1o Commandments of the FireFighter

#1 FALLING APART
When everyting is falling apart, it is my job to remain calm and find a solution.

#2 PPE
My personal protective equipment is my life. I will wash it and clean it, as I should, because it will save my life in my time of need if I care for it.

#3 TRAIN
I will train like my life depends on it, because it does, and so does my crew.

#4 FREELANCE
I will not freelance; I am a member of a team. I will stay with my team because my team is counting on me.

#5 DRIVE
I will drive responsibly to the station and to the scene. If I do not arrive safely, I cannot help anyone.

#6 SAFETY
I will consider safety in everything I do. If I die I cannot help the person(s) in need.

#7 CHAIN
I understand the chain of command and will respect it. I will follow my incident commanders' orders and inform him/her of the outcome.

#8 LEAVE
I will NOT leave my partner in a fire building unless it is to go get help. I understand his/her life is in my hands and I will not let him down.

#9 EDUCATION
I will continually educate myself about my job. I understand things change and I must learn new ways of dealing with them.

#10 HEALTHY
I will keep myself healthy and understand my physical and mental limits.

A friend of mine, Cary Lassiter, teaches Firefighter 1 to Volunteers at the Elmore County Firefighter Training Facility in Wetumpka, Alabama. He gives this lsit to his class when they start the course. I do not know where he got it, but I like it and find it very useful, especially for new Firefighters.

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Permalink Reply by John on January 24, 2009 at 12:34pm

Very good post.

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Permalink Reply by Carlos Manuel Santos on January 24, 2009 at 12:50pm

A very nice post

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Permalink Reply by Capt. Jeff Lee on January 27, 2009 at 11:45pm

These are cool!! I'm gonna post these at my station.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Miller on January 27, 2009 at 11:57pm

I think they are very good and very helpfull to new FF.

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Permalink Reply by turk182 on January 30, 2009 at 3:25pm

I really like the post.

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Permalink Reply by Royce Terry on January 30, 2009 at 4:01pm

GREAT!!!!
This is an awsome post

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Permalink Reply by Robin Inman on January 31, 2009 at 7:49pm

Very good! These are great posts....

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Permalink Reply by Todd on February 1, 2009 at 4:44am

Outstanding! I'll be sure to share this with all of my folks.

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Permalink Reply by Tony P on February 1, 2009 at 9:54pm

We have a our own version of the 10 Standard Fire Orders and 18 Watchout Points. Very similar to what Tom posted. All of these things are good - in fact at a wildfire we're directed that we must carry a checklist of the 10 and 18 at all times.

Everything on our lists is in our wildfire minimum training, so every vol here gets to go through them, the list is for us to refer to. Or as cynical me thinks, telling us to carry the list at all times means that if someone dies in a wildfire and the Coroner starts screaming, then the organisation can say 'well, we train people, we insist on them carrying a list, can we do more?' At times I think I'm a bit too cynical... But I do look at the list at times :)