No Exceptions Leadership

Don't over-compicate the roll of command. In this episode Chief Pronesti discusses a simple initial size up option that takes into account the building.  This is not the only option out there, just one we discussed in this particular episode.   Size--how do you determine size and define that for your crews? Use--understand the special hazards that each use group holds for firefighting operations and the members Type--this requires you to get out and to see buildings and to understand that what we see is not always the facts. Era--this is a critical piece of the puzzle that is forgotten. Get out and learn about the era your buildings were built in and the characteristics of those buildings.

Nothing can be so chaotic as a firefighter in trouble that calls a Mayday.  The fire service spends a lot of time and resources in training firefighters and task level officers in techniques and methods for calling a Mayday and surviving those situations---as it should be!  However, there has been little developed and created in the way of real, meaningful training for incident commanders to hone their skills in handling a Mayday.   This podcast will discuss, generally, about commanding a Mayday.  It is part 1 of a multi-part series that will focus on the IC and his/her role in handling the Mayday for a successful outcome.     Our special guest for this series is Assistant Chief Joe Pronesti of the Elyria, OH Fire Department.  He speaks from experiences and his in-depth training.    Chief Pronesti will be speaking at FDIC International 2017 on  Size-Up and Command for the Small Department: How to Avoid Being Lost in the Fog of the Fireground on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 08:00-12:00 in Rooms 132-133. Below a

Check out their page at Columbia Memorial Stair Climb   REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!! PLEASE JOIN US!! After you climb 110 stories you will feel an overwhelming sense of pride. Sure, you'll be proud that you finished the climb, but more importantly, you'll take pride in knowing that in this great country there are still hero's that are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to keep all of us safe. 343 Firefighters, 70 Law Enforcement Officers, and 9 EMS Technicians died at the World Trade Center on 9/11. If you look closely, you will see that the American flag on the back of this shirt is comprised of 422 names. These are the names of the fallen. THIS IS WHY WE CLIMB! Register to climb before 4.24.2017 and you will receive one of these amazing shirts! Go to www.columbiastairclimb.com to register now.  

Chief Reilly took some fabulous notes, here they are:   Set your standards, your own code, and then live by them. Do not allow others to define what good or bad is.   Management always has the right to manage poorly   Normally bad assignments done last forever. Don’t do something that will stay with you for your entire career. One of the worst things to be labeled is a malcontent.   Surround yourself with good people, positive energy comes for this.   Stay in your lane. If you are a firefighter in a bad situation, then just concentrate on being the best firefighter you can. If you are a chauffeur or a company officer same thing.   Your ability with two, five, seven years of experience probably is going to be very limited to influence the mind of a 30 year veteran.   How many of the stupid things that management/leadership impact you?   “Oh that’s a stupid rule I would never do that” Well good then you don’t need to worry about it. I can guarantee you that even if you wouldn’t do that, someone e

This podcast addresses only three components of setting expectations for your members.  It is really one of the most important things you need to do as a newly promoted officer, or if you are trying to gain control of a division, shift or crew.   If they don't know what's expected, it's impossible for you expect it from them.

In the last few weeks I posted about being aggressive. In that post I mentioned that we, our department, will search without a hose line.  This seemed to raise some eyebrows and concern about what I said. This podcast addresses what I mean by that and some ways to search without the hose line in your hands.   We train and operate in a manner that allows our crews to search unattached to a hose line. For good reason too because we have trained and drilled and found that we are delaying one tactic or the other when we search strictly off of the hose line while making the attack. We allow the fire to grow unchecked and we delay the search for victims when we are trying to do both at the same time. It's critical that you train and operate within your resources and SOG's.   Thanks for listening and take care.

This episode discusses the harm and challenges associated with speaking out of turn and partaking in the gossip that can be so ever prevalent.  Take the high road, don't participate and get all of the facts before speaking about something or someone.  It can be harmful to the person being talked about and to your credibility and reputation.   Be a leader and stop gossip when you can and don't participate.

Bailout is a last option for us when things go bad. We can do all of the right things and still find ourselves in trouble. It doesn't and won't happen often when we train and operate in standard manners, but we have to be prepared. This podcast discusses some basic concepts that we at Engine House Training, LLC teach and believe in regarding firefighter bailout.  I have a also attached the .pdf for the build out of the low prop we use for instructing and mastering our bailout skills. You don't need a tall building. Be sure to check us out at FDIC 2016 HOT.   Low Bailout Prop Link   https://youtu.be/3TA-KWK41F8

    This episode discusses our intentions and how, as leaders and fire officers, we need to put the group ahead of ourselves.  Servant leadership is real and it makes a difference in your relationships and effectiveness as a leader. I have four basic priorities for myself and my members when on duty and in this order: --Citizens --Organization --Crew/Shift --Self Thanks for listening and share us and rate us on iTunes.

Captain and Lead Instructor from Engine House Training, LLC, Steve Heidbreder talks about how to prepare for the fight when coming on duty for walking into the engine house as volunteer.    

This podcast discusses how difficult it can be work and exist in an environment of people that aren't like-minded. Many of us want to include others in our enthusiasm and pride for our job, and it is not easy to do that.   We have to be realistic in how we gather support and conversion, if you will, of others that not only are like-minded; those are the easy converts.  But, rather the conversion of those that are on the fence or non-committal either way. If we work real hard, are patient and understand the dynamics involved, we can bring along those that were adversarial. Pick them off one at a time like a sniper. Don't try to move the whole group or change the entire organization at once. One at a time works, but still takes time, but it works.

This episode we discuss some items to consider when handling limited or no water area incidents.  You have to know where these are in your response area and have a plan to over-come the problem.  Each has the potential for being a challenge, but this can be easily conquered by preplanning and training.  Be familiar with the capabilities of your equipment and the availability of mutual aid.  Review not only your response area but also the area you respond mutual aid to. Do you practice setting-up draft sites, fill sites, and how to efficiently move water in a limited water setting?  These can be make-or-break skills when establishing water supply in a rural setting.   These areas and more will be discussed during the Podcast. 

In this episode we discuss four principles that will help the fire officer, or individual in any walk of life be successful and provides guidance in being effective.   Be generous Be constructive Be productive Be aggressive   I am also attaching a link to the video and the Powerpoint that was used for the webinar that this podcast was created for.   Webinar Video Powerpoint Program File

This episode we discuss some items to consider when dealing with service and misc. calls.  It's important that we don't take these incidents lightly.  Each call has the potential for being a challenge, not matter how it is dispatched or what you think it might be. For CO calls follow your guidelines for calling out service personnel to double check readings or lack of readings.  We have a threshold that requires a call to the gas company for any CO reading of over 10PPM. However, most will call out the gas company for any readings, just to eliminate any margin of error. We also take advantage of any service call or misc. call by checking and ensuring operation of the smoke detectors and batteries.  This has been a great PR technique for us and gets us in the entire house for familiarization. Additionally, don't dress down for these "check the buildings" calls and other seemingly benign calls.  As you will hear in the show, you never know what you're going to pull up on--so be ready and prepared. Don't talk li

This episode discusses the importance of setting very specific goals and objectives.  Being specific allows us to create a realistic and attainable plan to achieve our goals. We need to set bench marks and a written record of our progress, successes and set backs.  Below is an example of some specific goals and objectives for a fire officer.  Some of the objectives could be more specific. Can you  pick them out and see where more specific details could be added? Be sure to be realistic, dreaming and reaching high is very different from fair tales.   Goals Short-term: 1) Obtain rank of Lieutenant 2) Motivate, lead, and train new and tenured crew members once promoted Long-term: 1) Obtain rank of Captain 2) Obtain masters degree in Emergency Services Management Objectives Obtain Rank of Lieutenant: -Personal study and training (daily) to improve my KSA’s -Take leadership/company officer training classes -Find current company officer to mentor me for the purpose of becoming a company officer -Participate in n

This is a short podcast discussing some basics of calling the Mayday.  In this episode we discuss the shift from using LUNAR to the three W's. Who are you? What happened to you? Where are you? With those three questions, as a firefighter we can provide pertinent information and not have to try to remember a long acronym.   We also discuss the importance of radio discipline and keeping units and companies that were operating when the Mayday was called to stay on the tactical channel.  This allows crews operating on the scene to hear and know the Mayday is called and to maybe effect the rescue of the downed firefighter well before a RIT is deployed. Of course this is dependent on several factors and your SOG's.   Command needs to be controlling the scene and getting extra help early during a Mayday.  It is the responsibility of the IC to ask additional questions of the downed firefighter and to start adding additional division supervisors to direct operations to assist in reducing radio traffic. Here are some

In this episode we discuss the motivation of looking at the proverbial glass being half empty as opposed to the glass being half full.   Motivation comes from different places, but looking at the glass half full can lead to complacency and if convinced that half full is okay, the water left will slowly evaporate over time and before we know it the glass is dry. Looking at the glass being half empty can push us to fill it and have a full glass.  Use it as a motivator to keep it above half full.  

Weekly Company  Drill Building Familiarization This drill is a size up and familiarization drill.  It can be broken up into several parts and get as much information gathered as possible. The objective of this drill is to identify specific hose length stretches for large complexes or buildings that may test the ability of your typical 150' or 200' pre-connect hose line.  Share your information with the other companies.      Instructions  Gather some utility or search rope. We use three, 100 foot sections of 9mm search rope in a bag.  Park where you would normally park if there were an incident.  Tie off at the truck and stretch to the most remote area you can access.  We tie off knots every 25 feet to help us figure out how far we are.  Document distances going up stairs, over hand rails, special considerations, etc.  Stretch to the back simulating a large blitz line.     Special Considerations Access issues for apparatus Water supply location and challenges Forcible Entry Floor plan challenges Rear and remo

This episode we discuss the importance of core values when creating your mission plan for progressing and improvement. The core values are our cornerstone about what we are about and who we are. They are not negotiable. Below is an example of some core values.   Core Values Professionalism: In and out of the firehouse, on and off-duty Respect: For each other and for our public Excellence: Providing the highest level of Fire/Rescue/EMS to the public. Safety is Paramount: Everyone goes home. Problem solving: Define the problems that immediately confront my profession and my crew---create and implement solutions. Positive Attitude: My attitude towards work, training, and other members will be infectious to coworkers. Ethical Behavior: I will do the right thing at all times, honoring the great responsibility to our citizens.

This episode is a discussion about ground ladders. It's a basic piece of equipment that has such a huge value to us on the fire ground, but in many cases, get's forgotten.  They're forgotten until they are needed, and then it could be a life and death situation for firefighters and victims. We talk briefly about some very simple aspects to keep in mind regarding ground ladders.  Here are few bullet points to think about when considering ground ladder use and the picture of the building that I mention in the podcast. Consider where the ladders on the apparatus. Don't park too close to the rear or thru-the-tank storage and think about what's on the side where the ladder rack may be lowered.  (Mailboxes, cars, trees, etc.) Lower the ladder racks as soon as possible.  If they are out of site, they are out of mind. We recommend placing ground ladders to just below the sill for any use. You can still ventilate or use a hose line, but it is already for egress, which is the primary purpose. Give yourself a little le