Tag Archives: instructorship

Here are some pictures Grant Light shared of the last day of a recent extrication tech class in Cincinnati. Somehow a school bus rolled onto four cars with dummies trapped in them all. Well done training testing the techniques the students learned.

Here are a couple pictures of a wall breach prop Andrew Brassard passed along. Looks to be a pretty good reusable prop that we can make with some scrap around the firehouse neighborhood.

Not only have I been able to share what I know, but have continued learning at every meal, rescue scenario that we set up, and during every tailgate chat with some great friends, mentors, and rescue junkies.

The next few paragraphs and pictures are from Andrew Brassard. The prop he built to talk about fire behavior worked great. Check it out and talk about the stages of fire with your crew. What are you looking for when, where, and why as you crawl into each building.

Heck, most of yes have the materials laying around the firehouse. Have a rookie on your crew?

I'm teaching a forcible entry class at the Ehove Career Center Fire Academy later this week. With all the information available on forcible entry it is just not possible to share it all in one 4 hour session, so I started putting together a page of QR codes to give to the students. That way they can do some self study by watching a few videos.

At the end of last year, Ryan Gray (Editor-In-Chief of School Transportation News magazine) contacted me about writing a piece on school bus emergencies and what first responders will do at the scene of a crash.  Read it HERE.  Subsequent to that article, I was invited to collaborate and present a couple classes at the STN Expo with Cheri Clymer ...

Well, Charlie Ruggles, AKA the "Sweat Bee" just completed his year of probation. We all know that this first year can be exciting, stressful, fun, and a rewarding start to a career with an organization.

This just happens to be a prime example of what we need to do as trainers in the fire service. We have to step back from time to time and remember to show the basic operations of some of what we now think are the simplest of tasks.

The following post contains some thoughts on training from Firefighter Phil Burden (retired Westerville (OH)).  My conversations, training opportunities, and email correspondence with Phil are motivating to say the least.  Firefighters must gain the insight and knowledge of seasoned veterans, adapt to current day environments, and pass on the traditions and love for the fire service.  We often have slogans ...