March 2014 Blog Posts (43)

Haven't been writing lately I have been busy learning the ins and outs of being a Lieutenant with my new promotion.  I have been keeping busy reading books and training material.  I'm sure the trials and tribulations of being a new officer will be great stuff for future blogs to come.  Stay tuned and stay safe

How many times have you seen it (or participated in it)? A tragedy happens where a firefighter gets injured or killed and the comments begin to fly about what went wrong - and how they would have done it differently, of course. Let’s take an incident that hit close to home for me. The Toledo Fire Department lost two brothers during an apartment fire this past January.…

By now it’s no secret that the fire service has accumulated a considerable “body of knowledge” as a result of the fire dynamic research from NIST and UL.  And now we’re into the “what are we going to do about it,” phase of evolution.  We are starting to see examples of departments implementing tactical changes based on the research, including my own department, developing its SLICERS concept.  And while we’re making good progress in bringing the research lessons to the fire ground,…

Me No Hable

Ours is a beautiful country with a beautiful language that is made even more beautiful and rich by our different accents and dialects. Even within each state, our speech and language is flavored with our varied regional influences. I like it when people try to guess where I am from, based upon my speech.…

Fear. That feeling of uncertainty, doubt and despair that people get when situations are out of control; there is danger in their lives either physically, emotionally or economically. Part of our job (as we all know) involves putting our lives in inherently dangerous situations for the well-being of those who are at most in need. I have come up in this service within the…

I must apologize.  Over the weekend, it dawned on me that I again, have put the apple cart before the horse.  All too often, I get an idea and get all pumped up only to realize that there is a key component or part I allowed to be missed. 

I did start out with simpler scenarios – yes that’s a fact.  I gave progressively more difficult scenarios - again, yes that’s a fact.  But this weekend I realized I should have started out from a more basic point. 

So, lets back…

As another promotional process creeps up on the horizon I am reminded of something. On the last day of a recruit class I recently taught I had a recruit ask me: How can I prepare to become an officer in this dept.? My first thought was, how about finish probation first!! I didn’t say that to him, but it really made me think about something.

Every couple years we have a promotional process in our department. You are all aware of them. That time of year when productivity seems…

I can’t remember what I am supposed to do at a fire anymore. The acronyms keep coming and I don’t want to screw anything up so I’m going to suggest we use OMAHA just like Peyton Manning. If you get to a point where all the acronyms run together and you are about to panic just take a deep breath and call,…

        First of all, a quick correction to Training to Fail, Part 1; it appears I was wrong about Peyton Manning studying his enemy in preparation for the Super Bowl. I apologize, from now on I will do my due diligence...just kidding Bronco fans.

        This short little blog is not meant to cure the fire service of the problems of training to…

The Sunday Preach:

"Record, Record, Record..."

Ever wonder how long it takes and what you look like getting your PPE on correctly? How about the team making a search? Stretching a line from the apparatus? What you sound like on the radio?

Can we "see" where we can streamline our personal and company operations? I guarantee at least 75% of your members has a device in their pocket that can help the team.

From page 249 of "25 to Survive: Reducing Residential Injury…

I was on the Internet this morning and saw this picture posted on Facebook. It was bad enough that someone posted it, but the number of likes was even more disturbing. I will preface the rest of this blog with that I AM A REFORMED FIREFIGHTER. I was not always Combat Ready and I used many excuses to justify to myself my BAD habits and complacency.

None of…

In a recent discussion with a friend regarding SOG's and SOP’s, an ugly mannerism reared its face, “we are just a Volunteer Department. Keep that in mind.”

WHAT THE HELL KIND OF STATEMENT IS THAT?!

This brings to mind another statement I have heard in passing more than once.

Too many rules are a bad thing to have.

Can we have too many rules?

Can rules hinder an operation?

Can a guideline be truly…

As I see all the news reports about the missing Malaysia Airline Flight 370 I wonder how they got off track. Did anyone in the cockpit notice they were off course?  Maybe and maybe not.  If they did recognize the problem, did they speak up to the Captain?  When they spoke up were the comments clear and direct or were they passive hints and suggestions that the pilot never picked up on?

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book “Outliers”, introduces us to what is known as “Mitigation…

Close calls happen more often than we admit

In my short career of just over 10 years, I have unfortunately been involved with two close call incidents. For a long period of time, I was simply unable to speak about those incidents. If I needed to talk about them, I joked about them or brushed them off like it was nothing. Many of my closest friends don’t even realize how these two incidents truly affected me. I actually didn’t communicate my thoughts about my situations until I was…

FIRE TRUCKS AND TRAINS

The “Triple Cross” is in Richmond, Virginia. It is said to be the only place in the United States of America and possibly the world where three Class 1 railroads cross at different levels over the same spot.

Near the “Triple Cross” stands Main Street Station, the…

As a company officer, one of the earliest things to accomplish with each individual firefighter on your crew is to have a one-on-one meeting and ensure they fully understand what your expectations are.  After this is accomplished, you sit down with the entire crew and discuss the goals and vision and invite them to weigh in on what the team can do to meet those objectives.  Getting their buy in, listening to their thoughts and ideas, and allowing them to be a part of the team direction is a…

I have been an officer on an Engine for almost 9 years. In that time I have worked with different crews and many different personalities.  As my crew changed, I also had to change my style to fit the crew.   What I has taken my nearly all 9 years to figure out is that when people don't do what I want or what I expect, it is most often because they didn't understand what I wanted.  That was tough for me to recognize because I think I am being very clear.  So I am the problem? Yes, at least a…

Lets go back for a while and practice on some more residential occupancies we all may have. 

The exterior load bearing walls are wood with brick veneer.  It was built about 1900. there are four apartments on each floor. Three stairs serve the building. One of the "A" side, one the "B" and one on the "D" sides as well.  There is no egress in the "C" side. 

All units are believed to be occupied with an unspecified number of occupants.  However, while returning from runs and other…

By Billy Schmidt

Are you building your fire department administration strategically? How do you find and position the cornerstone members who will ignite interest, introduce new ideas and development, and achieve a dynamically talented team? Can they hit the target?…