“Most First Responders that report, are not looking for a lawsuit. They report so that the problem gets fixed. It is how the process is managed, or mis-managed, that causes many lawsuits and puts a black-eye on the department. ” Dan King

 

While most departments encourage employees to report incidents as a victim and even to report if one witnesses these incidents, research shows that less than 30% of the victims report.

Why?

It is believed to be this way due to multiple factors:

  • mistreatment or marginalization of the victim;
  • department biases or favoritism;
  • outdated, irrelevant processes or lack of a process;
  • retaliation that takes place due to reporting;
  • lack of trust;
  • lack of anonymity;
  • lack of action;
  • the department making life altering decisions for the victim instead of taking a positive approach to impact the department long term;
  • mandatory arbitration;
  • mishandling of previous incidents; and
  • ostracization from the Department and even the Fire Service as a whole

The statistics may surprise you about trust and how much or how little employees actually trust their employers to handle matters with all parties best interest in mind.

Because of this, partnering with a 3rd party is the most effective way to handle serious reports that could be a possible issue that is running through your department.

We are that 3rd party

Having a 3rd party is beneficial, taking this one step further is having the 3rd party that has been in the fire service for over 25 years and understands the intricacies of the First Responder Work Life.

Leadership awareness, leadership tolerance, and even leadership neglect could be creating this lack of trust and action in the department.

We will assist with triaging the incident.

We will also identify themes, blindspots and opportunities that are systematic in the department to coordinate and advise on remediation efforts.

“Just because it may be the first report of an incident, does not mean that was the first incident. This problem typically has been tolerated by others. “ Karri King