S.A.F.E. Firefighter » The Brotherhood

Class Announcement! VES @ SC Fire Academy

safefirefighter — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:20:27 +0000

Safe Firefighter, LLC will be teaching it’s 16-hour “Ventilation, Entry & Search (VES) Techniques” during Southeastern Fire School at the South Carolina Fire Academy.

NOTE: In the catalog, they are calling it “Tools in your Hands: Truck Company Operations” but it’s our VES class. Below is a class description & registration to print out…

This hands-on based class will provide participants with life saving skills needed to effectively force entry, ventilate and search fire buildings using multiple different truck company tactics and skills. Participants will get high repetition training on critical skills using realistic props and scenarios. These skills include: conventional forcible entry, power saw (K12) forcible entry, rope search, vent-enter-search (VES), vertical and horizontal ventilation and advanced ground ladders. Participants can take the skills from this class home and have an immediate impact on fireground safety.

GOT QUESTIONS? Call us (843) 247-6044 or email us at info@safefirefighter.com

Be The Warrior!

safefirefighter — Wed, 25 May 2011 16:09:24 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

ARE YOU A WARRIOR? Are you a fire service warrior?

At a recent meeting of FOOLS International, Int’l President Eric Depoto sounded off about the FOOLS niche in the fire service. He compared the FOOLS to some of our “less assertive” brothers on the job. He made an analogy to the above scene from “300″. He compared the FOOLS to the Spartans; a passionate, well trained and focused group who are dedicated to their craft and never lose site of their mission versus the Athenians who fight when its absolutely necessary but would rather occupy their time with other unrelated tasks, resulting in mediocre performance in time of battle. Sound familiar? He closed by passionately encouraging us (the fire service at large and the FOOLS as missionaries) to ”BE THE WARRIOR“.

Fire service warriors (FOOLS) are true practitioners of their craft, and thrive on sharing their passion and knowledge for the job with any and all who will listen. They tell “war stories” at the kitchen table; not because they are bragging, but because there are lessons to be learned from every incident whether it be a large problem or a fine detail that can make a difference at the next run. They understand that trust and brotherhood are forged in sweat and soot.

They may also be found with a tool, grinder, file and paint in their hands (and possibly a cigar clenched in their jaws) because they understand that every aspect of the job is equally as important. The tougher the challenge, the more focused and determined they become. Their unbridled “passion for the profession” is unmistakable. They are the 30 percenters, the go-to guys when something has to get done right the first time.

Are you a Spartan or an Athenian? Are you a Warrior? Are you preparing your crew to be fire service warriors?

I encourage and challenge you to be a leader, be a brother, BE THE WARRIOR!

“The Academy” and the Culture

safefirefighter — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:41:32 +0000

I originally found out about this show from www.firecritic.com. If anyone has watched “The Academy: Orange County Fire”, it should be required viewing for EVERYONE in the fire service. I have a special interest in it because the OVM on my Truck (and my former roommate) used to be a Reserve Firefighter with the OCFA. If you care about this job (if you “get it”) and truly believe in the mission of the fire service to SERVE the public, then you will truly appreciate the efforts Captain Contreras and the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) cadre.

Throughout their academy, they talk about ATTENTION TO DETAIL and PROFESSIONALISM as well as other traits that seem to be fading away in the “web-based fire training world”. In my opinion, because these traits are instilled so passionately and relentlessly during their Recruit School, it lays the foundation for the OCFA culture and speaks volumes about the level of service provided to the citizens of Orange County, California.

It is a breath of fresh air to see a department/organization that truly takes its responsibility seriously. Remember, it is our DUTY to SERVE the public and PROTECT lives and property. Whether you get a paycheck or not does not matter. What matters is that when the alarm sounds, and you leave the firehouse, that you are ready to go to work with ATTENTION TO DETAIL and PROFESSIONALISM.

Watch it by yourself or at the firehouse with your crew at www.foxreality.com/theacademy or at hulu.com.

Thanks and Be Safe

Tradition, Motivation & Training

safefirefighter — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 17:12:45 +0000

Why do you do this job? What makes you tick? For me, it’s the tradition, brotherhood and challenge of the job and the excitement of not knowing what the next shift will bring. These may seem like clichés, but they are all true and undeniable. Unfortunately, tradition, brotherhood and challenge are being replaced by bureaucracy, self-preservation, complacency and Internet learning which has turned the excitement of the unknown into the fear of the unknown.

The fire service if filled with people who have a stack of degrees and certificates inches thick and can regurgitate the “Essentials of Firefighting” by definition and page number. However, these same people can’t tell you the difference between burning contents versus burning structural components, haven’t carried a tool since being a Probie and go offensive when they should go defensive and defensive when they should go offensive.

All of a sudden, the fire service is consumed with “customer service”. Constantly bending over backwards to meet other people’s standards and expectations often at the expense of out own training and safety. Coincidentally, everything looks good on paper (I.S.O. makes sure of that)! Meanwhile, we still lose 100+ brothers a year. How, and to whom, do we address this problem?

Education is invaluable. Know one should ever be ridiculed for wanting to learn and better themselves. However, real world experience or real world training are required to reinforce that knowledge. That class you took, the article you read and that new tool on the rig doesn’t mean squat unless you get out and use it.

So, how do you get people back into hands on training? The truth is…you don’t. I recently attended a workshop with Chiefs Rick Lasky and John Salka and absorbed/realized a few new things:

“Your attitude is up to you.”
The only motivation is self-motivation; you cannot motivate someone else, you can only lead them in the right direction and provide inspiration.
“Your people are a mirror of your attitude…be a model.”

How do we put the tradition, brotherhood and challenge back into the fire service? The answer is… by living it and breathing it every single day! Hold each other personally accountable for your words, actions and attitudes. Passion is easily noticed and easily contagious. We don’t have to hold hands and sing our “Essentials” A, B, C’s together and we don’t have to agree on everything. It’s about sharing ideas and experiences, but not necessarily the same ones. It’s about taking new and knowledge as well as new and old experiences and meshing them together.

If you want to teach someone about tools, go use them. If you want to teach someone about fire behavior, go to hands-on training classes or get online or grab a fire magazine (Firehouse, Fire Engineering, Fire-Rescue…etc) and size-up the incident photos. If you want to preserve the tradition and brotherhood of the fire service, then be a mentor and a leader. You don’t have to motivate, just inspire.

FTM-PTB and Be Safe

RIP Tillerman Bob

safefirefighter — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:15:24 +0000

Last week my neighbor passed away after an ongoing battle with respiratory and cardiac illnesses. His name was bob. Bob retired from the new Rochelle (NY) fire department in the 80’s and moved, with his wife, to South Carolina to be with their kids (and grandkids) and escape N.Y. winters.

When I moved into the neighborhood I would see Bob on a regular basis sitting on his front porch, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer. Being the social butterfly that I am, I walked over one day and introduced myself. I immediately knew (unofficially) that Bob had been a fireman, because his first question to me was “how long you been on the job?” I told him then asked him where he was on the job and what his assignment was. His reply was “New Rochelle Ny, I was a tillerman.”

My conversations with bob were always short, always on his front porch and I always walked away with great one-liner. after telling a war story of the “old Days” he looked and nodded his head toward his cigarette and said, “we did things real stupid back then, and look at me now.”

He was referring to foolish risks in general, but, more specifically, he was talking about breathing smoke (and smoking cigarettes). I vaguely remember the war story, but i’ll never forget that last statement. Not long after that Bob’s health started to worsen and I rarely saw him out on his porch anymore.

Bob never knew that he had an impact on me. But, now that he’s gone, I think about what I will leave behind, what nugget of knowledge can I instill in someone that may make them better or safer at their job. Ours is a unique profession in that you may leave it, but it never leaves you. Maltese crosses and war stories are around every corner. The trick is not to take your responsibility lightly or take your job for granted. It is the duty of everyone in the fire service to leave it better than they found it.

Bob was found in cardiac arrest and was unable to be revived. Ironically, or fittingly, he was found on his front porch.

FTM-PTB-RFB (RIP)