Category

When I became a Lieutenant I was immediately assigned a mentor to assist me during my probationary period, which has become a standard practice in our department.  My mentor was the Captain of the Training Division.  My mentor asked me to go to lunch one day, and during our...

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. C. S. Lewis Firefighters Are The Embodiment of True Courage From the outside looking in, the general public would say that we as firefighters are the embodiment of true courage. It is...

This is the time of year we all come together to celebrate something. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukah or whatever tradition you follow during the holiday season. Spending time with our family and friends is something that we do. Riding around on the fire truck, giving the kids...

Even if your fire department does not provide ambulance services, there is always an increasing demand for firefighters to provide basic medical treatment for their citizens. The following article details the 5 “must-have” types of medical equipment that should be in every fire...

In the last article we looked at some potential underlying problems of communicating between crews. Today we will look at some additional items that will make for a clearer and more concise transmission over the radio. There are many items that need to be transmitted across the...

Effective fireground communication is an essential part of successful and safe operations. If we look at NIOSH reports detailing line of duty deaths we will see that a breakdown of communication is listed time and time again as a potential contributing factor. So, in an age where...

Regardless of a department’s size or type, the training program for it is the cornerstone of both safety and operational efficiency. Just as how an individual’s success in training can be the difference between life and death, a department’s overall training program can affect...

Have you ever been on a call where three Chiefs, two engine companies, and a truck company all arrive on scene at the same time? And without any organized plan of attack, everyone just looks at one another to see what’s actually going on. Situations like this can cause a lot of...

We often fall into the trap of assuming the citizens within our protection area only need us when there is an emergency. The reality is that in today’s fire service, we can offer far more to the public than just jumping on the truck when the tones go off. Sometimes these...

In this two-part series I’m teaching you two simple strategies that can help you eat healthier without completely changing your diet. The second strategy I like to call “Sneaky Swaps.” This can be done a variety of different ways but the basic premise is that you swap one thing...