Skip Coleman's Page

I just finished giving a two-day training program to a very “together” group of firefighters and officers. I won’t mention where the training took place, but it was very apparent that these departments worked well together.
The group of fire departments was part of an area where over 40 departments existed in the same county. Of course, there was a major metropolitan department representing one of the 40 departments and surprisingly, they were represented at the training.
I had the chief’s of th… Continue

In my last post, I was talking about the “NEVER” word. You see, we say things around the kitchen table and the young crew members listen and pick up on this stuff. Their minds are quite impressionable at that early age and their concern is to do a good job. So they listen and take in what they hear. So, if you’re at the kitchen table and discussing a fire and one of the old salts says something like “Did you see what Engine 16 did on Elm Street? They used a fog stream inside a building.” Then th… Continue

I usually question veteran firefighters that tell a recruit or new-be “Son! Never hit smoke with a hose stream – Only the “red-stuff”!” or “Never take your gloves off”. (For those of you who are scratching your head saying “Tommie told me to never hit smoke”! If your intent is to cool unprotected steel, like the underside of a metal deck roof you are crawling under and all you see is smoke up there – it’s OK to hit smoke! I’ll discuss the glove thing in a minute.)
You see, when we tell these “mi… Continue

As I mentioned in my last blog about buddy breathing, 75% of what you learn (hands-on wise) is lost - forgotten, if you don't reinforce (practice) it within two weeks. There is psychological theory that states "when people are put in a stressful situation, they revert to what is "usual and customary" for them. These to "theory's" work hand in hand and ignoring them has cost a lot of us our lives.
Rick Lasky took self-rescue and firefighter rescue to new levels several years ago. With the "Saving… Continue

This Blog was originally posted September 14 but was deleted in the set up on the new web site. I am posting it again.

I generally let politics roll off my back. I believe I'm too ignorant about the true facts and history in general to comment. But something caught my eye (or more rightfully so - my ear) a few days back. I was listening to talk radio and the host mentioned that if you visit the White House web site (http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-Pat… Continue