All Blog Posts (7,007)

Another Thursday

Thursday night (obviously), the kids were here while Mom went to weight watchers (the last payment of which, BTW, came out of my checking, she hadn't changed that when she moved out. Bounced a payment I had made too. But I digress...) They are home now and the place is quiet. The house was on the market about 2 weeks or so and someone made an offer on it. So we meet at the real estate office to go over the paperwork. Our agent is on vacation in Hawaii (must be nice), but her brother, who is… Continue

Added by TJC44 on October 9, 2008 at 9:48pm — No Comments

A medevac story from the Internet

Maryland to Revise Medevac Guidelines

Doctor's OK to be required before some chopper flights

The Baltimore Sun

In a move that could reduce the number of medevac flights in Maryland, state emergency medical officials announced yesterday that ambulance teams will be required to consult with doctors before deciding whether flying some accident victims to a trauma center is better than driving them to a local hospital.

The change, in response to a deadly helicopter… Continue

Added by Stephen Smith on October 9, 2008 at 6:12pm — 3 Comments

Town Board and the Frustration.

Now I know I shouldn't be frustrated but I AM. I had a meeting last night with a neighboring town that we contract with to provide fire and EMS protection too. The issue was that this town is split into two districts, and coverage is provided by two different companies. The town supervisor of the town that we contract with is obliviouse to how much it takes to run a fire department these days. Now some might say that she is undereducated about the topic and needs info from us. Well I gave them… Continue

Added by Josh kibbe on October 9, 2008 at 4:23pm — No Comments

Firefighter Ministries Website Update

We have updated our website at www.firefighterministries.org with new articles and content. With the release of Fireproof, we have focused on marriage. We have also added a CafePress store with our new logo:

Check it… Continue

Added by Wendy Norris on October 9, 2008 at 3:41pm — No Comments

Daily Dumbass October 9, 2008

Today's daily dumbass is certainly a new low. Taken from KCMQ.com.

You can get arrested for driving just about anything drunk, and today’s dumbass has hit a new low. A guy named Leslie Marr in Whitehall, New York was fined nearly $400 for driving a motorized cooler while he was drunk. He was arrested after police saw his riding his “Cruzin Cooler” while swerving on a sidewalk. Cops even confiscated Leslie’s cooler until his fines are paid.

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 9, 2008 at 9:16am — No Comments

National Memorial Weekend

I’m going to warn you ahead of time. This is a long post. It’s an emotional post. If you don’t have a little while, just come back later. When you’re ready, grab something to drink, and consider having some tissues close by. I’m going to share the most amazing experience I’ve ever had as a fireman.

I’ve just returned from the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, Maryland. This is the second time I’ve attended, but the first time I’ve been a part of the… Continue

Added by Tristen Cruz on October 8, 2008 at 12:33pm — 2 Comments

Test

Well last night I went and tested for a department. When I got down there were thirty guys there testing for at minimum of 3 positions. Well sitting back watching what was going on 10 guys it seemed like already new the Captain giving the test so I'm thinking shit. Now hopefully I'm just reading to much into this, but with my luck I'm probably right on the money, I know at some other departments its who you know, not what you know, but I am going to hope I am wrong, and maybe I will get a call… Continue

Added by Jonathan on October 8, 2008 at 11:24am — No Comments

Hurricane Season Predictions VS Reality

In May I had posted the predictions for this Hurricane Season. They had predicted:

"The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on 1 June and may peak between late August and mid-October. According to specialists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it will be an active period with 12 to 16 named storms of which 6 to 9 are expected to become actual hurricanes. The nation’s premier climate agency also predicted that 2 to 5 hurricanes will be major ones of… Continue

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 8, 2008 at 10:07am — No Comments

Daily Dumbass October 8, 2008

Today's Daily Dumbass from KCMQ.com. Original can be viewed here.

There comes a time when you have to stop doing something because you’re just too old or maybe your eyesight isn’t good enough any more. An Austrian hunter tried to shoot down a parked car, mistaking it for a wild boar while hunting. The 67-year-old man said he had briefly dozed off in his watchtower, and when he woke up, he thought the vehicle was wild game and shot at it.… Continue

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 8, 2008 at 9:56am — 1 Comment

Pink Ribbon Tour is Coming to Colorado!

The Pink Ribbon Tour is a group of fire fighters conducting a cross-country mission from late August through October in a pink fire truck, pulling a 10’ ribbon. Their tour will make at least 32 stops—promoting the message of early detection and raising funds for breast cancer research & services. Breast cancer battlers and survivors are invited to come out and sign the truck as a national statement regarding the impact of this devastating disease.

Each of the 32 stops on The Pink… Continue

Added by Paulette on October 7, 2008 at 6:36pm — 1 Comment

Consistency and Standardization - Terminology Blog In Extremis

Well, I'm glad that there's been a lot of discussion about the terminology issue, but my point wasn't just about terminology and communications standardization being a problem for the fire service. Without digressing, despite some of the very considerate and well expressed views pointed out by readers in the Terminology blog I wrote, it is a problem- go back and look at the reports of any disaster… Continue

Added by Mick Mayers on October 7, 2008 at 5:30pm — 13 Comments

Leading by "Looking out the window"

I’ve spent a lot of time studying successful fire-rescue and EMS organizations. One of the things I look for is how they establish their organizational structures and how those structures contribute to the organization’s overall success. One organizational structure element is present so consistently that I developed a simple model to explain it. The model is “Looking out the window”. In this model, the Chief and the Deputy Chief stand back-to-back at a picture window. The window represents the… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on October 7, 2008 at 5:00pm — 2 Comments

Lab Exam 1

Well nothing really bad to update on the Lab Exam, I passed the practical exam part of the Lab. The wierd part was that I was scheduled to take it at 11am but showed up about an hour early figuring I could glance over the Lab book. Well I was in and done before 11am and was actually home by about 10 min after 11 today. Now time to study for this Fridays exam 2.

Added by John on October 7, 2008 at 1:03pm — No Comments

Daily Dumbass October 7, 2008

Today's Daily Dumbass from KCMQ.com. Original can be viewed here.

Gun training should be a prerequisite for armed robbers - especially dumb ones. 25-year-old Derrick Kosch went into a convenience store in Kokomo, Indiana with a semi-automatic handgun and demanded money and cigarettes. The store clerk put the money in a bag, and had turned around to get him the smokes when Derrick decided to tuck his gun back into the waistband of his pants. The gun went off and he ended up shooting… Continue

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 7, 2008 at 11:10am — 2 Comments

On the road again.....

Tomorrow I leave for a 2 night 3 day road trip around Wisconsin. I will be "visiting" some fire departments in the Central and Northern areas of the state. I say "visiting" because I will actually be working. Doing annual flow tests on their SCBA's. Now that I have a blog here I will do something that I have been planning on doing for over a year now. I'm going to take my camera along with me and take some pictures along the way. It may be the fall colors or fire trucks or anything else I think… Continue

Added by Tom Haupenthal on October 6, 2008 at 11:21pm — No Comments

Need a lil help guys...

We have a member that has joined recently who is a lil larger than most of the guys...not really sure how active he is going to be in the department since this is volunteer...until we see how things are going to go, we dont want to spend four grand on a set of gear just yet...If anyone knows or has a set of bunkers that are larger than large that they want to sell...please email me...4XL might not cut it...but let me know what ya got...I think we found some… Continue

Added by Chris Pegram on October 6, 2008 at 8:52pm — 4 Comments

Candles - people JUST don't get the danger!

People really DON'T get the dangers of candles - do they? I used to love the smell of scented candles but I only used them on special occassion when I knew I wouldn't forget them or fall asleep because of the known dangers. Then my husband and I had a baby and a few years later we got a puppy - well let's just say the candles got put away before baby and have never returned. BUT I am very happy to share that I found a GREAT alternative.

You all know my fire service connection from my… Continue

Added by Pam Tichy on October 6, 2008 at 3:36pm — 2 Comments

Update on Ryan Hoover and Benefit dinner coming up please read!!!!!

Ok I would like to give some of you all a udate on Ryan Hoover the burned race car driver that I helped out on 8/23/08 @ the Glen ridge motorsports park. As of 10/5/08 ~ There will be a benefit spaghetti supper for Ryan Hover on October 25th at the Craryville Fire Station, located on Rt. 7 in the town of Craryville. Hours are 4p.m.-8p.m.Cost is: Adults, $8.00, Children, $5.00, Under age 3 free. I would like to hope as many race car drivers can make it, to show their support. All race car fans,… Continue

Added by Curtis Rouse on October 6, 2008 at 3:06pm — No Comments

Trip to the Rockies

Well I've been back for a couple weeks but life has been crazy hectic so I'm just now gettin' on to write about my trip. Colorado was flippin amazing!! The weather was like 65-70 degrees the whole time we were there, and everything was just so beautiful. We went hiking quite a bit and got to hear some elk bugling which was really cool and different. Once I get around to gettin' pictures developed I'll post some up here, I got one of an enormous bull elk like 3 feet away from the walk path just… Continue

Added by Ashleigh on October 6, 2008 at 2:47pm — No Comments

Daily Dumbass October 6, 2008

Yet another stupid robber. Taken from KCMQ.com.

From the “nice try” department, we get today’s dumbass. A robber broke into a house in Australia and was caught by the homeowners. When police arrived at the scene, the 42-year-old robber insisted she hadn’t broken in on purpose - she was just sleepwalking and didn’t know what she was doing. The police didn’t buy it and arrested her anyway.

Added by Bruce C Ziebarth on October 6, 2008 at 1:19pm — No Comments