By RICHARD MARINUCCI
Fire department personnel work with many other departments and agencies, both in government and in the private sector. This includes police agencies, financial people, and those in public works. Members also interact with hospitals, schools, and private ambulance companies. This is by no means a complete list but a start to help indicate the increasing complexity of interpersonal relationships that are important to providing quality service. With so many people involved and the variety of personalities you will likely encounter, you would have to be quite naïve to think that there will never be any conflicts in the course of performing your duties.
A vast majority of issues requiring resolution involve personality conflicts or other “people problems.” You can never eliminate them, but you can prepare yourself to handle them appropriately and can take steps to help prevent or minimize the severity of the issues. And like so much of what we do, experience, education, training, and practice will help. But also keep in mind that these issues take time—time that can prove to be very beneficial. Your skill in handling these issues will directly reflect on the outcome.
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