THE SECRET OF THE FIRE SERVICE!!!!!

In just a few days I like many of my fire service brothers will be heading to the greatest fire service conference on the planet FDIC!

While there we will take classes, walk around the exhibit floors, network, and enjoy the brotherhood that is hanging out with 40,000 like minded people.

The one other thing people will be doing is searching. Searching for that tid bit, that trick, that “secret of the fire service” .

Well I have figured it out! No it’s not RECEO, SLICERS, DICERS, SLAPCHOP, UL or NIST Studies those are all tools that we have at our disposal.

The secret of the fire service is THERE IS NO SECRET!

There is no one end all be all solution. The fire service is too fluid to have the one and only plan, and fire departments themselves are too dynamic and different to adhere to one set of tactics.

So when you go to FDIC next week (or any other class or conference for that matter) keep an open mind. Do some preplanning and research before going and take classes that apply to the position you are in, or trying to get to in your career. Take what applies to your department and leave the rest. Then go home and apply some sweat equity to your new found tactics and see what really works for your department.

The saying of “there is more than one way to skin a cat” holds true. The current cat the fire service faces is not a baby kitten, it is a fully developed mountain lion seeking to kill us! To pigeon h*** yourself to one style, one idea is borderline negligent!

The above quote from Bruce Lee speaks volumes about how we should approach our fire service problem. We already use water now we must act more like it, not dismissing ideas, but being open to multiple forms and using the one that works best despite our tradition, culture or ego.

I hope to see you all at FDIC and be sure to follow me on twitter @averagejakeff

As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!