托马斯·N·沃伦（Thomas N. Warren）
做决定是这cornerstone skill for anyone in aleadership位置。每个处于领导地位的人，在消防部门或私营部门中，必须每天做出决定，并对这些决定负责。有效的决策是一项技能，将真正的鼓舞人心的领导者与只是在一个人担任职位的人区分开组织;与翻转硬币相比，决策要多得多。尽管两者都有许多相似之处，但私营部门的决策与消防部门的决策有所不同。
在私营部门，决策是一种由特定过程研究和定义的技能。最多大学和大学要求学生学习决策作为业务的一部分programs。马萨诸塞大学提供了一项计划，该计划教授一个七步的过程，以制定与大多数大学提供的其他计划相似的计划。但是，大多数人都不常见消防科学课程s (we’ll address this later). The program breaks down decision making into the following seven basic steps:
- 确定要做出的决定。
- Gather relevant information.
- 确定替代方案。
- 称重证据。
- 选择替代方案。
- 采取行动。
- Review the decision and consequences.
This is a very deliberate process that allows the private sector to engage in deep thought and contemplation prior to making a decision. The goal is to review all the选项，权衡每个选项的积极和负面因素，以投影积极的结果for the issue at hand. The core reason for the decision itself is to improve an existing situation/condition or to improve a profit margin while at the same time minimizing any harmful effects that decision may have. Decisions are not easy, and most people find it difficult to make sound decisions on a consistent basis. This difficulty in decision making (indecision) is rooted in the fear of negative results for the decisions made. No one wants to be responsible for a bad or costly decision so people tend to拖延或过度说出一个问题，通常没有做出决定。对决定结果的恐惧会使某些人瘫痪，从而限制他们做出正确的决定的能力。随着时间的推移，强大的领导者已经发展起来，以了解如何在面对决策时快速分析信息并预测结果。这是一项可以学习的技能，但是有些人似乎具有掌握这一过程的自然能力。从一个决定到下一个决定无缝移动的人一般崛起leadership positions在他们的组织中。无论其业务本质如何，这都是所有领导者的重要技能。
San Antonio (TX) Fire Chief and Emergency Operations liaison Steve Reuthner checks an operations board in the Alamo Command Center in San Antonio. (Photo found onWikimedia Commons由Patsy Lynch/FEMA提供。
Another component to decision making is theethical implicationsof decisions. Most colleges and universities require their business students to take a business ethics course that ties into the decision-making process. Ethical decision making can be challenging for everyone in these modern times. Most recently, Lance Armstrong, one of the world’s most recognized cyclists, revealed the he was doping to win races dating back many years. He made decisions—in a very conscious way—to advance his cycling career that were unethical while denying any misconduct for many years to achieve sports notoriety.
阿姆斯特朗（Armstrong）是体育界的众多人之一不道德的做决定in recent history. In the business world, there are examples of unethical decision making in the actions of major companies like Bernard Madoff Investment Securities, Enron, and AIG. These companies made unethical decisions that they felt would yield enormous profits. But ultimately, their decisions caused great harm to many people. Government is not immune from unethical decision making such as Rod Blagojevich in Chicago and Bill Clinton and Jack Abramoff in Washington, DC, to name a few. There is no simple definition to ethical decision making, but it essentially relates to a person’s value set, family upbringing, sense of fairness, and religious and cultural background. All these components become part of a decision-making process that is based on doing what is right vs. doing what is wrong.
当我们根据我们应该为组织为共同利益做出决定做出决定时，我们就变得道德。这要求我们考虑在做出决定以及从长远来看将如何影响他人之前，我们的决策将如何影响他人。被认为是道德决策者的人会发现，他们的同事认为他们是值得信赖的，负责任的，最重要的是受人尊敬的专业人员。显然，这是一个声誉，我们所有人都应该努力争取无论我们的职业如何。从职业上讲，这种声誉将导致您的组织中的领导角色，以及深切的个人满足感和同事和同事的尊重。
So, what do these decision making and ethics concepts have to do with the fire service? As mentioned earlier, firefighters are not extensively trained in decision making and伦理。决策更多地由标准操作程序（SOP）而不是对道德和决策的研究。当我在当地大学的消防科学课程中审查了课程时，我找不到任何决策或道德课程课程。However, general ethics courses were offered in general studies as electives. The absence of decision making and ethical studies does not indicate that these disciplines are not needed in the fire service; in fact, I would argue that they are needed more today than ever. As the fire service becomes more diverse, including generation Xers, Millennials, women, and other minorities, we need to be more cognizant of the impact our decisions may have on our firefighters, unintentionally or otherwise.
第二次世界大战后的强力准军事组织结构大多数部门都在建立的衰落，并被更具社会自由的组织结构所取代。
In many ways, the same concepts that apply to the private sector also apply to the fire service but in the fire service decision making falls into two basic types of decision processes. The first process is the operational type decision-making process and the second is the administrative type of decision-making process.
OPERATIONAL DECISION MAKING
这代表了更多的动态决策aking that occurs at fire and紧急场景通常是基于已知的SOP，这些SOP是在组织中建立的，以积极的方式创建秩序和全面的行动。几乎没有时间可以广泛考虑七个步骤的过程rapidly expanding incidents。消防公司官员将通过每个响应消防公司知道的运营计划来指导其初始运营。此过程允许满足火灾或紧急响应的所有战略要素，从而允许事件指挥官（IC）根据条件的保证，建立计划。遵循的决策初始响应将基于IC的经验，事件的性质以及操作的进度。
The bases of alloperational plans是，按重要性顺序life safety，事件稳定和财产保护。消防官和酋长已经非常适应在消防和紧急场景中做出决定，而在管理快速扩展的事件的同时，几乎没有信息。尽管他们可能没有意识到这一点，但这些消防官正在做出一系列决定：人员and设备in dangerous conditions using the seven-step process in a very subconscious way in a matter of minutes. They simply call it “size-up” followed by an “incident action plan.”
The decisions made at fire and emergency incidents are based largely on strategic and tactical needs, with little consideration given to the ethical side of the decision-making process. In large part, ethical considerations were evaluated in detail during the development of the operational plan used to mitigate the fire or emergency (SOPs). Firefighters consider their work to be a good and purposeful endeavor that aligns with ethical behavior. They do not think about right and wrong in their actions because they, as well as the general public, feel that what they do is the right thing.
行政决策
行政决策比Fireground决定;它与私营部门中使用的模型非常相似。消防公司官员通常不会认为自己参与行政决策，但实际上，在火灾和紧急行动之外做出的每个决定都将属于这一类。消防官必须每天做出关于station职责，调度,训练并解决未成年人消防站纠纷;他们经常使用一些无意识的形式这seven-step process. Some of these decisions will have little consequence beyond the firehouse, but that is not always the case. A good fire officer will know when it is appropriate to make a decision and when it is appropriate to bump it up the chain ofcommand。公平和一致性消防人员做出这些决定将直接转化为消防官员的声誉。这种公平和一致性也是道德决策的核心。大多数公司官员没有考虑到他们在这些条款中做出决策，但大多数公司都试图公平，一致且对他们的决策负责。大多数人还认为他们有责任为公司中每个人的共同利益做出正确的决定。因此，没有任何有关道德决策的正规教育，他们会发现自己做出非常道德的决策。
行政决策的最高水平是在首席办公室中。在这里，与任何其他地方不同消防部门，实际上，每个决定都会产生后果，并且必须始终如一，刻意地做出。消防部门的行政办公室必须像任何进步的商业办公室一样经营，并避免在火场上发现的决策过程；技能集无法转移。这是关于如何做出决策和道德决策的正规教育至关重要的地方。
酋长将在他的决策方面为整个部门定下基调。如果他与规则and personnel, than he can expect his officers to do the same. Procrastination or overstudying an issue will look like the chief is detached from the department and his responsibilities. The direct result of this type of reputation will be deteriorating labor relations,士气低落最终，功能失调的组织。It is vital for the organization that the chief is fair, consistent, and responsible in his decision making and that he uses a systematic approach—such as the seven-step process.
酋长必须始终及时做出道德决定，无论是与消防员打交道还是城市政府。道德决策的往绩将在做出不受欢迎的决策时从对手发动的丑闻攻击中提供一些绝缘。一贯做出道德决定的酋长将在其职位上建立信任，尊重和地位，创造一个难以批评的环境。每个人都会很快了解到chief正在为组织的利益而努力，随着时间的流逝，他的决定甚至可以在积极的意义上得到预测。
The decision-making process used in the private sector is not readily transferable to commanding fire and emergency scenes, but it is a transferable skill in the administrative side at most levels of any fire department. Studying decision-making skills and ethical decision making is clearly worth the time and effort for any fire officer aspiring to a chief-level position.
托马斯·沃伦（Thomas N. Warren）has more than 40 years of experience in the fire service in both career and志愿者部门。在服务33年后，他最近退休担任普罗维登斯（RI）消防局助理局长。他拥有普罗维登斯学院（Providence College）的消防科学学士学位，罗德岛社区学院的工商管理副学士学位，并获得occupational safety罗杰·威廉姆斯大学的健康。
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