Brian Brush (Nurturing Fire Service Passion, Mentorship and Near Death Experiences) - Episode 1229
Behind The Shield
James Geering
4.9 • 695 Ratings
🗓️ 19 April 2026
⏱️ 132 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Brian Brush is a 30 year veteran of the fire service, instructor and the training chief for the Midwest City (OK) Fire Department. We discuss his journey into the volunteer fire service, wildland firefighting, firefighter fitness, putting family first, his near career ending medical event, mentorship and so much more.
Brian's background spans several states from rural volunteer to metro-sized departments. He has a master’s degree in fire and emergency management, is an EFO, and has Chief Training Officer designation.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by a company who has truly found a solution to an age-old problem, |
| 0:05.0 | and that is KarnerBunker Gear. |
| 0:07.5 | One of the most prevalent conversations in the fire service is should we or should we not |
| 0:12.5 | train in our bunker gear? |
| 0:14.5 | Now, the answer to both is yes. |
| 0:17.0 | As most of us are aware, the carcinogens from structure fires of which there are over 260 that are dangerous to human health, not to mention the PFAS and other chemicals that are within our gear from the manufacturing process are factors that we obviously want to minimize. |
| 0:33.5 | Now, the other side of the coin is that we do need to train in our gear. |
| 0:37.4 | There is no way to acclimatize the heat retention and lack of mobility than to actually wear the gear. |
| 0:43.3 | So seeing this problem himself, firefighter and exercise physiologist Ryan Conley developed a carcinogen-free gear at a much lower cost that can be used in non-IDLH atmosphere and training that does not |
| 0:57.3 | require puncture or tear resistance. Now as someone who always trained in gear myself throughout my |
| 1:03.0 | career, I wish this technology was around then. And I got to test it personally while coaching my |
| 1:08.9 | tactical athlete class a few weeks ago and can testify |
| 1:12.4 | that it not only simulates the heat retention of frontline gear, but also the lack of mobility, |
| 1:18.7 | which is imperative at operating at a high level on the fireground. Now, some additional benefits |
| 1:23.9 | include being able to doff the gear when you do get banged out for a call, |
| 1:28.7 | increasing the lifespan of your frontline bunker gear, and then also public education. |
| 1:34.0 | Think of the number of times that we allow, for example, school children to wear our gear |
| 1:38.2 | when it's infused with all these carcinogens. |
| 1:41.6 | So there are so many real-world applications for a fraction of the cost |
| 1:46.1 | of IDLH-rated bunker gear. So if you want to hear the whole story behind this, listen to my |
| 1:52.2 | conversation with Ryan Conley on episode 1175 of the Behind the Shield podcast, or go to |
| 1:59.4 | karnerbunkergear.com. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast or go to carna bunkergear.com. Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast. |
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