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The Command Post Podcast: Traffic incident management, changes in the fire service

Lt. Rom Duckworth and Chief Rob Wylie bring expert perspective to hot topics, frontline tactics and leadership lessons that firefighters and officers need to be safe and successful

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In this week’s The Command Post podcast, hosts Lt. Rom Duckworth and Chief Rob Wylie discuss why firefighters in Reno, Nev. are being laid off due to the department’s inability to regain a SAFER grant.

“The story touches on the kinds of things that are affecting fire departments all around the country,” Lt. Duckworth said. “The biggest part of this is the danger to rely on grants to secure your staffing. Sometimes it can get pulled out from under you.”

Lt. Duckworth and Chief Wylie also talk about traffic incident management in their frontline tactical tips segment.

“One of the best quotes I’ve heard was from a fire chief on this exact topic and he tells his people to always operate like people are trying to run you over,” Lt. Duckworth said.

Traffic is one of the most dangerous environments that firefighters work in. “It’s real easy to get sucked into that tunnel vision of cutting someone out of a car, attending to a patient and we forget that are 18,000-pound missiles are going past us at 40-50mph,” Chief Wylie said.

They also conduct an interview with Fire Chief Dennis Rubin, former fire chief of D.C. and Atlanta, about how to manage change in the fire service.

If you have any topics or items you would like to hear discussed on The Command Post, let us know in the comment section below.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

Reno city council votes to layoff 35 firefighters

Reno to lay off 35 firefighters, brown out 3rd station

Mich. firefighters facing layoffs as grant runs out

On-scene roadside safety is everyone’s job

Fire chief: Rescue truck hit by car shuts down interstate

Traffic Incident Management Systems

Emergency vehicle and roadway operations safety

Tactical emergency casualty care guidelines

The Command Post, a podcast series that features Lt. Rom Duckworth and Chief Rob Wylie, brings expert perspective to hot topics, frontline tactics and leadership lessons that firefighters and officers need to be safe and successful.

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