Recruitment challenges continue to plague many fire departments, but there are simple ways to address the root issues head on – the key is knowing where to find the start button. Dr. Michael Cunningham, division chief for Cobb County (Georgia) Fire, helps members take those initial steps toward change. The chief also details how his department retooled their own hiring process. Plus, we dig into all of this: How a more transient workforce changes recruitment and retention efforts Inadvertent bar...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 210
It all started with a single question after transporting a kid battling leukemia: How can we do more? Kurt DeGroot noticed that the boy always perked up when firefighters responded to his home, so he asked the boy’s mom if the crew could stop by again sometime – make a big splash about it with the lights and sirens blaring, this time for fun. “These kids are always known as the sick kid, and now they get this badge of honor because they're buddies with the firefighters, right?” The idea took off...
Oct 24, 2024•58 min•Ep. 209
“We’re trying to make a difference wherever we can,” says West Chester (Ohio) Training Chief Trevor Frodge about the devastation he witnessed during a three-week deployment to North Carolina and Florida with Ohio Task Force 1, one of FEMA’s USAR teams responding to hurricanes Helene and Milton. Frodge describes his team’s assignments and shares an inside look at how USAR teams operate once on the scene. Plus, we dig into all this: Reaction to FEMA misinformation How to join a USAR task force The...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 208
Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal was recently named the IAFC’s Career Fire Chief of the Year – and there are a lot of reasons why. Chief Royal details some of the innovative programs happening at the department – a tiered EMS model, mental health support initiatives, a whole blood program, and a unique approach to PPE distribution and cleaning – plus what it’s been like to bring online two new stations and secure an AFG grant to support member health. We dig into all of this and more: Roy...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 207
Serving as IAFC president is a time-consuming job that requires a lot of travel – time away from the fire department. New president Josh Waldo reflects on how the initial angst of releasing the reins to others to shoulder more of the work at home in Bozeman, Montana, can become great pride in seeing those members succeed, even create new and improved ways to get the job done. It’s all part of the prioritization process needed to serve the department, the association and the fire service as a who...
Oct 03, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 206
“NOT. HERE.” Scottsdale (Arizona) Assistant Chief Eric Valliere gets fired up talking about preventing firefighter line-of-duty deaths because “it’s a passion to keep your people safe.” The problem is that too many people are losing the true meaning of safety, he says, underscoring that safety isn’t about backing off; it’s about making sure your members are set up for success. We dig into all of this, plus: Valliere’s fireground safety pet peeve The leadership “give a crap factor” The power of r...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 205
Trisha Wolford got her fire service start with the Anne Arundel County (Maryland) Fire Department, and 13 years later, she returned as its fire chief – a full circle moment that helped shape her perspective on leadership. Wolford details how she worked to build trust among the membership through transparency and making members feel heard. She also shares what it was like to be deemed a “DEI hire” while addressing some of the misconceptions about DEI efforts in the fire service. Plus, we dig into...
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 204
Zam and Janelle are trading places on this week’s show, with Zam in the hot seat to share some insights from his fire service career, as well as a peek behind the podcast curtain. Plus, we get into all this: Zam’s 30-something fire service origin story 5 lessons for new lieutenants His pre-fire service life involving bartending and cadavers – a bad combination New opportunities via the First Responder Center for Excellence Why everything comes back to the Wisconsin Badgers This episode of the Be...
Sep 12, 2024•58 min•Ep. 203
This episode of the Better Every Shift Podcast is sponsored by Verizon Frontline, the advanced network and technology for first responders. To learn more, visit verizon. com/frontline . The 2024 anniversary of 9/11 marks 23 years since the tragic events that forever altered the course of history and the landscape of public safety. As we move further from that fateful day, the significance of remembering and learning from 9/11 grows even more critical. For many, especially younger generations, 9/...
Sep 05, 2024•35 min•Ep. 202
It was “love at first flame” for Chief Clare Frank, who was first formally introduced to the fire service as a teenager, eager to get on the line, and whose passion for the work propelled her forward, as she rose from seasonal firefighter to fire chief at the Milpitas (California) Fire Department and, ultimately, CAL FIRE’s chief of fire protection. Frank’s love of firefighting is palpable throughout her book, “Burnt: A Memoir of Fighting Fire,” a detailed look at her winding path within the fir...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 201
In 2017, after experiencing headaches, Berkeley (California) Fire Captain Chris van Luen had an MRI that showed a pea-size tumor at the base of his brain. No one told him or put him on a monitoring program. Four years later, knowing his increased exposure to toxins, van Luen got a full-body MRI. As doctors shared the news that the tumor had quadrupled in size, the earlier detection was revealed to a shocked van Luen. While many would have been infuriated about the mistake, van Luen chose to move...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 200
“One thing I learned this year: Most other entities have to focus on their entity. Everyone has their niche. The IAFC is a federated model. We have to give a damn about everything .” Fire Chief John Butler highlights the unique qualities of the 150-year-old organization and how it reaches so many firefighters. As his presidency concludes this week at Fire-Rescue International, Butler reflects on his accomplishments, lessons learned and impactful moments from his tenure, and offers words of wisdo...
Aug 15, 2024•58 min•Ep. 199
For three years in a row, poor agency leadership has been flagged among What Firefighters Want survey respondents as one of the top negative impacts on the job, plus a major factor in retention challenges. How did we get here, and more importantly, how do we fix it? Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones, who tackled this issue in the newly released What Firefighters Want in 2024 report , argues that while you might not have caused the issue, it’s still up to the current fire service leaders to fix ...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 198
You’ve probably heard of “Carpool Karaoke,” but what about Carpool Command ? It’s one of many great training ideas shared by Laramie County Fire Authority Fire Chief Jason Caughey. Caughey offers insights on command training and tactics, plus how to create a command culture that’s baked into every part of training, even if you’re just driving around with your chief, singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” to get comfortable on the radio. And don’t miss all this: What it means to be a “bullfighter” chief The...
Aug 01, 2024•59 min•Ep. 197
Captain Kory Pearn is all about discovery, from reflecting on past health struggles to brainstorming new ways to support the fire service. It was during a challenging time in Pearn’s life where the discovery kicked into high gear, as his concept for a fire service lifestyle publication turned to “something that I just had to get out of me,” he says. The result: CRACKYL Magazine , a quarterly publication for which he now serves as publisher and editor-in-chief, focusing on helping firefighters ac...
Jul 25, 2024•55 min•Ep. 196
“This is arguably the most transformational project that has occurred in fire and emergency response maybe since America Burning was published and the Fire Prevention and Control Act was passed – and I don't think I'm being dramatic. This is big.” Chief Tom Jenkins clearly isn’t shy about the future impact of the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS), which will ultimately replace the legacy National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) – a shift that will impact every fire de...
Jul 18, 2024•59 min•Ep. 195
Post-9/11, there was an attempt to embed psychologists in firehouses, but that approach didn’t work, as the firefighters just ended up counseling the psychologists: “We realized that the magic was us … we’re the ones that keep each other going,” explains FDNY Captain (ret.) Frank Leto. And so began the expansion of the FDNY Counseling Service Unit for which Leto served for years as deputy director, building peer support teams to help other first responders through a variety of incidents beyond S...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 194
“It’s kind of surreal,” Joanne Rund says of her retirement from the Baltimore County Fire Department where she has served as chief for the past five years. But Rund isn’t done with her service mission. As she hangs up the helmet in Baltimore, she’s donning a new cap to serve as director of family programs with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. At this milestone moment, Rund reflects on everything from her early introduction to the fire service to that last major call – the Francis Sco...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 193
There has been considerable discussion about the pending consolidation of four PPE standards on clothing, work uniforms, SCBA and PASS devices into one PPE mega-standard: NFPA 1970. PPE expert Jeff Stull, president of International Personnel Protection Inc., shares the inside scoop on the likely changes to come based on a recent technical committee meeting. He also provides guidance on the unique standards update process and how the NFPA works to strike a balance between what’s best for the safe...
Jun 27, 2024•55 min•Ep. 192
Firefighter Philip Clark has been through some significant changes. At 38, he became a rookie for the second time in his life, despite having 20 years on the job. He went back to school to attain not one but two associate degrees. But most importantly, Clark took action to improve his health and lost nearly 100 pounds in the process. But making big changes doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Clark tapped into his support system and took a hard look in the mirror to identify his root issues. He shares so...
Jun 20, 2024•55 min•Ep. 191
As we approach the anniversary of the Sofa Super Store fire, we’re revisiting our conversation with Dr. David Griffin, assistant chief of administration in Charleston, S.C., who shared powerful lessons learned from the tragic fire in which nine of his fellow firefighters died. Griffin explains his initial resistance to change following the fire; discusses why so many members retired after the incident; opens up about the various coping mechanisms he tried following the deadly incident, including...
Jun 13, 2024•51 min•Ep. 189
The best words San Francisco Assistant Chief Nicol Juratovac heard when she got on the job 27 years ago were “interior offensive aggressive attack” – and she’s still advancing that mindset to her crews and students today. As she explains on this week’s podcast, when it comes to fireground tactics, Juratovac wants to dominate and smash the enemy (aka fire) with so much force that it has no chance of victory – and she does that by being a student of the game day in and day out, honing her skills o...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 188
“Does the job serve you, or do you serve the work?” Meridian (Idaho) Fire Chief Kris Blume wants us to consider our opportunity to serve the work every day, doing the things that don’t always get noticed because it’s the right thing to do in order to be excellent at the craft. But how do you engrain this mindset in the membership? It all comes back to culture. Blume talks all things culture change: the fire department culture diagnostic, the speed of change (from turning around a battleship to m...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 187
“It all happened really, really fast,” recalls Eric Linnenburger, who learned while working a 48-hour shift on a Friday that he had been chosen as interim deputy chief of operations, starting Monday . Linnenburger, who had been a battalion chief in Westminster, Colorado, for several years, now finds himself making perhaps the most jarring transition in the fire service – from line to admin. Fortunately, Linnenburger has long focused on career development, helping company and chief officers hone ...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 186
“This is one week we’re giving ourselves,” Captain Jim Barnhart of the FDSOA underscores about participating in the Firefighter Safety Stand Down – a unique opportunity for fire and EMS departments to collectively suspend non-emergency activity to focus on this year’s theme, Fire Training: Back to Basics. Joining Barnhart to dig into all the training resources are Deputy Chief Darin Wallentine from the IAFC’s Safety, Health and Survival section and Battalion Chief Grady Valencis from the IAFF, d...
May 16, 2024•54 min•Ep. 185
It was a “constant state of readiness” that contributed to the successful rescue of an unconscious victim from a structure fire – an incident that ultimately earned Hilton Head Island (S.C.) Fire Rescue FAO Brendan Horlbeck, Lt. Sean Kavlick and Battalion Chief David Bell the 2023 IAFC Ben Franklin Award of Valor. Bell, Kavlick and Horlbeck detail the incident response, plus get into all this: How a unique dispatch note was the difference between life and death The generational impact of a singl...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 183
“It’s about bells and whistles, but it’s also about smiles and connecting.” Another FDIC has come and gone, but our cohosts are joined by The Fire Store’s Amanda Keesey to talk conference highlights and which industry innovations garnered the most attention on the exhibit floor. Plus, we dig into all this: Emerging solutions for electric vehicle fires How the industry is leaning into health and wellness The demand for flashlights Additional resources: National Firefighter Registry (NFR) for Canc...
Apr 25, 2024•51 min•Ep. 182
The Better Every Shift team is at FDIC this week, so we’re reaching into the vault to re-release one of our favorite episodes. Battalion Chief Corley Moore talks all things fire service culture, toxic leadership and how to fight your way back from complacency. Chief Moore – founder of Firehouse Vigilance and host of the Weekly Scrap podcast – details his own evolution from struggling with complacency to now serving as a motivational speaker and instructor. Plus, we dig into all of this: Moore’s ...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 181
“ Our mission is to support you in your mission.” Eriks Gabliks, superintendent of the National Fire Academy, joins the show to talk all things NFA programs and goals, and to hear about Zam’s first time visiting the campus and experiencing NFA life. Gabliks knocks down the top excuses firefighters give for why they can’t attend the academy and details how the program is continually evolving in sync with fire service culture. Plus, we dig into all this: How the campus experience rejuvenates passi...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 180
“It’s about crew bonding and laughter in my firehouse – and apparently me being the butt of every joke.” Fairfax Firefighter-Paramedic Stephanie White details how she nurtures her relationship with her crew every shift, not just with laughter, but also by being vulnerable enough to have difficult conversations when needed. Plus, we dig into all this: How crews can best support a pregnant firefighter on the job Why the color of White’s hair can determine the potential for shift chaos How to creat...
Apr 04, 2024•58 min•Ep. 179
