Follow the links below to download a copy of the recorded Dual Enrollment Program Webinar, notes and material from the webinar.

Dual Enrollment Programs: Educating the Next Generation Recording Link

Learn more about Dual Enrollment Programs and why they are an important recruitment and diversity source for the fire service. Follow the link above to download the recorded webinar. The recording includes both audio and visual.

Dual Enrollment Program Webinar Notes

A summary of what was discussed during the live Dual Enrollment Programs Webinar. Download a PDF of the main points of discussion by following the link above.

Dual Enrollment Program Webinar PowerPoint Presentation

View slides of the live notes that were taken when the webinar was recorded. For a more in-depth summary, download the recording and notes from the webinar.

What_Is_Dual_Enrollment? PowerPoint Slides

View the PowerPoint slides that panelist Adam Lowe provided to give more detail about what Dual Enrollment Programs are.

What_is_Concurrent_Enrollment PDF

A PDF defining Concurrent Enrollment Programs, that was provided from the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP).

FESHE High School to College Firefighting Program

Learn more about the FESHE High School to College Firefighting Program, where students are actively engaged in courses that can lead to high school units, college credits, and fire service industry-based certification.

Check It Out…Participate…Apply What You Learn

Be an Ally for the LGBT Community

Tuesday, June 25, 2013, 10am – 11:30am PDT

Cost: FREE

Many LGBT firefighters don’t feel safe coming-out at work. Folks, this is America! This is 2013! Everyone has a right to be their authentic selves; to share stories about their vacation, just like everyone else. To create a LGBT-safe department, non-LGBT people must stand-up for our brothers and sisters. We must be their allies! Learn about the issues, some challenges and some solutions.

Panelists are:

• jona olsson, Fire Chief, Latir Volunteer Fire Department
• William Coker, Firefighter/Paramedic, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue
• Brett Dunckel, Inspector

Click here to register for Be an Ally for the LGBT Community

Space is limited so we can keep the session as interactive as possible.

This FREE webinar is brought to you by our Partner Sponsors Scott Safety and LION, with support from Fire Chief Magazine, PBI Performance Products, TenCate and Cigna.

May is Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. This is a month dedicated to celebrating people like ‘me’ – I am of Asian descent and I was born and raised in Hawaii. But my culture and heritage cannot simply be described with such a broad term like ‘Asian’ or ‘Pacific Islander.’ These descriptors are made up of many different cultures, who follow different practices, have different traditions and believe in different things. General descriptors do not give a whole story on who a person is. We use them because it is easier to describe a group of similar people. Using general descriptors as part of a recruitment strategy can severely limit the reach and effectiveness of the plan, because although a group of people may be similar, they are not the same.

Here is a perfect example of people being similar, yet different. To talk more about this topic I reached out to Deputy Chief Emile Mack of the Los Angeles Fire Department who has a lot of experience with recruitment. Many people would say that Emile and I are similar – if you were to see us talking on the street you may even think that we are related, simply because we are both ‘Asian.’ Little do they know, not only are we not related, we do not even share the same ethnicity. Emile is Korean; he was born in South Korea, and was later adopted by an African American couple from Los Angeles. I was born and raised in Hawaii and I’m proud to say that I am a mixture of many different ethnicities, including several different types of ‘Asian’ – not just Korean. My ethnic background includes Okinawan, Chinese, Filipino, Puerto Rican, Spanish and French.

Ethnicity is not the only thing that Emile and I don’t share. We also do not identify with the same culture. A person’s culture will vary depending on how and where they were raised. Emile identifies with the African-American culture rather than the Korean culture, because he was raised by an African-American family. I identify with the Hawaiian culture, which is really a mix of many different cultures. As you can see, creating a strategy to recruit ‘Asians’ would not be effective if a department wanted to recruit Emile and me. We may both be Asians, but our cultural values and backgrounds are not the same. It is important that fire departments realize that a one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment will not work.

Emile cautions everyone to remember that just because people may look the same, it does not mean they practice the same culture nor have the same traditions. Departments have to deal with many diverse cultures every day. Los Angeles has over 100 languages spoken within the city; having that many different cultures/languages spoken in one area can present challenges when the fire department comes in during an emergency situation. Lumping people together and treating them the same during recruitment and during emergency situations can be very offensive; small differences in culture can make a big difference in how the department interacts with the community. Emile pointed out that ‘Asians’ as a descriptor can refer to people from a number of countries including: Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Guam, and even some parts of India. Fire departments need to take the time to research how many ‘Asian’ communities are established in the area and create a recruitment strategy for each different community in order to be effective.

He also explains that fire departments have difficulty in recruiting members of the Asian cultures because many Asian families do not see the fire service as a career choice. Generally, Asian-American community members do not see the fire service as a respectable career, so the younger generation faces a lot of family pressure to aspire for something better. Family plays an important role in the Asian cultures, and because of that many of the younger generation will not go against their family’s expectations. Fire departments really need to recruit the parents of their target audience, to get them open to the idea of the fire service as a career. Emile says that the Asian community needs to be educated on exactly what firefighters do; it’s not just running into burning buildings, in fact most of the work is in EMS.

Emile recommends asking the Asian community members already in your department to help you make connections in the community you want to reach. If there are no Asians in your department, find people to connect with in the local community such as city employees, friends or other people they know to become an intermediary between the fire department and the community. People typically go into professions that they have connections to – family members who are in the same line of work or friends who get you interested in a job, as in Emile’s case. Use the connections that are already available to you to build relationships with the communities you want to reach.

Most importantly, Emile says that fire departments need to be sincere when trying to recruit members of any community. Firefighters need to want to be out in the community recruiting because they want to build a better department to better serve the community – it’s not just about bringing the numbers up. Remember that using broad recruitment strategies when targeting Asian communities does not work and is ultimately a waste of department resources.

Remember that the term ‘Asian-American’ is a very broad descriptor; take the time to recognize the many different Asian cultures within your community and create a different recruitment strategy for each one.

Effectively Recruiting in Asian Communities

I often hear fire departments talk about their difficulty recruiting Asian firefighters. Five years ago I spoke at the Metro Chiefs Conference and had the opportunity to ‘break bread’ with the fire chief from Hong Kong. I asked if he had difficulty recruiting qualified firefighters. His response, “NO!”

So why do North American fire departments struggle, and what can you and your department do to have more successful outcomes? Below are some things to both think about and to do.

Who are Asian Americans?

The term Asian American refers to people whose cultural and/or ethnic heritage is from Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Taiwan, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, East Timor, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. In short, people in your community who self-identify as Asian or Asian American may not be the same! Language/dialects, faith, culture, customs, food, parenting, respect, family structure, perspective about government, and values vary greatly. Recruitment campaigns need to target the needs of each of your respective Asian American communities. One size doesn’t fit all!

Why do you want to recruit Asian American firefighters?

This is a mindset conversation for each department that will impact the success of your recruitment. Is your department more concerned about diversity numbers and political correctness? Or does it see an opportunity to more safely and effectively serve your different Asian American communities? There are two words that are often used interchangeably, but are not the same. ‘Reflecting’ the community identifies how your department looks compared to the demographics of the communities you serve. It focuses on features such as race, gender, sexual orientation and age.

‘Representing’ however, focuses on qualified, committed firefighters who live, work and play in the community, speak the languages, understand the cultures and are part of the community networks. A department that represents the community it serves provides safer and more effective services.

Why don’t Asian Americans want to become firefighters?

In many Asian countries, firefighting is a low status, poor paying, dangerous job with minimal training and faulty equipment. Unless an Asian family has had a personal and positive experience with their local fire department they don’t know that firefighting in North America is a highly respected, well-paid career, with excellent training and safe equipment. Many don’t know that firefighters do a lot more than run into burning buildings. This educational process takes more time and requires that departments build relationships on a year-round basis. However, lack of knowledge and/or misinformation about what firefighters do in our country is a significant impingement to successful recruitment of Asian Americans.

How do we know which Asian American groups we serve?

Mapping your community is like doing a size-up at a fire scene. To be successful, you need to get the lay of the land, gather and analyze information, and prioritize your resources to develop and launch a successful targeted recruitment campaign. Here are some key questions:

• What Asian communities do we serve?
• Where do members of these communities live, work, play, pray, shop and get services?
• Who are their formal and informal leaders?
• How are the different communities and their social networks connected and interconnected?
• What resources do we already have in our department that can help to efficiently gather and analyze the community data and then, build relationships with each of the different Asian communities?

Where do we find the information?

A good place to start is the local school district ESL or ELL program. Schools track the languages spoken by students at home and update it every year. This will not only provide you with language data, but also let you know which multicultural groups live in different school neighborhoods.

Asian restaurants and small grocery stores provide a wealth of information. These are gathering places where people eat and exchange information. Food is taken seriously in the different Asian cultures. It sustains life and brings people together. A NOTE OF CAUTION: Don’t be judgmental about dishes that are not part of your regular American diet. Trying something new is a great way to show that you want to learn. Remember, firefighters are courageous!

A third source of data is the different faith communities. Faith leaders are excellent contacts. They have a significant investment in the safety of their community and are happy to help you better understand their culture.

Who should reach out?

The most productive strategy is a ‘leader-to-leader meeting’ between the faith leader and the fire chief. The fire chief should initiate the meeting. The first conversations should focus on safety issues, two-way learning and building a trusting relationship. Trust is a foundational value in most Asian cultures and is earned over time. Successful recruitment partnerships emerge from this trust.

How do we more effectively target qualified, inclusive, diverse and safety-conscious Asian American firefighters?

Recruitment in different Asian communities may require a multigenerational approach. Elders are held in high esteem and influence educational, social and career decisions made by their children and grandchildren.

For more information about cultural understanding and how to engage Asian American communities, check out FIRE 20/20’s upcoming Partnering For Prevention ONLINE Training. Although the training is focused on prevention and community risk-reduction, the community outreach strategies are exactly the same. As a matter of fact, prevention is an excellent recruitment strategy.

This is a terrific example of engaging the community through faith-based outreach by Fire Chief Marc Bashoor of Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department.  Connecting with the people you serve through community organizations like churches, associations and local businesses is one of the most cost-effective methods of community outreach.

Check It Out…Participate…Apply What You Learn

Dual Enrollment Programs: Educating the Next Generation

Wednesday, May 15, 2013, 10am – 11:30am PDT

Cost: FREE

Join Fire 20/20, the FESHE High-School Pathways Program, and the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) in a 90 minute webinar discussing how to build and strengthen educational and training opportunities in your local high school and college to encourage the next generation—particularly young women and young people of color—to consider careers in the fire and emergency services.  Learn how to leverage current best-practices, alternative funding streams, and existing professional networks to build a robust, rewarding, and inclusive program in your local community or educational system. Facilitating the webinar will be Dr. Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Anna Maria College (MA) and FIRE 20/20.

Panelists are:

• Buddy Hyde, Southside Community College (VA) and FESHE High School Pathways Committee
• Adam Lowe, National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships
• Battalion Chief Johnny Brewington, Cleveland Division of Fire (Retired) and Fire 20/20 Board Member

 Topics to be covered include:

•  The various types of concurrent enrollment programs across the country
• The various types of fire/EMS training and education opportunities offered
• The importance of proactive recruitment and outreach in Fire Science and EMS programs
• Case Studies of successful programs

Click here to register for Dual Enrollment Programs: Recruiting the Next Generation

Space is limited so we can keep the session as interactive as possible.

This FREE webinar is brought to you by our Partner Sponsors Scott Safety and LION, with  support from Fire Chief Magazine, PBI Performance Products, TenCate and Cigna.

Join iWomen on August 13-14. 2013 in Chicago for their 2013 Leadership Conference: Leading Tomorrow.

Our country’s demographics are changing in urban, suburban and rural communities.  Language and communications-related issues impact first responders ability to do their jobs in both emergency and non-emergency situations.

FIRE 20/20’s Multicultural Health & Safety Research Study (MSHRP) and the National Multicultural Community Fire Prevention Study both identified that language barriers put first responders and civilians at greater safety risk.  Findings showed they also slow call center and on-scene response time, increase the chance of errors, and make prevention and emergency management efforts more difficult. 

Some people believe that that the solution is everyone should learn to speak English’ (and French, if you’re in Canada)!  This is certainly a solution, but be assured, not a very realistic one. If you’d like to seriously address the language and communications challenges, here are some realistic tips and solutions. 

The first step in solving this problem is to gather accurate data.  It doesn’t cost money and takes very little time.

Know Your Customers

Your local school districts are the best place to gather current community language information.  Schools track languages spoken by students at home each year.  Your best contact is the coordinator of the English as a Second Language (ESL) or English Language Learners (ELL) department.  You can generally find this person on the school district’s website or simply call the Superintendent’s office.

When you call the school district, simply explain that the fire department is mapping community demographics to better serve in both emergency and non-emergency situations.  I have never encountered a U.S. school district that wouldn’t provide the information. 

Not only will this data help you and your department today, but school language data is an excellent predictor of how your community is changing.  The data you collect will help with strategic planning, workforce development, community risk-reduction and emergency planning. Schools as fire service partners’ is truly a win-win. By the way, it also opens doors for Explorer and cadet recruitment.

The Call Center

Your 9-1-1 Call Center is an excellent place to learn about and document languages spoken in your community.  We recommend that your Call Center creates a database and documents the languages from callers.  If not done already, potential language barrier information should be provided to first responders when they go to the call so they can be better prepared on-scene.  This may seem logical, but I can tell you many first responders across the country have told us that no one in the Call Center alerted them to a potential language challenge.

Know Your Department

The next step is to identify all of the languages spoken by people in your fire and emergency services department.  Don’t forget American Sign Language (ASL).  A simple email survey can be done for current uniformed and non-uniformed personnel.  We suggest that to more effectively plan for future personnel needs that you add this as a question to your job application form so that you can better assess new potential applicants (both for career and volunteer positions). If you want help with this, FIRE 20/20 can set-up an online survey for you.

This language data will help in a number of ways:  First, it will identify potential resources that are already present in your department.  Second, personnel who speak languages other than English may be able to open doors to your multicultural communities for recruitment, prevention and emergency planning partnerships.

CAUTION: Children as Translators

We often hear emergency responders look for and use a child who speaks both English and the patient’s language.  We understand that if you don’t have any other language resources, this is may be your ONLY resource in an emergency.  However, please note, using children as translators in emergency situations may carry some even bigger challenges.

Children don’t necessarily have the vocabulary in both languages to properly communicate the emergency responder questions/directions or the patient’s responses; we’ve heard stories about a child who was asked to interpret in an emergency medical situation and their parent died.  The child felt responsible for the parent’s death.  Finally, in some cultures, adults don’t want their children to be used as interpreters. 

Short-Term Fixes

Language Line

Many metropolitan departments and call centers use the Language Line.  However, there are issues.

It can be expensive, depending on the volume of non-English calls you receive. There are two places departments typically use the language line: in the Call Center and on-scene. The first challenge is identifying the language. This can get even more complicated when a language has many dialects.  This takes time and can delay response.  On-scene, first responders often report that it is a problem passing their cell phone back and forth, and in many situations, the patient may not be unable to clearly hear or is unable to speak.

Language Boards

Language and/or picture boards provide a tool that enable patients and first responders to communicate through words and pictures.  They are inexpensive and can be a short-term solution when a patient doesn’t have clear command of English, is too ill or traumatized to speak clearly, or has a chronic speech problem. Click here to read more about two examples of language boards.

Translators Apps

A variety of tablet and mobile phone translator applications are now available.  We have not personally used these, but have heard a growing number of first responders are employing them with success.  We’d like to hear from you if you’ve used translator apps and how they’ve worked (pro/con).  We’ve included a list of some of the more popular Apps on the resource list for this article.

Language Programs for First Responders

Nothing replaces the ability to speak directly to a patient or a non-emergency customer.  As the number of persons with limited-English proficiency rises in the United States, first responders have found it increasingly important to speak other languages, especially Spanish. Several organizations have risen to this challenge by developing language programs geared specifically toward first responder needs.  The National Association of Hispanic Firefighters (NAHF) endorses an excellent program developed by Public Safety Language Training (PSLT).  Some of the other programs are listed here. There are also a number of online and DVD language programs for first responders. 

Long-Term Solutions

Recruit and Retain Multilingual First Responders

The best long-term solution is to hire qualified, inclusive, diverse and safety-conscious, multilingual fire personnel from your community.  This not only addresses spoken and written language challenges, but it brings cultural knowledge and understanding into the department and provides trusted entry into a multicultural community.  A number of larger departments around the country who truly understand the benefit of multilingual first responders have added a language bonus/incentive for first responders who pass a language proficiency exam.  If your department really gets it, consider adding ‘multilingual’ to your firefighter job description and recruitment campaign.

Partner with the Community

In our work bringing fire and emergency services departments together with their multicultural communities, we have seen communities step forward to provide on-scene and written translation for their local department, often at no charge.  Multicultural communities are aware of the language problems and want to be part of the solution to keep community members safe.  We’ve learned through more than 100 focus groups around the country that fire department leadership needs to be proactive and take the lead in building these community partnerships.

The language problem is likely to continue grow, and the fire service will have to find creative and inexpensive ways to serve their multilingual communities.  We’d like to hear from you about solutions you’ve discovered and use in your department. Email us at ff@fire2020.org.

Cross-cultural communication is a daily part of my life. My family consists of many different cultures; Hawaiian, Chinese, Okinawan, Portuguese, Puerto Rican and Apache Indian. The person I am talking to and the situation that I am in changes my method of communication with others, both verbally and non-verbally.  I have to constantly remember what is acceptable in which culture. For instance, when I see my ojiisan (Okinawan grandpa) I need to remember to give a slight bow and be more reserved.  When I see my vovô (Portuguese grandpa) I can be loud, vivacious and smile a lot. 

Non-verbal communication is just as important as verbal communication. Most times we are unaware of the messages we are conveying nonverbally.  My facial expressions tend to give away what I am thinking. My voice may be saying, “Everything is going to be fine,” but my face is saying “Oh Shit! What are we going to do?” I have to make a conscious effort to have my nonverbal communication (facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, etc) support my verbal communication. 

Cross-cultural communication encompasses far more than just the spoken and written word.  Facial expressions, gestures, personal space, touch and eye contact all communicate (or miscommunicate) information that can help or hinder an emergency responder’s ability to provide efficient services safely.

It is important that first responders realize that many immigrants/refugees do not know what the fire department is there to do.  In many countries there is no such thing as a fire service.  In some countries the fire service is known to be corrupt – only helping the people who can give them money for their services.  While people in uniform are trusted in America, in other countries a person in a uniform cannot be trusted.  Communication is absolutely essential in these cases.  The fire department must talk to the community to teach them the purpose of the fire department and to learn more about their culture .  To be able to communicate effectively the fire department needs to understand how verbal and non-verbal communication differs from culture to culture; what is acceptable in American culture may not be in another.  We have put together a few examples below, click the videos to gain more insight about the following multicultural communities.

Ms. Ilays Aden, a member of the Somali community, says to remember that some Somalis maintain traditional Islamic behaviors about shaking hands and limiting physical contact to persons of the same sex.  This is important for firefighters to remember when entering a Somali home. 

Ms. Violet Aesquivel, a Marketing Manager for the Pinoy Reporter gave us some insight on how verbal and non-verbal communication works in the Philippines. Her eagerness to share information about her culture and friendly smile confirmed, “Filipino people are very hospitable, very friendly, very helpful, and they’re always smiling. If they see a Filipino for example and they are in distress in case of emergency, and you see them smiling, it’s natural for them.” First responders are often confused by this behavior.

Filipino’s are also not used to calling people with their finger or using the ‘beckoning sign.’ This gesture is very offensive in the Philippines.  The gesture could get you arrested. The authorities could break your index finger to prevent you from committing the crime again! This sign is often used by firefighters asking a person to come closer; elderly Filipino’s may take offense.

Personal space is another area where what is acceptable and what is not differs depending on who you are talking to.  In American culture, when you first meet someone it’s polite to give them a handshake or a hug, have eye contact and stay close to the person.  President of a Vietnamese Language School and Electric Engineer, Mr. Dung Nguyen says, “The Vietnamese people, they keep a distant basically, especially when you talk to a stranger.  You always keep a distant rather than getting too close. Some would think consider close as being so friendly and they tend to do that.  But it’s actually unless you really close friends, then you always try to keep a distant.”

“Chinese people seldomly have body contact or touch each other,” says Chinese member and Business Management Consultant Lian Zhou. “Especially those older people, they don’t shake hands. They, they don’t kiss, they don’t hug. It’s polite to keep a safe distance.  Just smile and nod. Younger Chinese people will shake hands.”

Positive nonverbal communication fosters trust and encourages sharing essential information needed. Remember do not assume that the people that you are working with have the same understanding of nonverbal communication. Assess the situation and take the time to read their nonverbal communication before taking over the situation. Taking a minute to understand their culture will be beneficial in the long run, and may save you some embarrassment.  Finally, always remember, if you don’t know…. ASK!!! 

To learn more about cross-cultural communication, FIRE 20/20′s Partnering For Prevention Online Training Program is launching later this month at FDIC. The program is hosted by FireRescue1 and is launching with the brand new FireRescue1 Academy. Stop by the FireRescue1 booth at FDIC to learn more and view live demonstrations of the Partnering For Prevention Online Training Program!

Check It Out…Participate…Apply What You Learn

Cross-Cultural Communication: Building Relationships

Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 10am – 11:30am PDT

Cost: FREE

Join FIRE 20/20 and community leaders from the Hispanic, Asian, African American and Somali communities in a 90 minute webinar discussing how to more effectively connect, communicate and recruit qualified, inclusive, diverse and safety-conscious firefighters from their respective communities.  Gain new cross-cultural understanding that will help you to build relationships and increase the impact of your targeted diversity recruitment efforts.

Panelists are:

Benita Horn, African American Community

Julio Amador, Hispanic Community

Hamdi Abdulle, Somali Community

Emile Mack, Korean Community

Alan Lai, Chinese Community

Topics to be covered include:

• Cross-cultural knowledge and understanding
• Multicultural community perceptions of fire and emergency services
• Successful verbal/non-verbal communication
• Building trust and community partnerships

Click here to register for Entry-Level Testing: Issues & Answers

Space is limited so we can keep the session as interactive as possible.

This FREE webinar is brought to you by our Partner Sponsors Scott Safety and LION, with  support from Fire Chief Magazine, PBI Performance Products, TenCate and Cigna.