By: Chris Brennan I spent a few days last week at the 2019 Firemanship Conference in Portland. It was the first Fire Service conference I’ve been to in over four years. It was invigorating to be around so many folks who give a damn. It was overwhelming to have so many folks come up to…
Tag: FSWMindfullness
Connecting Relevance
By: Gary Lane We don’t have those. We don’t do that. That’ll never work or happen here. How many times have we heard, or sometimes even spoken, those words? It happens all the time in departments across the country. Guys see or hear about a department, big or small, that does something at a fire…
The Day The Universe Hit me with a Bat
Chris talks about his experience of Line of Duty injury and retirement.
“I Have a Theory”
By: Chris Brennan Theories are important. Theories give us room to stretch the metaphorical legs of our intellect and explore ground that we haven’t been over before, or that we might have seen at a distance but not explored. I remember as a young child, around eleven or twelve years old, being on Scout trips…
It’s Not a Job, It’s Not a Career…It’s a Calling
By: David Harms Members of the American Fire Service should consider themselves blessed to be alive and to have the opportunity to show up to work and serve their citizens. Without a doubt in my mind, this is an absolute honor. It’s not concerning whether you’re a volunteer, a part-time back stepper or a career…
We are not Cyborgs
by: Gea Leigh Haff We are still doing it. After all the critical incident stress debriefings, suicide prevention workshops, and unacceptably high number of firefighter suicides, (3 in one year on my dept.) we are still shutting people down who try to speak about calls and the sorrow they bring. In the past two weeks…
Quit Telling Me to Change My Culture
By: Christopher Brennan We will now bring you a diatribe from our frustrated author: I am sick and tired of hearing that the fire service needs to change our culture. It’s what “Everyone Goes Home” is about, it’s in the 16 life safety inititives, and hords of folks come out an [sic] comment when ever there…
Sincerity vs. Competency
By: Christopher Brennan SEPTEMBER 4, 2010 Why do you choose to wear a firefighter’s badge? Have you chosen this vocation to serve your neighbors, or because you want to be perceived as someone “special” or “important”? Do you choose to risk your life out of a sense of service, or have you chosen this “job”…
Our Rituals
By: Christopher Brennan Thousands of Firefighters from the Chicago Area and around the country participated in one of our timeless rituals, the laying to rest of a fallen Brother. FF/PM Christopher Wheatley, Chicago Fire Department, Truck Co. 2 fell from a ladder while fighting a fire August 9th. When I arrived at the funeral…
Firefighter Occupational Cancer
By: Christopher Brennan On July 31st, my friend and Brother Tony Volpe passed away from Colon Cancer. While “the jury is still out” so to speak, I believe that Tony’s cancer was as a result of Occupational Exposure. Firefighters have been regularly identified as having higher than the normal occurrences of cancer. “Researchers found…