December 2018 Blog Posts (14)

My first FireEngineering Training Network blog post was on the pushup challenge I undertook for the year.  The guys over at http://firefighterfunctionalfitness.com/ put out the challenge to do 100 pushups, every day, for the entire year.  Thinking that this wouldn't be very hard, I took the challenge.  

I'm proud to say, that not only did I complete the challenge, but I crushed it!  I viewed…

NEW Fire Engineering​ blog editorial cartoon: It's the Thought that Counts!

Here's hoping your Holiday Season is filled with joy, family, friends, fire, and as little bureaucracy as possible.

Cheers!

When engaged in an activity where seconds count, lives hang in the balance, and there is little margin for error, choosing the correct initial action is critical.  As firefighters, we must "get it right" the first time, and there are no “do overs”.  To be most successful in protecting lives and property, our selection of methods and their execution must be flawless.…

Excerpt from the 2019 Drawn by Fire/Fully Involved calendar, and Captain Mark von Appen:



There is a difference you can find in those who stand apart from the crowd, those people of character who just get it. The intangible quality that sets them apart is something completely tangible.  It's called a work ethic, and it is the oft-forgotten…

My good friend who I used to work with posted this on his Facebook page just now. His son also  works for Orlando Fire Department. Names were edited due to a current investigation. This was so important as a reminder that I needed to re-post his article. Be alert and never ever let your guard down! …

The Fire Chief / CEO Mindset.

Many Fire Chiefs in small or mid-sized departments waste time on what I call $15 an hour work dealing with the day to day tasks like vehicle checks, chores and maintenance. Meanwhile, they forgo working on visionary work like professional development, or obtaining grants that could yield thousands of dollars to assist the operating budget. Time needed to build relationships with the right people, inside and outside the organization, to further advance the…

We all enter the fire service knowing it’s the greatest job on earth and there is not another occupation we’d rather be doing. We also grasp the harsh reality that we are in fact a 24/7 service being open for business on nights, weekends, holidays, and everything in between. At the start the year, shift, or however your respective department operates, there is one specific date everyone immediately checks.....am I gonna be stuck working Christmas? If assigned…

The fire service is filled with an alphabet soup of acronyms many of us are aware of. Whether for fire suppression, EMS, Hazmat, etc. these acronyms are convenient aids that help firefighters and officers remember size-up points, operational and procedural considerations, and can be effective in recalling critical actions to be taken in emergencies.

Examples of common suppression acronyms:

C-Construction                                     …

For the first time in many years we have decided to reset the waitlist and open up Tactical Extrication. With the move last year I finished up some promised classes and as I had also promised we are opening up for 2019 classes. This class has morphed over the years into something that I am incredibly proud of. Email me at TacticalExtrication@live.com to inquire about hosting a class. As always this opportunity won't last long....If you have ever taken a course by Tactical Advantage or…

I always like to review year end legal issues for the fire service, even as I routinely write about them, as an interesting study in firefighter legal behavior over the past year. It is a reflection of where we are and where we are going. The short story is our behavior is not changing as fast as the fire service would like as we still see complaints and litigation popping up every week.

We continue to see patterns of bad legal behavior, in spite of the frequent lectures and articles…

This can't be reiterated enough. If your crews don't trust you, the changes you will attempt to make will often get overlooked or even worse completely ignored. Be patient, trust takes time and effort to build and there are two essential steps to building that trust.

The first step is having open discussion about your expectations of your crews and what their expectations are of you. The second step is being consistent in everything you do. These two things, if done well will provide…

Rank might bring privileges, but it doesn’t necessarily equal leadership. You may have the authority that comes with the badge, however, this does not mean that your subordinates will follow you. The trust and willingness on their part to follow you must be earned. One way to quickly earn trust, and therefore, leadership, is through having good communication skills.

Communication only happens when both parties hear and understand what has been said. Until then, it’s just words being…

Today in the fire service there are many different barriers that we all face everyday.  Technology, growing scope of responsibility, and life in general are challenges that each and every company officer, chief, and Administrator face when it comes to forming the fire department camaraderie of old.  We often hear the brotherhood is dead, the new generation is lazy, and on and on and on.  The fact is, we can complain (and firefighters will we know) or we can seek out new and innovative ways…

My heart hurts after learning of a fellow firefighter who died by suicide yesterday. This one is especially painful to me because Ron Gebhart didn't want to die by suicide. He recognized the progressive illness that is suicide, and he aggressively sought help, and tried to battle it's relentless power. He attended classes to understand mental health and suicide. He reached out to others for help.

But, sadly, preventing suicide is not as easy as sharing lifeline numbers. Once one has…