You don't know, what you don't know

I'm in the middle of a heavy research cycle.  I go through phases where I just let information flood in and then ruminate on it for weeks to years before the light bulb over my head turns on and I say, "Got it... here is how it all ties together."  This week though a couple of things landed in my lap all at the same time.  First, there was an excellent video, featuing Kathryn Schulz about the very human act of being wrong.



Then I started reading Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales.  I am still working on it but I was struck but a key point: We rarely interact with the world the way it is really occurring but with our perception of the world.

Our ability to "know" what is going on revolves around our expected mental picture of what is happening around us.  We simplify exceeding complex systems to a level where we can frame them for our understanding... EVEN IF WE ARE WRONG.  A fact that Gonzales comes back to over and over again is that those who find themselves in trouble (life and limb threatening events) often did not anticipate that they could find themselves in that kind of trouble.  They assumed everything would be okay, or worse they planned for a minor problem and in having a contingency plan for that minor issue they assumed they could handle ANY problem.  I have seen very little planning in the fire service for CATASTROPHIC failures.

Frank Brannigan said it for years, "Every sailor in the U.S. Navy is trained to abandon ship," how many of us are training on making a tactical retreat from a building?  How many of us are training our folks where mid-fire attack they air horns start sounding and they have to get out Now?

I've drawn parallels to our trade and that of members of elite military units before.  One of the things that makes the small unit tactics of the US Navy SEALs so effective is that their mission planning drives into dozens of "what if" scenarios for every possible contingency and failure point.  They examine their options if they find themselves in contact with the enemy during insertion, if they find themselves in contact when extracting, if they lose radio contact with their support elements, if they become separated during a movement or when in contact with the enemy and dozens of other small and large failures.  What this does is set up a mental model that ENCOURAGES mental AGILITY.

So, does your mission planning take into consideration all the possible failure points, or just enough minor ones to give you a false sense of confidence?  Do you use SOME those hundreds of hours you spend in the fire house working out with your partner, your company, and your battalion what to do when things go wrong?  It's an old military maxim that no plan survives first contact with the enemy; we need to figure out before we ever get on the Engine or Truck plans B, C, and D if we want to give our personnel the mental agility to adjust for a rapidly deteriorating situation.

I'm Batman

Growing up I always thought Batman was the coolest superhero around, probably because there was nothing "Super" about him.  Batman has no special powers.  He was not born on a distant planet and sent to earth as the last living representative of his people.  He did not become changed because of the bite of a radioactive spider.  Batman is Batman for one reason: he choose to be Batman.  We all know the origin story; young boy watches parents shot dead, commits himself to a life of vigilantism in a corrupt and decaying city, fights against common criminals and a series of maddeningly crazy foes. Batman simply used a combination of family wealth and intense personal dedication to training to forge himself into an elite crime fighter with a key sense of critical thinking and a never quit attitude.  Oh, and he has all those wonderful toys.

I'm not actually Batman.  I do not have a loyal Butler who has stood by my side since I lost my parents as a young boy.  I do not have a massive cave beneath my stately manor which houses my crime fighting tools.  I do have a nemesis, but he's more of a Frank Burns sort of guy than he is the Joker, even if I think he's crazy.  But, could I be Batman?  Could you? 

Standing in the store the other day, waiting in a line, I overheard a young boy say to his father and brother, "I want to be a superhero!"  His father said, "Boy, you ain't got no powers, you can't be a superhero.  You can be a fireman, they save people lives."  Now, I probably would have let my four year old have the fantasy that he could have been a superhero, after all whimsy plays a big role in creative thought, but I was really struck by the Dad's implication.  You may not be able to be a superhero in the sense of having supernatural powers but you can become a hero by saving lives.  I loved the fact that the example he gave first was "You can be a fireman."  That is what the general public, standing in a Game Stop, waiting to trade in a used video game thinks, "If you want to try and be a superhero, be a firefighter."  I didn't have on anything that indicated that I was a firefighter, so it's not even that the man thought "Hey, I'll give that "guy a compliment."  His first, primal reaction to trying to tell his young son how to become a hero was, "You can be a fireman."

So, what's it going to be?  Are you going to try and be Batman, or are you going to be Frank Burns?

Frank Burns was the Major on M*A*S*H (the TV Series not the movie) who was always trying to foil Trapper and Hawkeye's fun.  He was all about sticking to the rules, no matter how stupid they seemed in the middle of a War Zone, not because he believed in the importance of the rules but because he didn't want to get in trouble.  Trapper and Hawkeye would do all kinds of crazy things like wearing Hawaiian Shirts and Bathrobes or building a still  in their tent,  but they would also break the rules and go out in a jeep to save someone when everyone else had given up on them.  Most importantly they were the best surgeons in the camp.  Whether it was Col Blake or Col Potter running the 4077 Trapper and Hawkeye got away with their hi-jinks because they were the best.

So, are you going to be Frank Burns, making sure that you cover your own rear first and foremost?  Nobody ever looked at their kid and said, "You know if you try really hard you could be like that Frank Burns guy."

Or, are you going to do everything in your power to live up to that idea that we are (in the eyes of the public) the closest thing to superheros out there.  I'm not a superhero.  I am a man who spends a lot of hours committed to learning, physical training, and preparing myself to perform at MY peak on the fireground.  There are certainly stronger weightlifters, faster runners, better Truckies, and better writers out there, but I am committed to being better than I was before.

More New Adventure Stuff

As I mentioned the other day I will be a host for Fire Engineering's Blog Talk Radio programming.  I will be working with PJ Norwood.  PJ is an Assistant Chief with the East Haven, CT Fire Department and co-presenter of the DVD Tactical Perspectives: Ventilation with Frank Ricci.  Our first show will be on May 4th.  You can find us by going to www.blogtalkradio.com and searching for Fire Engineering.  There is excellent content on every day starting at 7:30 Eastern/6:30 Central/5:30 Mountain/ 4:30 Pacific and you can subscribe to get the archived shows via iTunes.

Also, I am now blogging under the National Firefighter's Journal page over at Fire Engineering under the title of "A Culture of Excellence."  That blog will be some different thoughts and perspectives about reducing firefighter injuries and line of duty deaths.  Check it out. 

A Historical Monday

We are taking a hiatus this week from posting a new Video Blog.  I'll have a new one next week though.  What I thought I would do is throw in a link to an old TV Pilot from the 1950's called Chicago 2-1-2.  A big hunk of it is set in the Fire Alarm Office.  It's a cool trip into the past. 

Just a few training bits

I don't normally post a bunch of links, but I thought today would be a good day to point folks toward some of the things I read on a regular basis.  Give a look, leave some comments, and tell me what YOU are reading.  Rememeber you can follow me on Twitter here and participate in the discussion with the hastags #FSWFitness #FSWTraining and #FSWMindfulness.

FITNESS
www.SEALFit.com
www.CrossFit.com
www.StartingStrength.com
http://robbwolf.com/

TRAINING
www.FireEngineering.com 
http://www.hooks-irons.com/
http://ironsandladders.com/
http://firefighterspot.com/ 

MINDFULNESS
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070 
http://www.how-to-meditate.org/
http://www.tm.org/
http://www.lawofficer.com/article/magazine-feature/mental-preparation
http://killology.com/sheep_dog.htm










 

New Adventure

Tonight Fire Engineering is launching their new BlogTalkRadio series.  Nightly starting at 7:30PM Eastern Time various members of the Fire Engineering Community will be hosting regular radio shows at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fireengineeringtalkradio ... including ME. 

I will be on the show this evening talking about my show, "A Combat Position."  We will be talking about all of the aspects of being Combat Ready.  Check out the show tonight and call in if you want to talk with Bobby Halton, Mike Dugan, Rick Lasky, John Salka, or even me.  Cheers.

Video Blog Episode 14

I think we can reduce Line of Duty Death's 75%.  You in?



Remember to follow me on Twitter if you want to track what I do for Fitness and Training.

Speaking of Culture Change (AGAIN)....

The May 2011 issue of Accident Analysis and Prevention contains an article titled "Line-of-duty deaths among U.S. firefighters: An analysis of fatality investigations" by Kumar Kundharaju, Todd Smith, and David DeJoy.  In their analysis of 189 NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigations the authors examined causes of Medical and Trauma related fatalities and partially examined the relevance of culture in the American Fire Service and the impact of culture on the occurrence of firefighter LODD.

The article is an interesting one and it raises several key points and identifies four high order causes of firefighter fatalities.

• Under Resourcing
• Inadequate Preparation for/Anticipation of adverse events
• Incomplete adoption of ICS
• Sub-optimal Personnel Readiness

I read this article with a thought in mind..."No, S%^&".  This article is really a formal (if limited) analysis of fatality data that affirms everything that I talk about.  If you embrace the Ethos statements of the Fire Service Warrior you will solve or identify the weaknesses that are bringing about injuries and Line of Duty Deaths.

The article is a good read and provides food for thought.  If you don't want to spend the $42.00 to buy the article go to your library and they should be able to get you access.  To me it really provides some referenced work about why it is so important that we develop an elite level of fitness, use our PPE, and train our people to a level where they are so proficient that they CANNOT get fundamental fireground skills wrong.

Quick thoughts

Just wanted to take a moment and share that my article "Fireground Tactical Decision Making" is in April's Fire Engineering.  Also, and article I wrote on Situational Awareness will appear in the June Issue so keep your eyes open for that.

We are continuing to book classes through www.Spartan-Concepts.com.  If you are interested in hosting a class please email info@spartan-concepts.com for a quote and to schedule a date.

Starting in June I will be delving much deeper in the ideas of developing a fitness programming model for Fire Service Warriors that I am calling FSWFitness.  It will be designed to help YOU achieve your ideal physical capacity.  We are in the beta testing phase now and will be rolling out soon.

Hope everyone has been practicing their Meditation and started to work on Visualizations.  Cheers

Video Blog Episode 13

Episode 13 of our Video Blog is all about Visualization.  Visualization is a powerful tool, especially when used along with meditation.  Watch the Video all the way through the first time, then use it as part of a guided meditation to work on programing positive mental actions if you find yourself in a MAYDAY situation.

Something Doesn't Look Right Here....

Interesting Size-Up Video



I came upon this video and thought it was worth a discussion.  We don't often get video of before the fire department arrives.  I have a question here, and if someone sees something I don't please tell me.

I see a four story apartment building, at least 8 units, with a free burning vented fire on the first floor.  There are occupied apartments on the upper floors (we can see the lights are on).  I see a main entrance door in the middle of the building.  One would expect that there are scissor stairs (or possibly straight run stairs if there are two apartments to a side) that run all the way up.  What I don't understand is why we attack this fire from the front porch.

The responsibility of the first line is to protect the interior exposures and secure the stairwell.  There very well may be occupants above this fire.  Knocking it down from the front porch MAY lead to a quick darkening down, but it still neglects a major tactical point of protecting the stairs.

I'm seriously wondering if I'm missing something here, so if you see anything please chime in.

Cheers

Using Meditation as a Game Changer,

Monday's video was about the importance of meditation.  Today I'm going to explore some meditation techniques, provide some resources, and talk about using your meditation as a game changer to improve your fireground performance.  For the Fire Service Warrior we learn to meditate so that we can learn to control the primal survival centers of the brain and to quiet the ego. 

The Ego can be a powerful motivator but it is also a powerful distraction.  The Ego is that piece of your psyche that says "I want."  Sometimes we get confused and think it says "I will," or "I can," it does not.  The Ego motivates as well as distracts because of WANT, because of DESIRE, because it COVETS.  It will find the easiest way to satisfy it's drives because in addition to being a desirous creature it is also a lazy creature.  How many people have you met in life who have said, "I want to exercise more,"?  It's a common refrain heard around New Year's each year.  How many of those same people establish a habit of excellence and achieve that goal?  Very few.  Why?  Their Ego came in and said, "Come on, we don't have time for this," or "You ran yesterday there is no reason for you to workout today; you are doing better than you did before," or "Well, you are feeling a little achy and tired you should take the rest of the week off."  The problem really is that the Ego Desires things (particularly comfort and luxury) but it does not Aspire to anything.  Aspiring to become something or to achieve something is a far more powerful motivator that desiring something.  I think that's because when we aspire we see the Virtue and Value in or goal and recognize it will improve us.  When we desire something it is the next "bright shiny object" and when something comes along that the Ego covets more than the current desire we toss aside the old object for the new. 

In order to be able to thrive on the fireground we have to quiet the Ego.  If the Ego is about comfort and luxury then it is out of place on the battleground of a working fire.  You will have to willingly and with clear focus do things that engage your Sympathetic Nervous System.  You will work to the extremes of physical effort.  You will likely confront situations that tax your emotional resilience.

Learning to Meditate teaches us to quiet the Ego; it teaches us to be 100% present in the moment.  Think about the modern fireground.  With the changing nature of fire behavior and it's effects on building construction we have mere seconds to recognize changing conditions before they have developed to the point we cannot control.  The inside of a structure fire DEMANDS 100% attention to be given to the firefight if we hope to maintain Situational Awareness, the ability to make relevant and timely decisions, and maintain company integrity.  Learning to Meditate can help us train our minds to achieve this goal.  Once we become adept at learning to quiet the Ego we can then use the skills of Visualization, Mental Rehearsal, and positive Self-Talk to program our responses for challenges that we anticipate.

Here is how I learned to Meditate.
I find a quiet spot, someplace where there are no distractions (the phone is turned off, the TV and Computer aren't factors, no one is going to come in and ask me to do anything).

I sit down or lie down in a comfortable position.

I close my eyes and begin to breathe slowly and deeply.  I use my diaphragm to breathe: my belly fills with air rather than my chest.  This allows a deeper more controlled breathing.  The belly should expand and "fill" on the in breath and completely collapse to expel the old air on the out breath.

I allow my body to relax; starting at my feet and working my way up to my shoulders I will contract the muscles of my body and then on an exhalation release the muscle.  This helps is releasing tension and quieting the aches and pains of the day.

I then begin to count my breaths.  Start with a four count breathing.  Inhale for a count of four, pause for a count of four, exhale for a count of four, pause for a count of four.  By counting your breaths you accomplish two things: 1 - you give the mind something to do (the old "boil water trick") and 2 - you practice Tactical Breathing that can aid in restarting your cognitive processing if you find your SNS gaining primacy.  It becomes a true reminder that you must find a calm sense to accomplish your mission.

At times a thought will pop into my mind, "What will I make for dinner," or "Oh, I need to finish that project," I simply think "Noted, I will deal with that later."  The key is to become aware of the distracting thoughts, acknowledge it, and then move on.  I found when I started learning to meditate I was constantly overwhelmed by extraneous thoughts, now I notice that if I start to have a distracting thought it actually disturbs my breathing.  So I refocus on the deep, rhythmic breathing and I can clear the distraction.

I usually set a timer on my phone for the amount of time I want to mediate.  Occasionally I will use a guided meditation to work on my visualization or relaxation skills.  Other things that can be helpful:

• Turn on some kind of soft instrumental music.
• Use a candle as a point of focus if you are unable or uncomfortable sitting with your eyes closed.
• Set aside the same time every day to practice meditation.

Set a goal for yourself that you will spend 21 days working on your meditation.   It is generally acknowledged it takes 21 days of repetition of a skill set to ingrain or change a habit.

I have mediated for nearly 20 years now.  I have changed my meditative practice to now include post work-out meditation (so I develop the ability to find tranquility when I am physically wrung out), mediation and mantra usage during workouts to reduce the noise of my body wanting to stop, and I continue to use mediation during times of quiet reflection to work on mental rehearsal and programing positive actions.

If you can find a workshop or class I think that is an excellent starting point.  Whether you take a class or not I would check out the local library to see about finding a book, or some guided meditation CDs.  I download the Meditation Society of Australia's podcast through iTunes to use quite often.  Their podcasts include a lecture and guided meditation.

Some other resources are:
http://www.how-to-meditate.org/
http://www.themeditationpodcast.com/
http://www.meditationcenter.com/
I don't use these resources but I offer them as suggestions.  Like anything use the wonders of Google to find a resource that works for you.

For the more advanced practitioner I would recommend looking into the articles that are available on www.SEALFit.com. If you sign up for their newsletter you get access to a great lecture on the "Unbeatable Mind".  It's good stuff. 

Good luck in your practice.  We will get into visualizations and then mental rehearsals in coming videos and articles.  Cheers.

Video Blog Episode 12

Here is Episode 12 of the video blog.



Remember that meditation is a skill that can be learned.  I highly recommend finding a workshop or teacher to learn from if you have never practiced meditation before.  For those of you with some exposure to the practice a guided meditation CD/Podcast/Video is an effective way to work on the skill.

This is NOT an April Fools Post.

I want to take up the topic of exploring the ideas I brought up in my article Four Dimensional Firefighting.  We are forging a Fire Service Warrior culture through this website, and I hope through those people who read, study, and apply the work I did in The Combat Position: Achieving Firefighter Readiness.  I am going to be 100% honest with my readers and say that these posts are about trying to learn how to articulate a very personal process that has been part of my life since I was right out of high school.  Nearly two decades later I feel like I have a deep enough understanding to begin expressing it.  I'm not sure exactly how to teach you how to practice these skills, but I hope we will discover that together along the way.

Ultimately the objective of looking at Four Dimensional Firefighting is to improve the capacity of the individual Fire Service Warrior to operate on the fire ground.  It is about embracing our duty as a spiritual quest as much as anything else.  I've looked at Western Culture and Eastern Culture for a long time.  I've read hundreds of philosophical essays and I've read tens of thousands of pages on both Fire Department Strategy and Tactics and Military Strategy and Tactics.  What I have found is this: those cultures (regardless of their hemisphere of origin) that have embraced the spiritual elements of success in combat speak about doctrine and guidelines; cultures that ignore the spiritual talk about technology and procedures.

Procedures are rote skills that we expect our people to accomplish.  Task A must be completed using steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.  Guidelines on the other had are more general descriptors of what End State we want to reach and allow the individual Warrior to accomplish it has he or she sees fit.

Let's use the donning of an SCBA as an example.  When we take new candidates into our recruit academies we give them a Skill Sheet, a Procedure, to follow.  Step 1, turn the cylinder valve on; Step 2, grasp the back plate of the SCBA and lift; Step 3, allow the SCBA to slide over your arms and into position on your back.  The Procedure is important to Teach a Skill that we want to Measure the students ability to achieve.  With the guideline however we give the Warrior an End State we want achieved. "In 30 seconds be fully encapsulated and ready to go 'on air' to enter the fire building."  We don't have to say How to accomplish the task.

I have been trying to figure out WHY despite the decline in structure fire responses our Line Of Duty Death and perhaps more significantly our Fireground Injury rates are not declining.  I realized that key problem the other day looking at an inflatable shelter system covered in signs saying "Command", "Safety", "Rehab", and "Accountability".  We have totally lost the Spiritual side of the American Fire Service.  We invest in technology; we invest in signs, vests, and accountability systems.  We fail to invest in the Warrior though who will go into harms way.  Far too many departments will gladly drop hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the newest, prettiest: Engine, SCBA, Turnout Gear, etc.  Yet I see those same departments cutting their Training budget as an acceptable way to "do more with less."

We need to embrace a long held view of the United States Special Operations forces: "Equip the man; Do not man the equipment".  We have been putting our energy in the wrong place.  We have focused on manning the equipment.  Far too often our selection and assessment tools that determine if an individual has the ability to learn this trade are focused on meeting an arbitrary standard.  We spend our finite budget on technological solutions and on procedures because they are easy to grasp.

That is why I keep exploring this Fire Service Warrior ideal.   We have to start "Equipping the man".  We must hire the best and brightest, who have drive and clarity of vision about their duty, and then train them until they CANNOT FAIL.  Look at what members of the United States Special Operations Command do all over the globe: with minimum support, minimal oversight, and at times using indigenous weapons and equipment they DOMINATE on the modern battlefield.  Why?  Because they only select into the fold those who will make the selfless choices, who will train not until they get it right but until they cannot get it wrong, who will be guided by their mission and their ethos.

The time has come for the American Fire Service to return to its roots, to our sense of DUTY, but to add in a cultivated, tangible Spiritual Essence if we are going to improve.  Those who want to learn and excel will.  Those who are afraid of these ideas will express hatred and dismay at the very idea.  If you are sitting at your desk, at the kitchen table, or in the recliner reading this know that our time is now.  Ignore the naysayers, do not allow the fearful to dissuade you from striving EVERYDAY for excellence

Monday we are going to talk about Meditation and a means of practicing it.  Cheers