Today's 10 Minute Drill - "What's your professional resolution?"

Years come and go, people make New Year's Resolutions. We watch what we eat, go to the gym more, try to save money, etc.... This is all good stuff. Stuff that usually for most of us, DOES NOT LAST!!!

So, let's make today's 10 minute drill one that is easy to keep and can save your life: "How do you plan on improving your firefighting in 2014?". It is pretty simple to do, think of how things went for you in 2013....

1) Did you ever feel out of the game.

2) Physically exhausted after doing a small task

3) Didn't truly "read" the building you were operating in.

4) Look at a compartment and not know within a blink of an eye what was in it.

5) Spend time listening and learning about new tactics and ideas before shooting them down.

If you answered yes to even one of these the solution is simple, reignite your profession. I find myself taking my 13 year old son (Junior FF) down to the firehouse and explaining basics to him. The knowledge that gets passed on to him becomes a great refresher for me. Going to pick up the meal? Look at the roll down gates and locks on the supermarket and ask "what if we had to force entry at 3am?". On FaceBook? Read your friends' posts on fires or calls they may have gone to. THINK about how you would have handled it. Going to the gym? Read a trade publication such as Fire Engineering while on the treadmill.

To the youth of our profession (sorry 5 yr wonders), listen to the stories around the table spewed over coffee by those grumpy old guys. I was a five year wonder also that learned soooo much through these great guy while enjoying a great cup of joe. Multi-tasking as you can see is a big part of my life.

The Fire Service is ever-changing. i am not telling you that you need to buy into all of the latest and greatest in tactics that are out there today. What I am saying is take off your Daddy's job shirt, lose his time that he earned, not you and open your mind up to a mere 10 minutes a day of making yourself a better firefighter...

STAY SAFE and STAY LOW in 2014 to all of our brothers and sisters. THANKS for supporting PL Vulcan in our training efforts and we hope to see you all SOON!!!