Can integrity be restored to EMS?

Turning your local newspaper over and seeing the lede on the front-page, above the fold or scrolling through your favorite news site, articles that question the integrity of EMS leaders across the country appear nearly weekly. Headlines read, “Former EMS chief pockets $45K in ambulance fraud,” “In stinging rebuke, judge blocks corrupt EMS council,” “7 members of nonprofit EMS board indicted on theft charges,” “Union cites ‘Vote of No Confidence’ to remove county EMS chief,” “EMS chief charged with placing camera in station restroom,” “EMS chief in group facing 223 charges of hunting crimes,” and the list continues.

Is a city council, county government or local agency able to recover after a leader makes the public question their integrity? If a leader is willing to make poor decisions professionally and personally, it not only shines a spotlight on them, but also on the agency that they are employed by.

I spoke with Chief (Ret.) Marc Bashoor, FireRescue1 Executive Editor, who shared a 3-step process for moving past a breach of the public trust: “Transparency, apology, move forward with a focused vision,” Bashoor shared, “understanding the basic concept of public trust, that we will do no more harm than has already been done. Without the basic foundation of public trust understanding, the recovery is doomed to failure.”

Bashoor served as public safety director in Highlands County, Florida; chief of the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Fire/EMS Department and as the emergency manager in Mineral County, West Virginia.

In an article titled, “We’re not the enemy: How to rebuild public trust during times of crisis,” Bashoor advises, never shy away from a valid fire service question, yet never offer an uneducated opinion nor an angry response; “do what’s right, when it’s right – not just what and when it’s convenient.”

Bashoor wraps up his article with the following, “As chiefs, the buck does stop with you. It is critical to remember that beyond the inspiring rescues, the stories of bravado and the dangers of the job, the audacity of the badge requires bold and daring acts of fortitude and bravery, not the arrogance and dismissiveness perceived as being above the law!”

ARROGANCE AND DISMISSIVENESS

Echoing Bashoor, arrogance and dismissiveness are perceived as being above the law. Yes, people make mistakes. We must answer for those mistakes and when mistakes are repeated over again or with slight variations, there is a pattern forming as the integrity of your organization is deteriorating.

“If we ourselves can’t act in both legal and morally upstanding ways, then we can’t expect the public to trust we have their best interest (public-safety) in mind,” Bashoor said. “While the ‘done it once and got away with it’ mentality is how degradation continues, the origins of these problems, I believe come back to a fundamental misunderstanding of what public trust is and how our mission/vision should fulfil that.”

“There must be consequences for those who violate the law and don’t uphold the values … recognizing that consequences don’t always result in discipline,” Bashoor said.

Bashoor added, a chief that doesn’t have a well-grounded education in morals and ethics, and doesn’t have themselves surrounded by like-minded public safety professionals, is likely to leave the rails sooner than later when presented an opportunity to exhibit these traits.

THE PROMISE: RESTORING PUBLIC TRUST

Bashoor has coined an acronym called THE PROMISE for EMS, fire and public safety professionals to use to restore trust and confidence in their local system.

• Trust
• Honor
• Ethics
• Professionalism
• Responsiveness
• Outreaching
• Mentorship
• Inspirational
• Safety-minded
• Energetically enthusiastic

“Organization integrity has to begin with the chief or director and it begins with them demonstrating the values they expect others to extoll,” Bashoor said, as he referenced THE PROMISE acronym.

In some cases, restoring the public’s trust may require complete restructuring of an organization with new leadership brought in. Clear mission and vision statements should be released by the new leadership to help employees and the public see that the organization has identified an issue and is moving in a new direction.

More importantly, transparency with your employees, the public and even the news media should be implemented so all parties involved know that the agency is serious about the new mission and vision, and that actions – criminal or unethical – will not be tolerated.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Who is responsible to take the lead when integrity is questioned? Is it your department’s chief, director, human resources, city or county council?

Bashoor explained that each department is different, and depending on the system structure, this varies.

In some departments, the chief or director has the ultimate say regarding conduct issues, while in other departments, the city or county human resources department heavily influences decisions. In any case, the public or employees should be able to raise their concerns in a safe environment and know that they will be addressed, so the department can continue to progress.

Department leaders and human resources with the ability to make changes should seriously listen to the clinicians and employees on the front line that have first-hand knowledge of unethical behavior or criminal activity. These leaders have the ability to change the future and potentially mitigate any public question of trust or integrity.

“I believe that public safety personnel should be held to a higher standard; that should be everyone’s expectation,” Bashoor said.

Bashoor noted that everyone should be mindful of their representation of their agency, not just the leaders.

“I call it ‘The Washington Post Test.’ What would your mother or grandmother think if they picked up tomorrow morning’s newspaper and saw this on the front page above the fold,” Bashoor said. “We should all have that on our mind, with officers bearing the responsibility to remind our people when they’re not upholding their end of the bargain.”

HIGHER STANDARDS

In another article, “The role of your life: Fire service success often comes down to daily auditions,” Bashoor writes, “public safety supervisors should have high expectations for our personnel, and it’s OK for our personnel to have high expectations of us.”

He acknowledges that personnel management isn’t exciting as firefighting, however, “we have to work harder at these personnel management interactions that will help us manage expectations in this area.”

We have the professional expertise … because as individuals and organizations, our personal and professional backgrounds are as spotless as possible, Bashoor concludes. No matter the situation or script, the non-negotiable expectation must be that we are upholding the public trust.