All Blog Posts (3,147)

Why is it when we attend seminars and many other places where we get training, we sometimes see scare tactics using roof ventilation as the example, talking about how it is too dangerous? Is it any less dangerous than dragging a hoseline into a burning building full of ignitable, lethal gases? I would say no, they are equally dangerous. In fact research and facts support that far more firefighters are injured and killed performing interior operations (search, not flowing water, etc.), than…

Evolution of Health and Wellness in North Carolina’s Fire Service

North Carolina has always strived to deliver the highest quality of fire training to its emergency service family. Year after year, we remain among the top states for offering IFSAC accredited fire and rescue certification programs. The folks at the North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal (NCOSFM) have worked diligently to provide…

Steam is both the firefighter’s enemy and ally.  It can burn us by penetrating anything that does not have a moisture barrier, such as our hoods, or by entering any gaps in our gear that expose skin.  There is even research ongoing at NIST to determine if it can get past intact PPE, or be formed when our sweat vaporizes (http://www.nist.gov/pml/div685/grp01/firefighters-steam-burns-20150427.cfm).  On the…

Podcast Episode on Ground Ladders, clickHERE

This episode is a discussion about ground ladders. It's a basic piece of equipment that has such a huge value to us on the fire ground, but in many cases, get's forgotten.  They're forgotten until they are needed, and then it could be a life and death situation for firefighters and victims.

We talk…

A “Flexible” Effort Results in Organizational Health and Fitness Success

 

In the world of firefighter functional fitness, flexibility is a primary yet often overlooked component.  Increased flexibility translates to improved performance on the fire ground and reduces the chance of injury.  There are many ways to improve flexibility; most of them have traditionally consisted of various…

August 27th 2015 was a big day for me as I was promoted to Assistant Fire Chief and in my department, this meant taking on the role as a shift commander in a department of three stations and roughly 20 people under me on shift, now I had been a Captain for almost 20 years prior and also served as the fire chief for a short time so I felt I knew the job of command but as of 1100 hours on August 27th I was the chief now and I took a good honest look at what it is I had to do to be…

“Risk a lot to save a lot”

Upon rounding the corner in my neighborhood, I couldn’t help but hear it. The chant of “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!!” echoed through the double pane windows of our first floor, and even though I had only stepped out to walk the dog, you would have thought I was scoring the game winning touchdown (or at a minimum bringing home some pizza).  I could hear my two little girls from a complete house over screaming for me, and an…

*This will be a multipart topic covered over several posts, all focusing on the use and maintenance of the fire service portable radio*

Part 2: Cleaning The Fire Service Portable Radio

Several months ago, one of my tech ops friends approached me about a portable radio assigned to my station that had been sent in for repair due to transmitting and receiving problems. The photographs of this portable were shared with me, and the exterior of the radio had seen…

Attached is an outline we used for a quick winter operations class at work. I ran across this the other day and thought it would be appropriate to post now.  The podcast is here for this topic as well.  Feel free to add and use this as you see fit. If you have some great tips on operating in the winter, please share with…

If you were to walk into any firehouse on any given Sunday, most dayroom TV's will probably have the big game on.  Firefighters have their share of die hard football fans who rep the team hats, sweatshirts and jackets of their favorite team.  It seems the recent turmoil over NFL officiating has soiled the game most of us love. Sports networks and talk radio shows are a buzz over the…

       Previously in TRUST Makes Leadership Possible, Part 1 we briefly discussed the concept of leaders trusting their people (trust down the chain of command). But there is another side to the two-way street that is trust, and it is just as important if not more so.…

“We bring water”

 “What is consistent is that it does not matter what the specific situation is, hose will be laid in the street and we will be shortly filling it. There is a no valid excuse in hydranted areas why an engine company on a reported residential structure fire would

not lay out. The following are some excuses that may

be used:

• Complacency: “We have been to this place two

times today,” or “We never run…

During an interview, Gen. Colin Powell was asked what the one thing that makes leadership possible is. Without hesitation, and displaying absolute conviction he replied, “Trust”.

Do you feel that you can trust all of the people in your…

There has been a great push for both firefighters and civilians to understand the concept of “closing the door”.  To them (civilians) it means that they are safer in the event of a fire in the home.  To us, it means tenable space and a greater potential for a save, even in a well -involved building.

What if we find a victim in the bedroom?  How are do you plan to take them out?  We are creatures of habit, which means we are likely to go out the same way we came in.  If we…

With the Thanksgiving season here I had an opportunity to reflect on things. A lot of us don’t realize that Thanksgiving isn’t just a time to eat great food and a whole lot of it, (well part of it is). But it also represents a time to reflect, a time to look back and look at yourself now and be thankful of where you were to where you are now.

As Fireman we…

Around mid-day, a structural response was transmitted for "a light smoking" inside of a gym facility.  One of those dispatches where so many are tempted to judge the outcome of the call before they even get on the fire truck, and their conduct on the scene then reflects that attitude. Nationally, this complacency too often results in a predictable surprise that we call a tragedy.  As I was in the area, I responded on the call and noted the following actions being carried out by responding…

Some critics of the SLICE-RS approach point to what they see as its lack of emphasis on rescue, as well as its perceived over-emphasis on firefighter safety to the detriment of civilian victims.  Initial drafts of my enthusiastic arguments to the contrary consisted of a comprehensive review of the entire process of search and rescue, including rationales, priorities, methods, and a myriad of other considerations.  My treatise on this topic was beginning to approach the size of a decent…