Over the course of my twenty-five-year career as a firefighter, I noticed that many promising rookies and probationary year firefighters made mistakes that sent them into a tailspin, ending their careers. Most of the time, their mistakes weren't really their fault. I remember thinking that they would have made it if only they had had a mentor or someone to show them the ropes, show them how to avoid the pitfalls and errors that doomed their efforts. All rookies need someone to take them under their wing and guide them through the early years as a firefighter. Unfortunately, no one is, or ever was, assigned the role of mentor to new firefighters. This book solves that problem and fills in the gaps of a firefighter's training and preparation for life in the firehouse.

As my own career developed, I took mental notes as well as written notes about areas where firefighters needed help adjusting to expectations, or help getting along with their peers, or standing their ground when confronted, or dealing with the various personalities in the firehouse. I sincerely believed I needed to give these people a shot at success by providing a guide on how to survive the difficult adjustment period they were experiencing. I knew that one day, I would do something about this problem, something like write a book.

This book is the culmination of my years of note taking and problem-solving.

It was many years in the making and covers the multiple areas firefighters encounter, particularly early in their careers. It will help the rookie as well as the mid-career professional make decisions about promotion, areas of work, financial judgment and investments, dinner time antics, recipes and cooking, and behavior towards co-workers. This book may help guarantee their success in problematic situations.

This book was not written by an academic or someone who speculates about life on the streets. It was written by a firefighter paramedic who worked the streets in some of the roughest fire houses the fire department had to offer.

It offers the most practical, realistic, specific, and helpful advice and tips available for any and all firefighters. I am confident that with this book, rookies will survive their first years on the job and enjoy their firefighter careers as much as I did. Good luck to you. I'd like to hear from readers who find guidance and support from these pages.