All Blog Posts (3,147)

What word seems to strike fear into the hearts of firefighters everywhere? Change. Career or volunteer, senior man or rookie, the word sends up red flags and defenses whenever it is mentioned. We tend to be skeptical of the person proposing change as maybe something has been tried (and failed miserably) in the past. We see it as an infringement on our operational status quo with which we are quite comfortable. Some departments even view their resistance to change as some kind of badge of…

Have you ever heard the following? I have several times:

Any monkey can stretch a hose line. 

It takes no brains to ride an engine. 

Engine work is not rocket science. 

Well from what I occasionally see, I would say that is not…

Most everyone these days is familiar with the acronym PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Military personnel Are coming back in record numbers suffering from this disorder. PTSD was first added to the DSM by the American Psychiatric Association¹. With the recent wars and military activity, the number of those diagnosed with PTSD has dramatically increased. What we realize now is that PTSD is not limited to those who have served in battle. There is another…

Back to Basics is a Flawed Concept

Back to basics is one of the most commonly used phrases in our fire service it seems. Every time you listen to a podcast, read an article, or interact on social media someone is using that line in regards to training and subsequently to the fireground. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the idea of getting back to the basics, but I think it is actually a flawed concept.

Quite simply, everyone's basics are different. East, West, everywhere…

To me it's simple, train hard to stay out of trouble, but be prepared when trouble happens anyway! Regardless of what you may read or believe, Rapid Intervention training is still important and relevant, for the team, for the crew, for the individual (remember, you are your partner's first RIT rescuer).



To help me make this point, I have asked a man…

“Problems are what make us grow. Problems are what sculpt our soul. Problems are what make us become more.” -Tony Robbins

I recently got the chance to spend a whopping nine days in a row with…

It's been a while since I posted on here just for the sake of having an opinion, but there has been something bothering me.  I read other blog posts, articles, watch live Facebook videos and hear about how there is no Brotherhood.  I listen to the rants of how this 'new' generation just doesn't get it.  Others posting about how the fire service will…

I hate pushups.

They are boring with their simple repetitive down and up motion. They are frustrating as your curled toes start to slide on the floor. They bring back bad memories of evil gym teachers past; I can still hear the hollow thud of my classmate Bobby’s face smacking off the gym floor as his arms failed.

They cause pain to shoot up the backs of your arms and your tightened tummy to spasm. They certainly are not flattering what with all the sweaty bums up in the air…

Personally, I find mental health to be one of if not the worst stigmas amongst humans today. But for this article more specifically in emergency services. I believe the best place to begin is with my own vulnerability. After all, how can I expect others to follow my lead without transparency and re-counting my own encounters with the disease.…

This article is intended to compliment the article “The New Guy, By A New Guy” written by Thomas Redden and “Being the New Guy – A Rebuttal” written by Andrew Olson. Both of these articles offer what I believe is a view of the past and one of the future. Both authors bring up good points and, at a minimum, have created an opportunity to consider the new person, and whether we give them more of the same or something different. I appreciate and respect both their positions, and thought I’d…

It is well recognized that firefighting is a dangerous occupation. In addition to the trauma or cardiovascular events killing or injuring firefighters, a slow and insidious enemy has been stalking firefighters for many years and although the injury is not immediate, the effects appear many years after exposures, are long lasting and may lead to the early demise of the firefighter as documented in numerous firefighter deaths from cancers.

A majority of states now cover…

I recently read the blog post on how to be the new guy from a new guy and it fired me up a bit. While I agree with many of the points on station life I believe this mentality is slowing fire service growth. I’d like to offer a different viewpoint and see how others in the fire service feel.

Station life, absolutely your job is to be the first out of the chairs and to do the cleaning that others prefer not to do. It’s your job to make the coffee and wipe the tables down after…

This will most likely not be a very popular commentary, but I feel it needs to be said and discussed - especially in this day of social media experts and podcast posers. Seems all you need these days to proclaim yourself an expert on any given topic or tactic is a platform and flashy helmet stickers. Enough! You seriously are not fooling anybody, and if you are, you…

From the start, I’ve been a huge supporter of the Underwriter Laboratories Firefighter Safety Research Institute (UL-FSRI) and the many fire science studies UL and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are producing on behalf of the fire service. Never before has the opportunity for firefighters to learn and understand the topics of modern fire dynamics and modern firefighting tactics been greater than today. Modern Fire Science is the culmination of these studies that is…

“What happens when you can’t just Google the answer?”

I remember very vividly the Mayday! Firefighter Down portion of my recruit academy.  It was taught over three days including a thorough review of LODD case studies and drills, which recreated many of the same conditions that has previously either injured or killed a firefighter in the line of duty.  One such scenario was the…

Part II of the Through-The-Lock/ Respectful Entry series.

This is what we carry in our TTL/ RE bag.

Ours.  …

How well are you training and preparing your officers to manage your most important resource?

STAY FIRED UP, and train!

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 What comes to mind when you hear “The Pursuit of Happiness?” For me it’s a lot of things, first would be finding what makes you happy. What makes you feel fulfilled? What brings you joy? What defines success to you?

Success. That’s what we feel defines true happiness. Be that as it may, than what defines success?

The word pursuit is…

Originally hosted at: http://www.leatherheadmafia.com/through-the-lock-respectful-entry/

Firefighter through-the-lock forcible entry. A less destructive and more technical entry that results in gaining patient and occupant access on…

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