I am only halfway through The Combat Position, Achieving Firefighter Readiness by Christopher Brennan, but I thought I would share my thoughts since there is so much to say about this fantastic book.   The Combat Position is a fluid read that addresses the mind, body, and spirit as it applies to firefighting warriorship.  The […]

Confidence is key to high performance. For women in the fire service, confidence can be elusive, but it is essential if we are to thrive (and not simply survive) on the fire ground.  Confidence gets ladders up.  Confidence tears doors down.  We need it to be our best, but ample obstacles exist.  It is challenging […]

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 I have heard […]

Many years ago I was in Israel visiting an archaeological museum perched high upon a dusty hill. There I came upon something that took me by surprise: dozens upon dozens of stone sarcophagi (carved and inscribed coffins) covered in images of women warriors fighting men in battle.  The women rode on horseback and fought with […]

My officer and I are rescue divers and awhile ago we pulled a person from a lake.  (I’m being vague for privacy’s sake.)  The call came in for a possible suicide attempt.  The lake was large and dark.  It was at night and we couldn’t see anyone.  Resources were called in.  Police and Fire were […]