Can you…can your crew…can your departments’s firefighters turnout quickly, go through the lock on a commercial occupancy, pop a car door that’s partially submerged in water upside down, make a burning structure look like a ladder maze, put the throw bag on a victim getting flushed downstream, or disentangle an arm from a snow blower?  The list goes on and regional differences such as snow or water come into play when training.

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Have you ever noticed or heard about instances where training is of second hand importance to the budget, video games, recliners, and basket weaving (ok, the last one was over the top)?  But, on the other hand, there are a lot of firefighters pushing the envelope in the training and operations arena by finding new ways to use technology to get a message out, building a realistic prop, or simply getting back to the basics by humping hose, throwing ladders, and beating on block and mortar in a not so routine way.  Which arena are you in?  Training is tough work and it takes some effort to keep the cranium innovative, however, the resources are endless in today’s fire service.

There is no way one training site, blog, company, or school can cover it all.  Get on Facebook, Twitter, a blog, a website, or all of the above for a training idea to prevent A.I.R. (ass in recliner) syndrome.

Another symptom to the A.I.R. syndrome is firefighter fitness.  Some state troopers have to maintain a certain fitness level, some private sector organizations require certain fitness levels, but the fire service is different…  We can help one another by getting in better shape for the job we do by establishing greater expectations.  How many firehouses have gyms?  How many get used?  Do you need a personal trainer?  Do you need a cause?  Here are a couple causes to get on board with if that’s what it takes:

Take care of yourself and each other.

Pass it on!