When “those who know” think of the Fire Service, Military, EMS or Wildland Firefighting, an alphabet soup of acronyms comes flooding into our minds. These acronyms mean something concrete within the organizations in which they exist. Some are internal, but most are external in origin. They represent: standards, laws, rules, systems, recommendations, and best practices (also known as snake oil). Collectively they are overwhelming and chock-full of unattainable and unfunded mandates; and also a lot of distractions and tripe. But they are “part of the job” of a fire service CEO, the fire chief.

Understanding that “terms and terminology” mean different things to different people within all organizations is critical. In an emergency service misunderstandings can have deadly consequences, so clear closed-loop, communication is critical.

The fire chief is charged with protecting the lives of her or his members and the lives of the community. It is in the job description. They also need to know the national, state and local standards and mandates, but they must never lose focus on their real number one mandate. It is in the job description.

Because we live on an island, help is a long way off and will be virtually unavailable in a regional or national disaster. That is why we are truly “All Hazard First Responders.”

I would like to propose my fire chief acronym, “All Hazards Response Architect.”  As a kid growing up in Southern California, I was fascinated by hot cars and speed. If you asked me at 15 what AHRA stood for, I would immediately reply, “American Hot Rod Association!”

Now, 32 years into my professional fire service career, when I think of AHRA, I think of the term fire chief.  Today’s fire chief must literally be an All Hazards Response Architect (AHRA). He or she needs vision in multiple disciplines and the political savvy to articulate the vision to their team, their commissioners and their community.

AHRA beats title of fire chief, hands down. It is a more accurate job description.

Fire chiefs (AHRAs) are constantly challenged and questioned in a number of areas; not just on the emergency scene. An AHRA must be able to navigate things that pop up in conversations (internal and external), at training (internal external), on medical emergency scenes, the fireground, or at a commission meeting – not to mention the epicenter of information transfer, the grocery store or barber shop.

AHRAs need the autonomy and the security to do the right thing and not the popular thing. Even then, very few have total mastery of every skill set.

At the end of the day, private corporation CEOs who make 1,000 times more than their employees are not 1,000 times smarter. Even AHRA fire chiefs are human; and they even make a mistake now and then. Under the leadership of fire chief Mike Harris and the clinical oversight of Dr. Michael Sullivan, we have done some miraculous things in the six years I have been here. I am proud to say I got to watch and help.

With some faith in the Commissioner’s search committee, I am sure they will come up with the next Orcas AHRA in the most responsible, transparent and cost-effective way.

Patrick Shepler

Division chief and fire medic at Orcas Island Fire and Rescue