The role making mistakes plays on the training ground and the fireground and how to bring quality assurance and quality improvement to the fire side of what we do.

Computers running pumps brings up some concerns and takes us down the path from engines to Aerialscopes, after a conversation about command and where to put officers, chiefs, and the command post.

Notes taken during an IAFC webinar with Don Abbott of ProjectMayday.net.

Imagine if it were snowy, the pond was ice-covered, and you weren't aware of the ponds that dot this apartment complex -- that could create a horrible situation for an unsuspecting firefighter.

- Addressing freelancing in a small department
- Mentorship
- Who’s getting on scene first for your fires?

As the tones buzzed in my ear, I looked out my ninth floor window at the trauma center just blocks from the scene. If he didn’t answer, I was going there.

Standing orders, gameplans, and extrication JENGA — just a few parts of the discussion with firefighters from all over the country.

- Takeaways from the high-risk, low-frequency incident of the week
- How to find training opportunities on a daily basis (even on EMS runs!)
- Mentoring new members and overcoming the egos we all bring to some extent

If I’m trapped in my car, wrapped up in mangled metal, I hope the crew that shows up didn’t spend their last extrication drill playing JENGA and gently relocating eggs.

Sorry, I’m not going to sugar coat it. We’re better than that.

Isolation’s a great time to deep-dive into buildings in your first-due. We went here for a fire alarm and found, as dispatch stated, “a bad cook” on the top floor.

I buffed a fire in my former part-time department’s district last night, and they kicked ass. Quick water on the fire, search prioritized to the second-due engine, and a whole lot of reason to be proud.

We talk at length about the disconnects that lead to challenges when crews face attic fires when we host that discussion. What information isn’t making it to people *before* they’re forced to make decisions in a few seconds?

It’s absolutely true that some mistakes aren’t mistakes when they’re made; they’re a label given to decisions with the benefit of that hindsight. It is tragic that we lose firefighters in empty houses, or after the family said everyone’s out. But let’s not say the mistake was going in to make sure.

Good outcome. Bad way of getting there. It becomes commonplace without recognition. Boom -- normalization of deviance.

This old, dilapidated, 12x10' railroad outbuilding was our early-morning fire at my part-time department.

IT. WAS NOT. VACANT.

Simply, we all need to begin by reading the entire report. The actual report. Not some random Facebook page's analysis of the analysis. Start with the raw material to get a full appreciation for the effort put into providing information for your decision-making.

We can make educated guesses about whether a home is vacant or not. But just because a house looks vacant doesn't mean someone's not down on their luck, living inside, wishing they lived someplace better.