All Blog Posts Tagged 'training' (129)

We all understand that the extrication of trapped patients from serious vehicle accidents can take time. Commonly, there is confusion about the best rescue method for a particular patient. We…

The age old question...CUT OR SPREAD HINGES? Although we have…

It's that time of year again. Time to greet old friends, meet new ones, learn from the best instructors on the planet, and see what new innovations the fire industry has to offer. Yep, it's FDIC time! I look forward to this week all year and can't wait to get the show rolling.



Safe travels, brothers and sisters - see'ya in Indy!!!!…

        While the title of this piece is obviously absurd and impossible, this doesn’t stop us from striving to make it a little safer through training. This is obviously evident since life safety, both for them and for us, is our primary goal. Seems simple enough, right? Well, for some, the rub comes when we start discussing whose safety is more important… theirs or ours? Over the past couple of decades some have stated that the focus on firefighter safety is, at…

We can't all fight the volume of fires that some of the larger cities do, and if you don't, please don't act like you do! Some of the best instructors I've ever had the pleasure of meeting are volunteer/part-paid or work full-time in smaller departments - and they teach excellent classes despite not having a structure fire every shift. The one thing they all have in common…

This week our local fire community has a very heavy heart.   Sunday, March 20, 2016, the Conway Fire Department suffered an LODD.  Firefighter Christopher Gene Ray was killed in an apparatus related incident.  This took place in the early stages of a structure fire in the Conway fire district.

Even after 27 years of Fire and EMS I cannot imagine how Chris’s family feels this morning.  I understand the void that the…

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves ~Lao Tzu

Recently, a close friend and fire service brother posted an old picture of me on social media.  I was a young assistant chief acting as the operations officer on a residential structure fire.  When I saw the picture, I thought, “Where in the world did he come up with that…

Often, we run into smaller/secondary entrapments that can be just as challenging as entrapments by the doors, dash,…

Many rescuers have heard, seen, or used what is commonly known as a 3rd door conversion. The 3rd door conversion gains much needed access to rear occupants of a 2 door vehicle. This method can be completed quickly. The yellow lines show notches or cuts via the cutter or sawzall. If the cuts are done well, little to no…

Its the dead of winter, football season is over and spring seems so far away.  This is also the excuse season, the time of the year where most people fall off the fitness wagon and start to make excuses.  Its especially easy to make excuses and miss workouts if your not seeing results.  So, today I wanted to give you a little guidance and motivation (check out the FRF Fit for Duty…

This week’s “Quick Tip” is simple…GET TO AN EXTRICATION CHALLENGE!…

Compressed Natural Gas, with a name like that, it has to be bad. Right? I was recently asked to provide some information on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) transport vehicles. Now remember, LNG differs from CNG in that it is super-cooled and compressed so that its storage is in a liquid form, which…

IN EXTRICATION, NEVER SAY NEVER

This morning while working on the 50th installment of the "Quick Tip" series, I must say that I am impressed by the changes vehicle extrication has encountered over the years. On the street, new methods are being tested and put through the paces by firefighters daily. The vehicles,…

Before I worked as a firefighter, I was a trainer in both large and small health clubs.  During that time I would see a lot of people exercising consistently and with intensity but only make a limited amount of fitness progress.  Why? Because we are all creatures of habit in the gym and out.  These “snail paced progress” gym goers were all doing the same thing… exercising, not training.  And yes, their is a difference.

What is…

Disabling vehicle power (battery) is common practice when arriving at almost any auto accident. Cutting the vehicles battery is the first thing shouted with authority, when asked about procedures of first arriving units. However, what if it’s…

Podcast: Play in new window | …

As 2015 draws to a close, it is a good time to ask yourself where you stand in terms of your personal attitude, accountability and the action you take on your own health and fitness.  As a member of the fire service, it is probably the one thing that you can improve upon on a personal level that has the most influence on every other part of your life and all of the people that are a part of it.

Your impact is more powerful than you may think.  Every day,…

Updated November 17, 2016

I hope what you’re about to read upsets you.

• Annually, on average, there are between 80-100 line-of-duty-deaths (LODD).
• Annually, on average, approximately 50% of LODDs are due to sudden cardiac events (SCE).
• Annually, there are also between 800 and 900 non-fatal yet high-impact SCEs reported. This figure is believed to be drastically underreported (Smith, 2015).…

When it comes to vehicle rescue, you will…

In relation to EXTRICATION, are you practicing/drilling for a "A" Plan door pop on an undamaged vehicle...or are we truly preparing our crew for the "real" extrication scene? Most of the time a extrication drill consists of a vehicle and 25 responders, each holding a tool while anticipating…GO!!! While that technique works “ok” for general…