All Blog Posts (3,123)

“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…

Listen…

“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…