Posts Categorized: Pr
@FireRECRUITER: Rise to the challenge
An article recently posted to FirefighterNation.com outlines the challenges faced by volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania in recruiting and retaining their members. Although these types of articles are becoming all too frequent, this one in particu…
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Impact of the Digital Age on Recruitment and Retention
The world is changing rapidly and the fire service is getting caught up in the tornado effect of technology on our society.
More and more fire departments are smartly using web sites, e-mail and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to …
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X-Box Live
That's right!
"From the X-Box to the Box Alarm: Motivating and Leading Today's Firefighters" is back by popular demand at FDIC 2011. I hope to see you in Indianapolis March 22-26, 2011. Look me up if you plan on attending and look for my presentatio…
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Not just a Daddy’s Girl
Her Dad was a fire lieutenant and her two youngest brothers (twins) joined as cadets, then volunteers and eventually became career firefighters.
But when Janet Wilmoth tried to join her local volunteer fire department, the fire chief told her to “Go…
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Not Your Typical “Truckie”
Glenn Usdin was a Run-to-the-Curb kid, growing up in the Long Island New York fire service and rising to the rank of fire chief in Lancaster PA. Like many in the fire service, his career path has taken him in several different directions including a tenu…
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Christmas Characters
Join me at 9pm on Wednesday-December 8th as I host my Firefighter Storytellers radio show live from the Buffalo Fire Historical Society.
My guest will be retired Lt. Patrick Coghlan from the Buffalo Fire Department. Pat is a 34-year veteran of Rescu…
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My Flag
The next time I look at that flag, it could be a tangled mess – or it could be flowing freely in the breeze. It's different every time I look at it. That’s the beauty of my flag.
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What’s your story?
It's been a great, long, hot summer --- causing me to take some time away from blogging to spend with my family and friends. Although I haven't been writing much, I have been doing a lot of reading and observing. And, it's my observation that the need f…
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Run-to-the-Curb Radio: Chief Tim Sendelbach
It’s like “Run-to-the-Curb Radio” — but better!
“Firefighter Storytellers” is a natural outgrowth from my popular “Run to the Curb” series — as it offers a radio show designed simply to facilitate kitchen table type discussions bet…
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Run-to-the-Curb Kid: Dr. Jason Borton
[caption id="attachment_1837" align="alignleft" width="202" caption="Dr. Jason Borton: Emergency Room Doctor, Author, Volunteer Firefighter, Run-to-the-Curb kid."][/caption]
Jason Borton is not your typical Run-to-the-Curb kid. Not only was he a vo…
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Raising a flag about lowering THE FLAG!
It's after Memorial Day-2010 and I've been working on this blog for about a week, in hopes of having it finished prior to the start of the holiday weekend but life got in the way and that didn't happen.
In retrospect, I'm glad I procrastinated. I'm gl…
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Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story
[caption id="attachment_1811" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="That's me with Past Chief John Latimore, one of my best friends in the fire service and the neighborhood I grew up in."][/caption]
It's been more than a month since my presentati…
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EMS 2.0 as Explained to My Brother
I had a good conversation with my brother the other day. We talked about this "blogging" stuff I do and the topic turned to EMS 2.0. Guess what he wants me to do?
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@FireRECRUITER: Make the Right Investments
The following article tells of a small city that is threatening to stop collecting a voluntary public donation that has brought thousands and thousands of dollars in mission-critical equipment to their combination (paid/volunteer) fire department.
A…
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@FireRECRUITER: It’s EMS Week – Roll With It!
From www.FireRECRUITER.com:
In honor of EMS Week-2010, I thought I’d promote the (dare I say) sexiest video I’ve ever seen come to volunteer recruitment and retention.
“Roll With It!” is a part music video, part movie trailer — full-on hig…
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Tis’ the Season
One student was D.O.A. and the other seriously injured, requiring extrication and transport to the trauma center by helicopter; while the teenage driver was put through a full set of field sobriety tests, arrested and hand-cuffed in front of his peers.
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Tiger’s Weekly Twitter Updates for 2010-05-09
RT @blackhelmet: Firefighter dies during training http://bit.ly/9yINmC #
RT @FiremanRich: Firehouses looking for volunteers http://bit.ly/bqbxOM #Firefighter #Firefighting #fire #
RT @FiremanRich: Volunteer services host open houses http://bit.ly/aE7…
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Live, from Indianapolis, it’s Saturday Morning!
[caption id="attachment_1732" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy at FDIC 2009"][/caption]
Join Snyder NY Chief Tom Merrill and I for a live broadcast from the show floor of FDIC on Saturday-April 24 fr…
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Grumblemedics
Grumblemedics seem to be everywhere, whether they're a "grumble-Pee" or a "grumble-bee", perhaps they should evaluate their own attitudes. We have a long way to go, but look at how far we've come.
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@FireRECRUITER: Recruiting in a Gray Area
My helmet is off to the folks in the Syosset NY Fire Department for recognizing 40+ aged recruits as a viable part of the solutions to our recruitment and retention challenges.
Age is Nothing But a Number at Syosset Fire Dept.
Joining later in life is…
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It was in the cards.
The Evans Center Fire Hall (as we called it) was just down Bennett Road and around the corner on Route 5, maybe a few hundred yards away from my house, as the crow flies. Closer than that was the rear entrance to the sixteen acres of fire company property, directly across the street from our driveway.
Growing up so close to the firehall, it was an obvious choice as a place to hang out with my friends. We played baseball on the ball fields the fire company leased to the Little League for a dollar a year. We helped out at and patronized the carnivals and other fundraising events. When the fire company added on a large banquet hall in 1971, we helped the contractors move supplies and materials. My initials are carved in the concrete sidewalk they poured. I was eight.
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Re-Enlist.
I don’t know if it’s the fact that my father served in the US Army in two wars, my self-inflicted guilt for not serving in the military, or simply my love for country; but over the past several years I’ve experienced a growing appreciation for – OK, almost an infatuation with – our US Military and the men and women who serve in it.
My logical side admires these ordinary people who perform extraordinary missions in defense of our freedom.
My creative side is in love with the marketing machine that is the US Military.
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LIVE: Casting a Net over Recruitment and Retention Challenges
I've been asked by FireCritic and FireDaily to join them as their special guest on this week's edition of Firefighter NetCast.
Naturally, we'll be discussing volunteer recruitment and retention along with an overview of my presentation at FDIC in April and my cover story in the March edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine featuring my online book project: Run-to-the-Curb.com.
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Two Cases, One letter – From one Paramedic’s struggles, change can come
A letter I got from a fellow Paramedic has caused me to write a long tyrade on the state of EMS. This post will make you mad. It will challenge you and challenge our profession. You will probably see yourself in the words this Paramedic wrote to me. We Need Change.
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@FireRECRUITER: Big Win for the Youngins’
While I haven't had the chance to read the entire 52-page report cover-to-cover, I can tell you that it's comprehensive in scope and a well organized resource for anyone involved in creating or maintaining a fire department sponsored youth program. It holds something for everyone including chief officers, youth leaders, fire department administration, parents, support liaisons and the youth themselves.
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