MUSC Health ambulatory leaders bond over firefighter exercises

Cat Burns jumps through hoops and puts out fires every day as practice manager for MUSC Children’s Care in North Charleston and Moncks Corner. 

Metaphorically, that is.

She doesn’t really put out fires.

But on Oct. 10, she was at the North Charleston Fire Department training grounds hopping through an open window and, yes, learning how to put out fires. Not to mention practicing entering a dark, smoky building to rescue a trapped mannequin.

It was all part of a first-of-its-kind team building exercise for managers and directors in MUSC Health’s Ambulatory Services. And while the physical drills had the managers wondering if they’d be able to walk into work the next day, the ride on the firetruck, sirens blaring, had them grinning like little kids.

 

 

Erik Modrzynski, manager of Safety, Security and Emergency Programs for Ambulatory Services, came up with the idea during planning of an active shooter drill with local first responders, including the North Charleston Fire Department. Modrzynski was a firefighter for 15 years in Lexington County, so he understands firsthand how firefighters have to work as a team. He thought that giving ambulatory managers a small taste of the life of a firefighter could be a good way to enhance teamwork – and a lot more fun than most team building exercises.

Administrator Alice Edwards said Ambulatory Services has about 100 clinic locations. The division is relatively new – only about three years old – and was organized when health leaders realized that ambulatory locations were scattered about the organizational chart, all reporting to different units. Creating the division provided more structure and support. Burns said she likes being part of a group of other managers, rather than feeling like she’s all alone.

Because of their geographic range, several of the 30 or so leaders at the event hadn’t met before.

“I’ve been talking to Tammy, who’s a practice manager, on the phone, and today I got the opportunity to meet her,” said Benita Curnell, who manages the Ambulatory Resource Team.

 

“I think this was a great opportunity for all of leadership to come together,” she said.

“To get the team together like this is really special and awesome bonding,” agreed Sean Nelson, director of Ambulatory Services Primary Care. 

The group started the day with a lecture about the fire service. Then it was on to skills training, and finally, they put their skills to the test in a team competition.

In teams of four, they walked through the job-related physical abilities test that a recruit would normally do individually and in full gear. They had to advance a hose. Use a 9-pound sledgehammer to strike a 75-pound I-beam and move it along a 5-foot track. Carry a coiled hose up a flight of stairs. Then work together to carry (or drag) a 165-pound mannequin.

In the final event of the day, the teams took a ride on the firetrucks down the driveway and back, then entered a set of interconnected shipping containers outfitted like apartments to find and rescue occupants. The “fire” was digitally created, but the smoke certainly smelled and looked real.

“It’s very disorienting because you can’t see anything,” Edwards said of entering the containers.

Fire training Capt. Steve Gillespie said the department regularly reconfigures the containers and rearranges the furniture inside so that firefighters don’t become comfortable with the setup.

“It was really dark, and you’re going by feel,” Burns said. “You don’t know where you’re stepping or what you’re feeling.”

 

She said that she felt safe because she knew it was a training exercise, but the experience underscored all the things that could go wrong for firefighters in a real fire.

“They do not get paid enough. They really don’t,” she said.

She left the day inspired by all that firefighters do, as did most of the group. And for those who really enjoyed it, Gillespie noted, the department is hiring.

And, he added, there’s no maximum age limit for recruits.