Add More M&M’'s: The Trail Mix Approach to Teaching Firefighter Cancer Prevention:
Last week at the Science to the Station Conference in Tucson, AZ, I had the privilege of delivering the keynote address. The focus of my keynote was on the integration of teaching cancer awareness and prevention strategies into traditionally popular classes. These are the classes that teach hoseline basics, search and rescue, fire behavior, reading smoke, ladder company operations, and a long list of other very cool and captivating classes.
Notice, I did not say that the cancer awareness classes are popular — or captivating — because they are not. However, just because they are not popular or captivating does not mean they are not important. Hence, the trail mix and M&M analogy.
Trail mix is a popular snack food, especially for hikers – largely because it is easy to store and nutritious while providing both a quick energy boost as well as sustained energy. My favorite trail mix is the kind I can buy in most stores — it is simply a bag of Peanut M&M’s without the hassle of picking through the granola and dried fruit.
I know I am not alone. I like M&M’s.
Think about the last time you had trail mix and the excitement you felt when the handful you grabbed had several M&M’s. Well, this is now the way I approach the delivery of most of my firefighter cancer presentations and other presentations as well. You see, teaching firefighters about cancer can be thought of as the granola and dried fruit in a presentation, while strategy and tactics can be thought of as the M&M's.
Knowing how to relate the cancer topics
Most often when I deliver a presentation on cancer in the fire service, I now add plenty of M&M’s, specifically fire behavior or fire dynamics and explain the interrelationship of the modern fire environment and firefighter cancer.
This light bulb moment occurred during a conversation with my friend Gary Krichbaum from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The idea is to feed the firefighter's trail mix and combine the two — granola and M&M’s — into one presentation.
The immediate result was increased firefighter attendance in my class, with many newer firefighters looking for the M&M’s. You see, I am no different. I was always looking for M&M’s, especially when I was a young firefighter eager to master my craft and be better on the fireground.
However, if we can find a way to provide a well-balanced snack such as trail mix that all firefighters can enjoy, we can better educate them on topics that are less appealing to them, yet equally important in the long term. We all benefit.
As I mentioned earlier, trail mix is nutritious while providing both a quick energy boost and sustained energy. Simply stated, the strategy and tactics are the M&M's and they provide the quick energy, while the cancer awareness is the granola and provides the sustained energy.
Both are needed for the success of the firefighter — both now and in the future.
Adding in the M&M's
So, with this in mind, let's indulge in some trail mix with enough M&M’s sprinkled in.
Modern contents are largely synthetics that have altered the fire environment. These synthetics are energy-dense and require more air to release this stored energy. This results in high heat release rates, ventilation-limited fires, a quicker transition to flashover, and less time for occupant survival.
This means our tactics must focus on and we must be good at rapid search, coordinating ventilation with suppression, rapid hoseline placement, reading smoke, and an understanding of fire behavior.
These same synthetics have also led to increasing cancer rates in firefighters and have led to several contamination mitigation strategies such as showing as soon as possible following an exposure, on-scene Decon (known as preliminary exposure reduction — PER), wipe usage on scene, and the use of particulate blocking hoods. Today, more firehouses have washers and dryers to clean gear, and wearing dirty gear is essentially a thing of the past.
The increase in cancer diagnoses and changes in fire behavior are all interrelated. Because of this close interrelationship, it makes sense to discuss multiple topics within the same class, including cancer prevention strategies (aka granola and dried fruit).
The moral of the story is to never forget the importance of the M&M’s, especially for our newer firefighters. These firefighters have much to learn, just to be proficient on the fireground. We must not expect them to choose a class that focuses on cancer prevention over classes that will lead to tactical excellence on the fireground as those skills are vitally important.
It is up to those of us who teach and educate to deliver a well-rounded, nutritious and tasty snack to our firefighters, such as trail mix with plenty of M&M’s.
Leeb recently published the book, "Cornerstones of Leadership: On and Off the Fireground: Training - Teamwork - Mentorship," based on his Firehouse Expo 2022 keynote address.
Frank Leeb
Frank Leeb is the managing director of the First Responder Center for Excellence. He previously served as a deputy assistant chief in FDNY, retiring in June 2024 after more than 31 years. During his tenure with FDNY, Leeb held several senior staff positions, including chief of the fire academy, chief of training and chief of safety. He also has been a member of the East Farmingdale, NY, Volunteer Fire Department since 1983. Leeb holds a bachelor's degree in fire service administration from SUNY Empire State and a master’s degree in security studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Center for Homeland Defense and Security. He served as an advisory panel member for UL's Fire Safety Research Institute's "Study of Coordinated Fire Attack Utilizing Acquired Structures" and was the keynote speaker for Firehouse Expo in 2022 and FireFusion 2024. Leeb is the author of "Cornerstones of Leadership: On and Off the Fireground." He was a presenter at the 2022 and 2023 U.S. Fire Administrator Summit on Fire Prevention and Control. Leeb can be contacted at [email protected].
