Training and coaching
Firefighter Camps for Girls in 2026
This post originally appeared back in 2020, so I know that it likely needs updating. If your firefighter camp for girls is listed, please make sure…
Extreme Heat and the “Terrible Twins”: What Fire Service Leaders Should Know
Training and drilling are opportunities to “sharpen the saw”, that is, work on the full range of firefighting and rescue skills necessary to do the job and make sure that everyone is still doing them safely and correctly. It's important to do that training in all weather conditions, yet it's equally important to do so safely, effectively and efficiently, especially during hot weather training.
Protect Your Firefighters from Exposure to Toxins While Training
Battalion Chief (Ret.) Robert Avsec answers a reader's question about how to reduce exposure to cancer risk during live fire training.
The Fire Service is a Great Career–That Doesn’t Last Forever
This past week, I posted the following on my Facebook account: Hard to believe that it was 40 years ago…
Staff Officer Re-Entry: Going Back to Operations
Whether you volunteered for the staff officer assignment or you were given the assignment, I think you’re going to find that many of your bosses, peers, and subordinates in operations are going to view you as a “newbie”. They’re going to expect you to “prove yourself” as being capable of handling your new assignment in operations.
Fire & EMS Leader Pro Teams up with JobTestPrep
The journey to become a career firefighter can look pretty daunting at first glance, especially the entry-level exam that's usually the first step in an extremely competitive hiring process. You can greatly enhance your chances for success by using the on-line exam preparation materials and practice exams developed by the professionals at JobTestPrep.
9 More Strategies for Success in a Fire Department Staff Position
A staff assignment is a wonderful opportunity for you to broaden your professional horizons beyond your “fire station centric” point of view. You might have volunteered for this assignment, or you may have been “volunteered” for it, but regardless of the scenario, take advantage of it.
15 Strategies for Success in a Fire Department Staff Position
You’ve no doubt become very comfortable with your company officer and your fellow firefighters in your fire station world. Your success thus far has been based upon your ability to work and socialize with people just like you—firefighters. Taking a staff position, e.g., an assignment in one of your department’s non-suppression work units, means you’re going to find yourself working with a more diverse group of people.
EVO Program: Regulating Your Fire Department’s Driving Risks
Several years ago, at a fire service conference, I attended a session on reducing risk in fire departments. The presenter,…
The Influence of Fire Department Training
Fire service training is much more than just the imparting of knowledge, the acquisition of new skills, and the ability to apply that new knowledge and skills. Fire service training, from entry-level through incumbent staff training, is also the vehicle by which a department's culture and values are initially imprinted upon individuals or reinforced.
Preparing Firefighters for the Real World
Today's firefighters face a multitude of situations daily that require knowledge, skills, and abilities far beyond those required to fight fires, provide medical care and rescue entrapped victims. Many of those situations require skills more akin to a social worker than that of a firefighter.
What does a future fire officer look like?
What traits do you believe make a firefighter a good candidate to promote to Company Officer? I asked several fire service colleagues the question: What traits to you look for in firefighters as potential company officers? Two of those colleagues, Fire Chief Bud Backer and Division Chief Susan Tamme, provided some really good insights back to me via e-mail. I could only use a few of their comments in the finished article, but the rest were so good I just couldn’t leave them on the “cutting room floor.”