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 predictions.

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 friction device, or even carabiner? Here to explain which is best for what situation is Dale Stewart. Dale owns AHSRescue.com, a company that supplies rope equipment and training to the emergency services community. He’s worked with Phoenix Fire as an instructor in their mutual aid program as a consultant for rope and water rescue since 1987.

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 offer some solutions is Dalan Zartman. Dalan is a technical-rescue expert for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security. He serves as regional training program director and advisory board member at Bowling Green State University. Dalan is a member of the Central Ohio Strike Team and the Washington Township Fire Department. He’s founder and president of Rescue Methods.

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 looking for signs of emotional trauma. Then, you can take steps to help. My guest to explain how to do that is Jared Meeker. He’s a fire chief in a combination fire department in upstate New York, and has over 30 years’ experience in the fire service. He teaches incident command skills for fire officers and career survival skills for all first responders.

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 when we’re working with multiple different generations that all learn differently? Today, we’re talking with Lt. Stephen Rhine about how to accomplish this. Steve’s been with the FDNY for 17 years. He’s also the Training Coordinator and former Captain of the Roslyn Volunteer Fire Department. He’s a certified New York State Fire Instructor and a Haz-Mat Tech Level 1. And he’s a PIO with the FDNY Incident Management Team.

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? And is this okay? Or are we missing something? My guest to discuss this is Chad Costa. He’s a battalion chief with the City of Petaluma, California Fire Department. He has two decades in the fire service, and he’s worked in some pretty diverse situations, from a rural department to a city as well as CAL FIRE. Chad is the technology and communications battalion chief and a division group supervisor on California Interagency Team 5.

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 working. But you don’t really earn your pay until you come through when the situation goes sideways. Here to talk about what a great engineer knows is Paul Watlington. He’s a battalion chief with the Burlington, North Carolina Fire Department.

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 never cocky. To remember why you got into this profession. George McNeil forgot those things, and he paid a price. Now he wants to make sure you don’t forget them. George has ten years’ experience working in rural fire and emergency medical services. He’s been a paramedic/firefighter an emergency manager and flight paramedic.

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 you know what you’re talking about. Back again on Code 3 today to discuss command presence – what it is and why it’s important – is Tom Merrill. He’s a 35-year fire department veteran and a former chief of the Snyder Fire Department in Amherst, New York. He is now a fire commissioner for the Snyder Fire District. Tom served 26 years as a department officer including 15 years in the chief officer ranks. He has taught at fire service events around western New York as well as at FDIC. He also is a fire dispatcher for the Amherst Fire Alarm Office.

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 entertains around the country and has performed at FDIC where he will be again in 2020.