Lecture Descriptions
“Think Like An Incident Commander”:
What is an incident commander seeing, thinking, and feeling when he supervises a fire operation? Tactics may vary at various incidents but the one constant is the incident commander’s thought process. How is his view of a fire different and how can his perspective make you a more effective firefighter, chief, or company officer?
This interactive course is geared to illustrate key points in preparation, size up, fire ground decision making, command, and communications. Through the use of power point, case studies, photos, videos, and actual fire ground radio transmissions, students are presented with the challenges inherent with rapid emergency decisions and are offered tools to aid them in functioning safely and effectively.
Firefighters must be able to perform a skillful size up, communicate effectively, and project control over chaotic situations to successfully manage an emergency incident. This course is relevant for chiefs and company officers who serve as the initial incident commanders at a fire. However, the concepts developed are also vital for firefighters of all ranks. A chief, company officer, or firefighter who has the ability to think like an incident commander is better prepared to see the entire “fire picture”. This allows for safer and more effective strategy and tactics.
The essential tools required to plan, organize, and manage fire strategies and tactics are highlighted through an interactive lecture that comprises about 2/3rds of the presentation. This is followed by the “hands on” segment of the class in which students are presented with various fire simulations that provide an opportunity to exercise many of the concepts discussed in the lecture. Fire scenarios are projected onto the screen with smoke and fire conditions changing at different stages of the incident. The simulations require students to initiate their strategy and tactics and alter them as needed to adapt to the evolving fire scenario.
The goal is to help fire personnel of all ranks make more confident and effective decisions at fire and emergency operations.
“We’re Only Human: Understanding Fire Ground Behavior”:
We’ve all learned how to fight the fire, but how many of us will be able to accurately predict the behavior of the people affected by the fire? Most firefighters are well trained in strategy and tactics. However, they receive little or no training in the behavior patterns of the public they serve. An understanding of their responses can be a great asset for firefighters in sizing up a fire, organizing a building evacuation, or managing a catastrophic event.
This class teaches how civilians typically react to the stress and uncertainty of a fire or other threatening situation and provides firefighters with a guide to safely managing them. Videos, case studies, and personal fire ground experiences are used to highlight the genetic and social factors that determine human responses to danger. Practical, hands-on tactics designed to facilitate search and evacuation, improve fire alarm response, guide people in smoke conditions, and enhance safe crowd control are discussed along with high rise challenges and means of improving stairway movement.
Civilian behavior at incidents such as the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack, the Station nightclub fire, the Beverly Hills supper club, and my own personal fire experience is analyzed. Strategies and tactics for firefighters are drawn from these and other incidents. Fire scenarios are presented to the students allowing them a “hands-on” opportunity to size up fire and emergency situations and discuss potential issues in managing and protecting civilians.
This presentation is primarily developed for the fire service and is relevant for firefighters, company officers, and chiefs. A firefighter who understands human behavior in crisis is better prepared to effectively search, evacuate, and manage civilians at fires and other emergencies. The lecture is also relevant for EMS personnel, members of emergency response agencies, and disaster relief services, all of whom must successfully manage people affected by fires, weather challenges, and other life threatening situations.
Learn how people think and you will be able to think like a more capable firefighter.
“Seeing the Elephant: A Fire Chief’s Guide to Functioning Under Stress”:
Accidents, severe weather, work place pressures, deadlines. We are assaulted each day by numerous forms of stress ranging from the routine challenges of life to the unexpected trauma of fires and other disasters. This class is designed to help you function safely and effectively in a stressful environment. It is based on lessons learned from many years of managing fire and emergency operations with the New York City Fire Department.
Personal fire experiences and videos are used to describe how the tools used to manage stress on the fire ground can be applicable for everyone. The presentation combines an examination of stress psychology with practical expertise to highlight essential lessons for life safety programs.
Channelized attention, task saturation, communication issues, social influences, and other factors that negatively affect the decision making process are analyzed. The command bubble, the impostor syndrome, the size up process and other fire service concepts are presented in a manner designed to improve any individual’s situational awareness and capability under crisis conditions.
The class offers relevant material for fire and life safety educators, members of disaster relief agencies, business professionals, and emergency service personnel. See how the decision making process taken from the fire ground can be translated into teaching the public how to behave safely and confidently during an emergency. Learn the tools that allow you to refocus from disabling fear to positive action in any challenging situation.
“Strive to Survive: The Art of Survival in the 21st Century”:
We are constantly bombarded by images of fires, building collapses, transportation accidents, and hurricanes. How do people normally react to these disasters? What kinds of behavior can we anticipate and how can we best manage people in crisis?
This lecture is designed to illustrate how we typically respond to fires, severe weather challenges, terrorist acts, and other life threatening situations. Videos, case studies, and personal fire experiences are used to develop individual survival skills and to recommend procedures for safely and effectively directing others.
Vital lessons about human behavior are highlighted. The milling process, the inhibiting factor, stress zones, task commitment, and other survival challenges are examined. Evacuation patterns, stairway movement, and functional limitations in a smoke environment are analyzed. Means of improving alarm system response, egress sign clarity, and drill effectiveness are discussed.
The presentation offers relevant material both for individuals at home and for managers of private businesses, hotels, schools, disaster relief services, or emergency response agencies.
Learn how to be less “rescue reliant” and develop your ability to safely guide coworkers or family members through a fire or catastrophic event.
“Strip Mall Fires”:
Strip mall fires present challenges that are very different from standard residential operations. This course explores the strategic and tactical considerations for fires in these buildings. The material is geared to help firefighters, chiefs, and company officers operate safely and effectively at strip mall incidents.
This class is designed to examine the strategies and tactics required to deal with the safety issues peculiar to these kinds of buildings. Both traditional and modern construction methods are analyzed to highlight the firefighting dangers they present. The most common renovations and their effect on fire operations are considered. Students are taught to recognize and deal with truss roofs, hanging ceilings, masonry covered floors, and exterior insulation finishing systems.
Engine and truck operations are reviewed with an emphasis on tactics designed to properly handle the safety issues. Risk evaluation, hose line and apparatus placement, laddering, ventilation techniques, and overhaul tactics are discussed.
Strip malls are found in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The presentation is intended to be applicable for firefighters, company officers, and chiefs in paid or volunteer organizations. Regardless of where these buildings are located the fire challenges remain the same.
Power point, photos, case studies, actual fire ground radio transmissions, and fire videos are used to illustrate the learning points on construction, strategy, and tactics. Student input and participation is encouraged throughout.
The presentation concludes with a video review of a major strip mall fire that occurred in New York City. This video vividly displays rapidly changing fire conditions and the transition from an interior to exterior attack as well as information on reading smoke conditions and effective radio communication.
“Fire Resistive Apartment Building Fires”:
Fire resistive apartment buildings are commonly found in both urban and suburban neighborhoods. These occupancies present serious life hazards and complex operations due to the firefighting challenges, construction features, and concentration of residents involved. This interactive class explores the strategies and tactics needed to handle these incidents.
The lecture makes use of videos, photos, and case studies to develop the size up skills required for these buildings. Construction details and building features that will affect a fire operation are highlighted.
Engine tactics for standpipe operations as well as hand stretches are discussed. Water supply, flow requirements, and hose techniques are reviewed. Ladder functions are vital in these buildings due to large numbers of residents they may contain. Search, forcible entry, and other vital ladder tasks are covered. Firefighter safety is stressed throughout the material and coordination of tactical operations is emphasized. Students are trained to see how their individual functions fit in with the overall strategy.
Both natural and positive pressure ventilation techniques are analyzed. The adverse effects of wind driven fires are described along with the newest tactics developed including use of the fire blanket and the exterior high rise nozzle.
Fire scenarios that incorporate lessons from the lecture are presented at the end of the class to provide students an opportunity for hands on participation and discussion.
The presentation is designed to encourage safe and effective operations for both high rise and low rise fire resistive apartment buildings.
“Strategies for Survival on the Fire Ground”:
How are firefighters dying? What common factors and fire scenarios have led to our greatest losses? This class examines these questions with the goal of highlighting recurring firefighting dangers and offering safer alternatives on the fire ground.
Class Structure:
TRENDS: Which activities in the fire service have continued to kill and threaten firefighters? Are there any unusual recent patterns discernable?
FACTORS: What fire ground scenarios have proven to be most deadly in the past?
SOLUTIONS: Various strategies and tactics designed to overcome these dangers are presented.
SCENARIOS: In the “hands on” segment of the class fire simulation exercises are used to reinforce the student’s ability to recognize and deal with common dangers such as backdraft, flashover, entrapment, and collapse.
The philosophy of the class is that by examining our past experience and adapting our strategies and tactics we can initiate changes for a safer fire service. Many departments are currently operating with relatively inexperienced personnel. This class highlights the recurring dangers that have historically led to firefighter deaths. The goal of the presentation is to draw on that past experience, highlight key firefighting dangers, and develop the student’s ability to recognize when they are confronting these situations.
The presentation uses photos, videos, and actual fire ground radio transmissions to illustrate a number of specific fire ground dangers. In the final “hands on” part of the class students are presented with a number of simulated fires in residential and commercial buildings of various construction. The simulations require students to view the buildings from all four sides, take note of potential dangers, and adapt their strategies and tactics to address the safety issues.