Training - From the Fireground to our mindset: Using Size-up Principles in a new way

It’s automatic. As soon as the tones drop for a call, our training kicks in. We begin to size-up the incident with the limited information from the dispatch. Strategic and tactical decisions are being made based upon the information we receive while responding, our past experiences from other responses, knowledge of the response area, and training all come into play. This isn’t just a habit, it's ingrained into our operational mindset.

Here is the catch though, while we run numerous sets and reps to increase our proficiency of size-ups on emergency incidents, we rarely apply this same type of discipline to sizing up what’s happening inside of us.

What if we applied the same focused and structured principles to conduct a personal size-up?

Reframing the Size-up?

Upon arrival at an incident, we strive to provide other responding units with clarity of the incident scene and our next actions as the first arriving. These same principles and steps can help us become more self-aware and more importantly, help us improve our mental wellness.

Here is a side-by-side comparison:

ELEMENT	FIREGROUND	PERSONAL
Building/Incident	What are we dealing with?	What am I dealing with?
Problem Identification	What type of incident is this - EMS, fire, hazmat, or rescue?	What’s taking up space in my head right now?
Strategy Selection	Offensive or defensive?	Am I in a place to engage directly or do I need to regroup?
Incident Objectives	Rescue, extinguishment, property conservation	What do I need to accomplish today – personally or professionally?
Resource Deployment	What resources are available and what may be needed?	What resources do I need – food, sleep, support?
Safety Considerations	Collapse, accountability, hazardous materials	What risks are present in my mindset? Where are my blind spots?
Communication	Task assignments and radio reports	Am I being honest with myself? What are my current tasks or priorities?

Why This Matters

Through the years our training has focused on solving problems, typically under an immense amount of stress. Sometimes the bravest and most appropriate action we can take is to pause and assess ourselves with the same dedication and rigor. This improves our operational excellence, it isn’t soft skill.

Conducting a personal size-up creates a space between the stimulus and response. It creates the moment where we are empowered ask:

• Am I overwhelmed?

• Do I have what I need to operate effectively?

• Is my current strategy sustainable?

• Am I being honest with myself?

  
  

These questions build upon the practice of developing our emotional intelligence, resilience, and clarity. All of which are vital to maintaining long-term wellness through a career as a first responder.

Training the Mind

We don’t wait for a working fire to learn how to throw a ground ladder or deploy the courtyard lay – we train before it happens to ensure our proficiency in executing these skills. We need to employ the same effort when it comes to our mental wellness. By integrating personal size-ups into our daily routines, we will train ourselves to notice early warning signs before we spiral.

This doesn’t replace other modalities, but it compliments them. The focus is to build our self-awareness, a critical skill that forms the foundation for growth, recovery, and healthy decision-making.

Start With This

1. Ask yourself, “What am I dealing with right now?”

2. Identify the “incident” in your mind – Be it stress, fatigue, frustration, or something else.

3. Choose a strategy: Do you need to push through (offensive), or pause and regroup (defensive)?

4. Name one objective – Personal or professional for today.

5. Check your resources. Do you need sleep? A meal? A conversation?

6. Identify risks. Where’s your emotional blind spot right now?

7. Communicate – First with yourself. Be honest. Be clear.

   
   

Lead the Way

It’s time to expand the definition of training. It’s time to train ourselves, our brothers, and our sisters with new strategies and tactics that will improve our mental wellness. We owe it to ourselves, our families, our friends, and each other to model healthier mindsets.

The fireground will always be unpredictable, but the ways in which we prepare doesn’t have to be. Start practicing personal size-ups with the same precision we do on calls. We will be a stronger and more self-aware team.

This article was in written in collaboration by:

Jennifer Anderson, Founder/CEO of First Responder Coaching

Battalion Chief CJ Dickinson

Photo Credit: Training by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Alpha Stock Images