Code 3 - The Firefighters Podcast

This edition of Code 3 may make you a little uncomfortable. It’s about racial bias among EMS providers. And while that bias may be unconscious, it affects patients all the same. My guest today led a comprehensive study of nearly 26,000 EMS encounters in Oregon over two years. The results are disturbing. The data showed that medics were less likely to do a pain assessment on Hispanic and Asian pati...

Okay, here’s an idea that’s guaranteed to divide opinions: The Cosumnes Fire District, near Sacramento, California, is using virtual reality technology to train firefighters for structure fires. Officials say the VR goggles are a cost-effective way to train on a variety of scenarios that would otherwise be expensive to create. The company that makes the system is loaning it to the fire district fo...

Lots of departments require you to be a paramedic as well as a firefighter, but that can lead to conflict. In some departments, this cross training means firefighters are assigned to ambulances. Many of them end up wanting to get out of otherwise excellent work environments because they don’t want to deal with an EMS role as their primary job. How you view this situation is largely a matter of att...

After many years of being called “firefighters”, there is a small but persistent group pushing back. They want to be called “firemen” again. Perhaps surprisingly, some of those people are women. They also want to be called firemen. It comes from an attitude that says women should strive to be a part of the team, not to ask that the team change for them. Also important here is a feeling that, in pa...

If you’re listening to this edition of Code 3, congratulations! You made it through the 2010s. It was a turbulent decade for first responders of all kinds. And the ride’s likely to get even more bumpy into the next decade. What were the trends that made the 2010’s a challenge..and where are we going? Greg Friese, Editor-in-chief of EMS1.com took a look back at the lowlights and has some prediction...

You may be a TRT specialist in your department. Or you might be a novice. Either way, you’ve probably realized that rope rescue gear has become very technical. NFPA 1983 is very specific about the details required to make rope suitable for various tasks. And then there’s NFPA 1670, and others, too. With the bewildering number of choices out there how do you pick the right rope material, or frictio...

Technical rescues are high-risk/low-frequency incidents, and that means training on them is critical. One slip, and you could have a very bad day. If you know NFPA 1006, you know the minimum KSAs are tough. But departments routinely face problems with training when they have a shortage of really good instructors, current equipment, and funding for adequate training time. Back with me on Code 3 to...

One of the most important roles of a leader is to take care of their crew. That means if you’re a company officer, you need to be aware of your crew members’ emotional state. We’ve all heard that the job can lead to PTSD, and I certainly hope that you accept that. It’s proven, and it’s a fact just like falling from a ladder can cause a broken arm or leg. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to be...

If you’ve listened to this show for any length of time, you know realistic training scenarios … and sometimes the lack of them … are my thing. Learning the fundamentals is always the key to later skill-building. So it’s important to get focused on training for bread-and-butter operations.. those common skills that sometimes are taken for granted. How do we develop a program that covers this ground...

If you’ve been in the fire service long enough, you probably remember when firefighters with a trade skill were highly valued. These were the guys who came into the job knowing things like engine repair, or electrical, or even plumbing. But these days, it seems those skills are not valued much anymore. Now, hiring and promotion are based largely on test scores and education. How did we get here? A...

Are you an engineer? Or maybe a chauffeur? Or perhaps an MPO? Regardless of the name, if you operate the pump panel on an engine, you need to know a lot of technical stuff to be any good. And the guys on the other end of the line depend on you to know it. So how well do you know the way your apparatus operates? Many people with technical jobs are satisfied to be able to do well when everything’s w...

Let’s talk Zen Buddism. Do you know the term Shoshin? It’s the Japanese word for a beginner’s mind. A verse from a philosopher says:“It is not difficult/to keep a beginner’s mind./There are many possibilities in a beginner’s mind,/but in the expert few.” … which is why my guest today says it’s important to keep the beginner’s mindset. To always be learning, to be confident in what you know, but ne...

Let’s say you’re a new officer. You want your crew to follow you, right? Now how do you get them to do that? One thing that absolutely will NOT work is to order people around arbitrarily. This does nothing but make them annoyed with you. Put yourself in their place: What would get you to follow someone? Chances are, it’s an attitude called “command presence.” That’s what instills confidence that y...

Something good can come from even the worst situations, and in this show, you’re going to hear from a great example. This is the story of how Travis Howze, survivor of the Charleston Nine disaster in 2007, developed PTSD and ended up leaving the fire service after eight years. He went on to become a full-time stand-up comedian, and his 2015 album, “Reporting for Duty” reached the top ten. Now he e...

For just about as long as anyone can remember, the fire service has operated in a pseudo-military style. Members have ranks, of course. And complex org charts are a favorite Powerpoint slide. The similarities to the military include passing information up and down the ranks. But today’s guest says that’s an old concept that has become a recipe for communications failure. Brian Schaeffer is the chi...

Today, we’re talking about the Denver Drill. It’s well-known, but just in case you need a brush up, here it is: In 1992, a Denver, Colorado firefighter named Mark Langvardt was on the second floor of a commercial building on fire. He was doing a search but became separated from his partner. He couldn’t find his way out and ended up trying to escape through a window. But the space he had to work in...

Today, we’re talking tactical worksheets for EMS. This is more important than it may sound. A tactical worksheet is nothing more than a glorified checklist. Who needs that? If airline pilots use them every flight, maybe they should be in your arsenal also. They can prevent mistakes and protect you later if someone starts looking for blame. Here to explain the details is Bruce Evans. He’s is the fi...

The Fire-EMS community lost a vital member this week. Bryan Fass passed away suddenly on Monday. He was just 46. A former paramedic, Bryan was well-known for his advocacy of first-responder fitness. His career was based on teaching injury-prevention and safety techniques. He ran Fit Responder, which he founded in 2007, and spoke frequently at EMS industry conferences around the country. Bryan was...

There was a time when you were universally viewed as friends of the community. You were welcomed because people realized that you were there to help them. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Violent physical attacks on EMS personnel are becoming more common, with new incidents being reported just about every day. So now we have to think about how to prevent those assaults. In Austin, Texas...

On September 11, 2001 our world changed. America was just getting to work when it was attacked by terrorists using commercial airliners as weapons. That was the day everything we knew turned upside down. And it was the day that the FDNY suffered 343 line of duty deaths in one incident. Many more would lose battles with cancer caused by working in the rubble. Some are still fighting cancer today, 1...

One of the aspects of firefighting that we don’t often discuss is the role of the fire-cause investigator. Once a structure fire is under control, this job becomes critical to determining what insurance will pay to the property owner … and if arson was involved. There are a few things firefighters can do to make the fire cause investigator’s life a little easier, and today’s guest says they really...

We have discussed several times on this show the sad – and potentially disastrous –story of the declining numbers of volunteer firefighters. Everyone has their own theory of why no one wants to volunteer these days. But a Syracuse, New York newspaper op-ed column with a new explanation began showing up in social media in August. Maybe you’ve seen it. If not, we’ll link to it on our website. It was...

If you conduct training for firefighters, your teaching may be out-of-date. Now, you’re probably thinking, “That’s bull. I know how to throw a ladder.” Problem is, if you haven’t taken recurrent train-the-trainer courses, you may not be doing it right...the way it’s being taught now. If you’re a Baby Boomer or Gen X, your methods are probably outdated. It’s not your fault—it worked for you. But to...

If you’ve wondered what it would be like to be a newly-minted Fire Chief – it could be a turbulent experience. You may think you know what it takes to run a department successfully. Maybe you do, may you don’t. But there are a million details to consider that might not even occur to you. That’s why the IAFC has put out an e-book titled, “You're the Fire Chief--Now What?” It’s a guide for new and i...

The late Vince Lombardi, famous Green Bay Packers coach, was known for his inspirational quotes. Today’s show is about this Lombardi quote: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.” That applies to firefighting as well. It’s not j...