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Last week we discussed the push up and how you can build an unconventional twist into this routine exercise. Here is a set of exercises that can be set up to incorporate your whole body for a day of strength training.  You can do it alone or encourage those around you to...

You are assigned the task of vertical ventilation at a house fire.  You perform a quick 360, confirming your spot to vent, and quickly work with your crew to cut a 4×4 louvered vent hole. As you punch through you tell your guys to back off the roof as fire erupts through the...

BIRs or Brief Initial Reports don’t just inform your fellow responders of what is going on when you arrive. They also let dispatch know what the situation is, who is in charge and what additional resources may be needed upon arrival. Although your dispatcher may have a...

Beware! Watch out! Look around, this phenomenon is happening all around us all the time! Are we setting ourselves up for failure? How many times do we as officers allow this to happen? Curious as to what I’m talking about? It’s called “Normalization of...

Last week in my introductory article we discussed taking the stairs.  This week we are going to look at how to make push-ups fun but also increase the number you can do. Draw a card This next exercise can be done alone but it is more fun with a few other people. All you need is a...

“Follow Me” Luke 5:27 You arrive at a house fire where a frantic mother tells you that her baby is inside the back bedroom of the home.  After transmitting the initial size-up, and informing the responding units that this will be a rescue, the crew goes into action....

MAYDAYs may not happen often, but when they do the dispatcher and firefighter need to remain calm and revert to their training. It is easy to think that most MAYDAYs are residential or commercial building fires but it can happen on water calls or other rescue assignments too....

Being a firefighter we have been made aware numerous times that our job is inherently a team sport. Inside team, outside team, nozzle team, forcible entry team and rapid intervention team are just some of the terms we hear on a regular basis. Being part of a team means we are not...

What Can We Do? As the fire service moves closer to understanding that our own need to call for assistance earlier, more MAYDAYs seem to be occurring on the fire ground. Is this a bad thing? I don’t really think so. Quite the opposite actually. It shows that we are learning that...

Over the next few weeks we will take a look at unconventional exercises to increase your performance potential on the fireground and in your everyday life. Whether you are new to exercise, just getting back into it, or have become bored with the same exercises; it can be hard...