“Let’s go boys. Eat your breakfast. We have to leave or we are going to be late for practice.” I yell from the garage.
Our two boys, four and six, were having their usual morning chat about Super Mario Brothers as they enjoyed their raisin toast, oatmeal with dinosaur eggs, and strawberry explosion smoothies through a multi-colored flex straw. My wife and I gathered their baseball uniforms and…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on August 2, 2015 at 11:00am — No Comments
Stop Being Mean to Mommy
“So that’s what it sounds like when your heart breaks”
She measures barely 40 inches tall, and I have yet to take the training wheels off her bike, but today she made me feel like the child. My oldest daughter, three years of wisdom to her beautiful name, directed some tough words at me this…
ContinueAdded by Benjamin Martin on July 29, 2015 at 8:59pm — 1 Comment
The following is an excerpt from Step Up Your Teamwork from Chapter 2 – Preparing for Success. What other qualities would you add to this list?
…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on June 19, 2015 at 9:04am — No Comments
I am 100% on board with the concept of SOP’s and SOG’s, so please don’t misinterpret this message. I also believe that in the absence of rules, people make their own. In a structured and dangerous profession like ours it’s important to have rules, regulations, policies and procedures. Its equally important that we train on our procedures and create muscle memory so that we can improve our chances of success and reduce the amount of unnecessary decisions…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on January 26, 2015 at 4:30pm — 1 Comment
As 2015 approaches I cannot help but think of all the "New Year’s Resolutions" that will soon flood Facebook and will be the topic in the fire stations all over the world, from kicking the smoking habit, to eating healthier foods there are all types of resolutions out there but one I seldom if ever hear but I feel we should is to train more and be a better firefighter.
Think about it like this when you cut back on your internet use or TV use who does this effect? Essentially…
ContinueAdded by Chris Willis on December 28, 2014 at 11:23pm — No Comments
Every organization has a culture. It is either created by design or default. Creating a culture of customer service does not happen by accident. Buying into the concept of layered leadership (the need for leaders throughout your entire organization) is especially important when it comes to customer service.
Helping others seems to be part of the DNA of most firefighters. Creating culture; however, goes beyond just being a good person. There has to be a clear and focused objective or…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on December 8, 2014 at 3:44pm — No Comments
You have heard them all. Maybe you have even said some of these things. I am talking about fire service staples like the following:
Added by Frank Viscuso on November 25, 2014 at 8:55pm — 1 Comment
On September 17, 2011, a protest called Occupy Wallstreet was organized in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City’s Wall Street financial district. The protest was initiated by a Canadian activist group. It was the first of many Occupy protests that flowed throughout the world. Their initial purpose was to take a stand against corporate greed, economic inequality, and undue influence of financial services corporations on government. Their…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on October 27, 2014 at 12:53pm — No Comments
Take a trip with me for a minute……Beep beep beep beep: “Attn: Fire Dept, Working structure fire 555 W 555 N. Caller advised flames visible”. This is what you hear out of your pager. You race to the fire station. As you run in, you see 5 other members putting on their PPE. Your response guideline says 1st two trucks out the door are Engine 1 and Engine 2 with the 3rd being a water tender. 3 of you jump in Engine 1 and the other 3 jump in Engine 2 and…
ContinueAdded by Mike Alt on October 17, 2014 at 3:54pm — No Comments
It’s an age old question that is still debated by firefighters to this day, and often quite vigorously. When responding to an occupied residential structure fire, do you immediately go for the rescue to remove the victims or do you attack the fire? Many firefighters would say that you should do both at the same time, and if you have the available resources showing up quick enough to do so, that is probably the most correct answer. However, many times our reality is that we are…
ContinueAdded by Chris Langlois on September 18, 2014 at 1:30pm — 1 Comment
I try never to make promises I cannot keep. That being understood, I'd like to share with you why you should invest your valuable time and hard-earned money to attend the annual Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC).…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on September 16, 2014 at 12:00pm — No Comments
Here's a quick tip on avoiding problems making a cut at the top of the B-Pillar. The seatbelt height adjuster is another reason that you should always peel off the interior trim prior to making a cut.
The seat belt height adjuster can be found on the B-pillar and even the C-pillar depending on the type of vehicle. Much like a seat track adjuster, the…
ContinueAdded by Michael Smith on August 31, 2014 at 10:55pm — No Comments
Are you a senior firefighter, company officer, battalion chief or fire director? Before I even know the answer I want you to know that it really doesn’t matter what your title is as long as you understand that your primary job is to lead a team. Your team may be a team of three or several hundred. A strong leader knows his or her job is to take a group of people, align them with a common goal, get them to work as a team, and march them toward that goal. The bottom line is that you have to…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on August 11, 2014 at 5:00pm — No Comments
You’ve heard them all. Maybe you’ve even said some of these things. I’m talking about fire service staples like, “Don’t worry kid, this is just a routine fire,” – “All you have to do it put the wet stuff on the red stuff,” – “Stay in until you can’t stay in anymore,” – “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it,” – “Keep your mouth shut probie,” – “Books don’t put fires out. Why are you wasting your time reading that?”…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on August 7, 2014 at 8:00am — No Comments
Story sent to me from a “friend”
"Chris, me and the crew were out on a 2nd due fire the other day. The first due pulled off the lines and begin to go to work. While en route we went to the Commander in charge asking for an assignment so we knew what tools we would need once we got there (we like to get off the truck with tools in hand). Never got a reply when we got there our officer went to take in our assignment from the IC and he couldn't get a job for…
ContinueAdded by Chris Willis on July 22, 2014 at 9:00pm — No Comments
There are many reasons why teams fail. For example, teams fail when one person wants to take all the credit. My answer to that is if you want to take all the credit when things go right, you have to be willing to accept all the blame when things go wrong. Teams also fail when they are consumed with drama. Drama is what happens when a team is not focused on a goal. People with purpose don’t have time for drama. Below are seven of the top reasons why teams in the fire service fail. A smart…
ContinueAdded by Frank Viscuso on June 17, 2014 at 6:26pm — No Comments
3) Making an all-out effort to win or succeed.
According to Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/aggressive this is the third meaning of the word aggressive.
Often times we hear the term used in a sense of operations. An aggressive fire department goes in all the time, an aggressive engine company never uses transitional attacks, an aggressive…
ContinueAdded by Chris Willis on June 2, 2014 at 9:29pm — No Comments
I come from a rural area where are infrastructures is a generation or two behind what other places 2 counties over have. The part of our infrastructure that affects us the most is water supply. Where some have 42inch mains we at most have 8s and often times all the plugs in a given city are fed by one of those 8 inch mains. In short we have very few hydrants and what hydrants we do have often are very weak, if not broken.
I often hear (as many of you readers likely do as…
ContinueAdded by Chris Willis on May 12, 2014 at 11:48am — 2 Comments
Added by John Mitchell on September 12, 2013 at 11:20am — No Comments
Added by Aaron Zamzow on March 10, 2012 at 5:00pm — No Comments
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