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The Volunteer Guide to 21st Century Firefighting: Combustion

For firefighters, it is pretty common for them to interact with, well, fire. While many firefighters go headstrong into a burning building to put the fire out and rescue any victims that may be inside. For you full-time folks the components of fire and the importance of understanding combustion is reviewed everyday but for us small-time, maybe more rural volley fire departments this needs to be reviewed and better appreciated. …

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Added by Dustin Callahan on August 6, 2020 at 8:00pm — No Comments

Heavy Extrication Little Things

The little things matter when it comes to lifting and stabilizing heavy objects. The strut that is a “little crooked” when you started can quickly become very crooked and unsafe under a substantial load. Our attention to detail must stay sharp when setting up to stabilize and lift.

Below is an example of taking a shortcut that could be catastrophic later. Photo A is a picture of the base of a stabilizing strut with the ratchet strap secured into the manufactured attachment point. This…

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Added by Josh Pearcy on July 27, 2020 at 12:08pm — No Comments

The Art of the Resume; Tips for Success

The Art of the Resume; Tips for Success

Nicholas Christensen, CFO, MPA

 

It could be…

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Added by Nicholas Christensen on July 20, 2020 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Low Angle Rescue: A Quick, Simple and Effective Approach

Low Angle Rescue: A Quick, Simple and Effective Approach

In this article, I will review a simple method of accessing an injured patient with a low angle rescue element involved.  Low angle rescues are generally considered to fall between 15 and 35 degrees. Examples include motor vehicle accidents involving vehicles down embankments and injured runners or hikers…

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Added by AB Turenne on June 15, 2020 at 4:30pm — No Comments

The Starving Artist

We are in an age of declining fire. In direct correlation to this, is the disappearance of the fire department mission and the art of firemanship. Meanwhile, resentment is rapidly on the rise. True firemen are like starving artists. Their sole focus is to be a part of an organization with passion and drive to be good at the job. They are consistently…

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Added by Alexis Shady on June 10, 2020 at 2:08pm — No Comments

The Last 500 Rescues: Just The Numbers

The goal of Firefighter Rescue Survey (FirefighterRescueSurvey.com or check us out on Facebook) is to gather as much information as possible from actual rescues in the hopes of making us all more effective and efficient on our firegrounds. By collecting data from firefighters who have been in the exact situation that most of us spend a career preparing for, we hope to provide firefighters from around the…

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Added by Nick Ledin on June 7, 2020 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Tips for a Rural Fire Department

Quad County Fire Deparment is a small town fire department that I currently volunteer as a training captain. Our fire department is almost as rural as it can come with a small call volume. When calls do come they come with vengeance. Our call volumes consists of motor vehicle accidents, brush fires, etc. Our structural firefighting calls are too few and are often too far gone to do much interior operations. For many departments that can cause a number of…

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Added by Dustin Callahan on June 1, 2020 at 1:29pm — No Comments

The First 1,000 (and Change) Rescues: Just The Numbers

        The goal of Firefighter Rescue Survey (FirefighterRescueSurvey.com or check us out on Facebook) is to gather as much information as possible from actual rescues in the hopes of making us all more effective and efficient on our firegrounds. By collecting data from firefighters who have been in the exact situation that most of us spend a career preparing for, we hope to provide firefighters from around…

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Added by Nick Ledin on May 14, 2020 at 7:00am — No Comments

How to Ensure That Your Department Fulfills Its Vision

This article originally appeared in the March 2014 edition of Fire Engineering magazine.

Why are we here? Why does the fire department exist? What are we trying to achieve each time we show up for our duty shift or are toned out to an emergency? Many fire departments have a mission statement that usually consists of a short explanation of what the department does to protect the life and property of the…

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Added by Chris Langlois on May 3, 2020 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Mentorship; The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent

Mentorship; The Good, The Bad, The Indifferent

Nicholas Christensen, CFO, MPA

 

It would be fair to say that in today’s society there are many different types of mentorship…

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Added by Nicholas Christensen on April 29, 2020 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Extreme Instructorship - Achieving Instructor Excellence

By: Chief Billy Greenwood; Extreme Leadership Series

Extreme Instructorship - There is a big difference in teaching adults and children. Thus the professional educator in emergency services education must have a solid understanding of learning intelligences. Have you ever been in a class where the instructor was good, he or she had decent material, but they had somehow missed the mark for student engagement? Now I am not talking about many of the obvious minor faults of an…

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Added by Fire Chief Billy Greenwood on April 28, 2020 at 8:00pm — No Comments

It's Not A Mold It's A Standard!

It’s Not A Mold It’s A Standard!

              Tom Brands Iowa Wrestling Coach, NCAA Champion, Olympic Gold Medalist

When I was a kid growing up the Iowa Hawkeye Wrestling Team was the STANDARD! They won multiple National Championships as a team and individuals. The “Iowa” style of wrestling was prevalent and taught. The emphasis was on toughness, conditioning, and BASICS and that created and ideal mindset of being able to…

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Added by Robert Owens on April 24, 2020 at 10:25am — No Comments

The Fireman’s Guide to Main Street: 5 Buildings to Know, Part Four: The Bowling Alley

Alexis Shady & Chris Tobin

There is a quote that we believe represents the vast majority of the fire service concerning buildings, it reads;

“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray.”

Thoreau, Henry

Simply put, we all see buildings but few understand what they’re actually looking at. That’s a problem, a really big…

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Added by Alexis Shady on April 22, 2020 at 11:00pm — No Comments

My Greatest Loss Became My Greatest Strength

So where do I begin....



Growing up I had the relationship with my father that most kids only dream of. He was always strict and taught me there wasn't a gray area in life, ONLY right and wrong. But through it all he was my best friend, as I was his. He taught me to strive to be the best I could be and to never except anything less than 110% from myself. My father was a veteran of the US Navy and a volunteer firefighter, but more importantly he was my hero. As with any father/son… Continue

Added by Michael Lannning on April 20, 2020 at 9:24pm — No Comments

Leading Organizational Change: Knowing True North and Actually Getting There

As a fire chief or any organizational leader, you set the tone, the vision and the direction that the organization is going to move in. As the person at the rudder of the ship, it is also necessary for you to recognize when change is necessary, and more importantly how to steer the ship through that change without ending up on the rocks.

Policy, procedure or SOP changes can be written and put into place quite easily,…

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Added by Chris Langlois on April 19, 2020 at 3:00pm — No Comments

The Obligation of Preparation, Trust, and Empowerment: You Do Your Job, and Let Me Do Mine.

“It is our obligation to prepare our crews to perform on the fireground with intent and excellence prior to engaging the enemy, and then to trust and empower them to execute when the time comes.”

 

Hello, my name is Kaci. I love fighting fire (and I’m good at it).

I would like to invite you to dig in to the statement at the top of this page with me, and then do a full-on, introspective status check as to our own…

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Added by Kaci Corrigan on April 17, 2020 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Experience, Training, and Preparation

Ever show up to a scene, take one look, and immediately feel like your head was spinning? Maybe it was the sight of the person covered in blood or the size of the fire that made things seem to be going fast. Perhaps you were met as you stepped off the rig by people grabbing at you trying to get you to move quicker. It might be the sounds of the blaring car horn through the dust from the airbags or the roar of the fire as the windows self-ventilate that barrage your senses and start your mind…

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Added by John Lightly on April 9, 2020 at 12:57pm — No Comments

The Fireman’s Guide to Main Street: 5 Buildings to Know, Part Three: The Old Mill

Alexis Shady & Chris Tobin

There is a quote that we believe represents the vast majority of the fire service concerning buildings, it reads;

“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray.”

Thoreau, Henry

Simply put, we all see buildings but few understand what they’re actually looking at. That’s a problem, a really big problem…

Continue

Added by Alexis Shady on March 27, 2020 at 4:30am — No Comments

Are All LODD’s Created Equal?

Did you hear about the line of duty yesterday? Nine heartbreaking words no firefighter ever wishes to hear.  But guess what……

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Added by Adam J. Hansen on March 17, 2020 at 12:58pm — No Comments

The Fireman’s Guide to Main Street: 5 Buildings to Know, Part Two: The Type 3 Taxpayer

Alexis Shady & Chris Tobin

There is a quote that I believe represents the vast majority of the fire service concerning buildings, it reads;

“Many an object is not seen, though it falls within the range of our visual ray, because it does not come within the range of our intellectual ray.”

Thoreau, Henry

Simply put, we all see buildings but few understand what they’re actually looking at. That’s a problem, a really big problem and for…

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Added by Alexis Shady on March 11, 2020 at 3:30pm — No Comments

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