The Fire Asylum
(This weeks worthy concept)
(used with kind permission)
As most of you know, I'm ex Military and ex Cop. When you're in that line of work, you develop skills that are very specific to the needs and demands of your job. Those skills can become very diverse and adaptable - flexible if you like - dependent upon the circumstances you find yourself in. While it's true, we in the military/police received basic forms of firefighting education and training, there's no doubt, the real experts for emergency fire and rescue incidents are our Bothers and Sisters in the Fire Service.
But don't forget - THEY receive training too. As is true with any emergency service - if the education & training they receive is innovative and inspiring - if it motivates them to exceed, then we're in very safe hands indeed.
That's why Im proud to highlight this weeks 'cause' -
The Fire Asylum - and it's creator, Fire Captain Marty Mayes
Just look at the philosophy behind it's creation.
The unintentional maintenance of mediocrity has been the focal point of the fire service for the last several years. Many of us have worked diligently to move the fire service forward under the guise of safety and health initiatives. While we struggle to move respectfully from one line of duty death to the next, we have failed to acknowledge the embarrassing truth. The truth is that we have, as an industry, remained chained to a style of training that fosters flat work performance—we focus on new tactics without reconsidering training models or overall strategic approaches to fire. These tactics are accepted as a gospel and evangelized with vigor. They spread nationwide without enough regard to strategic relevance or the training models they should fit into. Indeed, too often fire departments do not have an overall training model into which these new tactics can fit properly.
Training is a subtle factor that deeply defines each fire department. When training is driven by the tactic of the day, the training program ceases to be a program—its purpose shrinks to the rote practice of the currently popular tactics. This narrow focus creates pendulum swings from incident to incident. Today, tactic A is a must, but next month tactic B may contradict it, and there is little framework for making meaningful decisions between them. At every switch, the goal is safety, but the required commitment to each new position on tactics make it a place of great peril, precisely because they are not integrated into the training program as a whole. Eventually, inherent perils lead to more casualties, more evaluations, and a new round of must-do tactics—and the pendulum swings again. We are never in balance.
The true place of balance for us is in our calling, our natural desire to be firefighters. We need to train our native capacity for evaluating and managing fire regardless of particular tactics. This is why I created the Fire Asylum™. The Asylum is a place for firefighters to learn in an environment that is true to our personality types. Every incident is a riddle to be solved, independent of regional tactics. Here, understanding and developing your inner riddle-master is equally important as understanding your inner warrior. Our Crucible-based academics™ are designed not only to embrace our calling but to inspire it.
used with kind permission
(If you see this man - give him a hug! Blame me - he'll understand)
Capt. Marty Mayes is a 25 year veteran of the fire service, with experience in police, EMS and private security. He has long since had a passion for training.
Please make yourselves familiar with his site, his concept and the refinement it offers.
Remember
The Guardians are make believe - THIS is real-life.
It's good to know we're in safe hands
"Remember the fallen, Cherish the living. Honor the crucible."
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