Bread And Butter

The term "bread and butter".

"Single story, single family, wood frame brick home fire showing one room and contents sector C, E2 making entry, Quint to vent."

Sounds pretty "bread and butter" right? Doesn't it seem possible that when arriving on scene to these "bread and butter" fires we as aggressive firefighters will become complacent and over look things that could kill us. Does the idea that any fire or ems run that is considered "bread and butter" or how about "routine", can be hiding a surprise that will kill us?

This type of mindset while usually caused by confidence breeds complacency. "Routine" fires do not exist. There are simply too many variables for every fire to make any fire routine. Same for ems calls. No two people are identical to the point that their body reacts the same medically. Same goes for violent acts, the violent act and/or actor tend to vary tremendously from one aggressor to the next. So when discussing fire scenarios and ems scenarios, instead of proudly proclaiming that this particular scenario is "bread and butter" for you and your crew, maybe you should be the one to throw the curveball in there to make your crew think about the what-ifs.

Preparing for the worst allows for situations to get better. Over confident, complacent proclamation of "bread and butter" or "routine" is a form of tunnel vision and will subsequently get you or someone killed.

~Cookie~