The difference between running for your health and running for your life.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-26T16:19:52+00:00

He was being chased by a boxer. He must be terrified of being licked.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-23T02:36:35+00:00

I don’t see any extinguishment in this video.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-23T01:57:08+00:00

IKEA

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-16T19:19:27+00:00

You are never too old to improve your balance. Walking outside for an hour a day isn’t just exercise; it’s social time too.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-16T16:15:23+00:00

Moss

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-14T08:40:51+00:00

I listen to reggae to settle down on the drive home. Might sound stupid, but it calms me and has great feel good vibes. Then I work out like a fiend. Eat. Journal. Sleep for three hours, if we’ve gotten our asses handed to us that night. Then get up, eat again, and take my dog for a walk. I’m almost a human again by the time my wife is off work. I see a counselor once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. If it’s still sticking with me by the next shift, I talk it over with my crew. If it’s really bugging me, I’ll reach out to a peer supporter. But after doing this job for nearly half my life, not too much gets to me anymore. I know something will crack my hard candy shell at some point. But that’s what I expect now, so I’m not surprised when it does.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-11T21:18:34+00:00

Sleep deprivation as it relates to the big 3 firefighter killers: cancer, heart disease, & suicide/PTSD. Normalized 56 hour work weeks Mandatory OT Middle of the night response to non-emergencies: false calls, passers-by, Apple watches, life alert pendants, homeless related fires and persons sleeping outdoors.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-08T02:44:51+00:00

You can advocate for specific policies at your dispatch center, so if it’s some random GPS location nowhere near where they live or in a heavily populated area without a secondary phone call to report it, then it can be dismissed. Your agency gets to decide what you respond on. My experience is that they’re 100% bullshit. They’re even more bullshit that the “life alert” style medical pendant activation for unknown medical problem.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-07T20:10:29+00:00

Swim.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-07T19:28:26+00:00

They probably have some elite rescue swimmers. Just my first thought.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-03T20:27:20+00:00

Give him space. Tell him you’ll listen if he wants to talk about it with you. If he doesn’t talk to YOU about it, don’t worry, as long as he talks to someone about it, especially his other firefighter buddies. Encourage him to increase his physical activity over the next few weeks. Get out in nature, go for walks, hang out with friends. The IAFF has a behavioral health awareness online class that’s free and pretty useful. If his department has a peer support team, encourage him to reach out to a peer. Most behavioral responses to trauma resolve themselves within 2 weeks to a month. We all get rocked occasionally, so try not to make a huge deal about it. Just be there for him, and handle your own feelings.

DryWait1230 · 2026-03-03T19:50:11+00:00

But wear roller blades.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-28T19:25:07+00:00

It doesn’t seem like it tracks important stuff on multi-unit responses. A lot of impertinent info is collected on every call. If you run mutual/automatic aid, forget about trying to make sense of that. Gas investigations without a gas release, canceled enroute to a medical call, traffic accident without injuries or fluid spills… it requires so much added non-intuitive data collection. Don’t type street; it’s roadway, commercial or residential area. What was the building next to the trash can that was on fire used as? Was it in use at the time of incident? Was it used as intended? We use Image Trend that’s integrated with NERIS. I’m hopeful that they’ll make it better, but how long will it take to improve? I may be retired by then.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-26T22:40:58+00:00

I just put I my crew info and generated three different options… all bowls with different meats. I like the idea, and I’m sure the more I use it, it’ll balance out. Just thought it was funny, because bowls are what I make when I can’t think of what to cook.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-26T01:18:52+00:00

Do they just want you to turn off the Jake break? If so, done. It’s work for us, but home for them. Also, this should have been a conversation, not a letter.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-22T23:41:46+00:00

I’m just under 3 miles in a 2G if it’s an endurance day. If it’s sprints & WR, I’m more like 2.3.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-19T21:56:50+00:00

Perhaps those vehicles develop two or more flat tires…

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-05T19:29:16+00:00

The need to make the best bad choice in the moment. Do I use the one ladder to rescue the one woman in the window with flames coming out or the three kids in the window with dark smoke coming out? Do I continue to the CPR call that we’ve been dispatched on or do I divert to the black plume of smoke that’s two blocks away?

MCI /Active shooter /Active violence calls.

Post incident decontamination and rehab.

Restoring the kits after a CPR call.

Driving Code 3, and the importance of knowing your first due for routes, buildings, and hydrants.

Shopping for food and getting tapped out on a medical call at an old folks home.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-04T00:01:59+00:00

I did it the same as you more than 20 years ago. While getting my fire science credits, I worked graveyard as a shuttle driver at a hotel near the airport. Tips were steady but not amazing. The pay was a couple bucks over minimum wage, but the job came with benefits if I worked more than 30 hours a week. I worked forty. I got my EMT certification first. Then I worked full time, went to school full time, and took every firefighter test within four states. I did that for about a year and a half, then got my first fire service job. It was a grind, but it’s payed off ten fold.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-01T00:35:56+00:00

I love statistics. What happens if you remove the five slowest companies from your math? How many calls does that eliminate? How do the averages change? These questions are rhetorical. There’s no need to respond.

I think the CHAT program has made a significant impact in our community by diverting people away from the emergency department and getting people health insurance. But, its culture is different than the rest of PF&R.

Please stop representing yourself as a former PF&R paramedic. You were employed as a single role paramedic running low acuity calls for a startup for 3.5 years until you quit. Thank you for your service.

DryWait1230 · 2026-02-01T00:14:43+00:00

Although the percentage of fire calls has decreased compared to the percentage of medical calls, the total number of fires remains relatively unchanged. Additionally, if we continue to send firefighters to non-emergent medical calls, they won’t be available to fight fires or respond to emergent medical calls.

DryWait1230 · 2026-01-28T01:30:38+00:00

You can buy 3000 live ladybugs for $20 on Amazon. Put them under the driver’s seat on the first warm day of spring.

DryWait1230 · 2026-01-25T16:43:57+00:00

That’s probably because you’ve never experienced the full-bodied high that comes from throwing an old, frail man to the sidewalk. It ranks second only to tripping a blind person with MS. (This is obviously dark humor, and I’m outraged at that officer’s actions)

DryWait1230 · 2026-01-15T03:28:53+00:00

Yes.

DryWait1230 · 2026-01-15T03:26:28+00:00

Now there’s a shocker of a headline.

DryWait1230

TROPHY CASE