neglect the importance of evaluating the person’s affective domain. As a result, although the individual may have the highest test score, and the fastest time performing skills, they still may not be a good fit for your organization unless you also consider the person’s affective domain (character, attitude, values).”

I will bridge the gap between tactical and interpersonal attributes and provide a framework to proactively implement plans and processes to improve interpersonal skills and the attributes that go with them. We’ll discuss what happens if you don’t address these items in firefighter development. Chief Dave LeBlanc of Harwich (MA) Fire Department notes the following regarding a lack of interpersonal skills:

“Most of our problems result from this lack, whether on or off duty, at the firehouse, or on the fireground. Since the majority of our time is not spent fighting fires, we need to focus on our people and use the time we are with them to our advantage. This will pay off on the fireground, as well as when they are off duty, hopefully avoiding the litany of newspaper articles that start with “firefighter arrested” for crimes related to lack of ethics.”

Recruiting and retaining the right people for the work we do requires understanding the characteristics of a high-performing, functional fire service member, as well. This doesn’t come by osmosis, it comes from a multi-pronged approach that starts with understanding and recognizing the character traits of a good firefighter which are based good character traits in general, and those that make a good firefighter in your department. In this article, we will stick with a more general and holistic perspective.

What’s a “Good” Firefighter?

Regarding the traits of a good firefighter, there is no general consensus or set of standards, but in fire service journals, the following qualities are noted most often: integrity, trustworthiness, ethical, honorable, team player, collaborative, emotional control especially under stress, flexible, adaptable, has good interpersonal communication skills, commitment, has a passion for the fire service, and is mentally and physically fit.

Emotional Intelligence

How do we objectively measure these traits? Sure, we have our opinions and intuition. They may or may not be right, but how do we validate our assessment of a new firefighter objectively? One widely accepted, reliable method many industries use is measuring emotional intelligence (EI), also known as the emotional quotient (EQ). The following is a brief outline and definition from Psychology Today of EI:

“Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others.” Further description is broken down in these four skills:

Self-awareness – The ability to recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behaviour, know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.

Self-management – The ability to control impulsive feelings and behaviours, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.

Social awareness – The ability to understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization.

Relationship management – The ability to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.

The validated traits outlined in the chart above fit with what most of our opinions are of a good firefighter. Additionally, Gondahl and Husain research found, “Whereas, emotional intelligence is found to have significant relationship with employees’ performance signifying that emotional intelligence is more important than Intelligence quotient at (the) workplace.”(1) EI is one tool that is fairly reliable in helping you assess if a person will be a good fit for your fire department. Research found in “The Measurement of Emotional Intelligence: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Researchers and Practitioners” (2) provides an analysis of multiple EI assessment tools that can be integrated into fire service organizations. Multiple research papers indicate a strong connection of the benefit EI as one part of developing high performing firefighters.

EI not only provides us a process to measure whether a potential firefighter has the traits related to the fire service, it provides us parameters to incorporate in our recruitment process. We can use the EI traits to promote the qualities we are looking for in potential firefighters so they understand a fire department’s expectations upfront. EI is not just a process to be one and done. It is a tool that is part of the ongoing human resource evaluation and feedback process.

Instilling Organizational/Personal Core Values

Another part of developing a new firefighter, as well as retaining veteran firefighters is promoting and instilling organizational and personal core values. What are your organizational values? Why are they important? How do you and your department identify or create them towards developing a cultural ethos that is the hallmark of successful and high-performing fire departments?

Firefighters must have personal core values and align them with the organization’s core values. Let’s start with individual values. Katherine Dean describes the importance of aligning personal and organizational core values, ( http://www.valuesbasedleadershipjournal.com/issues/vol1issue1/dean.php ) (3)

“The Earmarks of Ethical Leadership – Because values play such an important role in our lives, being able to recognize, understand, and articulate one’s own values set becomes critical in sound decision-making. Additionally, the ability to identify an employer’s corporate values will assist in determining an employee’s job performance and allegiance. Consequently, when an individual discovers genuine and meaningful alignment between his or her own personal values with those of his or her employer, a powerful connection is created. This connection creates numerous possibilities for both individual growth and company productivity, manifested in myriad ways.”

The above analysis provides impetus to not only understanding but developing personal core values that will align with our fire department organization. The following are a set of personal core values found in the following article “ https://acorr1954.com/2014/08/20/firefighters-gotta-have-heart/ “

A ccountability
R esponsibility
T rust / Integrity

HEART provides generally accepted values for humans as firefighters, but they’re not the end-all, be-all. You have to do self-reflection to find what’s really important to you. This helps you figure out what drives you, what helps create your character.

Organizational core values are integral towards developing a culture of success and high performance in an organization. Gorenak and Kosir in their 2012 (4) work found a correlation between how organizational values are stated and how well an organization performs. Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright also developed the Tribal Leadership , (in a text of the same name) concepts with more than 10 years of rigorous research, interviews, and studies that clearly demonstrate the relationship of organizational performance to being aligned on core values.

The Content of Your Character

Fire Department Interviews and the Informational Vacuum

Necessary Qualities of a Good Officer

Another key component of the relationship between a firefighter and the fire department is based on the alignment of personal core values with the organization’s core values/culture. The following research outlines the importance of this alignment.

Berkhout and Rowlands (2007) conducted research on personal and organizational values among employees of organizations that specialize in alternative energy sources (solar electricity, wind electricity, smaller hydro-electrical plants, etc.), they determined that those organizations that focus their selection procedure on matching personal values with organizational values tend to be significantly more successful in their work because of the fact that employees have a higher level of job satisfaction.

How many fire departments take the time to create valid, functional, and relevant core values? How many departments engage all their members in developing organizational core values? Or does management find four or five cool words and create a document that has no buy-in? That has very little chance of aligning and connecting members to support and live by? How many firefighters critically examine their own core values and expectations and how they align with their department’s culture? Chiefs and station leaders take note–your people will create their own core values and culture if you don’t do it together! Often, this ad-hoc station culture is at odds with the organization’s intended and expected core values, which could lead to a dysfunctional fire department. As we connect the rest of the dots towards developing firefighter character, attitude, and values; the importance of values becomes even more pronounced.

Recruiting, Interviewing, Introducing

Now that we’ve addressed EI/personal character traits and values, how should you recruit, interview, and introduce a new firefighter to your department? All of these practices have critical impact on the character, the attitude, and the values of your firefighters and how well they integrate with your department.

Aim for the Right Recruits

Design recruitment to improve your chances of aligning your organization with the right potential recruits. Describe your organization and what you do transparently, and tell them what you really do, not what just sounds cool. Successful recruitment campaigns use a positive but realistic message to connect with the people who would be a fit with your organization. Whether career or volunteer, messages such as “Can You Fill These Boots?” “You Have the Power To Serve,” or “Do You Have What It Takes?” are broad and challenge the potential recruit.

Describe what your organization really does. If you don’t fight fire frequently, don’t make your campaign all about fighting fire, and doing extrications. Show how your serves your community by doing public education, installing smoke detectors, and show the camaraderie of your tribe. Don’t create a false image of the department or portray cultural dysfunction you are trying to cure.

Provide a positive, engaging, and challenging message, but be transparent and accurately portray your department. A probie working a toilet brush might not be the best picture to show. People who join fire departments want to be challenged. You don’t want a mismatch of expectations. When you indicate you do fires, extrications, and high-angle rescues every week and haven’t had a fire in six months or an extrication in three months, your new firefighters will become disillusioned and disappointed, which will show in their behavior and performance.

“Recruitment is the absolute foundation for success in any organization. If the recruiter is simply selling a shiny product and trying to get someone to sign on the dotted line, the agency will suffer. By starting the conversation before someone joins or is hired that the skills you are looking for include physical, task-level ability and an empathetic heart and mind that understand what public service truly is, you have already begun a process that ensures your expectations as a department are being met.” Davidson

Initial Interview

In the initial interview, I beg you, don’t start with, “So why do you want to join the fire department?” This will lead to a canned answer. Start describing your department, including a clear expectations of the duties, the responsibilities, and the performance. Detail your mission, your vision, and your values. Why your organization is a good place to belong/work? If your organization has challenges–low staffing, poor funding, or poor governmental support, don’t sugarcoat it. Instead, describe what you’re doing to improve the situation, ask how the interviewee can be part of the solution. Then ask about the person about himself, his family, his hobbies, and his current job. Ask, why is he a good fit for “THIS” fire department, not FDNY, not Johnson County, Missouri, where he may have come from, but your department. Ask him what he brings to your department, where he sees himself in a year, and in five years. Measure all these questions and the ensuing discussion against an EI assessment. Jaqueline Smith provides 15 interview questions related to emotional intelligence in the 12/17/2014 issue of Leader magazine ( https://www.the-leader.com/article/20141217/BUSINESS/312179976 )(5). You should be assessing whether they are service-oriented, get along with people, take criticism well, and are open to change and progress. These are just some of the questions to ask to see if they are people and community-centric.

Onboarding/Orientation

Once they’ve been offered membership or employment to your fire department, your onboarding/orientation/indoctrination process is critical. At this point, you’ve set them up for success or failure, and whether they will become a good fit with your department. This is where you provide new recruits with the organization’s history, its culture, and its expectations. Most recruit programs concentrate on becoming proficient with hoselines, halligans, and hydraulic tools. While extremely important; this is a key period where it is important that you detail character, attitude, and values expected in your department. They should’ve already heard about these perspectives during the recruitment and the interview processes. Here you make sure they know who you are as an organization and provides crystal-clear expectations of them as team members.

A novel way to make sure they know and remember this process is to have them study your oath and write a paragraph or two about what it means to them. What, your department just uses a generic oath? You don’t have one specific to your organization? Then go back and work on that before bringing new people in. You have them swear to some generic set of words that has little relation to your organization, yet you want them to swear allegiance to it? Here’s a good article from FireRescue to provide some perspective on the oath and how it can help your organization day in and out.

This is where you spend time to provide a clear understanding of your organization’s mission, vision, and values. If these three foundational principles are not strong in your organization, these impressionable new members will be influenced by your station’s culture; if it is not good, you’ll see the undesirable results in no time. Just like the candidate, the department has only one opportunity to make a first impression. Is your department prepared? Is your organizational culture something you’re proud of, does it foster teamwork, personal and professional growth, and serve its community with distinction? Does it have a fire family atmosphere that people want to be part of? Culture makes or breaks an organization. Take the time and effort to cultivate a high-performing culture.

Once you’ve onboarded your new people with a positive attitude and fire in their bellies to be the best firefighters they can be, a formal mentoring program is crucial. This is key to them becoming long-term, valued, and productive members of your tribe. It is not field or skills training, although that may be part of the mentoring. You take what they learned in recruit school and take it to the next level. According to http://www.mentorsupportnetwork.com.au/ (6)“Mentoring is sharing knowledge, skills, and life experience to guide another towards reaching their full potential; it’s a journey of shared discovery.” Mentoring is taking a firefighter or three with a passion for sharing their journey in the fire department and in life to help someone else succeed.

What Makes a Good Company Officer?

Becoming a Value-Based Organization

Serve with Integrity: Do what is right when others say it is wrong

Successful mentoring programs require proper understanding, planning, implementation, and evaluation. Mentoring is key to developing a new member to becoming an asset or lifetime liability to your organization. How to mentor, who mentors and how to interact with the rookie are all key to success or failure. Mentoring doesn’t just benefit the recruit. In research outlined in the following article – The Chronicle Of Evidence-based Mentoring – October 21, 2015, in “New Mentoring Research” by Jean Rhodes; the following was found;

Results: Compared to colleagues who did not mentor, individuals who served as mentors within their workplace reported greater job satisfaction and commitment to the organization. In addition, higher quality relationships were associated with even greater benefits. The multiple benefits of mentoring cannot be understated. The research is clear on its benefits.

The following link provides additional details of what a successful mentoring program looks like. https://acorr1954.com/mentoring-resources/

As part of the above processes, cover the following critical subjects, which are all important to the development of the behaviors you expect in your new firefighters.

Mental health – proactive processes, as well as how to deal with stress
Commitment to diversity
Openness to change, being flexible; openness to progress, to adaptation, evolution
Developing confidence, not being cocky
Developing resilience, not just talking about it, but putting them through challenges that develops resilience and growth
Developing Emotional Intelligence – Working with others/understanding interpersonal communication and dynamics
Effective communication, including listening skills (listening to understand)
Commitment to ongoing personal and professional development;
Holistic health and wellness
Problem-solving/critical thinking
Commitment to excellence
Planning and implementing; situational awareness.
Political and organizational awareness
Organizational culture/firehouse etiquette
Promoting a positive image of themselves and the fire dept. – Integrity/ethics

It’s a long list, however, these are the skills, practices, and issues you will deal with the most. Take the time to cover them at the beginning of their careers and it will provide a strong foundation of expected behavior in new recruits. The organization’s cultural values and expectations are introduced and reinforced through a formal onboarding process that includes integrated, organized orientation, field training, and mentoring. Create a detailed roadmap to successful professional development and fire service career.

To make all the above happen requires planning, persistence, and promotion. Developing a plan is not as simple as a chief officer writing down their personal perspective of what develops character, attitude, values . It takes a team, it takes a village. Here are the key principles that all department members should clearly understand. Your fire department exists solely to provide service to others. Those you serve allow you to provide those services– your residents, your elected officials, and your community in general. Your fire department is a reflection of all your members, not just one or two. With those perspectives in mind, you can start planning.

Developing character, attitude, and values in a new firefighter in large part comes from an organization with a mission, vision, and values that are embedded in your department’s culture and lived every day.

Once all stakeholders, especially your firefighters, understand and accept your mission, vision, and values, you can use them to develop character, attitude, and values in new recruits and reinforce it in the fire department and among veteran firefighters daily. Take a cue from Father Gregory Boyle of Homeboy Industries. Father Boyle’s Homeboy Industries, ( https://homeboyindustries.org/ ) provides jobs for people who have been in prison or who have other similar challenges in life. Every morning before work Father Boyle has someone new read Homeboys Mission Statement, every day it’s reinforced. It’s actions like this that establish and sustains a high-performing fire department culture that develops an environment where morale is high, relationships are strong and collaboration is the norm.

Doing the work on the front end to build an environment that supports a high-performing culture that delivers high-quality services with pride and in a harmonious manner is well worth the work. With a few key processes in place, it will be self-sustainable. It’s much easier to teach skills and tactical competence than it is to develop character, attitude, and values. However, successfully performing tactical skills–operating hoselines, halligans, and hydraulic tools–is totally predicated on behaviors that character, attitude, and values influence. We joke we can teach a monkey to be a firefighter or a medic, then we all laugh. However, take this for perspective. The monkey won’t argue with the officer because he thinks he has a better way. The monkey won’t freelance because he doesn’t like his assignment. The monkey will carry out the task as directed. But the monkey won’t have the character, attitude, and values to be a service-oriented team player. Someone who is respectful, compassionate, and seeks continuous improvement in dealing with the community and fellow firefighters. All of these combined makes a successful firefighter, one who can perform the duties as required and also positively influence the organization as a whole.

“Just as important, if not more so, as what someone knows, is how someone thinks, how they react, and ultimately, who they truly are.” – Nick Ledin

Operating hoselines, halligans and hydraulic tools is the basis of our business. It’s at the core of the fire service’s existence. They don’t operate on their own. We haven’t yet recruited furry primates to operate these tools of the trade. It’s humans who use their cognitive and affective domains to perform tactical skills. It’s firefighters who have the right character, attitude, and values that we develop by recruiting emotionally intelligent people for an organization that values people first.

Asian Journal of Business Management. 5(1): 153-162, 2013 ISSN: 2041-8744; E-ISSN: 2041-8752 © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2013 Submitted: September 14, 2012 Accepted: October 09, 2012 Published: 15 January, 2013 Corresponding Author: Uzma Hanif Gondal, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan 153 A Comparative Study of Intelligence Quotient and Emotional Intelligence: Effect on Employees’ Performance Uzma Hanif Gondal and Tajammal Husain COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.
Frontiers in Psychology . 2019; 10: 1116.; Published online 2019 May 28. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01116; PMCID: PMC6546921; PMID: 31191383; The Measurement of Emotional Intelligence: A Critical Review of the Literature and Recommendations for Researchers and Practitioner. Peter J. O’Connor,1,* Andrew Hill,2,3 Maria Kaya,1,4 and Brett Martin4 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6546921/ http://www.valuesbasedleadershipjournal.com/issues/vol1issue1/dean.php
“The Importance of Organizational Values for Organization.” Mitja Gorenak International School for Social and Business Studies, Slovenia [email protected] Suzana Košir International School for Social and Busines https://www.issbs.si/press/ISBN/978-961-6813-10-5/papers/ML12_117.pdf
The Chronicle Of Evidence-based Mentoring. – October 21, 2015/in New Mentoring Research /by Jean Rhodes; https://www.evidencebasedmentoring.org/new-study-highlights-the-benefits-of-serving-as-a-mentor
The Leader . Jacquelyn Smith 12/17/2014 https://www.the-leader.com/article/20141217/BUSINESS/312179976

Anthony Correia has 43 years of fire and EMS service. 30 of those years in senior leadership positions, rising to chief, in both career and volunteer organizations. Tony is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and currently an officer with the New Jersey State Fire Chiefs Association. He is also a National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Advocate and LAST member. Tony has presented several times at FDIC International and written articles for FireRescue Magazine and FirefighterNation. You can find more at acorr1954.com

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57 Firefighter Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best firefighter topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 interesting topics to write about firefighter, 📝 simple & easy firefighter essay titles.

New Venture: Cancer Risks of Firefighters In my opinion, being a firefighter is not just a profession, it is the ability to come to the rescue, to have compassion, to feel pain, and to empathize with people who are in a […]
Personal Protective Equipment for Firefighters It is for the serious impact of the fire that the department of fire fighting was initiated within every country to respond to fire incidences.
Fire and Rescue Department: Creating a Qualified Team In that regard, the investigation of the causes of fire will take one of the main objectives of a fire and rescue service.
New Haven Fire Department: Disregarding the Promotion Exam New Haven municipality should not disregard the results of a promotion test based on the fact that the exam yielded many qualified applicants from one race, and not enough of the minority since the exam […]
Fire Department Strategic Plan and Analysis Become the best fire organization by providing advanced services and training personnel to ensure they deliver quality and timely services by use of the available resources.
Buda Fire Department: Budget Administration Budget planning should consider the needs of the community and maximize the use of limited resources to enhance the quality and accessibility of fire departments’ services.
The University City Fire and Rescue Department Organisation The work of the department includes processing the information about an accident, space exploration, rescue work, deployment of forces and resources, and the elimination of the dangerous incident, specialized works, and work for the security […]
Ricci vs. DeStefano New Haven Firefighters Lawsuit The plaintiff in the case relied on the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to sue the company. Under the same conditions, with the same exam, the test is the best assessment of the […]
The Calgary Fire Service Department Social Media Channels In addition, the SMS channel may be programmed to issue alerts to the clients on emergencies, latest development and training schedules for the Calgary Fire Service department.
Ralston Valley Volunteer Fire Department Case The intended promotion should therefore convince these people that there is need to take part in the program and become volunteer firefighters for the common good of the community in times of emergencies.
Public Administration: Fire Department in America Through the modernization of fire-fighting equipment and the emerging need to have state-funded firefighting departments, Boston emerged as the first city in America to have a state-funded firefighting department.
Analysis of Hamden Fire Department’s Budget According to the two authors, the budgetary process is the mandate of the office of the leader of a local authority.
Emergency Response Planning: New Orleans and New York Fire Departments Some of the relief activities the agencies conducted in the event of a disaster include repairing the vital utility lines that the disaster destroyed, foods provision to the affected, and relocation of people in the […]
Discrimination and Affirmative Action: New Haven Firefighter’s Case The recruitment results showed that a number of individuals from both minority groups and the white group had passed entry mark; however, no single candidate from the minority groups had secured a chance in the […]
“9/11 and New York City Firefighters” Post Hoc Unit Support and Control Climates The independent variables of intensity of critical incident involvement were based on a measurement scale of 0 or 1 for affirmative to the 15 modes of involvement while for the four involving self injury a […]
The North Haven Fire Department Through this division of labor it becomes very easy to offer quality fire fighting services to the residents of The New Haven town in terms of public awareness on fire fighting equipments and the steps […]
The Importance of Safety to a Firefighter
The Life and Responsibilities of a Firefighter
The Reality of First Responders: Paramedics and Firefighters
Government Firefighter Training Facility
The Correlation of Work Stress, Work-Family Conflict, and Burnout of Firefighters
The Evolution of Firefighter PPE
Review of The History of Firefighter Profession
Uniform Service Heroes: Police and Firefighters
Systemic Discrimination Against Women Firefighters
Risky Business: Consent, Safety, and Firefighter Culture
Firefighter Fatalities and Injuries: The Role of Heat Stress and PPE
What It Takes to Become a Firefighter
Firefighter Staffing Including Temporary Absences and Wastage
Firefighting: Firefighter and Extreme Dedication
Becoming a Firefighter: A Successful Career as a Career
Protecting Firefighters’ Lives and Safety
The Importance of Fire Engineerings Handbook for Firefighter
Firefighter Personal Protective Equipment
Hazardous Material Issues and Firefighter Safety
Can the Low-Country Firefighter Peer Support Team Help Prevent Suicides
A Job of a Firefighter: Main Characteristics and Challenges
Need for More Volunteer Firefighters
Firefighter Injuries and Deaths
Emergency Medical Technician and Past Firefighters
Rapid Intervention Team: A Firefighters Savior
Why American Firefighters Deserve Pensions
Career Opportunities for Firefighting
New Haven Firefighters Affirmative Action Case Employers
How Pioneering Firefighter Brenda Berkman Won Women’s Right to Heroism
Operations and Procedures for Firefighters
Firefighter Safety: Hazardous Materials
The Correlation of Work Stress, Work-family Conflict and Burnout of Firefighters
The Role and Responsibilities of the Firefighter
Mental Health Issues of Firefighters
Overview of Firefighting as a Career
Sian Griffiths: A Career in Firefighter
Police Officer and Firefighter: Two Great Careers
Incendiary Fires Impact Upon Firefighters
Female Workers in Firefighter Jobs
The Advancements in Firefighters’ Protective Equipment
Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

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17 Pros and Cons of Being a Firefighter

Table of Contents

Being a firefighter is an exciting career! You’re doing something that’s serving your community. It’s got moments of enormous excitement and a unique sense of camaraderie with your colleagues.

But there are some downsides:

It can be a dangerous job.
There is ongoing on-the-job training throughout your career.
It would be best if you keep physically and mentally fit.

By the end of this article, you’ll better understand the pros and cons of being a firefighter. Then, hopefully, you’ll know whether you want to go into firefighting.

Let’s get started!

Pros and Cons of Becoming a Firefighter

Pros of Being a Firefighter

Some of the advantages of a firefighting career include the following:

1. Sense of Fulfillment & Purpose

When you reach the end of your career, you realize that you’ve done well for your community. As a result, you’ll have a higher purpose and stick up for the people around you.

You serve the richest and poorest equally and help them out without bias. As a result, you look out for the whole community. We love our firefighters for it!

2. Structure in your life

The paramilitary structure of many fire departments means young people who need a disciplined lifestyle will benefit from being a firefighter. As a result, young, fit, and enthusiastic people coming out of high school choose to turn to a firefighting career. In return, they get that much-needed guidance in their lives.

The movie Only the Brave explores this idea of the firefighting profession teaching discipline to young people (2017).

3. The Camaraderie

Several firefighters I consulted talked of the camaraderie in the station. Firefighters spend long days together and must rely on one another in need. Much like the Army, the team needs to form a tight bond. On-shift, you’ll often eat and work side-by-side for long shifts. You’ll have your best friends by your side with 100% faith they’ve got your back when the time comes. We love how in the movie Ladder 49 , they display this camaraderie:

4. No Take-Home Work

Too many jobs these days require you to take homework with you after leaving employment. That sort of job can be a real drag. It means work-life spills over your home life, and your relationships can suffer. Fortunately, your average firefighter is unlikely to have to take work home with them every week.

5. People Love You (High Job Approval)

Who hates a firefighter? Many people considering going into firefighting consider becoming police officers. But, on balance, firefighters are more loved than police officers. That’s because police can get a bad reputation among some working-class people and people of color who feel targeted by the police. By contrast, firefighters turn up to help protect everyone. Across all social classes, firefighters get far more respect than police officers.

6. Benefits and Job Security

This ‘pro’ is not always the case, so I left it toward the bottom. You may find an excellent unionized workforce in many districts with good benefits. You might get high-quality public service health coverage, annual leave, and a guaranteed salary.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Over the past 30 years, the government has eroded the benefits in almost every public service profession. As a result, you’ll find younger firefighters in worse conditions than older ones. Nonetheless, you can still find a stable position as a firefighter in many cities in the United States.

7. You Get to Exercise on the job

Many fire stations have gym equipment, and you’re encouraged to use it to maintain physical fitness while at work. But, unfortunately, there aren’t many other professions where you can get paid to work out.

But don’t be fooled – it’s not all working out and playing PlayStation! Firefighters can be incredibly busy, even on days when there aren’t a lot of call-outs.

8. You Work with Cool Equipment

A common childhood dream is to sit in a shiny fire truck and drive around while sounding the siren. It’s big, powerful, and overall just super cool. You’ll learn to manage a fire fighting pump and fire extinguishing equipment like a pro.

Cons of Being a Firefighter

Some of the disadvantages of a firefighting career include the following:

1. You witness innocent people suffering (and dying)

I wanted to put this first because it’s one of the top things firefighters cite as their job’s downside. Unfortunately, firefighters might arrive on the scene too late to save lives, often due to faulty or old smoke detectors . They usually have the task of entering buildings to protect people who may have already died of smoke inhalation or burns. You may be required as a trained EMT to turn up to scenes of suicides, which can be highly traumatic.

2. You’re there when families lose their loved ones

Similarly, it can be heartbreaking to see families lose their loved ones. You’ll often be on the scene when a family member finds out their child has died. At times, you may even have to break the news to a family about the death of their loved one. I’m sure this must stay in the memories of firefighters for years to come.

3. You miss family events

As a busy working person, you might find that you’re on shift when your child takes her first steps or says her first words. Because you’re on shift work, you might find that you can’t attend extended family picnics and gatherings on weekends. And even if you observe that gathering, you might get an urgent message calling you in for an emergency.

4. The pay isn’t amazing

We reviewed firefighter salaries comprehensively and found that many comparable public service professionals get higher average incomes. Your salary will likely be less as a firefighter than as a nurse, police officer, or teacher. As you climb the ranks, your pay will go up – and your wage will be higher than several other professions. So, it’s not horrible – but you’ll have to accept you’ll be in a working-class job throughout your career. If you want to get rich, this isn’t your career.

5. It’s Dangerous

Firefighters can die on the job. It’s an unfortunate fact of life. And while you’ve got plenty of training and personal protective equipment (PPE) to help protect you, unfortunately, deaths happen. Fires are danger zones. It’s not uncommon for structures to collapse from above during a fire that will fall and kill or paralyze you. You’ll be operating fire escape ladders and suspending them in high and unsafe locations.

Suppose you’re interested in becoming a firefighter. In that case, you might want to check out the documentary Burn, which interviews a firefighter that suffers paralysis in the line of duty:

Further reading: 7 Best Movies about Firefighting

6. Your Family will Worry About You

Given the dangers of the job, it’s not surprising that your family will be incredibly worried about you. You have family members back home you need to care for, and your job might get in the way. Your partner and children might be at home while you’re in a blaze, worrying sick that you’ll not get out alive. This stress can be hard on your family.

7. It’s Long Shift Work

Firefighting isn’t for you if you want a 9-5 Monday-Friday job. Many fire stations require you to do 24 and even 48-hour shifts . You’ll get rest time, but they expect you to race to fire anytime on these shifts. These long shifts can be tough on you and your body. Especially as you age and your body can’t keep up the way it used to in your 20s.

8. It’s Hard on your body

That leads me to the next point. Firefighters need to be physically fit. And as you get older, keeping up that fitness can be very difficult. You might find that your body can no longer keep up with the rigor of the job. As you enter your late 30s, some consider seeking a higher-up managerial job in the fire department. It’s a way to remain on the job while letting your body get some more rest. However, that means stepping away from the front lines, too.

9. The Training is Never Ending

Most firefighters start their careers with on-the-job training or apprenticeships. However, formal education can help job candidates and give them an edge, especially in a competitive environment.

Those who want fire science certifications, fire protection credentials, or emergency medical technician credentials can find them at a vocational or trade school. These schools offer certificate programs that combine hands-on work with classroom education; some schools offer certificates online.

Firefighters trained in the military will have the distinct advantage of knowing how to handle a wide range of firefighting materials, chemicals, and tools. In addition, the military can provide advanced training to employees, and employers consider that during their hiring process.

It would be best if you keep your certifications up. You’ll need training on advanced first aid, firefighting techniques, and how to manage and maintain equipment. In addition, you’ll find a lot of your time keeping up to date with current standards and changing regulations. On top of this, you may find many training sessions on teamwork and team bonding. This training ensures you’re ready when it’s time to jump into action.

Final Thoughts

Being a firefighter is more than sitting around playing PlayStation and then slipping down that pole to go and save the day. It can be dangerous, heartbreaking, and exhausting. But at the end of the day, you’re serving your community and helping a higher purpose. So hopefully, you can make a better decision with a clearer understanding of what it takes to be a firefighter.

So, if you want to become a firefighter, it would be best to first talk to a real firefighter. Your next step is to contact your local fire station . Ask if you can chat with one of the ladies or gents in the station about what they think of the job.

The Life and Responsibilities of a Firefighter

This essay will provide insight into the life and responsibilities of firefighters. It will discuss the challenging aspects of the job, including physical demands, emotional strain, and the critical role firefighters play in emergency response and community safety. The piece will highlight the skills and dedication required in this profession. PapersOwl showcases more free essays that are examples of Firefighter.

How it works

Firefighting is an extremely important job. It saves many lives and property. “Firefighters have the responsibility of protecting life and property from the hazard of fire” (Hopke 242). Firefighters also go on emergency calls such as heart attacks, respiratory problems, any other medical problems or just to help save stuck or trapped animals. If an individual is considering going into firefighting, they should find out all they can about it. They would need to find out especially about the nature of the work, training requirements, the salaries and benefits, and the overall employment outlook.

A career in fire fighting could be dangerous and exciting as well as rewarding: firefighters are needed to save lives and property.

In firefighting, the nature of work varies depending on the size of the department and city. Some jobs a person could have would be hose handler, ladder handler, truck driver, inspector or tiller handler who drives the back end of a long truck. Firefighters will fight different sizes of fires. Sometimes they fight big burning buildings or little grass fires. Since there is such a great amount of heat put off from a fire, firefighters wear protective clothing. During a fire, there could be confusion, so firefighters are organized and put to different duties. These firefighters are supervised by fire captains, battalion chiefs or the fire chief. When a fire is out, some firefighters wait around to make sure that it is completely out.

There are fire investigation lieutenants or fire marshals that try to figure out what started the fire and where. These people can arrest an arsonist or talk in court according to what they find out. Besides fighting fires, firefighters go on medical and emergency calls. Fire inspectors are people who inspect buildings to make sure they are not hazardous. Firefighters have to keep all of their equipment in top order in case of emergency. There are many training requirements for firefighting. A person going into firefighting needs to be 18 years of age or older and have at least a high school diploma. “Applicants for municipal firefighting jobs may have to pass a written test; tests of strength, physical stamina, coordination and agility; and a medical examination including screens for drug use”(Careers 297). Some large departments have on-the-job training classes or courses for new firefighters. These courses teach them how to use equipment and study firefighting techniques (Snelling Sr. and Snelling 112). Some personal qualities firefighters need would be courage, mental alertness, endurance, mechanical aptitude and a sense of public service.

Firefighters also need to work well with others because they are always in groups with other firefighters (Jist 278). Being a firefighter requires someone to take orders well as in emergency situations, it could be very important (Hopke 244). Firefighters also undertake medical classes. A firefighter would start out by taking an EMT class, then IEMT, and finally, paramedic, which is the top medical class a firefighter can attain. Also, firefighters take college courses to obtain their medical certification. Many people enter the field of firefighting due to the salaries and benefits. I asked John Ginn, a firefighter, if given a chance to do it all over again, would he still pick this field and why or why not. He responded, “Yes, because of the type of work and benefits” (Ginn, Personal Interview). The average beginning salary for beginning firefighters is about $20-22 thousand per annum.

As firefighters progress in their career, they gain rank and receive higher pay. The benefits they receive include paid sick leave, paid vacations, medical and liability insurance, and some paid holidays. Firefighters also get their protective clothing, breathing equipment, and dress uniforms. They are also provided with everyday uniforms which include shirts and pants, but they have to buy their own shoes. After 25 years of service, firefighters get half-pay for retirement. If a firefighter is disabled in the line of duty, they also receive retirement pay (Careers 298). These are some of the benefits that firefighters obtain.

The overall employment outlook appears positive. Every year, there are thousands of job opportunities available. These openings occur when current firefighters retire, pass away, or switch careers. Many new positions are created when small towns upgrade their volunteer fire department to an organized city fire department (Hopke 242). Firefighters rarely get fired or laid off due to the importance of fire protection. “Even when budget cuts do occur, local fire departments typically withhold from purchasing new equipment or withhold from hiring new firefighters, rather than laying off staff” (Jist 279). The competition for these jobs is high due to a large number of applicants, but even so, employment prospects are good. The working conditions for firefighters are unlike most jobs because the nature of work can be dangerous. They risk their lives during burning building incidents where the walls, floors, roofs or the entire building could collapse on them causing death or injury.

Firefighters risk their lives to save others and their properties. They are also exposed to gases and smoke, which could be dangerous and cause permanent injuries. The hours spent on duty at the fire station can affect the amount of time a firefighter can spend with their family compared to other jobs (Hopke 246). John Ginn stated, “the thing I don’t like about it is that it is hard on the family, being gone at night”(Ginn Personal Interview). Firefighting can be rewarding, exciting, and dangerous. Firefighters are crucial for saving property and lives. Even if firefighting is dangerous, it is worth it when a firefighter rescues a person from a fire or car wreck.

Firefighting is easy to get into after high school and doesn’t require many post-high-school classes. Even though firefighters have to pass a physical test, it’s worth it. Firefighting is a reasonably paying job with many benefits. Once someone is a firefighter, they usually stay in the profession until they want to retire or change careers. This is because firefighting has a low turnover rate. The working conditions can be dangerous and strenuous, as they are on call 24 hours a day. Despite the dangers of firefighting, it might be worth considering. It seems like a job that many people would enjoy. Firefighters are generally liked by most of the community for the services they provide.

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An Interview Study of the Experiences of Firefighters in Regard to Psychological Contract and Stressors

Open access
Published: 22 February 2018
Volume 30 , pages 203–226, ( 2018 )

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Fazeelat Duran ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6822-6012 1 ,
Jessica Woodhams 1 &
Darren Bishopp 1

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As the first qualitative study of its kind, this study explored firefighters’ beliefs and experiences about the psychological contract between themselves as employees and their employer, workplace stress, stress-management strategies, and their wellbeing. Eleven interviews were conducted with active firefighters from multiple fire stations in the UK. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were analysed using framework analysis. Five superordinate themes were identified and labelled as ‘Motives’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors and their effects’, ‘Moderators’, and ‘Retention factors’, each of which contained lower level sub-themes. Psychological contract (PC) is a useful construct to measure firefighters’ perceived obligations as their responses reflected multiple facets of PC theory. The current climate of austerity measures appears to be negatively impacting on firefighters in terms of reducing numbers and placing higher task demands on those remaining. Thus, making it very difficult for the UK Fire and Rescue Service (UKFRS) to meet the perceived obligations of their employees. The findings have implications for human resource departments within UKFRS trying to manage the impact of funding cuts and they highlight the potential value of the PC as a construct around which such issues can be explored.

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Firefighting is one of the most stressful occupations with firefighters being exposed to a range of demands, which can impact upon their somatic and mental wellbeing (Beaton et al. 1997 ; Norwood and Rascati 2015 ). The stress they experience is a relevant concern for the many countries around the world that employ them and has been a topic of academic study in several countries, including Japan, the UK, Malaysia, the USA and Canada (Malek et al. 2010 ; Murphy et al. 2002 ; Saijo et al. 2008 ; Sommerfeld et al. 2017 ).

In the UK in particular, industrial relations are a pressing matter within the organisational climate of UK firefighting (Brunsden and Hill 2009 ). Since 2010, UK Fire and Rescue Services (UKFRSs) are facing budget cuts as a result of austerity measures. In the last few years, the UK Government has reduced the funding received by the UKFRSs by 30% (CFOA 2012 ). At present, the austerity cuts facing UKFRSs have yet to be fully implemented, however, already there has been a reduction in the number of full-time retained and control firefighters. Specifically in England, the total number of firefighters has decreased by 3.2% in 2015 and by 14.7% between 2005 and 2015 (Bega 2010 ; Gaught 2016 ). Greenwood ( 2016 ) has estimated that the UKFRSs could lose up to 10,000 more firefighters by 2020. This may, in part, be due to the overall downtrend in the number of fires that are attended to on an annual basis as shown in Appendix Fig. 1 , produced from the national statistics (Home Office, 2014 ).

Regardless of the trend in the reduction of fires, the UKFRS remains critical to public safety and it is timely to study how actions by the Government, and the implementation of these by the employer, might act as a stressor affecting the wellbeing of UK firefighters. A reduction in the number of firefighters isn’t a concern limited to the UK. In the US, the total number of volunteer firefighters now exceeds the number of career firefighters and even the number of volunteers per 1000 of the population is decreasing (Haynes and Stein 2016 ). The present study therefore aimed to understand the experiences of firefighters working in the UK, and explores their psychological contract (PC) in the austerity climate and its impact on their stress and wellbeing.

There are number of incident-related stressors faced by Fire Service personnel that can affect their mental and physical health including time pressure, lack of sleep, fatigue, high stakes decision making, risk of injury to self or death, and exposure to other people’s trauma (Bos et al. 2004 ; Murphy et al. 2002 ). The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ( 2004 ) has attributed an increase in deaths of firefighters to cardiac arrest and high blood pressure (Kales et al. 2009 ), and they are noted to suffer from weakened immune systems, musculoskeletal difficulties, and fatigue (Cohen and Herbert 1996 ). A common reason for leaving the Fire Service for retirement or early retirement is ill-health (Gaught 2016 ). Moreover, Stanley et al. ( 2015 ) have found a high risk of suicide among firefighters.

In addition to incident-related stressors, there are a host of organisational stressors that firefighters can be exposed to, which include shift patterns, overtime, excessive workload, departmental politics, harassment, poor organisational climate, poor communication, lack of training, and conflicts with co-workers and supervisors (Brough 2004 ; Brunsden et al. 2003 ; Saijo et al. 2008 ). These stressors can have long-term psychophysical and behavioural effects on the health of firefighters, for example, anxiety and depression (Brough 2004 ); burnout (Prati et al. 2011 ; Vaulerin et al. 2016 ); emotional exhaustion (Smith et al. 2003 ); depersonalisation (Alexander and Klien 2001 ); and post-traumatic stress disorder (McFarlane and Bryant 2007 ).

While there is evidence for a relationship between workplace stressors and poor psychological health with samples of firefighters (Brunsden et al. 2003 ; Prati et al. 2011 ; Saijo et al. 2008 ; Vaulerin et al. 2016 ), there is also the potential that such a relationship can be mediated by other positive factors. Factors such as social support, self-efficacy, coping strategies, maintaining a work/family and/or work/leisure balance, mindfulness training and resilience have all been identified as potential mediators of chronic and complex stressors in the workplace (Carpenter et al. 2015 ; Cowman et al. 2004 ; Halbesleben 2009 ; Khoury et al. 2013 ; Lambert et al. 2012 ; Lee et al. 2014 ; Regehr et al. 2003 ; Wong et al. 2014 ). The current study therefore sought to understand what incident-related and organisational stressors were being experienced by UK firefighters, as well as improve our understanding of what factors might help them buffer or manage the effects of workplace stress on their wellbeing.

As well as potentially having a negative impact on the employee, organisational stressors are also associated with negative outcomes for the organisation itself, e.g., poor job satisfaction and subsequent staff turnover and absenteeism (Brough 2004 ). A comprehensive understanding of employee-employer relationships within firefighting organisations can help determine ways to tackle such organisational stressors. An area that has received less attention to date is the social exchange construct of ‘psychological contract’ (PC). It refers to “a person’s beliefs regarding the terms and conditions of the reciprocal exchange agreement between themselves and their organisation” (Rousseau 1989 , p. 123). This construct focuses on unwritten expectations, beliefs, promises or obligations between employees and employers beyond the actual written agreement (Inocencia 2012 ). Rousseau ( 1990 , 1995 ) categorised the perceived obligations into transactional and relational obligations. Transactional refers to obligations that are extrinsic, that occur in a close-ended time frame, that are static and observable (e.g., pay and reward). In contrast, relational obligations are more open-ended, intrinsic, dynamic and subjective (e.g., job security) (Conway and Briner 2009 ; Rousseau and McLean Parks 1993 ). PC therefore covers a range of issues like trust, fairness, promotion, training, development and decision making (Conway and Briner 2005 ; Turnley and Feldman 2000 ). Studies of work-related stress have argued that breaches and violations of PC can make a significant contribution to the stress experienced by employees (Noblet et al. 2009 ). PC fulfilment has been found to predict job and life satisfaction (De Cuyper et al. 2011 ), resistance to change (Van de Heuvel and Schalk 2009 ); and the level of trust and fairness between employees and employers (Van der Vaart et al. 2015 ; Van der Vaart et al. 2013 ). Organisations that fulfill employees’ PC have low work-related anxiety and depression, and job insecurity (Guest et al. 2010 ). The employer’s fulfilment of obligations affects the employee’s intentions regarding whether to resign or stay with an organisation (De Cuyper and De Witte 2006 ; Flood et al. 2001 ). In contrast, when employees’ perceived obligations are broken it results in negative organisational outcomes such as increased turn over intentions, organisational distrust, and job dissatisfaction (Wayne et al. 2007 ).

Previous literature has linked PC breach to Social Exchange Theory (Blau 1964 ), which states that employees try to achieve a balance in the exchange between themselves and their employer, for example, employees work hard and in return expect to be recognised for their efforts. When the employees perceive imbalance in the fulfillment of perceived obligations, there are negative consequences. Similarly, PC breach could be linked to stress and wellbeing from a conservation of resources theory (COR) perspective. This theory states that an individual protects his/her required resources (money, health, etc.) and that perception or actual loss of such resources can trigger negative consequences (Halbesleben and Bowler 2007 ; Hobfoll 1989 , 2001 ). Consistent with this theory, we argue that unmet obligations perceived as a loss of valued resources (Restubog et al. 2013 ) could be linked to stress and wellbeing. In high-stress jobs such as firefighting, a fulfilled PC might be one way to ameliorate the stress experienced by employees.

While there is a substantial literature on PC with employees and employers from the educational, retail, and commercial sectors, the authors could only identify three studies, which had examined this construct with firefighters (Coyle-Shapiro 2002 ; Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler 2003 ; Liao-Troth 2005 ). Liao-Troth sampled 85 volunteer firefighters in the US and investigated the relationship between PC formation and individual motives (such as career, values, and protection) that would imply loyalty for a longer period within the organization. No association was found between the PC type and motives, perhaps because volunteer rather than full-time, career firefighters were sampled.

In the UK, Coyle-Shapiro ( 2002 ) and Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler ( 2003 ) applied the PC construct to two samples of public sector employees of 480 and 5709, respectively, to study the effects of perceived PC fulfilment on their attitude and behaviour. PC fulfilment was found to be a predictor of public sector employees’ organisational commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour. However, only 40 and 211 of the participants were firefighters, which equates to 4% and 8% of each sample, respectively. Therefore, it is difficult to know to what extent the findings apply to firefighters, specifically.

Each of these existing studies with firefighters has used quantitative methods to measure PC. To the authors’ knowledge, no previous study has utilised qualitative methods to explore how PC and the consequences of broken obligations or promises are experienced by firefighters. Therefore, the potential contribution of this study is its qualitative design and the unique sample of firefighters: this could add more detail to the otherwise dominant stream of quantitative studies among more common segments of the labour market. In the current climate of budget cuts, the outcome of the study would assist the management of UKFRS because they play an essential role in managing the PC of their firefighters. A qualitative study provides greater detail in terms of whether firefighters have different reactions to PC breach or are alike other professions. It is also important to conduct such a study because tests devised to measure PC (e.g., PSYCONES 2005 ; Rousseau 1990 , 2000 ) have been developed with employees from the commercial, educational and retail sectors and have yet to be validated with employees from the emergency services. Therefore, the current study took a qualitative approach to address this gap in the literature.

The current study aimed to fill a gap in the literature by examining UK full-time firefighters’ beliefs about mutual obligations stemming from social-cultural context. It is an uncertain time in the UK for firefighters, where taking positive actions to improve their experiences could be important. We also aimed to examine the stressors experienced by UK firefighters; this was because most studies of emergency personnel focus on the causes and effects of stress amongst police officers and paramedics, rather than firefighters (Larsson et al. 2016 ; Malek et al. 2010 ). They are, therefore, a relatively neglected group.

Participants and Recruitment

Participants were recruited from 11 different fire stations from within one English county. The recruitment process utilised a variety of methods including electronic and face-to-face meetings with watch commanders and firefighters. In addition, the Fire and Rescue Service Human Resource Department circulated an electronic recruitment letter to different fire stations across the county. The participants also aided recruitment by snowballing information about the study to colleagues through social networking.

In total, 11 full-time, active, front-line firefighters participated. The ethnicity of all interviewees was White, and all except one were male. Four were single and seven were married or in a relationship. Their length of operational service ranged from 1.5 years to 12.5 years. They were watch commanders ( n = 2) and firefighters ( n = 9).

A semi-structured interview was conducted with each participant on an individual basis. At the start of the interview, demographic information was collected from the interviewee regarding their gender, ethnicity, marital status, job title, number of years worked in the Fire and Rescue Service, and number of hours worked per week. The remainder of the interview schedule consisted of open-ended questions, which defined areas to be explored, but which also allowed for flexibility to discuss emerging issues. With regard to PC, the interview schedule included questions about firefighters’ expectations regarding their job and employer with prompts and further questions (in some cases) related to obligations commonly mentioned in the PC literature such as development and training opportunities, and sources of support. These questions were open-ended allowing the interviewees to cover relational and/or transactional obligations. In recognition of the reciprocal nature of PC, we asked about perceived obligations of the employee as well as of the employer, whether these were being met and, if not, why not. The flexibility of a semi-structured interview enabled us to ask follow-up questions about obligations raised by the interviewee, which did not feature in the interview schedule. In light of the association between PC fulfillment and positive outcomes as well as PC breach and violation with negative outcomes, we also asked interviewees about the positive and negative impact of their job and explored the stressors they experienced and what strategies and resources were available to them to tackle these (see Appendix Table 1 ).

Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Research Ethics Committee. Before the commencement of the interview, the participant information sheet and consent form was provided to the participants. Their consent was obtained for the interview being audio recorded. Interviews were conducted either at the firefighter’s workplace ( n = 6) or over the telephone ( n = 5). The mean interview length was 51 min (range: 42–56). There were no differences between the face-to-face and telephone interviews in relation to length of interview. Participants were given a £20 Love-to-Shop voucher on completion of the interview. Due to the topic of the interview, each participant was given the contact details of their occupational psychologist at work so that they could seek help, if needed. Participants were given two weeks post-interview to withdraw from the study. Once this time had passed the audio files were transcribed verbatim (replacing names with pseudonyms) and deleted.

Data Analysis Strategy

Framework analysis (Gale et al. 2013 ; Ritchie and Lewis 2003 ; Ritchie and Spencer 1994 ) was chosen as the method of analysis since it is a systematic approach to analysis but also allows for changes to be made to the coding framework during the analytical process. Further, themes can be constructed at multiple levels. Themes are developed from the data and not a-priori. QSR Nvivo10 was used to manage the data while ensuring the analyst could still view the original material. Each respondent was allocated a row while sub-headings were organised into separate columns. Each transcript was analysed by coding the data into base units of meaning and creating free codes. These free codes were further categorised into logical themes. The generated themes for each participant were incorporated across participants to produce a list of high order categorised themes capturing shared experiences of the participants. The authors scrutinised the relationships and interactions between the themes in the chart to explain the beliefs and experiences of the firefighters sampled (Ritchie and Lewis 2003 ; Ritchie et al. 2013 ).

Results and Discussion

Five main themes were identified and were labelled ‘Motives’, ‘Mutual obligations’, ‘Stressors and their effects’, ‘Moderators’, ‘Retention factors’ (see Appendix Table 2 ). Each of these themes served as an umbrella theme for high-order categories. Further, these high-order themes consisted of lower-order categories and then base units of meaning. How these levels were arranged can be seen in Appendix Table 3 . Moreover, how often each lower-order category and each base unit was referred to in the interviews and by interviewee is included in Appendix Table 3 .

Theme 1: Motives

This theme encapsulated each of the participants’ reasons for joining the Fire and Rescue Service. Within it, there were six sub-themes. ‘Life time aspiration’ accounted for more than two-thirds of all responses.

It was my passion to join the Fire Service from my childhood because it is an exciting job. I never thought of any other job really (Female, Firefighter 1).

The other reasons for joining the Fire Service included firefighting not being a typical job with typical hours (i.e., ‘not a 9–5 job’) and it having ‘better career opportunities’ than other jobs.

I wanted to do something that was different from the routine. By routine I mean 9 – 5 jobs and there would be not a single day that is the same. (Male, Firefighter 7). I opted for the Fire Service really; when I wanted a change...This profession provides a better career in comparison to other job structures (Male, Watch Commander 10).

Further, approximately half of the interviewees referred to the UKFRS having a generous pension scheme in comparison to other professions as a reason of joining. These officers would have joined UKFRSs prior to the implementation of financial cuts.

I chose to be a firefighter because I want to have a better living standard when I retire (Male, Watch Commander 10).

Interviewees also commented that a reason for joining was that ‘not everyone can be a firefighter’, which suggests the job has a special status associated with it, which gives them a feeling of pride and achievement.

I always wanted to purse this job, as it is very difficult to get into this job. (Male, Firefighter 3). ...because not everyone can get into this job easily, just like the army (Male, Watch Commander, 10).

Moreover, there was one participant who joined because of ‘family tradition’ i.e., his relatives were part of the Fire and Rescue Service and he grew up hearing fire-fighting stories.

My uncle was a firefighter and hearing his stories developed my interest to join this profession. It took me quite a long time to get into this job, as I wanted to join the Fire Service when I was 15 years old (Male, Watch Commander 8).

From the above, it was clear that motives for joining the Fire and Rescue Service would likely be associated with PC breach because some of the employees had joined with the perceived obligations of having better pension schemes, as compared to other professions. However, in the current climate of austerity cuts in the UK, and with the Government having brought in changes to firefighters’ pension schemes in 2011 (CFOA 2012 ), it is likely that such perceptions are difficult for the Fire and Rescue Service, as the employer, to satisfy. Therefore, the cuts act as an external force triggering PC breach by the Fire and Rescue Service meaning the organisation can no longer fulfil its perceived obligations (Thompson and Bunderson 2001 ).

Theme 2: Mutual Obligations

This theme captured firefighters’ perceptions of what the perceived obligations were of their employers (‘employer obligations’) and their beliefs of what their employers would expect of them (‘employee obligations’) (see Appendix Table 2 ). There were eight employer obligations that could be further categorised into relational and transactional obligations (Bunderson 2001 ; Rousseau 1990 , 2000 ), and five employee obligations towards their employer, which were further categorised into the obligations of ‘loyalty’, and ‘looking after property’.

Employer Obligations

In terms of transactional obligations, more than half of the firefighters perceived to be provided with a safe working environment by the employer, which was related to the employer providing appropriate and sufficient equipment. In addition, they spoke about the need for the employer to provide the right equipment to allow them to perform their duties with professionalism. Moreover, two of the participants spoke about financial rewards. Specifically, they talked about their belief that they would receive their pay on time and that they would be provided with a good pension scheme.

We want to be paid at the end of the day, as we need money for our living. We need a good pension scheme as well (Male, Watch Commander 10)

In addition, firefighters spoke about relational obligations (Rousseau 1990 , 2000 ): three of the interviewees expected there to be parity in how themselves and their colleagues were treated. They talked about the stress, demands and responsibility associated with the job and that they accepted these providing they received financial security now and in the future. Cuts in the budgets of the Fire Service meant that the frontline firefighters we sampled were concerned about their job security.

I want to be treated fairly by my employer as the rest of the employees are treated. My bosses and supervisors should keep a check on whether we are treated fairly... (Male, Firefighter 4). I expect to have a secure job when we are facing budget cuts. I want quite a secure job in terms of how long I will be protected from redundancy (Male, Firefighter 8).

Four of them referred to beliefs that their employer respect them and understand their position, as they were once at a similar stage of career.

They should realise that once they were also a firefighter. They [seniors] should respect us (Male, Firefighter 6).

Further, three firefighters expected that their employer would provide them with opportunities for advancement and growth, or training to develop into a competent firefighter, so that they are up-to-date in their job role. It was felt that this would enable them to tackle difficult situations in a professional manner.

I want to have good training in order to deal with serious incidents... So, to develop into a competent firefighter, I need more training. This will assist me to grow in my role by being a fully competent firefighter (Male, Firefighter 5).

Three of them mentioned that they want to be provided with assistance when they are struggling with a task.

Sometimes, I want them to help me, when I am struggling with something. By something’ I mean anything that is related to performing the duty with excellence (Male, Firefighter 11).

Three-quarters of the interviewees perceived that, most of the time, employers met their perceived obligations by, for example, providing training. They also mentioned that they were treated the same way as other employees within the organisation. A point they were concerned about, however, was the skills of higher management within their organisation.

I am unhappy with the selection of our senior leaders. The reason is you [high ranking officials] are selecting the people on the basis of practical skills no matter how goofy their management skills are (Male, Firefighter 3).

Employee Obligations

In terms of ‘employee obligations’, 90% of the interviewees felt that they fulfilled their employer’s perceived promises by being ‘loyal’ (Bunderson 2001 ; Herriot et al. 1997 ) to the organisation, i.e., protecting the core values of the Fire and Rescue Service (being punctual, maintaining competencies, being a good team player, and performing duties with loyalty to the Fire Service). Moreover, the employers were perceived to have an expectation of their employees that equipment would be cared for (Herriot et al. 1997 ) and that the station would be kept clean and tidy.

My employers just want me to promote and preserve the core values of the Fire Service. These core values are definitely to perform well when a certain task is given. All the firefighters have to keep the stations clean and tidy and maintain unity within our team (Male, Firefighter 11).

One-third of the firefighters perceived their employers’ obligations of them to have changed from the time they started in the job. This is consistent with previous literature (Conway and Briner 2009 ; De Meuse et al. 2001 ; Robinson et al. 1994 ), which suggests that the PC changes with time. However, the firefighters interviewed seemed to suggest that this wasn’t a positive change and that they were now overwhelmed by the different duties required of them.

The way we do the job has changed a lot these days. It’s much like we not only have to attend the incidents but also educate children. There is so much to do rather than dealing with the fire calls (Male, Watch Commander, 10).

PCs can be classified as relational or transactional (Rousseau and Tijoriwala 1998 ; Rousseau 2000 ). As noted above, employer obligations reported by our participants represent both transactional and relational elements because they refer to monetary and non-monetary exchanges within an open-ended agreement (Rousseau 1990 ). However, the obligations referred to by the majority of interviewees are relational because they are implicit and subjective with no clear time frame (Conway and Briner 2009 ). This is most likely because the firefighters sampled were all full-time (career) firefighters as opposed to part-time or volunteers, whose PCs are more transactional in nature. Furthermore, a few interviewees perceived a decrease in the relational component of their PC with their employer over time, in terms of reduced levels of respect, and a reduced commitment to the organisation (much alike De Meuse et al. 2001 ).

In terms of how the experiences of our interviewees mapped onto aspects of PC measured by existing tests, the obligations mentioned by the firefighters, such as receiving a good rate of pay, having job security, being treated fairly by the employers, and being provided with opportunities for advancement and personal growth, are similar to how employer obligations are measured in PSYCONES ( 2005 ) and Bunderson’s ( 2001 ) measure of PC. These measures were developed with employees from the commercial, retail, educational and health care sectors, therefore these findings suggest that firefighters perceive similar obligations from their employers as employees in other sectors.

PC breach refers to when employees perceived their obligations to be unfulfilled. Within the interviews, there was some evidence that firefighters perceived a breach to their PC with their employer (Morrison and Robinson 1997 ). However, rather than the firefighters referring to the Fire and Rescue Service having breached the contract, their actual employer, they instead referred to the Government as the cause of the breach. So, while the employees were largely happy with their employer (the Fire and Rescue Service), three-quarters of the interviewees were unhappy with the Government, who they perceived to be the cause of the current industrial action.

...Firefighters might be happy with their employers but they are not happy and satisfied with the Government. This is leading to massive strikes.... (Male, Firefighter 7).

Within the interviews, having to “do more” was often spoken about alongside comments regarding the “financial strains” being experienced by the Fire and Rescue Service. This suggests that the increased number of tasks facing the firefighters might also stem from the reduction in their numbers (i.e., fewer personnel having to do more with less). Other quotes from the interviewees implied a general sense of feeling under-resourced with the implication being that numbers could reduce further as people left the Service. This seemed to implicate a breach in the PC from the employees’ perspective:

In previous years, the number of firefighters is going down. There are fewer fire engines... we have a lot of financial strains these days. If these continue, we are further going to go down in numbers (Male, Watch Commander 10).

As noted above, several of the firefighters referred to the “good pension scheme” as a reason for joining the Service and that receiving a good pension was an obligation they perceived their employer to fulfil. However, approximately 80% of the firefighters referred in negative terms to the UK Government making changes to the pension scheme within the Fire Service during their interviews:

The Government is not right by bringing change in the pension scheme (Male, Firefighter 6).

Further suggestions of breaches to their PCs lay in comments which implied they did not feel recompensed sufficiently for the challenging job they undertook, and that they were not being given sufficient resource to perform their job adequately (i.e., insufficient staffing and inadequate equipment).

It’s because we work hard, giving our best, therefore we should be paid for it (Male, Watch Commander 8). They (the Government) want to save money by having cuts in our budget...hmmm because of this; we have lots of financial strains and few firefighters, today. There are also fewer fire engines (Male, Firefighter 6). The public needs to be aware of what the Government is doing with the firefighters (Male, Watch Commander 8).

As a public service, the Fire Service extends the traditional model of a PC between employer-employees since, while firefighters have an immediate employer (the Fire Service), they are also employed by the Government (Dick 2006 ). Further, while they have obligations to their employer, these extend to providing a service to the public. The public can have their own expectations of firefighters and the Fire Service, which may or may not be met. The quotes from the firefighters we sampled imply that firefighters are aware of this and so wish the public to be aware of the difficult circumstances in which they are operating should they not be meeting the public’s expectations.

Theme 3: Stressors and their Effects

There were a number of stressors cited by the firefighters we interviewed; family/personal, organisational (circumstances within the organisation that cause stress, such as high workload, etc.), incident-related (stressors resulting from attending an incident at work), and government stressors. These stressors were identified as having a negative impact on the physical and psychological wellbeing of the firefighters in the current organisational climate of UKFRSs (see Appendix Table 3 ). The primary source of stress as perceived by the firefighters was referred to as ‘the Government’:

They (the Government) are causing stress by messing with our finances, messing with our pensions, messing with our retirement wages (Male, Watch Commander 8).

Another type of stressor faced by the interviewees was a personal stressor related to ‘family problems’. More than half of the employees reported having insufficient time for family, holidays and festivals. One interviewee spoke about being unable to find any leisure time for him/herself (‘personal stressor’) and several talked about the difficulties of maintaining a good balance between work, home and social life. This seemed particularly relevant to participants who were in a relationship or had a family. In contrast, the employees who were not in a relationship or who were single were more satisfied in terms of their work-life balance. These findings resonate with Conway and Briner ( 2009 ) and Millward ( 2006 ) who found that events such as marriage and parenthood influence or change an employee’s perceived obligations from their employer.

I am unable to make up for holidays and festivals due to my job commitments. I have no time for a social life, honestly. At times, it gets difficult for me to have a balance between my work and home (Male, Firefighter 9).

One-quarter of the firefighters reported ‘incident-related’ stressors such as dealing with fires, false alarms, dealing with members of the public on the scene, and being distracted from their work by members of the public’s interference. Furthermore, it was distressing for these employees when, at times, they were unable to help people involved in the incident. It seemed that incident-related stressors were not linked to PC breach.

It gets really difficult to deal with the public as they come up with their cameras and make videos. Even though, when they are asked to move back politely, they never listen to you. They think it’s like we are not doing anything serious or it’s not a serious job, but it is really distracting and disturbing (Male, Firefighter 5). Sometimes you deal with nasty incidents and nasty people so it gets stressful (Male, Firefighter 4).

The firefighters interviewed reported facing ‘organisational stressors’, namely large amounts of paperwork, team conflicts, shift patterns (four days on and four days off), and difficulties with time management. An additional organisational stressor reported by the interviewees was a reduction in numbers of firefighters - too few firefighters puts pressure on the remaining staff to fulfil the duties required of them. This is consistent with existing literature (Gaught 2016 ) with one implication being that in future there might be further reductions in the number of firefighters.

The industrial action will make terms and conditions more difficult. Already we are dropping in numbers and our job is important in order to protect the community. I find this stressful... (Male, Firefighter, 11).

It was evident from the quotations that, unlike incident-related stressors, personal, government and organisational stressors were linked to PC breach that might subsequently have a negative impact on the firefighters’ wellbeing.

Effects of Stressors

As a consequence of these incident-related, organisational and personal stressors, the employees reported experiencing ‘physical distress’ including being tired and run-down. Lack of sleep/poor sleep was a common consequence of organisational stressors (i.e., shift patterns).

When I come from the night shift it gets difficult for me to get rest (Male, Firefighter, 4). Sometimes, I am a bit tired when I am unable to manage work life and social life and shift pattern. I run down to a point that I do not have rest and this affects my sleeping pattern as well. I don’t get enough sleep. (Male, Watch Commander 10).

The shift pattern being a stressor is consistent with some previous research where it was attributed to causing physical distress (Bos et al. 2004 ; Murphy et al. 2002 ). In contrast, Litchfield and Hinckley ( 2016 ) didn’t find such a relationship but found that a different shift pattern (of two days and two nights on and four days off) was associated with a better work-life balance amongst firefighters.

Incident-related stressors were more often associated with muscular discomfort and pain, injuries and falling sick. A few of the interviewees reported experiencing ‘psychological distress’, namely mild anxiety and depression, due to personal/family stressors, in particular having no time for themselves or family. For two interviewees, their intimate relationship with a partner had also ended because they were unable to balance work and home life. Firefighters also mentioned emotional or physical exhaustion resulting from the demands of the job. In addition, Halbesleben ( 2009 ) found that emotional exhaustion could result from work-family conflict.

I found myself exhausted by push and pull. In this environment, I was suffering from mild anxiety and stress affecting my sleep, life, and mood. I was unable to manage work life and home life. I was unable to give time when my kids wanted me (Male, Firefighter 4).

Our findings accord with previous conclusions about firefighters facing organisational stressors, family stressors (Brunsden et al. 2014 ), and incident-related stressors (Brown et al. 2002 ). In addition, our sample referred to stressors attributed to the Government. This was considered as an external stressor acting on the Fire Service as an employer preventing fulfillment of employees’ perceived obligations, such as having a good pension, and sufficient workforce and resources.

Theme 4: Moderators

Several factors were cited by the interviewees as being utilised to manage stress in the job. These were grouped under ‘moderators’ (alike Dean et al. 2003 ; Regher et al. 2003 ). ‘Social support’ was quoted by all the firefighters as the best method to buffer the effects of stress. This accords with previous literature that has cited social support as a buffer for high stress levels (Haslam and Mallon 2003 ; Young et al. 2014 ). Interviewees reported that there were sufficient resources within the organisation to offer social support when needed (i.e., ‘organisational support’). These sources included the occupational health department, their watch colleagues, the Watch Commander and the Union. Our findings suggested that all the employees felt they had adequate social support irrespective of their length of the experience, whereas Regher et al. ( 2003 ) found newly recruited firefighters received more support than experienced firefighters. Moreover, alike Young et al.’s ( 2014 ) findings, the interviewees that had less experience particularly mentioned seeking social support from more experienced members of the watch as a way of managing distress.

There is also an occupational health department, who deal with our stressors. Everyone supports each other at watch level. I also belong to the union and my union supports me in case of dealing with stress (Male, Firefighter 11).

Mixed reports were given of drawing on external sources of social support, such as from families, friends and relatives, to buffer the effects of stress. A few interviewees mentioned that they would prefer not to talk to their family because of the distressing nature of incidents they work with and to avoid their families worrying about them at work. Similar findings were reported by Menendez et al. ( 2006 ) and Yoo and Matsui ( 2012 ).

I have got enough support from my family and friends, but I can’t share with them everything as they can be taken aback with this role, I don't want them feel bad and concerned about me when I am at work (Male, Firefighter 11).

However, there were a few firefighters who did seek support from friends and family, although they again seemed to indicate a preference for talking with work colleagues, perhaps due to their immediate availability after an incident, as alluded to below:

I talk to my partner and friends and I also talk to my colleagues. They are the people we interact with immediately after the incident (Male, Watch Commander 10).

Similarly, Brunsden et al. ( 2014 ) found that firefighters prefer to seek support from colleagues because they spend most of their time at the fire stations and their colleagues are, therefore, the people they encounter after attending a fire incident. In addition, family members who were part of the firefighting family provided an extension of such support:

I think I am quite lucky that I have family and friends who support me. I come from a firefighter family... (Male, Firefighter 3).

A range of approaches were used to manage stressors, beyond drawing on social support. A minority of interviewees reported using ‘avoidance’ strategies such as diverting attention from a source of stress by engaging in another activity (e.g., going to the cinema), or focusing on resolving the issue while at the incident itself. One interviewee spoke about the use of alcohol by colleagues to cope. Brown et al. ( 2002 ) investigated the coping strategies of Irish firefighters and found that they resorted to avoidance strategies during period of distress.

A few of the interviewees seemed to use ‘mindfulness’ (Walach et al. 2007 ) as a coping strategy: they reported not becoming easily stressed or they reported accepting that stressors were part of the job. Mindfulness has been reported to be a beneficial strategy in overcoming anxiety and depression, and for improving relationships (Khoury et al. 2013 ). Other studies have reported the beneficial effects of mindfulness techniques for coping with stress with US military service personnel (Jha et al. 2017 ), and emergency room nurses (Westphal et al. 2015 ).

Theme 5: Retention Factors

Besides interviewees finding being a firefighter a challenging job for the range of reasons outlined above and some of them reporting a breach to their PC, the employees enjoyed being part of the Fire Service. The ‘retention factors’ that had meant they hadn’t left the Fire Service were; job diversity, helping people involved in incidents, educating children, and colleagues becoming part of their social network. Moreover, employees experienced positive ‘personal changes’ within themselves. They reported that they had developed more awareness of their surroundings with time, in terms of being more aware of the causes of fires and other incidents and therefore they take steps to protect themselves and their families. They have become more accomplished at dealing with emergency situations potentially due to their coping strategies having changed over time. Moreover, one of them mentioned becoming more vigilant. Whether this is a positive change is unclear since being hypervigilant can inhibit relaxation (Sommerfeld et al. 2017 ).

When I am in public surroundings, I always keep myself aware of any emergency incident that might take place. I think what actions I need to take and how I need to deal with the situation, hmmm... how to save people (Female, Firefighter 1).

Four firefighters felt they had developed personally to become more confident, competent, mature and responsible. They described how they had learned to control their nerves and that they had become stronger emotionally.

I have built up my confidence. By confidence I mean my social skills are improved a lot when I am within a social gathering (Male, Firefighter 11). I consider I am more responsible person. I think I probably know how to deal if something goes wrong (Male, Firefighter 5).

A few of the interviewees reported that they had now learned how to balance work-life demands and that that had come with experience.

It is very convenient for me to balance between family and work life now after these many years. I do not have any family issues. I know how to draw a line between work and home (Male, Watch Commander 8).

General Discussion

The present study aimed to understand the experiences of firefighters working in the UK, and explores their PC in a climate of austerity and its impact on their stress and wellbeing. When asked about their expectations of their employer and the obligations that their employer should meet, evidence of both transactional and relational obligations was forthcoming (Rousseau 1990 , 1995 ). The sorts of obligations cited by our participants overlapped with those cited by employees in other sectors that have formed the basis for the development of measures of PC (e.g., Bunderson 2001 ; Herriot et al. 1997 ; PSYCONES 2005 ; Rousseau 1990 , 2000 ), for example, receiving a good rate of pay, having job security, being treated fairly by the employers, and being provided with opportunities for advancement and personal growth (Guest et al. 2010 ). This suggests that quantitative measures of PC, such as these listed, should be applicable for use with firefighters.

The climate of austerity cuts in the UK and its impact on the UKFRS was thought to make this a particularly relevant time at which to consider the importance of the PC with firefighters due to its theoretical links with stress, mental wellbeing and workforce behaviour (e.g., retention). From the interviews, it was apparent that firefighters were experiencing breaches to their PC regarding being suitably recompensed for the difficult job they do, and having insufficient resources (physical and human) to conduct their role to the best of their ability. Reactions to perceived breaches of PC differ depending on the type of PC (Robinson et al. 1994 ). Employees with a relational contract are at greater risk of severe PC breach (Grimmer and Oddy 2007 ). Moreover, if an employee continues to work within the organisation after a perceived breach of PC has occurred, the contract is likely to become more transactional in nature (Atkinson 2007 ; Pate et al. 2003 ). Therefore, in the current scenario, where the UKFRS is facing austerity cuts, and as a result of these cuts the employers are unable to fulfil the perceived obligations of their employees (e.g., providing a good pension schemes), it is likely that firefighters will develop a more transactional PC (short-term and focused on monetary exchanges) (Lester et al. 2007 ). As per Blau’s ( 1964 ) Social Exchange Theory, employees try to achieve a balance in the exchange between themselves and their employer, for example, expecting suitable recompense (current and future) for the demanding and dangerous job they do. When there is an imbalance, which looks unlikely to be redressed, negative consequences such as resignation can result. Other reactions to broken promises or obligations can include employees taking action that breaches their obligations to their employer (Zhao et al. 2007 ), such as participating in industrial action. It was evident that PC breach was associated with stressors and psychological distress. This is in line with COR theory (Hobfoll 1989 ) suggesting that PC breach results in stress and impacts wellbeing when the employees’ valuable resources (i.e., perceived employer obligations) are not sustained.

The findings from this study suggest that the PC of an employee is not just shaped by their employer or organisation, but also by the Government, media, and public. Further, the perceived obligations of the employer can change depending on the broader context of the employee, such as becoming a parent or getting married.

The firefighters sampled in this paper varied in terms of their length of service and this provided the opportunity to compare themes that emerged in the interviews of experienced firefighters compared to newer recruits. Length of service appeared to be associated with the type of obligations cited by the firefighters as well as their responses to other areas of the interview. In terms of PC, the obligation cited by firefighters with less than three years’ experience related to advancement and growth, as compared to those with more years of service who focused more on training and development, and relational obligations. This difference could be explained by new recruits being more focused on becoming a ‘competent firefighter’. With regards to stressors, newer recruits discussed incident-related stressors more than experienced firefighters (e.g., difficulties dealing with the public on the scene and being distracted by public interference). Also, it was these interviewees who reported the distress experienced when they were unable to help someone at an incident. Their focus on becoming a competent firefighter might be in response to experiencing the stress associated with such situations which they assume will pass with growing experience and competence. These findings coupled with the newer recruits explaining how they have developed over time indicate the value of a future study that investigates changes in the PC, stressors and coping over time with participants from the Fire and Rescue Service.

Limitations

There were some limitations in this study that need to be acknowledged. The sample cannot be considered representative of all U.K. firefighters because the sample size was small and limited to one geographical area of the U.K. Further, the study focused on the employees’ perspectives only (a unilateral approach to PC) therefore a future study should also examine the perspective of the employer and/or the occupational health department.

Implications

This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the literature by providing support for the theory of PC with an understudied population, suggesting that existing measures of PC should be suitable for use with firefighters. It also highlights how, within some sectors, the notion of one employer is too simplistic with employees perceiving themselves as having obligations to others beyond their immediate employer (i.e., to the public), and others beyond their immediate employer having obligations to them (e.g., the Government).

Austerity cuts are not something that the firefighters’ direct employer (the UKFRS) has control over, therefore, it’s important to consider what the employer could still do to address breaches in PC. The employer could, for example, foster closeness between employees and ensure opportunities for career development and recognition (Ebadan and Winstanley 1997 ; Nadin and Williams 2011 ; Robinson and Morrison 2000 ). Watch Commanders could hold confidential one-to-one meetings with individual firefighters to provide a “safe” environment in which perceived breaches can be discussed (Lester et al. 2007 ). Moreover, senior management should avoid creating any further distance between themselves and their employees because this would give the impression that the employer is less inclined about the relationship with their employees (Coyle-Shapiro and Prazefall 2008 ). It is positive that so many of the interviewees viewed their direct employer (the UKFRS) in a positive light. Further, some organisational stressors could be ameliorated by acting to minimise role overload and improving employees’ perceptions of career progression (Gakovic and Tetrick 2003 ; Xavier and Jepsen 2015 ).

From our interviews, it is clear that the firefighters experienced a range of stressors within and outside of work, which negatively impact on their physical and mental wellbeing. Therefore, strategies should be implemented by the UKFRS to resolve the issues that cause negative outcomes. For example, for incident-related stressors, the UKFRSs can ensure there are sufficient debriefing opportunities following a difficult incident, especially with newer recruits. Another important consideration is what, if any, action can be taken to assist firefighters in creating a better work-home life balance. This might include exploring different shift patterns that could be adopted. Since some stressors are intrinsic to the job, training in mindfulness, which appears to be having success in associated professions (Jha et al. 2017 ; Westphal et al. 2015 ), is another intervention that could be trialed and evaluated.

The aim of the current study was to address a gap in the literature on PC theory by adopting qualitative methods to explore its relevance to the firefighting profession. PC was found to be a valid construct in understanding firefighters’ obligations as their responses reflected multiple facets of PC theory. The current climate of austerity measures in the UK appears to be negatively impacting on firefighters in terms of reducing numbers and placing even higher task demands on those employees remaining. This makes it very difficult for the UKFRS to meet the perceived obligations of their employees providing evidence of PC breach. A range of coping strategies were reported by the firefighters interviewed. The findings have implications for human resource departments within UKFRS trying to manage the impact of funding cuts and they highlight the potential value of the PC as a construct around which such issues can be explored.

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Duran, F., Woodhams, J. & Bishopp, D. An Interview Study of the Experiences of Firefighters in Regard to Psychological Contract and Stressors. Employ Respons Rights J 30 , 203–226 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10672-018-9314-z

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FDNY: Three firefighters hurt while responding to Bronx fire

Three firefighters are hurt and five people are displaced following a large blaze in the Bronx.

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Officials said a fire broke out friday afternoon inside a private two-story home on white plains road in the bronx five civilians were displaced and are being assisted by the red cross one firefighter was administered the drug hydroxocobalamin, which is used to treat cyanide toxicity.

Officials said the fire broke out Friday afternoon inside a private two-story home on White Plains Road in the Cason Point neighborhood.

As fire personnel entered the home, they were greeted with heavy smoke. Officials said one firefighter complained of having difficulty breathing.

“As he was leaving, he fell down and went unconscious,” FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said.

Officials said the firefighter went into respiratory arrest. EMS members quickly jumped into action, resuscitating the firefighter and giving him a drug used to treat cyanide toxicity — a serious complication of smoke inhalation.

“Hydroxocobalamin is administered when we believe someone might have smoke exposure because it is so powerful and the sooner they use it, the more likely it is to save a life,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanaugh said.

Two other firefighters were also hurt — one was treated for serious injuries and is now in stable condition. The other was also treated and released.

“We are praying for their recovery and I think all New Yorkers appreciate the level of expertise that our firefighters bring, and how not only are they there for the residents of the home but for each other as well,” Mayor Eric Adams said.

The Fire Marshall will determine what caused the fire. Meanwhile, no civilians were hurt and the Red Cross is helping the five people who were displaced.

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Top commercial construction risks and challenges for 2024.

The commercial construction industry is facing key risks and emerging challenges that impact project timelines, budgets and safety, according to QBE North America’s 2024 Commercial Construction Risk Report.

The report, based on a survey of 500 commercial general contractors and construction managers, highlights cybersecurity threats, financial challenges, and labor shortages as significant concerns for the commercial construction industry.

“Our goal was to identify and evaluate the primary risks threatening the success of commercial construction projects,” said Ryan Powers, senior vice president and head of construction at QBE North America. “Through this report, we aim to highlight these critical concerns and examine the industry’s level of preparedness in mitigating these key risks.”

Top Risks to Watch

The report revealed cybersecurity as the construction industry’s top risk, cited by 42% of respondents. Other significant concerns included cost overruns (35%), high interest rates (33%), labor shortage/lack of skilled labor (28%), and the potential for an economic downturn (28%).

Notably, the industry reported feeling least prepared and most vulnerable to the same risks they identified as the top threats, signaling a pressing need for enhanced risk mitigation strategies across the sector, QBE reported.

Challenges and Opportunities

Managing rising costs amidst inflation is a major challenge facing the construction industry. Survey respondents identified high interest rates (40%) and owner contract disputes (40%) as the primary factors leading to cost overruns. These rising costs threaten project timelines and profitability if not properly managed.

The adoption of new technology in the industry presents both opportunities and risks. New tech is being used to improve safety (46%), quality of work (46%), and collaboration and efficiency (44%). However, the increased use of technology also opens the door to a growing number of cyber vulnerabilities, exposures, and threats that construction firms must proactively address to protect their projects and data.

The shortage of skilled labor continues to be a pressing issue impacting many trades, including electrical, HVAC, and heavy construction, according to the report.

An aging workforce is contributing to the widening gap between job openings and the availability of skilled workers to fill those roles. This labor shortage, coupled with an influx of inexperienced workers, may intensify issues related to work quality and safety on jobsites. Attracting and training the next generation of skilled construction professionals is critical to overcoming this challenge, QBE stated.

Solutions and Recommendations

Nearly half (49%) of commercial construction companies surveyed plan to improve their safety plan over the next 12 months, underscoring the industry’s recognition of a need to bolster risk management practices. A key area primed for enhancement is risk management training for employees. While such training is currently provided, 55% of survey respondents acknowledge it needs to be of a higher caliber, and 51% state it should be conducted on a more frequent basis.

“There are a multitude of risks confronting the commercial construction industry, with new challenges emerging. Mitigating the potential impact of these risks requires an ongoing commitment and proactive measures to ensure a more efficient, safer, and resilient future,” Powers said.

Access the full report here . &

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A Dangerous Job

Dr. Latha Brubaker, Senior Vice President Medical Operations at Concentra

To understand the physical and mental health threats firefighters face, it’s important to examine how firefighting exposes them to a number of different risks. Their job is physically taxing. They must wear heavy gear to protect them from high-temperature exposure while rescuing people and pets. They have to climb ladders and stairs during rescue operations. Although wearing masks to limit these exposures, firefighters can inhale smoke and be exposed to harmful chemicals and environmental toxins, increasing their risk of certain cancers.

“Firefighters have to climb ladders and stairs, all the while hauling very heavy and unruly fire hoses and wearing very heavy equipment and PPE,” Brubaker said.

While completing these physically demanding tasks, firefighters can inhale smoke and other environmental toxins, increasing their risks of certain cancers. A study of 30,000 firefighters spanning from 1950 to 2009 found that firefighters were 9% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and 14% more likely to die from the disease than the general population.

Outside of the physically taxing elements, firefighters often work in distressing circumstances. There may be thoughts of the personal risks taken to save others. They witness significant injuries and loss of life.

All of these situations have the potential to be emotionally distressing for firefighters. That’s why a number of states — including California , Tennessee , Florida and Georgia — have passed or are considering passing laws that include PTSD benefits under workers’ comp coverage for firefighters.

“We’ve really doubled down on our commitment to behavioral health, and we’ve gone so far as to partner with some third-party resources that have expanded our ability to provide behavioral health support,” said Chris Studebaker, senior director of onsite preventive services at Concentra.

Protecting Firefighter Health

Chris Studebaker, Senior Director of Onsite Preventive Services at Concentra

Unlike in other professions, it’s hard to reduce the number of physical and environmental hazards a firefighter faces on the job. Yes, PPE can go a long way in protecting firefighters from burns and other injuries, but the physical demands are also extreme. Firefighters are wrangling heavy fire hoses to stop the damage. In addition, they are often lifting people and maneuvering in confined or challenging spaces.

In order to make sure firefighters are up to the task, many departments conduct annual physical health assessments so that they can be certain their firefighters are physically and mentally prepared for the job. Medical personnel follow the guidelines provided by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1582 on Comprehensive Occupational Medicine Programs for Fire Departments which helps them determine if there is a condition present that may prevent a firefighter from performing their essential job functions.

The Joint Labor Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative, comprised of two major fire service organizations, worked to develop a comprehensive wellness-fitness program. Based on this initiative, NFPA developed standards regulating these programs. This resulted in the suggestion of adding cancer screening, fitness assessments, and behavioral health screening to the periodic health assessments of firefighters.

“Some fire departments are now asking us to perform cancer screening,” Brubaker said. “Cancer screening recommendations are made by the US Preventive Services Task Force, for example, and are based on a systematic review of scientific evidence published in peer-reviewed journals. When determining the appropriate screening tests, it is important to review the USPSTF recommendations with the understanding of the potential additional risks amongst firefighters for certain cancers.

Sleep health is another area of issue in the fire service due to the 24 or 48-hour shift schedule and the mental strain and stress of the job.

Beyond screenings, firehouses can opt to partner with providers of on-site health services, including physical therapists who can work collaboratively with employers to develop and implement injury-prevention programs. Known as “tactical athlete programs” because their rigor is like that of the training a pro athlete would undergo, these solutions can help catch injuries before they become severe and help keep firefighters’ bodies functioning optimally to enable them to perform their job.

Wearable technologies, too, are likely to play a role in keeping firefighters safe in the future: “We’re seeing the use of wearable tech sensors that look at environmental exposures and heat. And now the technologies can even track their sleep health” Studebaker said. “I think the future of wearable tech is going to shift away from discrete individual devices and more towards garment-based sensors.”

A Trusted Partner for Firefighter Physicals

The physical rigor required to fight fires combined with the emotional stressors present in the job mean that employers need to put extra care into guarding firefighters’ health and safety. Firefighters should undergo regular physical exams, and Concentra is just the partner they need to conduct these physicals.

Concentra clinicians perform examinations, imaging, and lab tests that meet the National Fire Protection Association standards.

Firefighters who undergo these examinations will complete a physical fitness test that assesses their lifting, pushing, pulling, carrying, climbing and other abilities. These kinds of assessments can guard against musculoskeletal injuries common in the industry.

Should an injury occur, the clinician utilizes a conservative treatment approach, with an emphasis on active rehabilitation. Since firefighters are in safety sensitive positions, opioids are usually avoided.

“Musculoskeletal injuries can be managed without the use of opioids,” Brubaker said. “Our approach is a conservative one with the use of physical therapy, when appropriate, and anti-inflammatory medication, if needed. We try to avoid prescribing opioids. Opioids are typically unnecessary.”

A Concentra clinician will perform lab tests including a complete blood count, comprehensive metabolic panel, lipid panel, and urinalysis as well as TB tests. They will do alcohol and drug tests. They will perform audiograms, pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays and EKGs. They will complete a cardiovascular risk assessment and depending on age and the level of risks, a stress test will be performed either at the onsite clinic or a cardiology office.

“It’s important for us to make sure in the first place that they’re healthy from a cardiovascular perspective, that they’re healthy from a respiratory perspective,” Studebaker said.

Behavioral health screening and cancer screening can be performed at Concentra Onsite Health clinics. Clinicians can conduct screenings for six cancers firefighters are at elevated risk for: colorectal, prostate, skin, blood, thyroid and bladder.

Concentra Onsite Health clinicians assess firefighters’ health holistically — something that is essential for a job that is both physically and emotionally taxing. By providing whole-person care, Concentra Onsite Health aims to guard firefighters’ health so that they can come home to their families after a day of protecting others.

“Most firefighters are very passionate about the work they do. They are vital members of their community and take risks every day to keep these communities safe. The work of a firefighter can have an adverse impact on their long-term health and well-being. It is equally vital that we take care of our firefighters and do what we can to improve their overall health.”

To learn more, visit : https://www.concentra.com/

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Concentra. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.

Rudy Giuliani is served indictment papers at his own birthday party after mocking Arizona attorney general

PHOENIX — Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes on Friday announced that Rudy Giuliani had been served with the notice of his indictment in connection with an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona.

The announcement came less than two hours after a social media post from Giuliani taunted Mayes for failing to deliver his indictment. The notice was served to Giuliani during a celebration in Palm Beach, Florida, for his 80th birthday.

In a now-deleted post on X, Giuliani taunted Arizona authorities. “If Arizona authorities can’t find me by tomorrow morning; 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can’t count votes,” Giuliani posted Friday night. Accompanying the message was a photo of Giuliani smiling with six others and balloons arranged behind them.

An hour and 14 minutes later, Mayes responded to Giuliani ’s post , writing, “The final defendant was served moments ago. @RudyGiuliani, nobody is above the law.”

Giuliani, 79, turns 80 on May 28 and was enjoying an early birthday celebration in Palm Beach on the night he was served, according to social media activity . By the end of the night, “Happy Birthday to You” wasn’t the only music the former New York City mayor had to face.

The party was hosted by Caroline Wren, an adviser to Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake.

Ted Goodman, a spokesperson for Giuliani, said Wren was unperturbed by the birthday bash bust-up. “The mayor was unfazed by the decision to try and embarrass him during his 80th birthday party. He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people who love him — from all walks of life — and we look forward to full vindication soon,” Goodman said in a statement to NBC News.

Others indicted in the “fake electors” case are further along in their legal proceedings. On Friday morning, former Trump attorney John Eastman pleaded not guilty to charges related to an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Arizona. Eleven other defendants are slated to be arraigned on Tuesday.

The Arizona “fake electors” scheme isn’t the only controversy Giuliani has faced in the wake of efforts to overturn the 2020 election. In December 2023, Giuliani was hit with a $148 million verdict for defaming two Georgia election workers.

Alex Tabet is a 2024 NBC News campaign embed.

Vaughn Hillyard is a correspondent for NBC News.

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What I’ve Learned From My Students’ College Essays

The genre is often maligned for being formulaic and melodramatic, but it’s more important than you think.

An illustration of a high school student with blue hair, dreaming of what to write in their college essay.

By Nell Freudenberger

Most high school seniors approach the college essay with dread. Either their upbringing hasn’t supplied them with several hundred words of adversity, or worse, they’re afraid that packaging the genuine trauma they’ve experienced is the only way to secure their future. The college counselor at the Brooklyn high school where I’m a writing tutor advises against trauma porn. “Keep it brief , ” she says, “and show how you rose above it.”

I started volunteering in New York City schools in my 20s, before I had kids of my own. At the time, I liked hanging out with teenagers, whom I sometimes had more interesting conversations with than I did my peers. Often I worked with students who spoke English as a second language or who used slang in their writing, and at first I was hung up on grammar. Should I correct any deviation from “standard English” to appeal to some Wizard of Oz behind the curtains of a college admissions office? Or should I encourage students to write the way they speak, in pursuit of an authentic voice, that most elusive of literary qualities?

In fact, I was missing the point. One of many lessons the students have taught me is to let the story dictate the voice of the essay. A few years ago, I worked with a boy who claimed to have nothing to write about. His life had been ordinary, he said; nothing had happened to him. I asked if he wanted to try writing about a family member, his favorite school subject, a summer job? He glanced at his phone, his posture and expression suggesting that he’d rather be anywhere but in front of a computer with me. “Hobbies?” I suggested, without much hope. He gave me a shy glance. “I like to box,” he said.

I’ve had this experience with reluctant writers again and again — when a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously. Of course the primary goal of a college essay is to help its author get an education that leads to a career. Changes in testing policies and financial aid have made applying to college more confusing than ever, but essays have remained basically the same. I would argue that they’re much more than an onerous task or rote exercise, and that unlike standardized tests they are infinitely variable and sometimes beautiful. College essays also provide an opportunity to learn precision, clarity and the process of working toward the truth through multiple revisions.

When a topic clicks with a student, an essay can unfurl spontaneously.

Even if writing doesn’t end up being fundamental to their future professions, students learn to choose language carefully and to be suspicious of the first words that come to mind. Especially now, as college students shoulder so much of the country’s ethical responsibility for war with their protest movement, essay writing teaches prospective students an increasingly urgent lesson: that choosing their own words over ready-made phrases is the only reliable way to ensure they’re thinking for themselves.

Teenagers are ideal writers for several reasons. They’re usually free of preconceptions about writing, and they tend not to use self-consciously ‘‘literary’’ language. They’re allergic to hypocrisy and are generally unfiltered: They overshare, ask personal questions and call you out for microaggressions as well as less egregious (but still mortifying) verbal errors, such as referring to weed as ‘‘pot.’’ Most important, they have yet to put down their best stories in a finished form.

I can imagine an essay taking a risk and distinguishing itself formally — a poem or a one-act play — but most kids use a more straightforward model: a hook followed by a narrative built around “small moments” that lead to a concluding lesson or aspiration for the future. I never get tired of working with students on these essays because each one is different, and the short, rigid form sometimes makes an emotional story even more powerful. Before I read Javier Zamora’s wrenching “Solito,” I worked with a student who had been transported by a coyote into the U.S. and was reunited with his mother in the parking lot of a big-box store. I don’t remember whether this essay focused on specific skills or coping mechanisms that he gained from his ordeal. I remember only the bliss of the parent-and-child reunion in that uninspiring setting. If I were making a case to an admissions officer, I would suggest that simply being able to convey that experience demonstrates the kind of resilience that any college should admire.

The essays that have stayed with me over the years don’t follow a pattern. There are some narratives on very predictable topics — living up to the expectations of immigrant parents, or suffering from depression in 2020 — that are moving because of the attention with which the student describes the experience. One girl determined to become an engineer while watching her father build furniture from scraps after work; a boy, grieving for his mother during lockdown, began taking pictures of the sky.

If, as Lorrie Moore said, “a short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage,” what is a college essay? Every once in a while I sit down next to a student and start reading, and I have to suppress my excitement, because there on the Google Doc in front of me is a real writer’s voice. One of the first students I ever worked with wrote about falling in love with another girl in dance class, the absolute magic of watching her move and the terror in the conflict between her feelings and the instruction of her religious middle school. She made me think that college essays are less like love than limerence: one-sided, obsessive, idiosyncratic but profound, the first draft of the most personal story their writers will ever tell.

Nell Freudenberger’s novel “The Limits” was published by Knopf last month. She volunteers through the PEN America Writers in the Schools program.

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Firefighter ‘died on the rickenbacker causeway,’ but colleagues revived him; they’re being honored, miami fire rescue workers honored for saving colleague’s life during training.

Terrell Forney , Reporter

MIAMI – A group of South Florida fire rescuers who put their critical training to the test were honored on Wednesday.

The Miami Fire Rescue medics jumped into action to save one of their own during a training exercise.

Reece Blake had no pulse and no heartbeat for five whole minutes.

“He died on the Rickenbacker Causeway,” said Paul Blake, Reece’s father. “I have mixed feelings. I have sadness over the loss of my son and I have joy over the rebirth of my son.”

The 23-year-old firefighter ended up in the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest while training and running on the job in March during a joint mission with Miami police on the Rickenbacker Causeway.

Fortunately, training skills kicked in and thanks to the quick efforts of his first responder colleagues, Reece Blake is alive and back in uniform.

“The last thing I remember was passing city of Miami Fire Station 4,” he said. “After that, everyone else told me everything that happened.”

On Wednesday, seven MFR medics received plaques highlighting their life-saving deed.

“Thank God we had all our equipment with us, we knew what heart rushing he was in and we shocked him right away,” said Victor Cobian with Miami Fire Rescue. “We did what we did and what we’re trained to do thank God everything worked out.”

About the Author

Terrell forney.

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.

Rudy Giuliani gets summons at birthday party in Arizona case 'Nobody is above the law': AG

Rudy Giuliani was served Friday with a notice to appear in an Arizona court to answer charges stemming from an effort to keep Donald Trump in the White House despite losing the 2020 election, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes.

A grand jury issued an indictment against Giuliani and 17 others more than three weeks ago. Giuliani was the last defendant to receive their summons because authorities hit roadblocks trying to reach him.

Agents from Mayes' office had spent two days in New York City trying to serve Giuliani without success, according to Richie Taylor, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office. A doorman confirmed where Giuliani lived, but would not contact him, Taylor said. The office also tried calling multiple phone numbers for Giuliani and sent the summons via certified mail.

But around 11 p.m. EDT Friday, agents approached Giuliani as he was leaving his birthday party in Florida, Taylor said Saturday. Agents had traveled to the state earlier in the day, Taylor said, expecting to find Giuliani because of his nightly live video streams from his residence there.

"The final defendant was served moments ago," Mayes posted on the social media site X Friday night. She tagged Giuliani's account and wrote, "Nobody is above the law." This was the first time Giuliani was formally named by prosecutors. His name had been withheld because he had not been served.

Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide

Earlier in the day, Giuliani posted a taunting message to the X social media platform referring to his avoidance of being served in the case. That post was later deleted, but Mayes shared a screenshot of Giuliani's remarks.

"If Arizona authorities can't find me by tomorrow morning: 1. They must dismiss the indictment; 2. They must concede they can't count votes," Giuliani wrote in the post.

Taylor said there was no truth to Giuliani's statement.

Giuliani's post included an image of him and six other people surrounded by balloons. On Friday, Giuliani said on X that he was having an "early-birthday celebration in Florida." Giuliani turns 80 later this month.

Giuliani was not affected by the "decision to try and embarrass him" during his birthday party, said spokesperson Ted Goodman in an emailed statement. "He enjoyed an incredible evening with hundreds of people, from all walks of life, who love him and respect him for his contributions to society. We look forward to full vindication soon."

Giuliani is expected in court Tuesday for his arraignment unless the court grants him a delay, Taylor said.

Arizona politics: Gov. Hobbs signs law netting interstate resources to combat wildfires in Arizona

What are the charges in the fake electors case, and what happens next?

The 58-page indictment alleges a slate of Arizona Republicans and Trump aides, including Giuliani, engaged in a conspiracy aimed at "preventing the lawful transfer of the presidency of the United States, keeping President Donald J. Trump in office against the will of Arizona voters, and depriving Arizona voters of their right to vote and have their votes counted."

The defendants in the case face multiple felony counts, including conspiracy, forgery and fraud. If convicted, the crimes could carry prison time, though state law allows for less severe penalties, including probation, depending on a defendant's circumstances, like past criminal history.

Friday morning, former Trump attorney John Eastman was the first defendant to appear in a Maricopa County courtroom. He entered a plea of not guilty and, after the hearing, said he would fight the case against him at trial.

Most of the other defendants are expected to appear alongside Giuliani in court or be arraigned virtually next week, on May 21, though some have delayed their appearances to June.

Elena Santa Cruz is a justice reporter for The Republic. Reach her at [email protected] . Follow her on X @ecsantacruz3 .

Republic reporter Stacey Barchenger contributed.

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