Better Every Shift

Today’s episode digs into a variety of psychological concepts that impact firefighter work and home life, all courtesy of Dr. Derrick Edwards, a nearly 20-year fire service veteran who also serves as a professional counselor and a mental health service provider. Dr. Edwards introduces a lot of new terms and concepts, including anti-fragile, psyche ache, urge-surfing, the end-of-days fallacy, and h...

FDNY Lt. (ret.) Joe Minogue – “my guy Joe!” as Zam likes to say – joins Better Every Shift to offer a window into his innate ability to connect people – firefighters, families, friends, really anyone. If you need a connection, Joe’s your guy, too. Minogue currently serves as the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation liaison to the FDNY and the Phoenix Society of Burn Survivors, but his commitmen...

No one thought she’d stay. Lauran McColloh was a new firefighter, just 18 years old, facing a double-LODD incident – on her very first fire. What’s more: One of the fallen firefighters was her friend Victor Isler. But McColloh didn’t consider quitting; firefighting was her dream. Now a Salisbury FD battalion chief, McCulloh joins Better Every Shift to share how she processed the abnormality of exp...

Self-described “pracademic” Dr. Randall Hanifen knows two languages – academic speak and boots-on-the-ground speak – a skill he uses to bridge the gap between the more theoretical university world and our practical fireground experiences. This is one of the many talents he’s honed during his work with the Institution of Fire Engineers-USA Branch for which he now serves as president, in addition to...

Part 2 of our interview with Ben Vernon includes descriptions of violence and suicidal ideation that may be triggering for some, as well as explicit language. Please listen with caution. For months after being stabbed on the job – a “routine” medical call gone wrong – Ben Vernon was in a world of hurt, unable to sleep due to constant nightmares, barred from talking to his crew about the incident d...

Please note, this episode includes descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some, as well as explicit language. “To witness in real time an attempted murder is pretty intense,” says San Diego Fire-Rescue Captain Ben Vernon recalling the first time he saw slow-motion body camera footage of his own stabbing during a seemingly “routine” medical call. No one expected that a bystander would...

IAFC President John Butler – “the chief of chiefs!” – joins Better Every Shift this week, talking all things leadership, including why the adage “It’s lonely at the top” has never applied to him. In addition to his superpower of always seeming calm, cool and collected, the Fairfax County fire chief has a knack for being able to spot talent and knows how to surround himself with passionate people w...

Don’t get the wrong idea here. “Rules are important,” says Orange County (California) Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy; however, firefighters need to be trusted to make smart decisions when things go awry in the world of chaos around us – and this trust is best achieved through an intent-driven culture where members understand the organizational mission. Plus, we dig into all this: Learn: The O...

If Chief Thomas Bell of the Greensburg (Pa.) Volunteer Fire Department had a nickel for every time someone remarked that he had some “big shoes to fill” after taking the reins from a local legend who had 60-plus years on the job, well, he’d have a lot of nickels. But the new chief had a simple plan – being himself. Bell vowed to create his own destiny – in even bigger shoes – and revamp a departme...

Chief Jerry Brant – the 70-million-dollar man – joins the show this week, explaining the role that all firefighters play in the grants process, what application reviewers are looking for this year, plus common grant proposal mistakes. (And yes, Brant has indeed written more than $70 million in successful grant applications in his career, some for FireGrantsHelp .) The self-proclaimed “pope of the...

We’re not going to Stop, Drop and Roll over on our fire prevention messages; we’re going to embrace them with open arms to create simple but effective calls to action that can make a difference in your community. Helping us in this effort is Andrea Vastis, senior director for public education with the NFPA, which runs Fire Prevention Week ™, coming up Oct. 8-14. This year’s FPW theme is “Cooking S...

This episode of the Better Every Shift EMS podcast is sponsored by Verizon Frontline, the advanced network for first responders on the front lines. Learn more at verizon.com/frontline . In this special crossover episode of the Better Every Shift , Policing Matters  and Inside EMS podcasts, co-hosts Aaron Zamzow, Jim Dudley and Chris Cebollero discuss preserving the legacy of 9/11 responders and ho...

“Oh, the leaders we’ve talked to!” Better Every Shift marks 40 episodes with a walk down memory lane, hitting the common themes that have emerged from discussions with fire service leaders. Listen in as Janelle challenges Zam to a friendly game of “Who said it?” along with reflections on top lessons learned along the way. This episode of the Better Every Shift Podcast is sponsored by TheFireStore...

The man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Gordon Graham joins the show this week talking all things risk management, the study of bad outcomes, plus the power of policy and systems in reducing risk for your members – and of course he does it all with the perfect anecdotes that put it all in perspective.  We dig into all of this: The #1 question he asks when evaluating a fire department The quality that s...

For all the boomers to Gen Z firefighters out there, today’s episode digs into critical questions: Do generational differences even exist, and why are we so intent on defining people by the year they were born? Chief John Oates, CEO of the International Public Safety Data Institute (IPSDI), shares his perspective on the issue with Zam and Janelle. We dig into all of this: Generational differences...

The newly released What Firefighters Want in 2023 survey special coverage highlights a perfect storm of stressors facing the fire service. On today’s show, Battalion Chief Ben Thompson expands on his article “'Buyer beware’: A message from stressed-out firefighters,” encouraging members to speak up about their stressors and offering guidance for leaders unsure how to help members who may be experi...

It’s easy to sit around the kitchen table complaining about your agency’s lack of leadership or what you’ve heard about how much better it is at some other department. But when faced with a bad situation, you do have a choice. On this week’s Better Every Shift podcast, Chief Kris Kazian urges members to take action to lead up, foster a positive environment, and develop the future leaders of the de...

Better Every Shift welcomes a fire service celebrity to the show this week. Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) Firefighter-Paramedic Mike Anderson, one of the firefighters featured on NBC’s new docuseries “LA Fire & Rescue,” shares an inside look at his experience having his work world chronicled for the show. This week’s episode, “Three Alarm,” highlights Station 172’s response to a...

When it comes to firefighter health, personal risks can quickly translate to dangers for the entire crew. We must look out for each other, not only on the fireground but also with our health and wellbeing. That’s the message from Chief Todd LeDuc, chief strategy officer for Life Scan Wellness Centers, as he highlights the personal and organizational opportunities to build accountability around fir...

Indianapolis Battalion Chief Dr. Candace Ashby takes an honest, humor-driven tell-it-like-it-is approach to leadership, urging company officers, and really all members, to call out bad behavior when they see it. Imagine the tone shift and culture change possible, she says, if company officers told their members to, “Pull your head out of your ass and act like you got some damn sense” at the moment...

It all comes full circle on this episode of the podcast, as we are joined by IFSI Director Jim Keiken , the man ultimately responsible for unleashing Zam on the fire service. Keiken hired Zam at the Madison (Wisconsin) Fire Department – just one example of his ability to mentor new firefighters and set them up for success. Following his time in Madison, Keiken embraced a great “second career” with...

It’s another high-energy, passion-fueled podcast, as Battalion Chief Corley Moore joins Zam and Janelle to dissect fire service culture, toxic leadership and how to fight your way back from complacency. Chief Moore – founder of Firehouse Vigilance and host of the Weekly Scrap podcast – details his own evolution from struggling with complacency to serving as a motivational speaker and instructor. W...

The highly complex, dynamic nature of the fireground makes adaptive thinking particularly vital for firefighters and incident commanders. Our guests on this podcast – Keith Stakes and Craig Weinschenk, UL Fire Safety Research Institute research engineers – break down how to incorporate such critical thinking into training, plus the importance of using a “flowchart mindset” to manage nuance on the...

How many lithium-ion batteries do you have in your house? We’ve all got ’em, which means there are countless opportunities for them to spark. On this episode of the Better Every Shift podcast, Zam and Janelle speak with Deputy Chief Darin Wallentine about the Firefighter Safety Stand Down , this year focused on Li-ion battery fires. Wallentine, who represents the IAFC’s Safety, Health and Survival...

This week’s episode is extra “golden,” as Zam says, because we have not one, but two Goldfeders on the show – Loveland-Symmes Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder and his son Brian Goldfeder, a captain with the Prince George’s County (Maryland) Fire/EMS Department. The Goldfeders dig into all things fire families – and if you know Billy, you know he’s all about family. The team gets into all of this: Bill...