Firefighters are always a call away, ready to tackle potentially dangerous situations.

Like any emergency personnel, firefighters work long hours and rely on a lot of teamwork.

Since lives are often at stake, they also have to operate with pinpoint accuracy.

It requires training, keeping calm under pressure, and knowing what to do at the right time.

Whenyour brain experiences anxiety, it can be overwhelming.

SLICERS is a protocol to follow so that you always know the next step to take.

Here’s how it works: First, size up the problem.

Second, locate the fire or the problem.

Firefighters identify where the super hot areas are and which parts are most dangerous.

Identifying and controlling the flow path is about knowing where the air comes from and where it’s headed.

By identifying flow path, you’ve identified the path to success.

This may be by controlling flow path, or operating in harmony with it.

The identification of flow path is an item that should find its way into every after-action review.

But that’s missing a vital step: cooling the heated space from a safe location.

Always ensure the priority is your (or your team’s) own safety.

Tackle the most dangerous areas first and check that they’re okay before proceeding to the next one.

It’s a slower process than terminating the source, but it’s also a safer process.

Finally, when you have that under control, it’s time to extinguish the fire completely.

The Rescue and Salvage operations are self-explanatoryif anything can be saved, save it.

These two actions are always active, right from sizing up to extinguishing.

Instead, it’s all about fighting the fire.

That’s not the best use of our time.

But as Lee writes in the blog post, there are actuallyfive color codes for firefighters.

The “dump it” remark is right though.

These people don’t get treatment beyond them palliative, i.e.

a morphine injection for pain.

It takes that hyper edge off the adrenaline rush, calms my nerves and clears my head.

Almost every firefighter in that thread talks about how listening to the whole call is key.

We’ve talked abouthow to improve your listening skillsand many of those lessons are restated in the forum.

How does that happen?

That means when you doff your gear, you put things in the right place (each time).

Once you’ve got your pattern, repeat it until you’re sick of it.

Vizitei has a great tip on how to practice so that your efficiency peaks.

when you’ve got the most efficient method, practice it repeatedly and speed it up.

That’s nothing compared tothe average day of a firefighter.

It’s a high-stress job that can easily frustrate them.

But experienced firefighters know that problems are a part of life.

Photo bytonystl,Roberto Ferrari,The National Guard,Nicholas Wadler.