All Blog Posts (3,145)

Let's see a show of hands (metaphorically speaking) - who has a suit of armor that will protect them from almost any accident, catastrophe, or evil genius? Anyone? ...I didn't think so! However, how many of us will take on preventable risks with the same brazen carelessness and complacency as if we're wearing a cape, or a bright red titanium suit?



This is…

Heads Up Firefighting: One Size Fits All

Does PowerPoint make the instructor, or does the instructor make the learning experience? Don't get me wrong, PowerPoint is a wonderful tool and a great visual aid, but when you lean on technology and slides too much, the only thing being taught is that you don't know your material well enough to expand beyond the slides.



PowerPoint is a tool, and just a tool -…

I recently have had a lot of suggestions and requests to post on some volunteer, rural, combination issues that the fire service faces. I started and am still a member of a mostly rural volunteer, now combination, department. My earliest exposure to the fire service was at this mostly rural department.



 We had a large majority of our fires outside of our public water area and our staffing was limited, just like it is today. Most of our trucks were single cab…

That title is so true to the fire service.

I mean let’s think about it. Probie school, we are told wear all your turnouts, how to wear them etc. Yet the same guys telling the probies this are wearing SCBA's without the waist straps on. I don’t know about you, but to me that is a double…

Check out the presentation by NASA Astronaut Mike Mullane which lead to Lance Peeple's article on the Normalization of Deviance...http://headsupfirefighting.blogspot.com/2013/05/normalization-of-deviance.html

       Tactical efficiency means getting the most accomplished, in a timely manner, with the personnel that you have on the fireground. As I've mentioned in previous posts, with the prevalence and abundance of synthetic fuels and lightweight construction, fighting fires in 2013 and beyond is, and will be, different than fighting fires in past generations. The enemy is more formidable and the battlefield is less…

By Ron Kanterman

I got a feeling that you opened this because we just got home from FDIC. In fact it was a killer show. It was my 23^rd FDIC and it simply gets better each year. For me, it’s a family reunion and for one week, it’s the center of our universe. Great training, great expo and great times. Start saving now for next year. It rolls around quick.

“Killer Show” is actually the title of a book (John Barylick, University Press of New England) that was…

To all of the wonderful brothers and sisters who came to my presentation on Interior Benchmarking I thank you. I appreciated all of your questions, comments, and instructor reviews. Take care and stay safe. Lt. Billy Greenwood

Is this what we are coming to?

http://headsupfirefighting.blogspot.com/2013/04/spraying-smoke.html

Note: I wasn’t going to post a blog until after FDIC, but then I watched BC Michael Walker’s address on livestream and it really struck a chord. He spoke to the very essence of what it is to call yourself “fireman”, the strong bond between firefighters and what our communities expect when they call us.…

Are you at your strongest when others may be at their weakest?

Do you study your enemy to find its weaknesses?

Do you practice your fighting skills until you can’t…

We are all aware that for the past couple of decades, our enemy has been getting bigger, faster and more deadly. This has hopefully led you to the realization that we now have less time on the fireground to accomplish all of our critical tasks. But before we get into the meat and potatoes of this article, let’s look at the basics of the above premise. The two biggest reasons that the fireground has changed so much in the last generation or so, are that the fuels have changed, and so have the…

I have to admit, with the horrific events of this past week (and the ongoing drama) and the current political turbulence around the country, I NEED the FDIC more than ever to recharge my batteries and renew my sense of being. I want to reunite with cherished friends and meet new ones. I want to know that the world has not gone completely insane and there is a place…

Give them an inch, they may take a mile

    While growing up, I heard this phrase all too often “ We give you an inch, and you take a mile”. Most of the time this was because my curfew would get extended an…

God, how I miss the sweet innocence of days gone by.

Take me back to a time when, as kids, young brothers and sisters could walk to the neighborhood grocery store to buy penny candy and drink a 7-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola.…

In the aftermath of yesterday's cowardly act of terrorism in Boston, and as the injury report began to rise, I could only think about how much worse this violent act could have been if not for the quick action of Boston F.D., P.D., EMS, and U.S. National Guard. As I sat and watched the same horrific images over and over, my thoughts, prayers, and empathy were for our…

While doing research for this blog, I came across a couple of very interesting articles that I will provide the links for and I would encourage you to read them and perhaps, pass them along. They were very enlightening and take my thoughts to a wider spectrum when thinking about responses and pre-plans. They can be found at the end of this piece.

With yesterday’s (April 10, 2013) incident in…