All Blog Posts (3,147)

“If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am a reader - I have been since my days as a child staying up past midnight reading comic books. Why, because my mom was a reader and knew the value of learning new things and going on the wild adventures that only reading can take you on.

Now, I’m sure to…

            There’s a risk to not taking risks, it’s unsafe. Is that possible? I think so, and in today’s time I feel like some have enveloped themselves so much in being safe, that they no longer train to a standard that allows them to be prepared and competent. That’s unsafe. This does not mean that being safe isn’t necessary, and I would never advocate doing tasks that are unsafe just for the sake of doing them, that’s a suicide mission. However, there is no better safety factor than…

         A few weeks back, our training division was able to acquire a structure set for demolition. It was a 1960, two story, Type #2, Commercial, measuring in around 10,500 square feet. With time always equaling money, organizations are often limited to having these structures for just a few days prior to coming down. However, with this particular structure, we had the tremendous opportunity of having it at our disposal for an entire month. We utilized it to the…

Positive communication, why does it matter? Whether oral or written, we’ve all seen examples of effective and ineffective communication. Each example usually speaks for itself. Much of this article will focus on written communication and how to leave your audience with a positive impression, but also speaks to effective verbal communication.

Many of us have seen examples of work related documents and emails that have contained numerous spelling and/or grammatical errors, or a…

The following comments are something I put together for  Piscataway NJ's Fire Department's annual memorial service a few weeks back. A reflective look at those who have served in fire service and have since passed.

We recognize the contributions and sacrifices of hundreds of firefighters every year…

I was watching a Simon Sinek “Ted Talks” motivational video on Leadership. He spoke on something that opened my eyes, he said “why do we do it?”

Instantly my brain adjusted to referencing how that statement could apply to me as well as the people I work with and more importantly the people we serve. I first started with why I became a Firefighter.

Why did I become a Firefighter? Such an odd question that when asked many of us are seemingly caught off guard and can’t describe…

Psalm, 133:1 “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Crew unity provides members with a sense of cohesion and confidence during calls, and a natural support network when returning to, or at, the fire station. A close crew is one whose members share a strong bond, loyalty, and commitment to…

How BIG is your ego, and are you getting in the way of the very people you should be building up?



STAY FIRED UP, and remember, it is always about them!

____

  Almost every department across the country has has that one neighboring department. The one department that five, ten, or twenty years ago did something to shake the foundation of trust. From that incident, years of rumors, distrust, and animosity grew between your departments. You’re naive to think these situations don’t exist because they do, and they’re every bit as dangerous as the IDLH environments we face. How in…

Our Reformation

The Citizen. The Neighbor. The Stranger. The Family.…

© 2018 Jim Wick

What Do You Win When You Lose?

By

Jim Wick

Have you ever been intimidated when first meeting an organizational icon?  I was.  “What do you win when you lose?”  John asked sternly with an intense stare as I walked into his office. I was already…

Many of us in the public safety business have always believed that through property taxes or other publicly funded methods, the fire service would be able to provide a full range of services in an ever-changing and challenging environment.

There are a lot of hands reaching out for limited pubic money to adequately fund parks, police, parks, potholes and other necessary services provided by government and now is the time to discuss the elephant in the room, cost…

Recently, I read this quote by an anonymous author - “A strong woman stands up for herself. A stronger woman stands for everybody else.” I can think of nowhere else this is truer than in today’s fire service.



My daughter, now 24, has never known a mother and father that wasn’t inspiring her to be anything she wanted – anything, regardless of the physical,…

     We all know that Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is a necessary part of firefighting. Through the years PPE has evolved into the most high-tech equipment ever used by the modern firefighter. Every year that passes brings new innovations to make a dangerous job, on a good day, a little safer.

     None of us would ever dream of sending our firefighters into a burning structure without proper PPE. We would never send them into fight fire without the best gear we can…

I hate to admit it, but unfortunately, as a leader, I know what the words I don’t trust you sound like. Perhaps the most frustrating part for me at the time was that I didn’t know exactly what I did at the time to earn this statement. I spent countless hours second-guessing myself, asking other’s opinions, and trying to find a way to reconnect with this person to get us back on track.

But in searching for answers I found none.  Each day the distance between us…

            The number of people switching to natural gas as a fuel source is ever growing. It’s obvious the frequency of “gas calls” in which we respond seems to be increasing by the day. With this becoming a solid reality, the opportunity of becoming complacent as a fire service when responding to these calls has become a tangible threat. The following is a call we responded to where even the gas company representative was surprised to find what had materialized.…

Over the past year I’ve been contributing to the Stop Believing Start Knowing (SBSK) blog https://www.facebook.com/StopBelievingStartKnowing, a professional firefighter page dedicated to helping firefighters learn and understand modern fire attack principles, based on the modern fire dynamics science studies provided through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Underwriter Laboratories (UL).   SBSK has…

Photos by Brian Butler/Rob Dooley

A few years ago while doing a fire preplan at an old parking garage downtown in our first due, we discovered the seven deck parking garage had no standpipe. So every year, we conduct a training exercise to make our own standpipe. There are several methods to deliver water to an upper deck…

“Preparing New Members For A Growth Mindset”

by Matt Beakas

     Becoming a firefighter takes poise, stamina, physical strength and more importantly, mental…

“Only one quarter (27 percent) of fire departments have a basic firefighter fitness and health program, slightly down from 30 percent in 2010.” 

-NFPA Needs Assessment, 2015

27 percent

“…slightly down from 30 percent in 2010”

Really?

While it is doubtful that every single department in the country participated in this assessment…