The combat position : achieving firefighting readiness

283 Pages·2011·22.17 MB·English

by  Brennan

CHRISTOPHER BRENNAN
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Disclaimer. The recommendations, advice, descriptions, and methods
in this book are presented solely for educational purposes. The author
and publisher assume no liability whatsoever for any loss or damage that
results from the use of any of the material in this book. Use of the material
in this book is solely at the risk of the user.
Copyright© 2011 by
PennWell Corporation
1421 South Sheridan Road
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74112–6600 USA
800.752.9764
+1.918.831.9421
[email protected]
www.FireEngineeringBooks.com
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www.pennwell.com
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National Account Executive: Cindy J. Huse
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Managing Editor: Marla Patterson
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Production Editor: Tony Quinn
Book Designer: Susan E. Ormston
Cover Designer: Karla Pfeifer
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Brennan, Christopher (Christopher M.)
The combat position : achieving firefighting readiness / Christopher
Brennan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59370-249-6
1. Fire extinction--Vocational guidance. 2. Fire prevention--Vocational
guidance. 3. Fire fighters--Psychology. I. Title.
TH9119.B74 2011
363.37023--dc22
2011000911
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording,
without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
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T his book is dedicated to my son Liam Donovan Brennan. It
is every father’s dream to have an amazing son; my dream has
been realized. This book is written as much for you as for my
brothers and sisters in the fire service.
v
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Contents
Acknowledgments ......................................xi
Introduction: A Combat Position......................... xv
1 The Mission, Virtues, and Values of a Fire Service Warrior .... 1
9/11 and Our Mission.................................. 6
Where “Everyone Goes Home” Goes Wrong ............... 7
The Warrior Ethos ................................... 14
Virtues and Values ................................... 16
Honor........................................... 20
Courage ......................................... 21
Duty............................................ 22
The Values of a Fire Service Warrior..................... 25
Respect.......................................... 25
Integrity......................................... 26
Loyalty.......................................... 26
Justice........................................... 27
Selflessness....................................... 28
Self-Confidence................................... 29
Self-Control...................................... 30
Living with Honor, Courage, and Duty................... 31
The Fire Service Warrior .............................. 34
2 You Want Me to Do What?.............................. 39
Physiology.......................................... 42
The nervous system................................ 43
Metabolic effort................................... 45
Heat stress ....................................... 47
The vestibular system .............................. 49
Psychology ......................................... 52
Conquering the fight or flight response................. 55
Contact front! .................................... 56
“We’re going to be in the Hudson”.................... 58
Don’t panic ...................................... 59
Rehearsals ....................................... 61
Controlling your heart rate .......................... 64
Sleep Deprivation.................................... 65
Acute and chronic sleep deprivation .................. 66
Sleep cycles and sleep inertia ........................ 67
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead” ........................... 69
Thriving......................................... 71
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viii  The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness
3 The Foundation: Physical and Mental Preparation .......... 77
Physical Preparation.................................. 78
Training for the physical battle....................... 80
NFPA 1582 and 1583 .............................. 82
Candidate Physical Ability Test ...................... 83
Peer Fitness Trainer Certification Program.............. 84
Fitness movements................................. 84
Measuring your progress............................. 88
Mastering physical readiness......................... 89
Fireground Rehabilitation ............................. 91
Dehydration...................................... 93
Mental Readiness.................................... 95
Put your game face on .............................. 96
Acute stress and posttraumatic stress disorder ........... 98
Psychological first aid.............................. 102
Resiliency—avoiding intervention................... 104
Stoicism........................................ 105
Choice and self-control............................ 109
The Ready Position ................................. 113
4 The Fundamentals: Tactics, Techniques, and Guidelines .... 117
Strategic Objectives................................. 119
Operational Priorities................................ 120
Size-up ......................................... 121
Call for help..................................... 126
Save life ........................................ 128
Cover and contain................................ 129
Ventilate ....................................... 130
Extinguish ...................................... 130
Overhaul ....................................... 131
Salvage......................................... 131
Riding Positions and Tool Assignments.................. 132
Engine company roles and responsibilities ............. 133
Truck company roles and responsibilities .............. 140
“But we don’t have a truck!”........................ 147
Situational Awareness and Disorientation................ 147
The elements of situational awareness ................ 149
Relative safety ................................... 151
Disorientation ................................... 152
Training situational awareness....................... 154
It’s a Team Sport.................................... 157
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Contents  ix
Standard Operating Guidelines as Incident Action Plans ... 160
Operating modes ................................. 161
Offensive ....................................... 162
Defensive to offensive ............................. 162
Defensive....................................... 164
No-attack....................................... 166
The first 15 minutes............................... 166
5 Fireground Tactical Decision Making .................... 171
The Apprentice Fire Service Warrior ................... 173
The log book .................................... 174
Becoming the journeyman.......................... 177
Seeing the Whole Picture ............................ 178
Recognition primed decision making ................. 180
Fireground Tactical Decision Making ................... 183
The Boyd loop and combat decision making ........... 185
Laying the foundation............................. 190
Beyond the Loop: Boyd Theory on the Fireground......... 197
Boyd theory for the fire service warrior................ 199
Boyd theory at the company level.................... 201
Boyd theory at the incident command level............ 203
Developing Fireground Tactical Decision Making Skills .... 204
Hotwash........................................ 206
Mental rehearsals................................. 209
6 Making the Turn ..................................... 213
The Warrior Class .................................. 219
Looking to the East ............................... 220
Go tell the Spartans............................... 222
Modern warriors.................................. 224
Making the Turn.................................... 228
Uncertainty ....................................... 230
The ready position................................ 231
Rituals and Routines ................................ 234
The morning ritual ............................... 235
The dispatch ritual................................ 237
Accountability................................... 239
Appendix: The Fire Service Warrior’s Reading List ........... 243
Index ................................................. 249
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