Passion Show’s

Good,Hot, afternoon from the jumpseat.  It’s truly amazing how sometimes I can find inspiration in the weirdest of places to share here on the views.  As I attended, my daughters swim meet today I noticed how some excelled at the sport while some just seemed to “be swimming through the motions”.  Then it hit me like a runaway Michael Phelps joke, BAM!  How many of you just go through the motions at your firehouse.  During my career, I have seen many firefighters’ who could care less about learning their trade and just go through the day without a burning passion for the job.

What is YOUR passion?  If you don’t put your heart and soul into something are you truly giving it you’re all?  Just like the kids whose parents make them compete in a sport they don’t like you will just swim through your career not knowing what you could achieve.  It takes passion, passion for helping people, passion for learning the job, and passion for honing your skills to the point of proficiency. 

All the great athletes, just like firefighters, hay a burning desire to compete at the highest level.  Whether it is the Olympics or NFL they all want to be on top.  Do you want to be on top of the fire service?  We all should put our heart and soul into learning our trade, then climbing the ladder of rank, then take our passion and share it with the thousands of firefighters who come after us.  This is where your passion will shine through.  Taking a class from a passionate instructor makes learning a joy for the student’s and gives the instructor pride when the student’s do well.  

In closing, do not be unhappy swimmers!  Put your passion into the fire service and who knows what it might give back to you.  It pays me back every time I see one of my students on an engine, ambulance, or rescue truck because I know without a doubt that when I taught them my passion shined through. 

Be safe everyone and thanks for the visit to the jumpseat!!!

Back Where I Came From

           Good afternoon from the Jumpseat.  Today I am writing a post conference wrap up from FDIC 2012 reflecting on the blessings that I have received in my life.  First, and foremost, is the loving support of a wonderful family.  My wife has supported me in all my adventures more than anyone could ever understand.  She is my rock and English translator…..

While in Indianapolis I had the opportunity to meet some of the “Icon’s” of the fire service.  As I found myself talking to the folks that write the text books, I couldn’t help but reflect on the journey to this point.  From a snot-nosed new firefighter showing up at the 24 house to a guy given a chance to meet these leaders I feel humbled beyond belief.  Knowing that you, the reader, take time to read the “views”is an even larger honor and privilege.

As the views from the jumpseat continue to grow I have no idea where this new journey will lead. I will always be thankful to my mentors and leaders who brought me into the fire service community.  I would like to send a HUGE shout out to the station 24 members today and wish them continued safety for the future.  I will always stand proud to say that I started with the boys from 24…..

245 Enroute to a bright Future.. 

Marcella Ave Apartment fire with Multiple Rescue Helmet Cam Alameda Co...

Great Helmet cam....check this out!

Is the pressure on in your firehouse?

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Thanks from the jumpseat!

If if Looks Vacant...Smells Vacant....Is it Vacant?

When does it seem like you have seen it all in the fire-ems service? How deplorable can the conditions that people live in get? I often wonder this as we stumble through another place that is so discus ting that a dog shouldn't be living in it just to find one if not many humans living in it! WOW is all you can say when you walk in. But what can you say when you roll up on it and it Looks Vacant....Smells Vacant...is it Vacant?

The answer in today's culture is NO! Every house, apartment, and boarded up business is occupied until you find otherwise. With homeless people on the rise and people searching for a roof over their head many find these in boarded up houses and such. Looks can be deceiving on buildings that are occupied and people cover their windows and entryways with lumber instead of replacing windows and doors. This can give us the look of a vacant and be a occupied structure.

Often we come upon this very situation. So how do we prepare for these type situations. One opinion is to use the dreaded ems calls to get into a pre-plan mode. While accessing patients and after treating them take time to look around. Boarded up window, means of egress, and number of occupants are all things we should look for. Inside conditions and possible dangers should also be in the front of your mind. The most important part of this assessment is to share the info with your department!

Who knows, someday it might Look Vacant, Smell Vacant, and all of a sudden It's NOT vacant!

Keep up the good work and thanks for visiting the jumpseat!!!!

Waves of HOLY COW!

As I sit here and watch the happenings in japan, I sit and wonder what kind of command and control they have set up. Can you even imagine? Now we all have spent the boring hours learning about NIMS...100-400, but now the practices are coming into play. Now take a step back and image you are in charge of just one of the devastated cities. WOW! Are you ready for that? Does your department have a plan for the HOLY>>>COW?

We all have pre-plans for the basics, but what about when the big one happens. Do you know where all your resources come from? Do you know who to contact on a national level? Outside of obama's cell phone number, it might be a good idea to find some numbers for all the federal assistance you may need.

Focus Danielson.....and envision the HOLY COW CALL! You might just be next and lives are depending on you!

thanks for the visit.......and god bless the people of Japan!

Do more with less?

Would you take the football field with 8 players to take on 11. What if you had to take on 20 players with just 8? It seems like today's leaders are asking us to do just that. Today's economic downturns and budgetary issue are affecting every department nation wide. From rolling brown and black outs to the closing of fire stations, we all are being asked to do more with less. Here is the problem, the fires that we are fighting in today's time grow 10 times faster, burn 10 times hotter, and the smoke that it produces is 10 times as toxic! So is short staff fire apparatus the "NEW NORMAL" ?

With the release of the National Institute of standards and technology (NIST) study on crew size while responding to single family dwelling structural fires our guns are loaded with ammunition to take to our city leaders, Right? How can the facts and figures that a 4 person crew is 30%f aster than a 2 man crew and 15% faster than a three man crew even allow for the staffing reduction? Would you take a 30 or even 15% chance risk with your family? But what is the trade off? Where does the monies come from? What happens when there just isn't any monies left?

Lets use one more example from the services that we provide. The data from a American Heart Association website states that a sudden cardiac arrest is 95% chance of death in a out of hospital setting. This percent reduces to 30-40% chance if a trained responder and AED arrive within 5 minutes. What is a life worth to you? Is it time to find alternate funding and quit cutting fire stations?

These are just two examples of services that we provide. But we all know that, so what is the new normal? The new normal is less means more! Less staffing means more work for each one of us, less backup, and putting commanders into more situations. It comes to a point where a officer is going to make a decision that we don't go in! I just hope this decision is coming from a fire growth and spread not a lack of manpower. We all better take the time to train a little harder and become more proficient at working harder longer. So lets break the huddle with our 8 players and get ready for the super bowl! Until the powers that be figure out what it takes to return our staffing or even worse another 9/11 happens, we better dig in and prepare for a more intense battle because now is the "NEW NORMAL"

Be Safe... thanks for visiting the jumpseat!

Thanks to Dr. Richard Gasaway for "The Whole New Ballgame" article in firehouse magazine. Look for his article in the March issue for more on this subject.

Spring Is a Coming

With spring right around the corner it's time to shift our training from indoor classroom sessions to the outside. First step this spring, Pre-Fire Planning! This should be a task that we all spend time doing. From the Chief to the new Proby we all need to be familiar with the buildings and response area that we respond too. With our call volume going up and our staffing going down it has never been more important than now. By knowing the layout of the buildings or a basic idea of most of the houses in your area can save time in the beginning and save your life in the end! Hazards, means of egress, and basic layouts should get you started. These all will help in the event that your next fire is in that building. Seems pretty basic the idea of pre fire plans, but maybe that is what all of us need to remember that our primary job is to fight structural fires!

Be Safe everyone and thanks for visiting the jumpseat!

A Box of Frustration!

Seems like every time you feel pretty confident about being a firefighter something has a way of humbling you! This box full of wire will do just that! Even the most comfortable person in their gear and air pack will feel like they really are trapped. "Work through your problems," just doesn't seem like a correct statement, but maybe it is. Resisting the natural instincts to rip, cut, and pull can be a very hard to learn.

So does it take a box of wire to teach us just that? I will leave the answer to that question up to you. I would suggest to find or build this prop to place your firefighters into this situation. First ,without being able to cut or displace the wire, then allow them any means to remove themselves. Train, train, and train! Then when you feel comfortable with it switch it up! I personally find this prop hard, so guess what....off to the box I go! Stay focused on training and thanks for the visit to the jumpseat!

Got Tech Rescue?

Today was a day full of snow, cold,and Ice so we used this time to knock out some classroom training. Topic of the day, Confined Space. In the process of review for some and introducing to others it reminded me just how technical our job really is. IDLH this, LEL that, SAR here, and UEL there it seems like we have to know a lot about everything. Gone are the day's that we just go to fire's. From paramedicine to trench rescue how do we learn and retain it all. My suggestion, following today's class, is that we better be visiting these subjects at least two and three times a year. Game day isn't' the time to be figuring things out.

Winter may be slowing us down on the outside, but maybe it's time to speed us up on the inside! The colder months is a great time to review some of the skills and subjects that you may not see but once or twice a year. Confined space rescue would be a great place to start. From constant air monitoring to supplied air respirators a refresher is definitely need to sharpen and maintain your skills! Don't let the cold slow you down on becoming the best TECHY that you can be!



Thanks for stopping by the jumpseat!

Stay safe and stay warm!