Posts Tagged: Courage To Be Safe
Owning the Job. Part IV – Misunderstood Requirements
Before you read on, please understand that I appreciate smart aggressive firefighting, it is what I live. I think there are some small things that some firefighters view as others trying to change the way we fight fire...I view them as tools for making us better and understand they must be understood properly and implemented into our game plan. They don't really make us "safe", they make us "smarter".
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Leadership, Purpose, Service and Reason
The names and placed change; but the meaning and message behind these words resonate with the traditions, values and virtues of the Fire Service
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Going Forward in the Fire Service
I am often reluctant to write about commercial business ventures in my blogs and other platforms as I am sensitive to the trusted relationship between a writer and their readers, and leary about self-promotion. Thus I have delayed writing this post for q…
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Father’s Day catch up ..
HAPPY FATHER'S DAY ! Tonight's post is late because I've been going as hard as possible today in an effort to "catch up" from being sick. Despite working all day, I had a wonderful Father's Day. The girls had the Buckaroo up early and we got to spend t…
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Chicago Fire Department – Everyone Goes Home
Courage to Be Safe®: Chicago Fire Department
NFFF - A preview of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation film, Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home, directed by Rob Maloney. From the EGH website;
In 2008, the FDNY allowed an NFFF film …
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Twenty Eleven (2011); Where are you going?
Did I give back to the fire service, did I support, promote and advocate, did I learn, grow and better myself, did the year have meaning?
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Taking it to the Streets: The First-Due Officer
Grab a cup of coffee and sit down for an hour with Taking it to the Streets on Firefighernetcast.com where we’ll discuss the street level issues affecting the First-Due Officer on Wednesday night November 17th at 9:00 pm EST.
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3*4*3 Reports
After a recent training program, we discussed in a smaller group setting common, contributing and apparent causes related to three prominent fire incidents.
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What’s On Your Radar Screen?
BuildingsonFire 2010; Building Construction, Command Risk Management and Operational Safety
Major Influencing Fire Service Reports, Issues or Focus that should be on Your Radar Screen
The following list is but a modest cross section of pertinen…
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Get Fit. Get Safe. Make It Personal.
[caption id="attachment_1745" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="My Three-Part Risk Management Plan: Alex, Laurie and Kathleen"][/caption]
Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I'm pretty sure its content is …
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01.01.10 The First Day
[caption id="attachment_148" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Company Officer"][/caption]
For many, the New Year has brought forth a new set of challenges as some of you transition from the firefighter rank to that of a Company Officer. To o…
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Twenty Ten
As we transition into a new year, and as plans begin to take place that frame and outline the year’s activities, foremost in this planning, preparation, scheduling and outlook should be those activities and commitments that training, education and skil…
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If you’re worried about getting cancer — you probably shouldn’t be a firefighter!
"You have a mass in your throat," he said after examining me, "It looks malignant. And aggressive." He looked me right in the eye as he spoke, making sure I understood the gravity of his comments. My wife Mary Ann and I sat in stunned silence as he informed us of what needed to be done to complete his diagnosis. As he talked on, my mind took me back to all of those times when I entered burning buildings without breathing protection, and all of the times I worked for hours, unprotected, doing salvage and overhaul in the smoldering remains of fires over the past three decades. Like my peers, I had felt bullet-proof in those days. I had always thought that cancer was something that happened to other people. Not me. Now, for the first time, I was actually afraid for my life.
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Change, for Safety’s Sake.
If you are a Fire/Rescue Chief, Commissioner, President, Fire Officer or in a leadership role of a Fire Department or Fire Company, you have the responsibility of ensuring firefighter safety.
With the holidays right around the corner, here's a coo…
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A December to Remember
I'm not big on forwarding for the sake of forwarding; or just regurgitating information in an effort to build traffic to a web site.
However, my good friend Billy Goldfeder sent out a broadcast yesterday that deserves sharing. His efforts were follow…
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Everyone Goes Home Program
Have you dropped in on the EGH web site recently and made use of the vast array of resources and media that can support a wide latitude of firefighter safety, health and survival initiatives?Everyone Goes Home® is a national program by the National Fal…
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The National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System
Here's another prominent and important program that each of you should be visiting on a regular basis, The National Firefighter Near-Miss Reporting System. The National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System is a voluntary, confidential, non-punitive an…
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Mentors and Mentees
Many of us may have had someone in our career that provided influence, guidance and offered reinforcement, feedback or constructive criticism when needed. You know; that chief or company officer, who seemed to take you under thier wing and watchful eye i…
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Two Common Calls: Different Outcomes
http://www.blogger.com/img/videoplayer.swf?videoUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fvp.video.google.com%2Fvideodownload%3Fversion%3D0%26secureurl%3DqAAAAPEbdexZYqODP9Nt5kZfcH34HcrE1NkMlRf1z9L5802W6MRijrAOIqO4Khc8a-iyiU21BLipII46M6bwZzj2TMNlHvVIWradMjQfMmmqAZEv905jcQfEl1E7f…
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Honor & Remembrance
The 28th National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend takes place this weekend at the NFA. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Fire Administration are conducting the 28th annual National Fal…
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Make It Personal
The following article is a reprint from the June-2009 edition of Fire-Rescue magazine. It is also a companion piece to my blog titled: Clean the Litterbox.
I recently attended a seminar on preparation for line-of-duty deaths and firefighter funerals. If you've ever read one of my blogs here or at FirefighterNation.com, you know that I have very strong feelings about firefighter deaths.
But, for the first time, the subject really hit home with me. While it's important to plan that stuff, if we really think about it, doesn't the need for proper funeral planning only further acknowledge our acceptance of failure in protecting our own from the risks we face?
Too often we focus more time, energy and attention on those types of activities instead of the things
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Dig In.
Dig in.
“Early on in my fire service career, we responded to a report of a tractor-trailer rolled over on a nearby state highway. We arrived on scene and found a truck lying on its passenger side. The wheels were facing the roadway and the top of the cab was on the shoulder of the road. The truck driver was being treated as walking wounded. It seemed like a relatively benign accident.
As we approached the curb side we realized that this was no ordinary call. It
Read More »Albion FD Says: You Have to Want It!
"You Have to Want It!" is the message that Albion Volunteer Firefighters and EMTs are sending to their community in a new effort to challenge more citizens to become part of their local volunteer emergency response team.
Thanks to a four-year $134,500 grant from the US Department of Homeland Security specifically for the recruitment and retention of volunteer firefighters, the all-volunteer fire department will have the funding to develop recruitment efforts and marketing materials with the help of Tiger Schmittendorf, who also helped them write and secure the grant.
"The reality is that firefighting isn't for everyone, but volunteering can be. We offer flexible memberships for non-emergency personnel to join our Support Team," says Rocky Sidari, the fire department's deputy chief.
"Volunteering
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Clean the Litterbox
This blog is a companion piece to my article titled "Make it Personal" in the June edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine.
I was reading a not so tongue-in-cheek blog on FirefighterNation.com written by my good friend Art Goodrich titled: “Ordering From the Risk Menu” and it reminded me of a Saturday I spent recently, full of fire service activities.
I started the day by attending a heavy dose of an 8-hour seminar focusing on preparation for a Line of Duty Death. If you’ve ever read one of my blogs, you know I’m very passionate
