All Blog Posts (3,147)

Stay clear of the morning zombies!

STAY FIRED UP!

 LEADERSHIP ON A DIRT ROAD

“There ain’t no bumps in that dirt road.”

I say this as a description of Fire Officers who are able to take their situation, their dirt road, and consistently smooth out the bumps, navigate around the mud and continue to advance, and be followed, because of their ability to solve problems with balance, steadiness…

This particular morning was like any other except I happened to be at home instead of work, waiting on the AC Repairman. I awoke about 0630 to go for my morning run as a fire call came in with an address one road down from my residence in the small town where I volunteer. In this volunteer department I am a firefighter at rank and I follow orders instead of the typical giving of them in my career status. While I do not shy away from speaking up, I feel it is important to listen and be…

It is Football and Hockey season and we love to root for the home team. We get mad when our team is not playing well and we cheer when our team does well. Sometimes we get a little animated when we are watching the game. I was on a plane heading to Fla. I was listening the Ravens game, they scored a touchdown and I said (a little too loud) YES with a fist pump! This caused my wife to look at me as if I was her 3^rd child that spilled cherry Kool Aid on the carpet. My actions…

     Vince Lombardi once said "the strength of the group is the strength of the leader."  Great advice for a football team and possibly life-saving advice when applied to the fire service.  The leadership role played by the company officer can not be over-stated.  This first level of supervision is the closest to the action, the first to spot potential problems on and off the fireground, and the first to mitigate these issues.   In order to have a strong company the officers must…

Why do we do what we do? What does it take to be a good firefighter? How can we do it better? Safer?

I was of the mindset that there were two things you needed to be a good firefighter. Number one is that you need to want to help people. Hopefully this goes without saying.  Most of our time is not spent “slaying the dragon”, it is spent providing EMS care, chasing alarms, cleaning up messes, and whatever else anybody and everybody asks of us. The second…

By James McLoughlin

I met Jimmy Mac about 10 years ago. He serves as a Deputy Chief with the City of Hartford Fire Department, the capital of Connecticut. Jimmy was a fixture at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Memorial Weekend ceremonies for many years through his participation and coordination of the Honor Guard group. He founded the CT Statewide HG as well as the National Honor Guard Commander’s Association. His…

The excitement that comes with a new apparatus delivery is probably second only to making a nearly impossible stop or rescuing a victim at a structure fire. After months of anticipation, you can't help but drool over flawless red paint, more flashing lights than an Academy Awards' red carpet, and diamond plating so shiny you could shave in its reflection. Add in the fresh…

     Leadership in a levels of the fire service is in a constant state of transition.  Yesterdays' firefighter is today's company officer and last week's battalion chief assigned to operations is the new assistant chief in administration.  No matter what level in the chain of command, retirements, promotions, and transfers may all create change in an organization.  Whether or not that change causes turmoil and a major disruption in operational performance is largely a result of the quality…

It was an honor to have recently participated in the latest round of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s Heart to Heart: Strategizing an Evidence-Based Approach to Reduce Cardiac Disease and Death in the Fire Service initiative.  The meeting brought together fire service research scientists, fire service professionals, and marketing experts from…

Question - When I arrive for my shifts at the fire station the duty battalion commander requires the crew to assemble in the apparatus bay to say a morning prayer. I do not practice any particular religion or have any particular belief system and walked away from the morning gathering not desiring to participate. I was called into the battalion commander’s office and placed on notice the morning prayer was a “requirement” and the next time I…

TITLES

What is in a title? A title defined by the dictionary is; a descriptive or distinctive appellation, especially one belonging to a person by right of rank, office, attainment. It’s something that can give a person power and authority or it can mean you have achieved the most elite status in a sport profession. In all instances the word title holds a lot of power!

In the fire…

THE QUICK RACE TO THE GRAVE

Heroin....What's that mean to you or, what do you think about when hearing that word. Another overdose, more narcan, another code, another meaningless death, or another set of parents without a child again. This drug...Heroin…= Epidemic. There’s no other word to describe it. This drug has become the drug of choice in recent years to wreak the most havoc in the families of the loved ones that abuse it and are addicted…

I submitted this as part of my Fire Science degree program.

Building construction has had an impact on the outcomes of the firefighter’s ability to survive in a hostile fire environment. The types of construction have evolved over the years, with residential construction be built using lighter and lighter materials. Additionally, the contents of residential occupancies have changed, both in quantity, but also in the what those materials are made of. The increase in contents made of…

Top FIVE Ways to Resolve Your Own Tactical Communications Problem

(Requires NO equipment outside of what you already have)

1. Move to a window

2. Stand up (if conditions permit)

3. Orient portable radio VERTICALLY

4. Raise your portable up high (again, if conditions permit)

5. Switch to SOP/common practice-driven Simplex/Talkaround/Direct Channel

In this next installment of Our Own Worst Enemies, I tackle pride and perception.

But first, I want to make a confession. I am guilty of almost all of the behaviors I have railed against. I openly and freely admit it, and to all that I have subjected my anger to, I'm sorry. Not an excuse, but it's hard to separate the anger directed towards one's self and not have it spill over to others. When the atmosphere you're in is toxic, and there's no known PPE against it, it takes maturity…

In 1999 Andy Fredericks asked “is the fire service straying away from its core mission”? Do we place more emphasis on peripheral issues/training as opposed to bread and butter skills?  RIT training is important and needs to be a part of our training, but shouldn’t we put more effort into not getting into those situations in the first place. I know there are unforeseen circumstances that happen on the fire ground. Knowing how to fill out triage tags is a skill we should know, but do we need…

     Many fire departments throughout the nation operate with fire companies that are considerably  understaffed.  Officers assigned in these companies have the added responsibility of performing firefighting at the task level during nearly every incident.  Whether pulling ceiling, stretching a line, or chasing kinks,  the company officer needs to remember his/her primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the members and location in which they are operating. 

     Being a…

There are all kinds of schools for management and leadership, some good, some bad and some just silly.  I made myself a promise many years ago that if I ever found myself in a leadership position in a fire department that I would be the officer that I always hoped for and was fortunate enough to get in my career.  The following is a list of attributes that I have always deemed important.



1)  A passion for the job that goes from day one until retirement.  You can’t…

I wrote this story in 2003 and first released it on September 25^th of that year; two years after the tragic death of then 19 year-old Firefighter Bradley Golden, who died in a live burn training exercise in Lairdsville, New York. I have posted it every year since then to keep a promise; to honor and to remember Brad. I do not do it to keep the emotional wounds fresh. I do it because there are so many important lessons to be gained by…