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A trend in apparatus design in recent years, has been placing the pump panel and hoses all at the rear of the fire apparatus. This is a terrible idea. For years, being struck by a vehicle is one of the top reasons firefighters are injured or killed on a fire ground. We are taught...

Some Fire Service History The fire and emergency services, in general, have long struggled with the need to get the latest and greatest in equipment and tools. As I have firsthand experience with this phenomena, I can speak directly and frankly about the mistakes we make in...

Since 2011, the United States has seen a marked increase in the number of mass violent events (Active Shooter/Terrorism) (FBI, 2014). These increases have put a spotlight on the Public Safety communities’ response. Since the events of Columbine High School, Virginia Tech...

In the past, firefighter rehabilitation at an emergency incident was recommended.  With the creation of NFPA 1584: Standard on the Rehabilitation for Members During Emergency Operations and Training Exercises, firefighter rehabilitation became a standard of care. From a health...

R.I.C., R.I.T., F.A.S.T.—Call it what you want, this is the team of firefighters on the fire ground who are immediately available to rescue an incapacitated firefighter.  For the purpose of this article, we will refer to this team as “R.I.C.” Like everything else in the...

In part one we discussed some background on fundamental air management, today we will look at some action items that can be taken to teach the subject, realize the importance of it and to make your firefighters safer in that respect. Click Here to read part 1 3 Factors of...

Few will argue the fact that one of the most important tasks we can do as firefighters on a daily basis is train.  One of the things some departments do not train on enough is their SCBA. There are many aspects to the SCBA but the one will will spend some time with today...

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 fire service, a job that is often overlooked and under-appreciated is the fire inspection. Some departments are fortunate to have dedicated staff for this endeavor. Other departments combine staff and field personnel to make this happen. Regardless of the staffing...

In the final part of this series, we are going to look at two tools that will round out our equipment cache for RIT, tools which may be the most important tools we can keep in our RIT toolbox. Tool # 4 – Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) Thermal imaging technology is relatively...