Photo courtesy Edmond (OK) Fire Department. The fire service and brotherhood have always been thought of as two sides of the same coin. Some may tell you the brotherhood is a thing of the past, while ...

The acronym SLICE-RS represented a revolutionary advancement in firefighting tactics, not only in its effectiveness but also in the process of leveraging a data-driven, scientific approach. The ...

I kneel in the dewy grass of a public park. I’m hot and tired. My legs feel like jelly, and my lungs burn. My breath comes out in bursts, translucent balloons of steam that rise and fade in the pale, ...

Emergency service leaders generally lack an education in the science of management. Although the topic of leadership is commonly taught in the emergency service training regiment, true management ...

When it comes to selecting our firefighting personal protective equipment (PPE), too often, we make decisions based on subjective factors, such as appearance or color. Fit and cost are important ...

The American fire service has seen a mass exodus of mid-tenured firefighters. For one reason or another, the firefighters who were once seen as the “senior men” are no longer in the fire service.

Firehouses are microcosms of society: diverse groups of people from different backgrounds come together under one roof with a shared mission to protect and serve their communities. The fire service is ...

With the current economic climate and municipal budgets constantly under attack, municipal officials are endlessly scrutinizing the necessity for and deployment of fire department personnel. As a ...

At some point, you’ve asked a firefighter how things were going and heard one of the usual one-word responses: “Fine,” “Good,” or “Okay.” Whether it was about a recent call, a new station assignment, ...

In this episode of Mental Health Monthly, hosts Dan Degryse and Chris Muscle discuss the complexities of retiring from the fire service. They share their personal journeys navigating the physical, ...

When getting to the stage of my fire service career where I wanted to become a captain, I didn’t truly understand what I needed to do. I thought I did, but I didn’t. I was convinced, even though I had ...

Sleep is one of the most powerful recovery tools available to first responders, and it is also one of the most neglected. Firefighters, EMS personnel, and dispatchers are expected to perform under ...