Choosing to Command: Crew Resource Management Applied to Emergency Operations

The time has come for all public safety industry organizations to adopt and incorporate crew resource management or similar programs focused on making the best critical decisions at incidents. The goal of Dennis Rubin's essential new book is to urge organizations to integrate a critical decision-making model into the incident command system and use methods to improve critical decision making to bring about the next significant improvements for firefighter safety, operational efficiency, and effectiveness.

There are many tactics, strategy, and command courses available at local, state, national, and international levels. But there isn't much information included in these amazing courses that addresses critical decision making. This book aims to change that. Here you will find a discussion of the history and current science of crew resource management as well as invaluable information on:

• Leadership and teamwork
• Communicating under stress
• Task allocation
• Applications to operating conditions, such as abandoned buildings, aviation fires, and more

Crew resource management uses the basic philosophy that to err is human, and that's never truer than in stressful situations. Building on the successful work of such organizations as the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Armed Forces in developing crew resource management, this book focuses on making the best decision at an incident the first time - every time.

Dennis L. Rubin has fire and rescue experience spanning more than 45 years. Rubin has served as a line firefighter and emergency medical technician, company officer, staff officer, command officer, and chief of the department in Atlanta, Georgia Washington, DC and Kansas City, Kansas, Fire Departments.

Chief Rubin's educational accomplishments include a masters in Organizational Leadership from Waldorf University, a bachelor of science in Fire Administration from the University of Maryland, and an associate degree in applied science in Fire Science Management from the Northern Virginia Community College. Rubin is a graduate of the National Fire Academy's Executive Fire Officer Program and the Naval Post Graduate School's Executive Leadership Course in Homeland Security. Rubin is a certified incident safety officer and has obtained the Chief Fire Officer Designation and Chief Medical Officer Designation bestowed by the Center for Public Safety Excellence. Rubin is a nationally registered emergency medical technician.

Rubin is a popular lecturer at local, state, national, and international venues. Rubin's teaching credentials are significant. Rubin was an adjunct faculty member with several state fire-rescue training agencies. He is part of the contract faculty at the National Fire Academy. Rubin has been a member of seven National Fire Academy course development teams to include Incident Command, Leadership, Infection Control for the Fire Service, Incident Safety Officer, and Tactical Operations.

Rubin is the author of several emergency service textbooks all published by Fire Engineering Books. Rubin's first release was Rube's Rules for Survival. This book is a collection of case studies dealing with the mission critical topic of fire fighter safety. The next book that Rubin authored was D.C. Fire, discussing his 4 years as the fire chief of our nation's capital. Rubin's third textbook is It's Always About Leadership, which reviews Rubin's leadership principles. The fourth text is titled Choosing to Command. This textbook discusses critical decision-making at fire-rescue incidents. Chief Rubin contributes to several fire-rescue service publications and has written more than 200 technical articles relating to fire rescue department operations, administration, emergency management, training, and safety. Rubin has three children and five grandchildren. Rubin is an active member of the Kansas City, Kansas, Downtown Rotary Club.