Send us a text Race Week! I'm heading to Lincoln, Nebraska for a 78 mile gravel race and this week has been jam packed. Today alone I bough a new truck, took the truck and camper to the shop to get the hitch adjusted, then sold my old truck to Carmax. Since I still can't manage my time, this week is a repost of one of the most popular episodes. Enjoy, share, rate, and review. If you're really motivated please find the Buy Me A Coffee button and show your support that way! Thank you! Testing, Int...
Aug 22, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 183
Send us a text If you give a firefighter ten bucks he'll ask you if you have a 20. It's in our nature to want more, ask for more, and not be satisfied with what we're given. But when it comes to your fitness, the buck stops with you. This company started as a fitness company and expanded to be a firefighter lifestyle brand. That does not afford a zero fault relationship with fitness vs the fire service. The 4th Shift is all about the things you do above, and next to your career to make you more ...
Aug 14, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 182
Send us a text Stuff gets weird quick when a promotable position is on the line. Friends become competition and a surprising amount of emails get sent to 'all' I'm going over three things to do and one thing to avoid at all costs during promotional testing season. The move from Firefighter to Lieutenant or Captain is a big one and the stress and disruption that the test causes is a great indicator of that. Once that reading list gets posted, stuff is about to get weird. Support the show Affiliat...
Aug 08, 2024•24 min•Season 1Ep. 181
Send us a text Just because your back feels tight does not mean it needs to be stretched. That tightness could actually be a protective measure and here you come trying to stretch it out of existence! This is just one of the points touched on in this episode. Firefighters are quick to turn to stretching and the idea that getting more flexible is the answer for reducing injuries. But what if you need less stretching and more mobility? If you like the episode please share it with someone and visit...
Aug 01, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 180
Send us a text I almost had to throw someone out of the kitchen at work after witnessing some inappropriate behavior. I'd love your take on the situation. Then I'm talking about some frustrations I had when a friend came to me and showed me the workouts he was doing at his new gym. Firefighters love intensity and the fitness world is filled with people willing to pour it on and make you feel tired, even if it doesn't help you do your job better. But of course I leave you with some fundamental fr...
Jul 24, 2024•15 min•Season 1Ep. 179
Send us a text Slow down and make a good decision then be as aggressive as possible carrying out that plan. All out non-stop aggression can drive us head first into bad situations if our excitement puts blinders on our decision making. Firefighters only have so much information and a short time to make decision on scene, but you don't need to make it even harder on yourself by rushing. We're also in the first week of another 14-ish Not Too Difficult, and I give a brief overview of what that is a...
Jul 18, 2024•13 min•Season 1Ep. 178
Send us a text Of course it is, but how you do it is more important than when you do it. If nobody had a critical thought about how we do things, we might still be feeding horses and passing buckets. The fire service has come a long way and mostly by figuring out better ways to do stuff. If you're a newer firefighter this episode has some tips on the "right" way to talk about the weak points of your department. But beware that the wrong way will send a clear message that you're a 2-20 or an IKE....
Jul 11, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 177
Send us a text Take care of your own backyard isn't just a game I played in grade school with scooters and yarn balls. I've met a number of firefighters and coaches who teach and profess amazing things but when you talk to their people at their department it is a different story. Remember that the people who impact you are very far away but the people you can impact are incredibly close. Your fire chief, the city, NFPA and the State have no idea what you're doing but the people on your crew are ...
Jul 04, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 176
Send us a text "Be patient with us" and "I'm 4 years in and I still want to be mentored" these are the things the new hires of today are NOT telling us, but need us to know. The second half of this episode is arguably more important than the first half. I'm talking about handling people, knowing when to pull the eject handle on an issue, and how to juggle your old boss with your new one. Send this episode to an old guy. Support the show Affiliate links: Rescue1CBD Use code TAILBOARD for 15% off ...
Jun 27, 2024•31 min•Season 1Ep. 175
Send us a text You're right, these kids ARE different than years past. But everything is different. No more testing in auditoriums with 600 other candidates on one specific date and time. Much less need for people to do things that are risky, uncomfortable, or not fun, to get what they want. Get in the game old fella. You just might change the course of your department. Chances are these kids are going to run the show differently than you do now and in 20 years you may see some headlines you don...
Jun 20, 2024•16 min•Season 1Ep. 174
Send us a text I don't want to read another book, take another note, or practice another problem employee scenario ever again. After major events like probation, and promotional testing there is a brutal hangover. Achievement hangovers are a real thing and just like any hangover, we can take some measures to decrease the destruction, or at least limit how long we're useless. Structuring your studying, planning beyond the event, and having hangover measures in place will help us rebound faster an...
Jun 13, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Send us a text Nathan crashed his bike and tore up his wrist which ruined his plans for going to the pool later in the day. For most of us that would have ended our week but he just grabbed some toys and kept on having fun doing something else. We are so bogged down with things we have to do, and have a very short list of things we like to do. But building out your list, and algorithm of happiness can be a literal life safer for firefighters and emergency workers. Firefighters aren't good at doi...
Jun 06, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 172
Send us a text James Boomhower is a 20 year paramedic with the last ten being in the critical care field. Aside from that he is also finishing up is degree in clinical psychology and runs a mental health/ suicide awareness company named @stay_fit4Duty. Boomer does an excellent job presenting difficult material and topics because he can speak from experience and mixes in the right amount of clinical education. We cover topics like EMDR being the hot thing at the moment, the pendulum swing of peer...
May 30, 2024•42 min•Season 1Ep. 171
Send us a text No matter your rank, you will eventually asked to do more "Stuff". Whether that's run reports, EMS call review, training audits, lesson plans, or whatever other admin/clerical work needs to get done to keep the wheels moving. That stuff is part of the job, but for many it can also be the thing that ruins the job. Boundaries in the fire service are a weird thing and vary greatly depending on the setting and nature of the request. Refusing to pump an additional line is easy if you d...
May 23, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 170
Send us a text Raina (@shift.work.dietician) is a licensed dietician out of Edmonton that I wanted to have a chat with because of her consistently realistic approach to nutrition for shift workers. She is married to a first responder and when she saw the lame suggestions they were given to keep their diet and lifestyle in check, she new she could help the community. She provides very easy to digest (pun intended) information through her social media page as well as the courses and coaching she o...
May 16, 2024•46 min•Season 1Ep. 169
Send us a text How strong is strong enough? But first, what about when you can't, or shouldn't keep doing the traditional movements like squat and deadlift? Curt and I answer both of these topics with some stories from the gym and fire station and tips for making training work for you. We also throw out what we consider acceptable numbers for movements like push ups, pull ups, and lifting from the floor. Can you meet the standards or are you just sure that you can do it "if you really had to"? T...
May 09, 2024•38 min•Season 1Ep. 168
Send us a text The thought of CBD brings up a lot of opinions, feelings, and criticisms. To Jon Vought, the owner of Rescue 1 CBD they are all warranted and valid but he has information, science, and patience on his side. Jon has been a career firefighter for the past 16 years and after a significant surgery, he had an all too common experience and relationship with opioid painkillers. From that experience, he found CBD; the rest is history in the making. In this episode, we hit CBD from a bunch...
May 02, 2024•53 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Send us a text 150 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress. Changing a lightbulb in the department can take weeks, how can we change an operational policy or start a new initiative? Curt and I have been making small changes with big effects in our department and we're talking about how we've seen change happen and what can put a halt to it. Firefighters hate change and hate the way things are now so you're not going to please everyone, but if your changes seek to positively impact the membersh...
Apr 25, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 166
Send us a text We've all heard the rule of maintaining three points of contact when working on a ladder. Well, the same goes for your personal wellness. Sleep, nutrition, fitness, and behavioral health are the points of contact and each one that you don't have contact with increases your chances of falling off the ladder. In this episode I'm going outside of the box with my suggestions on each topic. We've all heard specific sleep tips, nutrition guidelines, and how many minutes we should work o...
Apr 18, 2024•28 min•Season 1Ep. 165
Send us a text Serve the public, contribute to the community, progress the department, the fire service is bigger than you, put your people first. But when do you come first? As your obligations, involvement, and family grow we end up with less and less that is just for us. We can be busy all day long and still feel like we got nothing done. But maybe that's because we got nothing done for ourselves. Todays episode is about finding something that is just for you. Firefighters are drawn to servic...
Apr 11, 2024•19 min•Season 1Ep. 164
Send us a text Firefighters hate two things, the way the things are now and change. Changing the fire service can be approached the same way you eat a whale, one bite at a time. Before we get into the details about thinking small for big results, there was a fantastic article on firefighternation.com titled The Aging Firefighter- Health and Fitness Considerations Throughout a Career, written by Alex Redshaw from O2X I'm hitting some of the bullet points of his article but go read it for the seco...
Apr 04, 2024•26 min•Season 1Ep. 163
Send us a text This week we spent spring break on the beach for our first camper trip of the year. Please enjoy this replay of my conversation with Stephanie White. Stephanie White is a full time firefighter with over 20 years of experience who works with an organization called the Beltane Guild to assist departments in creating and instituting pregnancy and postpartum policies and programs. She has presented along with the IAFF on the topic and Fire Engineering has given her the reigns of the F...
Mar 28, 2024•49 min•Season 1Ep. 162
Send us a text Have you ever been real busy, but also real engaged and productive? I have but I've also been stuck with a list of non-stimulating tasks that leave me paralyzed and stuck in neutral. This episode hits the pop psychology world by storm with the ideas of psychological momentum and a little look at executive dysfunction. Guess what, the fire service is full of people like us who could benefit from a little more regulation. Of course I can't just let you know about these things but al...
Mar 21, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 161
Send us a text This is the sort of week when I'm especially grateful for the awesome community of this podcast. I'm training for a massive gravel bike ride in August and prepping for our first big camper trip to Florida. So thank you for answering my Instagram question box and giving me some content topics for the episode. First I'm answering "What is one thing you want to learn about, on and off the job" and then I give you my preference between in-house training vs traveling to outside events ...
Mar 14, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 160
Send us a text Advice in the fire service is abundant, but GOOD advice is much more scarce. I went to the IG polls to ask about the best advice, and best compliment you've received. Firefighters are a critical, harsh, pessimistic bunch so when one goes out of their way to encourage, compliment, or offer good advice it can really stick in your head. I share your answers as well as some stories and examples of advice I've gotten and compliments that hit home. Than you and check out my affiliates. ...
Mar 07, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 159
Send us a text How much weight does seniority carry in your fire department, and how much carrying do the senior members do? Some departments have senior members who are bonafide recliner compressors while others use their senior membership as the backbone of the organization. Regardless of which one you're involved with, those senior firefighters are getting paid more and have more time off, which can be a major pain point for the junior contingent. Curt and I cover a bunch of aspects of this a...
Feb 29, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 158
Send us a text You have a long career, don't let a temporary inconvenience ruin other peoples perception of you. Firefighters have an expansive perspective of patient and incident outcomes but a terrible ability to look past our immediate discomforts. Finding someone who has been through what you're going through can save you from turning that inconvenience into a career defining event. If you were waiting for me to break out the Chinese proverbs, you're in luck. "Maybe so, maybe not, we'll see"...
Feb 22, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 156
Send us a text Making something look easy is one of the greatest flexes. Whether it's picking locks, being happy when you're not supposed to, flexing the seniority on the high hat badge, or tossing around the 4 inch when others are struggling. Take advantage of the flex but be ready for your turn on the short end. It's all in good fun so don't be afraid to laugh and get a little competitive. Also, I read some terrible advice about what to do when the public asks you about bad calls. Stop acting ...
Feb 15, 2024•20 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Send us a text The evergreen debate of performance over personal appearance. Sure, it's easy to say that the patient doesn't care how you look when they need you, but how about everybody else on scene or that gets to witness your unzipped boots, untucked shirt, and belly hanging out when you're on more 'routine' calls. Many departments have a minimum standard, for lots of things, and it is up to the individual if they're going to meet that standard, exceed it, or make your officer talk to you ab...
Feb 08, 2024•23 min•Season 1Ep. 155
Send us a text Is there anything more 'firefighter' than missing the most recent episode of a show because you worked on the wrong day? A listener issue was submitted and it asks about what to do when "more senior" members of the department refuse to rotate onto the ambulance. Curt and I have opinions on those people and how to handle the situation. Also I sent a horribly awkward video to Curt showing an "alpha dad" berating his kids into working out. Turns out he's a former firefighter and now ...
Feb 01, 2024•27 min•Season 1Ep. 154
