How we breath especially under stress is paramount to how we will perform as firefighters. We know that if we simply breath through our noses that we will be in a more parasympathetic state which equates to our brains being able to better process information and adapt to the quickly moving fireground.

For most of us we have to intentionally think about how we are breathing and diligently train on breathing through our noses a higher percentage of the time. Intentionally training your Breath Gears will guarantee higher levels of situational awareness, higher work output, and higher abilities to process the ever changing fire scene.  This breath training can certainly be while in your SCBA and mask as a firefighter, but it can also easily be incorporated to any physical training, tactical fitness training, or any emergency call.

A great spot to start is to incorporate these concepts into your tactical fitness workouts. If you need some ideas on workouts that you can instantly try to expand your breath gears you can find that here: https://firefightercraftsmanship.com/firefighter-crew-workouts/

If you want to learn how to hone firefighter specific breathing resources you can find those here: https://firefightercraftsmanship.com/firefighter-box-breathing/ 

here: https://firefightercraftsmanship.com/do-you-know-how-to-breath/

or here: https://youtu.be/Ng3QKO9srmw

Don’t just focus your firefighter breathing training while in your SCBA.  If we aren’t breathing correctly 99% of the time, you won’t magically revert to proper breathing mechanics while in a RIT scenario, or during any other emergency call.  

If you have bad breathing mechanics they will carry over and usually become even worse when dealing with a stressful situation.  If your body is used to mouth breathing while sitting around the firehouse kitchen table, during a PT warmup session, or on any of your emergency calls then this is what it deems as the new normal.  We as firefighters should not be breathing in “Gear 5” a high majority of the time.  Mostly we should be in Gear 1 & Gear 2 in the fire station, and while working in our SCBA’s on the fireground we should be living in Gear 2, Gear 3, and Gear 4 predominantly.

These Gears however need to be trained and honed just like any other basic firefighter skill.  You can’t expect to revery to proper breathing if you have crappy mechanics during day-to-day life.