Posts Tagged: Incident Command
PIO Help Wanted
Due to the interest in the site, I figured the media would be all over this one. Little did I know that the media would be all over me.
Read More »
Six Detroit Firefighters Injured at Taxpayer Fire from Wall Collapse
Reports indicate a roof collapse and subsequent compromise and further collapse occurred on the alpha side.
Read More »
Ten Minutes in the Street: “Three For One”
Ten Minutes in the Street is back, bringing you insightful and provoking street scenarios for the discriminating and perspective Firefighter, Officer and Commander; where you make the call.
You don’t have to have any special rank to participat…
Read More »
Where Were You That Night?
It was inevitable that something bad would happen, given what we know now. All we can do now is honor the lives of those who go before us, pray for the families and help them deal with this tragedy, and hope we all learn from the events that evening.
Read More »
As a PIO I try to Fill the Void
When we arrive at a scene I traditionally have to make one of three quick decisions –perform the duties of a firefighter if manpower is lacking, perform my normal duties as the PIO, or watch to see the scene unfold to determine where I can best serve. In a volunteer department all bets are off relating to PIO responsibilities when we are short handed on the fireground.
There are many times I am at the scene of a fire with sufficient manpower and no press on site where I opt for the third choice and go behind the lines to interact with bystanders. I do this for several reasons –
Read More »
The New Rules of Engagement for Structural Firefighting
The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) is committed to reducing firefighter fatalities and injuries. As part of that effort, the IAFC Safety, Health and Survival (SHS) Section has developed DRAFT “Rules of Engagement for Structural Firefig…
Read More »
Accountability: Errors & Omissions
This past week on the burgeoning internet call-in radio show Firefighter Netcast.com, HERE, a dynamic discussion developed related to the DeKalb County fatal house fire incident and the apparent questionable actions purported by the company and command…
Read More »
RACE: Responsibility, Accountability, Complacency, Expectations
By now many of you may have seen the reports making their way around the internet circuit relating to the regrettable circumstances in DeKalb County, Georgia. If you haven’t caught up on the incident particulars then check out these links, HERE, HERE…
Read More »
360 Degrees of Separation
360 Degrees of Separation. The fireground often has competing or conflicting incident priorities, demands or distractions before a complete appreciation of all mission critical or essential information and data has been obtained. The effective assessment…
Read More »
Taking FHZ to Wayne County, PA
As a quick aside, if any of you are interested, I'll be in Wayne County, PA on January 30-31, teaching at the Browndale Fire Department. I don't know if there are any open spots left, but contact info is on the flier.
Read More »
Playing With Sharp Objects
Recently I was dwelling on an inventory of stupid and dangerous things I have done in the past. Since the list was way too long to go on about, I began to wonder why I did those things. While some of them were from my youth (like jumping off a roof wit…
Read More »
Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative and Exclamatory
I was helping my oldest daughter with her English homework and we were having a discussion of the four kinds of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative and exclamatory. In light of all of the rhetoric lately on a few items, (you know, the Che…
Read More »
Qualities of a Leader
Fire Critic this morning posted on top ten desired qualities of officers. It links a lot of the ideas I have put forth to you in regard to leading and you should check it out and expound on it. Enjoy.
Read More »
Balance In Power
Right now there is an interesting discussion on Dave Statter's blog, STATter911 (in the comments) on orders given by a commissioner to remove a flag sticker from a locker. Despite the conversation outlining the age-old struggle between being too harsh …
Read More »
Congratulations!
Well, it appears that Dave and Chris have pulled off another amazing venture. I just spent the better part of an hour (with work waiting patiently on my desk) checking out the new FireEMSBlogs.com site with direct links to some of my favorite bloggers…
Read More »
Eating Our Young
It's not going to require much reading to see why the fire service can't get enough of it's collective s*** together to provide a united front on anything. Check it out at Dave Statter's blog at STAT911. You can skip the video (for my purposes) and g…
Read More »
Science Is Your Friend
While taking Honora to school a few days ago, Bob Edwards was speaking on NPR Radio with Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum, the authors of the book, “Unscientific America”. While the book apparently discusses “scientific illiteracy”, some of …
Read More »
Turtles, Circumstances, and Change
Just this week, not only on our relatively quiet haven of Hilton Head Island, but right here in the community in which I live (Palmetto Dunes), comes a story which has become national news. Before I knew it would be on CNN and everywhere else, I read i…
Read More »
Ambition
At Mass today there was a reading from the Letter of St. James that got me thinking: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.” It goes on to say, “Where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it n…
Read More »
Tribes
I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't been able to post. Something about the end of summer, doing deliveries and computer stuff for my wife's company, doing the initial planning and contacts for our annual Down Syndrome Buddy Walk, and of course, g…
Read More »
1984
I woke up very early this morning with some reflections of how the last week has gone and was thinking back to how much easier it was in the "old days". While the year 1984 has certain significance to many (you know, the book), the year has certain sig…
Read More »
The Case for Credentialing – An Opposing View
I'm distressed that a comment got sent to my spam filter regarding an earlier post and for that I apologize. The poster made the comment that he didn't think I'd print it. As it is, I would hope by now that readers understand that I welcome opposin…
Read More »
The Case for Credentialing – Those Who Can't Get In
My final group of people who are not happy with credentialing efforts are the "outsiders". To me, they are the ones with the most logical and compelling concerns about credentialing. Ironically, these people are often those already with some responsi…
Read More »
The Case for Credentialing – Those Who Can't Get In
My final group of people who are not happy with credentialing efforts are the "outsiders". To me, they are the ones with the most logical and compelling concerns about credentialing. Ironically, these people are often those already with some responsi…
Read More »
The Case for Credentialing – Answering Your Comments
I hate to break free in the middle of this series like this, but there were some comments made that I wanted to discuss. Since one is on one post and the other is on another post, I felt the need to tie them together and talk really quickly to the issu…
Read More »
