A mayday is enough to send chills down a firefighter’s spine. For several years, Don Abbott’s “Project Mayday” has collected recordings of the radio traffic that precedes a mayday in an effort to find out what causes them so they can be prevented. Hear about what Don’s learned so far in this episode.
Ben Vernon was a seasoned San Diego firefighter who was on top of his profession when he encountered unexpected trouble on a run: He was stabbed, nearly fatally, by a one-time prison knife fighter. How he recovered and beat PTSD to get back to work, on this episode of Code 3.
Finding and keeping volunteer firefighters is a challenge these days. For her doctoral thesis, firefighter Candice McDonald studied how successful departments do it and tells us what she found. They’re cheap or free ideas that you can apply to your recruiting and retention efforts.
Fighting a high-rise fire takes a considerable amount of pre-planning. Find out what guest Mike Terpak, a former Deputy Chief, says is important to plan for, and why he considers the elevator a “necessary evil” on this episode of Code 3.
We've all heard a million times that a 360-degree recon is a must at a structure fire, but what happens when you can't do one? Brian Butler has some real-world options.
The newest cars on the road are hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, and they require an understanding of how they operate on the part of firefighters who respond to crashes involving them. Expert Jennifer Hamilton explains how they’re different than other cars and what you need to know.
A no-way--out situation is different from a mayday situation, says guest John Cagno, because avoiding the no-way-out is a firefighter's own responsibility. Find out how he says they can be avoided.
John M. Buckman III gives us five tips we can use to become real leaders in the firehouse. They’re simple to apply and make an immediate difference in how you’ll be seen by other firefighters.
The Arizona Fallen Firefighter and Paramedics Memorial is nearly paid for; it was built without any taxpayer dollars. Find out from Chairman Rick DeGraw how much is still needed and how you can contribute.
Why don't fire departments spend more time training ICs to run Type 5 structure fires? Spokane Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer says it's time they did, and that simply letting officers learn on the job doesn't cut it.
If you like to visit firehouses while you’re on vacation, there are some unwritten rules of guest etiquette you may not think of—but just because you’re a firefighter, you shouldn’t feel like it’s okay to break them. Guest Justin Schorr reminds us of the rules good guests follow.
With the number of annual firefighter suicides now exceeding the number of LODDs annually, the crisis is being addressed in several ways that hold promise. Capt. Dena Ali of the Raleigh, NC FD has been studying the problem and explains some of the potential solutions.
If your diet seems like it’s slowing you down, you may want to try the Primal Blueprint. Firefighter Nick Holderbaum explains what it's all about and how to eat like your ancestors on this episode.
If you want a successful career in the fire service, you need to be prepared to do more than just go to a few seminars and training events. Billy D. Hayes, the chief program officer for the National Center for Fire and Life Safety gives us some tips on how to build a career –and a future – in the fire service.
Rope rescue technology has made some major leaps in the past few years, but training may be lagging behind. Bob Duemmel gives us some tips for effective rope rescue in this episode.
Social media is responsible for untold numbers of cases of SMACS –Social Media Assisted Career Suicides. Find out how to avoid killing your own career with some advice from Chief Marc Bashoor (ret.), who tells us in this episode when it’s time to just shut up.
When you live with your co-workers for 24-hours at a time, arguments are guaranteed to come up to come up. How you resolve them makes a huge difference to future relations. Dr. Liane Davey can show you how to argue without starting a war.
Live wrap up of the day's events from San Diego
Coverage from Tuesday's events at Firehouse World 2018 in San Diego
Day two wrap up from San Diego
It’s Monday and that normally means a Code3 episode. But this week, we’re in San Diego for firehouse World 2018. So we don’t have a show for you today. But tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, I’ll have live coverage from Firehouse World. Look for live video reports from the massive expo floor during the day, via Periscope. Then – at 6pm pacific 9 pm eastern, join me for a live wrap up of the days’ events. You can find it all at code3podcast dot com.
Code 3 will have three days of live coverage of Firehouse World 2018, with wrap-up shows March 6, 7, and 8 at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern, from San Diego.
Picking the right-size line and matching it to the right nozzle for the type and size of structure on fire makes a huge difference. Battalion Chief Curt Isakson gives us some tips on what to use and when.
The Art of Reading Smoke can make you job easier. It can also save your life. Deputy Chief Phil Jose from Seattle says that reading smoke can tell you a lot about how to fight the fire it’s coming from. *** Ever notice how there are Amazon links to order guests' book on the show notes pages at code3podcast.com ? When you order from Amazon on our site, we get a cut of the sale ... and you don't pay any more. So if you'd like to buy a book we've emntioned, please do it through our site. We have ot...
The strange sleep schedules firefighters have may be bad for their health, says Dr. Sara Jahnke. She offers some advice on how to counteract the negative effects of waking up several times a night to go on runs.
Mat Blankenship is a crusader in the fight to recognize concussions as a serious problem in the fire service. He believes they should be treated as a traumatic brain injury, not a minor inconvenience. After suffering a concussion himself during training, he began to study the effects and was surprised at what he found.
When Robert Avsec wrote a column for FireRescue1.com on the possible benefits of putting the company officer in the backseat of the rig, he had no idea that social media users would come out in (sometimes rude) force. He explains why he suggested the idea in this episode.
Firefighter Brian Gettemeier joins Scott on this episode to discuss what great engineers do that makes them so valuable. After all, if the fire department wanted a truck driver, they’d recruit from a truck-driving school. There’s a lot more to know and be able to do, Brian says, and he lists some of it in this show.
Paul Mobley is the photographer behind the new coffee-table book, “American Firefighter,” and in this episode, we talk with him about what it took to create the book. He traveled the country, meeting and photographing firefighters. Find out which stories impacted him the most.
Two segments in this show: A long-time volunteer firefighter, Captain Geoffrey Girodano at the Stevenson FD in Monroe CT, develops an advanced paging system for volunteers; and the Dante, SD Fire Chief Mike Kotab, talks about getting a new pumper/water-tender after 14 years of applying for grants.
