By THOMAS E. POULIN
Fire/emergency medical services (EMS) organizations and their members wish to provide the best services possible to their communities. They take great pride in the quality of their services, with most seeking to provide more effective and efficient services that continuously meet the changes of a dynamic environment. Meeting this challenge requires that fire/EMS agencies objectively assess their performance, identifying means of leveraging their strengths and addressing any weak areas. An effective critique process can support this, but we must ensure that we do not shift from a critique to a “crittack” (explained later in the article) to a travelogue.
A critique is an objective, professional, collaborative function taken to assess an activity. The focus is on making that activity, or similar activities, more effective and efficient over time. During a critique, we should consider what we observed, what we did, how well it worked, and how it might be done better. Remember, the goal of a critique is not necessarily about fixing something broken; it can be about making something strong even stronger.
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