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All Blog Posts Tagged 'Scott Cook' (13)

Don’t Know the Fundamentals of Wildland Firefighting? It’s Time to Learn

REALITY CHECK

By Scott Cook

How fast can you run?

On Friday, April 15, Eastland, Texas, firefighter Gregory Simmons died in a wildland fire. Simmons’ death was initially thought to be the result of being overrun by the fire, but a later report from the medical examiner relates that he died from blunt-force trauma.…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on April 19, 2011 at 8:00am — 3 Comments

Have Something to Say? Make Sure the Right Person is Talking

REALITY CHECK

By Scott Cook

On March 6, 2011, six adults perished in a mobile home fire in my hometown. You may have read about it here on FirefighterNation.com.

This article is not about the fire, though, or the operations of the fire departments working the fireground. It’s about how the news was communicated to… Continue

Added by FFN WebTeam on April 15, 2011 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Are You Physically Fit? The Wrong Answer Could Cost You

REALITY CHECK

By Scott Cook

In January, Hood County, Texas, narrowly avoided our first line of duty death (LODD). Operating at the scene of a structure fire, a firefighter complained of some chest pain. When he was evaluated, he was found to be having a heart attack. Rushed to the hospital—and defibrillated out of v-fib twice during his course of treatment in the cath lab—he is alive… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on March 11, 2011 at 7:00am — 4 Comments

Problems in the Station? The Chief Needs to Know

Problems in the Station? The Chief Needs to Know

By Scott Cook

The other day, Fred, a buddy of mine and not his real name, told me he was going to sue his former career fire department because he received an “ineligible for rehire” letter from them after getting nothing but excellent performance reviews since he hired on. I inquired as to why he thought he got the letter. He hesitated for a… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on February 11, 2011 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Is It Time to Revise Your Organizational Chart?

REALITY CHECK

Is It Time to Revise Your Organizational Chart?

By Scott Cook

Do you serve your firefighters or do your firefighters serve you?

Here’s another way to ask that question: What does your organization chart look like?

If you’re like most organizations, the chief is at the top, and all of the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on January 14, 2011 at 8:00am — No Comments

A Different Kind of ROI: In the fire service, a small group of people are doing most of the work

REALITY CHECK

A Different Kind of ROI

In the fire service, a small group of people are doing most of the work

By Scott Cook

I was visiting with a friend the other day who is also the head honcho of a volunteer soccer association. He commented on how… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on December 10, 2010 at 8:00am — 11 Comments

Competent vs. Proficient

Competent vs. Proficient: It's important that every firefighter masters certain basic competencies, but you need to go the extra step to ensure they become proficient at those skills

By Scott Cook

Competent and proficient.

As firefighters, we tend to look at these two words as being one and the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 9, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

What Happens Online…Goes Everywhere

What Happens Online…Goes Everywhere

Be conscious of what you post online as it may affect your career

By Scott Cook

I’ve written about this before, but it’s becoming a bigger issue. In fact, you’ll recall that around Feb. 11, Firefighter Jason Brown from Colleton County (S.C.) Fire-Rescue was fired for something he posted on his personal Facebook page. According to Brown’s termination letter, he was fired for…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on June 11, 2010 at 8:00am — 3 Comments

“OOOHHHH, Look, Something Shiny!”

“OOOHHHH, Look, Something Shiny!”

Don’t let the excitement of a new apparatus overwhelm your good judgment

By Scott Cook

It happens a lot. You’ve just purchased a new apparatus, and it’s ready for delivery. Hopefully, you’ll be doing a final inspection at the factory, but you may be doing it at the station when the vehicle is delivered. It all depends on who you bought it from and what you negotiated up front.

In…

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Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on May 14, 2010 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Educating community members can make our jobs easier and keep them safer

Helping Others Helps Us

Educating community members can make our jobs easier and keep them safer

By Scott Cook

A few nights ago, my wife woke me up at 2:30 in the morning saying someone was beating at the front door. Pistol in hand, off I go and peek through the peep hole to see four of Hood County’s finest on the porch. I put the pistol on the cabinet and opened the door to a “What’s going on in there?”

“Sleeping.”

“We got a… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on February 12, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

Younger Isn’t Always Better: One department runs into trouble when only hiring rookies

Younger Isn’t Always Better

One department runs into trouble when only hiring rookies

By Scott Cook

I was visiting with a career firefighter friend the other day, and he lamented the fact that his department is short—extremely short—on personnel with the company officer knowledge/skill set. I asked him how they found themselves this way, and he answered that the HR department, with the full support of the fire chief, decided they’d just hire young… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on January 15, 2010 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

Tough on Tattoos: Like it or not, body modifications can reduce your chances of getting hired

Tough on Tattoos: Like it or not, body modifications can reduce your chances of getting hired

By Scott Cook

This month I’m going to talk about body modification: tattoos and piercings.

Now I know some of us believe that body modifications are really a personal choice, and they’re often done as a remembrance or celebration of someone important in our lives—and that’s all well and good. Tattoos and piercings are your business. You like… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on December 29, 2009 at 8:00am — 51 Comments

Tips for the clinical portion of your EMT/Paramedic certification

Smooth Certification: Tips for the clinical portion of your EMT/Paramedic certification

By Scott Cook

So you’ve decided to go for your medical patch: EMT, EMT-I or EMT-P. EMS is part of what we do, and I’m still working on getting my paramedic certification, so this month, I want to share some tips for making your clinical experience a success.

First, a little background about me so you’ll know where I’m coming from: I’ve been a student… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on December 11, 2009 at 8:00am — 1 Comment