Crew Resource Management for the Fire Service

By Randy Okray and Thomas Lubnau II

Imagine a safer and more efficient fireground without the expense of the latest equipment or technical training. Crew Resource Management for the Fire Service aims to reduce injuries and fatalities on the fireground by preventing human error.

This book will provide fire service professionals with the necessary communication, leadership, and decision-making tools to operate safely and effectively under stressful conditions, thereby reducing injuries and deaths on the emergency scene.

Although the concept of crew resource management has been around since the 1970s, this is the first book to apply CRM to the fire service industry. CRM emphasizes that in most cases technology isn't the root cause of catastrophe—human error is the culprit. Therefore steps taken to minimize the impact of errors are the keys to reducing the magnitude of the inevitable human failing.

This book will be valuable for college classes, and may be used internationally by the fire service, emergency medical services, industrial fire brigades, technical rescue teams, and any other emergency service provider systems.

Key Features & Benefits:

• Explains the predictable manner in which firefighters react to stressful situations
• Teaches methods and tools to combat these problems to provide safer and more effective operations
• Provides a framework for cultural change in fire departments
• Perfectly suited for both wildland and structural firefighters

Contents:

• Crew Resource Management (CRM): Purpose of this Book
• Organizational Safety Culture
• Mission Analysis and Planning
• Situation Awareness
• Communications
• It's CRM Leadership
• Followership
• Decision-Making
• Debriefing and Critiques
• Strategies for Implementation

Testimonials

"I think the book is an excellent comprensive exploration of the human factors, communication, team building, and decision making aspects within the fire service. I really appreciated that you made the effort to include many wildland examples as well as structure examples, even though the primary target audience appeared to be the structure side. I think it is safe to say this is really the first book in this arena written for the "operators" in the fire service." -- Jim Cook, U.S. Forest Service