Ballam: In Search of a Phillips Screwdriver

BY ED BALLAM ON FEB 11, 2015

Photo credit: Ed Ballam/Firehouse

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been on the road and had a chance to talk to several firefighters, causally and professionally. It’s always a fun thing to talk shop and share “war stories.”

Training was a topic that came up frequently and one common theme that came up more often than just to be coincidental was that of how little new recruits know about the basics of mechanics.

Today’s youths are very adept at anything to do with computers or that is high tech, but when it comes to simple machines and mechanics, many of them are lost.

One officer lamented that a rookie spent minutes in front of a tool box contemplating the correct screwdriver to fetch when he was asked to get a Phillips head (cross-point) version. The young man ended up retrieving both a Phillips and a flat-blade just to make sure.

Another said one of his recruits didn’t realize most chainsaws and similar equipment is two-cycle and needs special oil mixed into the gasoline to run properly.

I think of my own 24-year-old son and the disaster that would occur if I simply told him go gas up the chainsaw or weed whacker. They’d both run for a few minutes and then be headed for the scrap metal pile, damaged beyond feasible repair for lack of lubricating oil in the fuel. Overheated. Seized up. Junk. If I am lucky, he’d grab the gas can marked chain saw with premix in it, otherwise, it would be toast.

Fire stations and apparatus are filled with stuff and each has a set of operating instructions, if you can still find them, telling us how each item is supposed to be used. Those who make the equipment are expected to show and tell us how it works. They’re even careful about what they call that exercise, calling them “product familiarization” rather than training.

That product familiarization can last from a few minutes to several days depending on the complexity of the equipment being purchased.

But the baseline from whether it’s a new closet hook with a D-handle, to a platform aerial with a fire suppression pump, is every manufacturer is going to assume a basic level of mechanical aptitude. They’ll tell you to check the oil level in a specific component at a certain frequency. What they don’t expect to have to tell you is what an Allen wrench looks like and that it’s “righty-tighty, lefty loosey.”

Hand tool use is part of basic firefighter training but too many fire departments make the assumption everyone in the room is at least proficient in that area and quickly skip over the topic to spend more time on complex or involved topics like fire dynamic or personal protective equipment.

There is an assumption that most of the firefighter recruits wrench on their own vehicles or have some experience with lawn mowers or the myriad of other mechanical things us older guys, the pre-video game generation, filled our youthful days with. That’s not just the case any longer. Video games occupy youths today and motor vehicles are so complex, you almost need a PhD to open the hood.

Years ago, those who stepped up to serve as firefighters were plumbers, carpenters, tradesmen and auto mechanics, like my father who was fire chief in the small town I grew up in.

Maybe it’s just in my genes, but I know the sounds of a happy pump and the sounds when it’s got issues. Not everyone does and not everyone had an auto mechanic dad. Volunteers can be school teachers, sales people or engaged in professions that have nothing to do with mechanics of any kind and might not know the difference between a flat blade and a Phillips screwdriver.

That’s OK because we all have our skills, strengths and weaknesses. It’s up to fire officers and leaders to recognize those skills and direct the individuals

We know there are firefighters out there who care less about the red rig that got them to the scene. It’s just the chariot they rode in to go slay the red dragon.

We also know there are firefighters who know their rig has a 450-hp engine and a pump rated at 1,500 gpm, but you can get 1,700-gpm out of it under the right conditions. Those are the people you want to be your engineers/pump operators.

It would be easy to poke fun at firefighters who don’t know what a Phillips head screwdriver is. Don’t do it. Turn those moments into a teaching opportunity and help out those individuals, especially if they’re volunteers. We all know how difficult it is to recruit and keep them. Why on Earth would we want to antagonize them and risk losing our most valuable resource? Remember, they probably didn’t have the same background as you and might not have the “knack” for mechanical things. They are still profoundly valuable because they stepped up and want to help and that's way more than most of the population.

And, if you’re one of those firefighters who didn’t take shop class in high school and don’t know that you can’t put 4,500 psi in to a 2,200 psi SCBA bottle, or even what psi is, seek someone in your department you know won’t bite your head off or laugh when you have what you think might be a dumb mechanical question. I am a firm believer in that there is no such thing as a dumb question, only the one that is never asked. Remember, when the stuff hits the fan, you’ll be better off knowing what you know and what you don’t than guessing.

Firefighters don’t need to know the crosshead screw and driver were invented by Portland, Ore., businessman Henry F. Phillips, hence the name Phillips screwdriver, in 1934. I didn’t either – I looked it up.

They should, however, know the Phillips head looks like a little plus sign, but don’t assume it. Teach them those little tricks. Help them learn how to take care of the stuff your department spent good money to purchase.

It will help save lives and property and ensure everyone goes home safe.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?