More “Always” and “Never” Rules
You can’t say "always" and "never" about tactical operating tips in the fire service.
FE Volume 172 Issue 1
The Latest
Mental Performance On and Off the Fireground
Most behavioral health programs available to firefighters and fire service leaders are reactive rather than preventive. For example, there are ample services that aid firefighters in returning to work, but few, if any, that enhance firefighters’ mental abilities while performing their duties effectively, or better still, prior to deployment.
Fire Investigation Puzzlers: Rock Salt and BX Cable
Two incidents challenge a fire investigator looking into the origin and cause of the fire. The author offers pointers on investigating fires in which the origin and cause is unusual or not obvious.
Mutual Aid Does Not Need to Be a Mutual Mess
Command post accountability, a manageable span of control, and maintaining communication discipline are some items for mutual aid success. Fire departments that run mutual aid will also benefit from other mutual activities such as the creation and adoption of policies/procedures and mutual training.
More FE Volume 172 Issue 1
Fighting Fires in Hotels and Motels: There Are Some Differences!
Brian Butler explains how differences between these two occupancies affect firefighting plans and why fire departments need to preplan these fires.
Aluminum Composite Cladding and Fire: Safety Takes a Team Effort
Philip Paff contrasts The Grenfell Tower fire of London with a fire in Australia and shows how design, construction, and standards can make a difference in the outcome.
Partial Collapse of a Building Under Construction
Frank Leeb explains how firefighters can anticipate and most safely mitigate the hazards when responding to a fire in a structure under construction.
A critique on followership
Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1911) “Last Man” is a deplorable being who seeks only comfort and safety. The “Last Man” will not stand up for what he believes in, nor will he question authority.
Combating the Trauma Triad of Death
First responders, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and paramedics can impact patient outcomes by working to stop the subtle but vicious cycle of hypothermia, acidosis, and bleeding, the “Trauma Triad of Death.”
Mitigating Wildfire Risk in the Wildland Urban Interface, Part 1
Dena Ali goes in-depth on one of the fire service’s most timely subjects: how best to mitigate wildfire risk in the wildland urban interface.
High-Rise Hose Stretch Training Kit
Carl Meyer explains how having this training kit accessible on the apparatus can facilitate crews in practicing how to estimate hose stretches for fires in high-rises and other structures.
They Voted Us Down: Push Back by Increasing Your Community Visibility
Tim Doran uses his fire department’s own experience with a political setback to inform readers of how to best handle opposition to a presumably bulletproof plan.