pierce fire apparatus

Empowerment through talent

Walk in to any firehouse across the United States, whether it be career, volunteer, on-call or combination and you will find one thing.  The Fire Service is filled with people from all walks of life united together with the one common passion of firefighting.  The talent pool we find ourselves immersed in is incredible. We all have the same basic training to become a firefighter and EMS provider, but we do not all have the same knowledge, experience, craft or skill that goes beyond the Fire Service. 

(more…)

Leaders Stay Off The Grass – Personal steps to becoming a leader.

Have you ever been in a store trying to find something and none of the employees ask if you need assistance? Have you ever gone into a public restroom to find the person before you didn’t flush the toilet? Maybe you’ve noticed someone put a container of ice cream in the bread isle at the grocery store. If you’re anything like me, you’re thinking to yourself “What the f*ck is wrong with people?”. I find myself thinking, and saying out loud, that phrase all too often.

(more…)

Let’s come together with solutions to the volunteer crisis.

It is possible, with hard work and commitment, to recruit and retain a large volunteer based membership. 

If you’re like me, you scroll social media and notice articles every day being shared about how the volunteer fire service is struggling with membership numbers. If you take the time to read them, you’ll see that most of the articles explain the problems but they do not offer many solutions. Some may mention plans for new incentives to attract more people, but none of the articles dig real deep into the issue. Personally, I am frustrated when I read these articles. I’m sure a lot of my frustration comes from my hatred for problems being addressed without a solid solution following it. Though, the rest of my frustration stems from all of us not coming together to solve this problem.

(more…)

Podcast Episode 009 – Traits of the Fire Service Leader with Nick

This episode is a follow up of the blog post “What Makes a Leader“.  You may have seen the image posted to social comparing the Fire Service Leader and the Average Firefighter.  Here, Nick hits all the points in a short solo episode.

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube

Podcast Episode 008 – Leadership, Motivation & Buy-In with Captain Dave McElroy

In Episode 008, we welcome Capt. Dave “Red” McElroy to the show. He is the Training Captain for the Barnstead, NH Fire Department.  Capt. McElroy started his fire service career in York, ME in 1983 and has since served on a number of other departments throughout New Hampshire.  He has kept in contact with us in York since he moved on, and is still one of our greatest friends.  Red brings solutions to common issues throughout the volunteer, on call and combination fire service in this episode.  We also had the opportunity to answer another question from a fan of the show.

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube

What makes a leader?

The Volunteer and Call Fire Service is in serious trouble. With shrinking membership all around the United States, there is a need to re-evaluate how we manage our Department. With that, we all need to know how to present ourselves with a leadership mindset. It is important to stress that leaders don’t have to be exclusively Fire Officers and Chief Officers. Leaders can be anyone in the membership. In order to create a Department with a leadership mindset, we must be sure we understand what it means to be a leader, and not an average firefighter. Below, I have put together a list of some of the traits a Fire Service Leader should possess. (more…)

Episode 007 – Training, Membership & Management with Lt. Nick Hamel

Today we had a great dialogue with our first guest for the podcast.  Lt. Nick Hamel from the South Berwick, ME Fire Department sat down with Nick and Paul to discuss what makes the SBFD tick.  Listen to Lt. Hamel’s thoughts on training schedules, department leadership and management. We also dove deep in to keeping the senior firefighter engaged with training.

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube

Episode 006 – Four Steps to a Clear Mind

There are many fire departments out there that are in a slow coverage area, which means less fires than a busier department.  When we have less fires and less serious calls, it can be very easy for us to lose our sense of clarity when we respond and work at these incidents when they do happen. It is critical that we all know how to develop and maintain a clear mindset when we are faced with a challenging and stressful situation.  In this podcast Nick goes over the four steps to developing a clear mindset.

 

 

 

 

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube

Episode 005 – Negativity and Haters

Episode 005 is another solo episode with Nick.  This quick message gives some insight on how to deal with haters and negativity that you may be exposed to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube

Episode 004 – What Makes Your Department Tick?

Nick and Paul get together and catch up, a little bit off the cuff, and talk about the small things and what has been going on since our last podcast episode together.  In this episode we bring our listeners and followers a challenge.  We want to know what makes your Volunteer, On-Call and Combination Fire Departments tick.  Send us a message through our Facebook page with a description of your department to include the location, membership tally, call volume and anything else you may want to share.  Let us know what makes your department tick and what brings your members together.

 

Brotherhood Academy Radio, or BAR, is a podcast for volunteer, call and combination fire departments across the globe. This podcast will bring an assortment of guests from all areas of the fire service, as well as other emergency service agencies, fire service businesses and family members of firefighters.

BAR is recorded in a casual, candid manner in York, Maine. We will usually be drinking a beer of our liking during each show to set the mood a little lighter and certainly entertaining. We will touch on subjects related to leadership, management, recruitment, training and much more. Our podcasts are free to everyone.

Visit our website for free resources, blogs and more at www.brotherhoodacademyradio.com

Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brotherhoodacademyradio

Join our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/brotherhoodacademyradio/

Follow Nick on Instagram @nickhilton_bar

Subscribe to us on YouTube