You would think that a company named The First Line Fire Service Training would be heavily involved with hands-on training. Well, that’s not what I do for the most part, and when I do it’s because I am working for companies that are very good at the hands-on side of the business. If someone called me up and wanted to set up hands-on training I would send them to folks like Todd Edwards, Steve Robertson, Kyle Romagus, or Kevin Pfluger.

So, what’s with the name?

I decided to call the company The First Line because I’ve come to understand that if we can get the first line right, 99 out of 100 times the incident is going to end up well. I have also come to the conclusion that there is a lot more to getting the first line right than just making the push down the hallway. The skill of making the push is important, don’t get me wrong. That is why I will defer to the experts I have named above.

What I want to bring to the table with the First Line are the other things that will make that push successful. I’ve been involved in delivering training for decades. I have seen what works and what doesn’t work. I know where the gaps are between certification-based training and what a firefighter needs to be able to do to win on the fireground. One of the things that the First Line can do is help you to bridge that gap.

I understand how important effective leadership is when it comes to mission accomplishment. Certainly, good players can overcome bad coaching, but when you couple good players with good coaching you create champions. I don’t have all the answers, I don’t think anyone really does. I have had a lot of successes and some pretty epic failures. My goal is to share these lessons in a way you can take the nuggets back to your firehouse and implement them with your people and your resources.

A lot of firefighters and officers like to spend their time talking about the newest, greatest whatever. They spend countless hours, days, weeks, or even years looking at equipment and machines, but they fail to realize that it is the human element that determines the outcome. I will never call myself an expert, but I’ve done a lot of research and talked to a lot of smart people about how the human mind works in the high stress/high threat environment. After fifty years of going to fires, serving in two wars, jumping out of airplanes with the 82nd Airborne Division, and a whole host of things my wife would have rather I didn’t, I can help you to develop your people to be highly effective when the bells hit.

On top of all this I can talk about fireground operations and what we need to do to make the first line effective. How do we manage the resources that are on the run. How do we support the first line with water supply, staffing, ventilation. What happens in the one offs when we need more than the first line? I’ve been there and I can share those lessons. How about search and where does it fit into the overall operations? What’s the best way to manage risk on the fireground and what steps can you take in this effort? All these questions impact on the first line and after 5 decades of going to fires I have some suggestions for you.

So, what’s with the name? The First Line Fire Service Training is in business to help you with what is arguably the prime objective on the fireground.