Welcome to Episode 4 of JobTlks Podcast. JobTlks Podcast was born by Firefighters and is dedicated to positive firehouse culture and aggressive fireground tactics! In Episode 4 Will, Barrey, John, & Matt gather in the WillCo Media studio to talk about operational realities in the fire service.
Will Starts the episode with a quote out of a Firehouse Magazine article: “the fire service is an all-hazard mitigation agency but also who government agencies and citizens call on when they don’t know what to do with a situation.” -Unknown The crew briefly talks about what that quote means and how it applies to every fire department; regardless of staffing, assets, run volume, population, etc.
After a brief discussion, another Fire Service shoutout is given. This week’s shout out goes to two neighboring departments. The Boston Fire Department and the Cambridge Fire Department. Both departments had technical rescues that were noteworthy. Will was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Boston Fire District Chief Neal Mullane prior to the show. Chief Mullane gave a run down of the tech rescue for a man who fell into a void space in one of the many tunnel systems under Boston. A multi-agency effort led to rescuing the man who suffered only minor injuries. In a surprise twist Barrey was unaware of, the second shout out was in Cambridge and was a call Barrey was a part of. Barrey gives the run down of a complicated incident involving multiple people being stabbed on a construction site. Due to the location and nature of injuries a high angle rescue was necessary to get one of the victims to safety. Once again, a multi agency effort led to a successful rescue where the victim survived.
Both of these incidents were in large metro fire departments where the assets and manpower did not overwhelm resources. This is a good segment into operational realities. Where not all departments have the capabilities, resources, or training to respond to an incident like those without assistance. The free-flowing conversation touches on a lot of different consideration for operational reality. Operational realities are not only within the department structure, but are also in the building types and construction you face, water supply types, geographical features, and even the political structures of your town or city.
After winding down the main conversation, Will introduces a new segment: Training tips and tidbits. After asking for feedback on social media, Will shares some of the training tips he gets from people who follow the podcast. Drills to improve air consumption, easy solo drills, and drills to go to when motivation is lacking are some of the tips in this episode.
Finally, the part everyone has been waiting for. The question of the day… What constitutes a sanwhich?! The ingredients, the vessel, the name???? Listen as they wage a passionate debate on a meaningless topic. As is tradition! Thanks for watching. Join us next week for episode 5!
