Tailboard Talks Firefighter Podcast

Send a text No matter your rank, you will eventually asked to do more "Stuff". Whether that's run reports, EMS call review, training audits, lesson plans, or whatever other admin/clerical work needs to get done to keep the wheels moving. That stuff is part of the job, but for many it can also be the thing that ruins the job.  Boundaries in the fire service are a weird thing and vary...

Send a text Thank you for listening, watching, donating coffee money, buying stickers, sharing posts, and sending messages.  This podcast is an evolving project and we're entering a new phase of growth. We're also talking about some finer points on the wellness ladder.  The tendency of firefighters to regain control through destructive measures and the interplay of behavioral and mental...

Send a text You'll get it all in this episode.  Rankings of the most dangerous robots and monsters, Nathans outlook on firefighter fitness, and at least one complete sentence. Maybe it's true that everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten.  Nathan already knows that working out in your fire gear is not the way to go. Support the show Affiliate links: Rescue1CBD Use code TAI...

Send a text Prevent, reduce, and even fix your back pain by taking one small half step backwards.  The traditional foot position of squatting and deadlifting may be the cause for your back injury.  Luckily there is a simple way to adjust that position that will let you be strong and effective on the fire ground and over the course of your career. Firefighters get tasked with lifting heavy, awkward...

Send a text For 16 years of full time employment, Katie and I have done a good job of living within our means.  Looking ahead to big purchases and saving or pinching pennies or budgeting so we could either put down a sizable down payment or pay it off in full. Buying something big and working OT to pay for it was not in our playbook and it made for some tense times but the cost of being at work ju...

Send a text Race Week! I'm heading to Lincoln, Nebraska for a 78 mile gravel race and this week has been jam packed.  Today alone I bough a new truck, took the truck and camper to the shop to get the hitch adjusted, then sold my old truck to Carmax.   Since I still can't manage my time, this week is a repost of one of the most popular episodes.  Enjoy, share, rate, and review.  If you&ap...

Send a text If you give a firefighter ten bucks he'll ask you if you have a 20.  It's in our nature to want more, ask for more, and not be satisfied with what we're given.  But when it comes to your fitness, the buck stops with you. This company started as a fitness company and expanded to be a firefighter lifestyle brand.  That does not afford a zero fault relationship with fitness...

Send a text Stuff gets weird quick when a promotable position is on the line.  Friends become competition and a surprising amount of emails get sent to 'all' I'm going over three things to do and one thing to avoid at all costs during promotional testing season.  The move from Firefighter to Lieutenant or Captain is a big one and the stress and disruption that the test causes is a g...

Send a text Just because your back feels tight does not mean it needs to be stretched. That tightness could actually be a protective measure and here you come trying to stretch it out of existence! This is just one of the points touched on in this episode. Firefighters are quick to turn to stretching and the idea that getting more flexible is the answer for reducing injuries.  But what if you need...

Send a text I almost had to throw someone out of the kitchen at work after witnessing some inappropriate behavior. I'd love your take on the situation. Then I'm talking about some frustrations I had when a friend came to me and showed me the workouts he was doing at his new gym.  Firefighters love intensity and the fitness world is filled with people willing to pour it on and make you fe...

Send a text Slow down and make a good decision then be as aggressive as possible carrying out that plan. All out non-stop aggression can drive us head first into bad situations if our excitement puts blinders on our decision making.  Firefighters only have so much information and a short time to make decision on scene, but you don't need to make it even harder on yourself by rushing. We'...

Send a text Of course it is, but how you do it is more important than when you do it.  If nobody had a critical thought about how we do things, we might still be feeding horses and passing buckets.  The fire service has come a long way and mostly by figuring out better ways to do stuff. If you're a newer firefighter this episode has some tips on the "right" way to talk about the wea...

Send a text Take care of your own backyard isn't just a game I played in grade school with scooters and yarn balls. I've met a number of firefighters and coaches who teach and profess amazing things but when you talk to their people at their department it is a different story. Remember that the people who impact you are very far away but the people you can impact are incredibly close.  Y...

Send a text "Be patient with us" and "I'm 4 years in and I still want to be mentored" these are the things the new hires of today are NOT telling us, but need us to know. The second half of this episode is arguably more important than the first half.  I'm talking about handling people, knowing when to pull the eject handle on an issue, and how to juggle your old boss...

Send a text You're right, these kids ARE different than years past.  But everything is different.  No more testing in auditoriums with 600 other candidates on one specific date and time.  Much less need for people to do things that are risky, uncomfortable, or not fun, to get what they want. Get in the game old fella.  You just might change the course of your department.  Chances are these ki...

Send a text I don't want to read another book, take another note, or practice another problem employee scenario ever again. After major events like probation, and promotional testing there is a brutal hangover.  Achievement hangovers are a real thing and just like any hangover, we can take some measures to decrease the destruction, or at least limit how long we're useless. Structuring yo...

Send a text Nathan crashed his bike and tore up his wrist which ruined his plans for going to the pool later in the day.  For most of us that would have ended our week but he just grabbed some toys and kept on having fun doing something else. We are so bogged down with things we have to do, and have a very short list of things we like to do.  But building out your list, and algorithm of happiness...

Send a text James Boomhower is a 20 year paramedic with the last ten being in the critical care field.  Aside from that he is also finishing up is degree in clinical psychology and runs a mental health/ suicide awareness company named @stay_fit4Duty. Boomer does an excellent job presenting difficult material and topics because he can speak from experience and mixes in the right amount of clinical...

Send a text No matter your rank, you will eventually asked to do more "Stuff". Whether that's run reports, EMS call review, training audits, lesson plans, or whatever other admin/clerical work needs to get done to keep the wheels moving. That stuff is part of the job, but for many it can also be the thing that ruins the job.  Boundaries in the fire service are a weird thing and vary...

Send a text Raina (@shift.work.dietician) is a licensed dietician out of Edmonton that I wanted to have a chat with because of her consistently realistic approach to nutrition for shift workers. She is married to a first responder and when she saw the lame suggestions they were given to keep their diet and lifestyle in check, she new she could help the community.  She provides very easy to digest...

Send a text How strong is strong enough? But first, what about when you can't, or shouldn't keep doing the traditional movements like squat and deadlift? Curt and I answer both of these topics with some stories from the gym and fire station and tips for making training work for you.  We also throw out what we consider acceptable numbers for movements like push ups, pull ups, and lifting...

Send a text The thought of CBD brings up a lot of opinions, feelings, and criticisms.  To Jon Vought, the owner of Rescue 1 CBD they are all warranted and valid but he has information, science, and patience on his side. Jon has been a career firefighter for the past 16 years and after a significant surgery, he had an all too common experience and relationship with opioid painkillers.   From that e...

Send a text 150 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress. Changing a lightbulb in the department can take weeks, how can we change an operational policy or start a new initiative? Curt and I have been making small changes with big effects in our department and we're talking about how we've seen change happen and what can put a halt to it. Firefighters hate change and hate the way things...

Send a text We've all heard the rule of maintaining three points of contact when working on a ladder.  Well, the same goes for your personal wellness.  Sleep, nutrition, fitness, and behavioral health are the points of contact and each one that you don't have contact with increases your chances of falling off the ladder. In this episode I'm going outside of the box with my suggestio...

Send a text Serve the public, contribute to the community, progress the department, the fire service is bigger than you, put your people first. But when do you come first? As your obligations, involvement, and family grow we end up with less and less that is just for us.  We can be busy all day long and still feel like we got nothing done.  But maybe that's because we got nothing done for our...