January 2010 Blog Posts (127)

Tales from a tailboard fireman ~ Good Company

There are numerous good books about our life. The classic Engine 82 written around when I started in the early 1970s still stands out. Dennis Smith went on to start Firehouse magazine and was a tailboard fireman of the first order. B-shifter by Nick Brunacini on Phoenix Fire tells it like it is. His Dad was Chief there and did much to modernize our profession. Medal of Valor by Michael Middleton tells the stories of the best of the best. It makes me humble to know I wore… Continue

Added by mike simms on January 8, 2010 at 12:20pm — 1 Comment

Hello All I Am a captain with a small department on Raccoon Mountain all together we have 25 firefighrers . .The department is small and funded just enough to pay the small stuff but not enough to ge…

Hello All

I Am a captain with a small department on Raccoon Mountain all together we have 25 firefighrers . .The department is small and funded just enough to pay the small stuff but not enough to get what we need. The gear we have now is old and worn out and some without gear.We need sizes from med. to large.

We need some help so we can try to get these firefighters in some gear and try to replace some of the old stuff so they can fight fires the only problem is we dont have the… Continue

Added by christopher on January 7, 2010 at 9:52pm — No Comments

my first post

i have been a member for awhile but kinda forgot about it, well im posting my first post and here i go

i am Patrick, i am an EMT-B/Fire Fighter for nearly 2 years. i work for Pickaway Plains-Health pro Ambulance and vol. at jacksonville Fire and rescue but i havent done a whole lot at the Department. i moved from Athens county so im not around much... i plan to move back to athen county soon enough. i am currently in medic class at Mid-East Zansvelle, ohio. I hope to be an NREMT-I in… Continue

Added by Patrick Kelley on January 7, 2010 at 8:10pm — 1 Comment

Saving a life?

I have been very recently disscussing on another junior posting about juniors and their role. I also tend to go to the home page (not just juniors) of a poster and see what they're about. I can sometimes get a good feeling about what or why they are posting a comment.

I have seen a few persons post on their page things about "wanting to save a life". Now this got me to a thinking about what do they mean by save a life? I posted this question to a young man. He is probably (hopefully) still… Continue

Added by Capt.Alex Arnold on January 7, 2010 at 1:56pm — 1 Comment

Live-fire training: Strategies for ensuring it’s safe and realistic

Live-fire training: Strategies for ensuring it’s safe and realistic

By Keith Lloyd

Live-fire training is a necessary and indispensable tool for the professional fire service instructor. Fire training technology has made great advancements in recent years, but has yet to produce a simulator that can provide the same experience, the feeling of heat and the ability to observe fire behavior that live-fire evolutions provide.

Introducing the firefighter… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on January 7, 2010 at 8:00am — 11 Comments

Why Art "Chief Reason" Goodrich Didn't Make the Cut....

Fire Daily has advanced to the top ten final round of the Fire EMS blog of the Year 2009.

What?

I am fully humbled and completely surprised that I was nominated at all, let alone advancing out of the evening gown portion of this highly competitive contest.

Now it’s your turn. Have some fun and choose from an outstanding list of the other nine bloggers that truly deserve to have advanced to the final ten, whilst averting your eyes from the visual your brain will… Continue

Added by FireDaily.com on January 6, 2010 at 7:20pm — 5 Comments

Muscle Memory Required for Bailout Systems

I’m working on a research paper for my NFA class and have found some interesting statistics about the selection, use and training of bailout devices. I’m not promoting any device or even the use of a bailout device, however; if you are wearing a bailout system, you should be able to articulate to some one why you are wearing the particular system you have and how you would deploy the device during an emergency event. I have found that the departments who are wearing bailout systems may not be… Continue

Added by Darryl Kerley on January 6, 2010 at 11:59am — No Comments

Plug Away: Drills for improving communication & success on a forward lay

QUICK DRILLS

Plug Away: Drills for improving communication & success on a forward lay

By Homer Robertson

What’s the one fireground task that the least-experienced member of your company is often assigned to perform, without help? As a new firefighter, I remember going out to the apparatus bay with the company officer or the apparatus operator first thing in the morning, and they would tell me, “If we get anything today, you’re plugging.” They… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on January 6, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

Challenges for the new decade

Now that the new decade has started and having had time to reflect on what I have and have not achieved over the last 10 years it is time to set some goals.

1. Family always comes first;

2. Lose those excess kilograms;

3. Get fit;

4. Remain active and involved not just in firefighting but in my community as well;

5. Keep learning;

6. Continue to promote firefighting as a career choice not just for those who want to do this as paid work but for those people… Continue

Added by Mark Montgomery on January 6, 2010 at 5:00am — No Comments

What Would You Do? -Suspicious Item

You are the company officer on a jump company engine with a crew of three. The dispatcher calls you on the phone and tells you she’s received a report from a passer-by of a “suspicious-looking bottle” lying in the ditch in a rural portion of your response district. You tell her that you and your crew will head out and check on it.

After you arrive in the area, you begin your search of the ditch line, looking for a plastic bottle with a bright blue liquid in it. After a few moments,… Continue

Added by FireDaily.com on January 5, 2010 at 1:57pm — 6 Comments

Tales from a tailboard fireman ~ Regulars

Thanks for your comments on past posts.

We all have repeat calls to people. Some of mine stand out over the years and have stayed with me for various reasons.

Roy L. was a drunk. We got called out to lots of drunks at all times of the day or night. Classic conversation, "How long have you been drinking," slurred answer, "All my life." Roy would call us at 2 or 3 in the morning. Difficulty breathing. The first time I responded I put the O2 mask on with no result and… Continue

Added by mike simms on January 5, 2010 at 12:10am — 1 Comment

Do You Know an Exceptional Fire Service Leader?

Update: CFSI also opened nominations for the Paul S. Sarbanes Fire Service Safety Leadership Award. Criteria include: recognition of the Life Safety Initiatives; being an advocate for firefighter health and safety; leadership in promoting and supporting firefighter health and safety initiatives at the local, state or national level; reaching out to other organizations and developing partnerships to further the cause of firefighter health and safety; and engaging government leaders… Continue

Added by Shannon Pieper, FireRescue Magazine on January 4, 2010 at 4:00pm — 3 Comments

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

This living room looks like any other you might run across in any neighborhood. Other than the fact that it is taped off, probably to keep our dirty feet off the clean, lightly colored carpet. After all, we need to keep our customers happy. We are no doubt protecting the living room from damage after, oh, maybe a kitchen fire, an electrical fire somewhere else in the house. In fact, we might want to check the basement for the… Continue

Added by Jason Hoevelmann on January 4, 2010 at 1:06pm — 7 Comments

Ice Rescue: Technician Required?

It is the time of year when the weather gets especially cold and ice is forming on the lakes and ponds. It is also when many departments start actually getting out on and in the ice to train for ice related emergencies. One of the departments that I am a part of and others around us do train on this topic. The question has been raised by many, some legitimately concerned and others just trying to stay out of the ice, if a person should be trained to technician level before he/she enters the… Continue

Added by Jason Hoevelmann on January 4, 2010 at 12:17pm — 4 Comments

Ouch! It hurts, but muscle soreness is key to muscle strength

Survival of the Fittest

Story & Photos by Jeff & Martha Ellis

The agony of adaptation is ever-apparent when starting a new workout program. In the new year, many of you will hit the gym for the first time in a long time. With that will come the inevitable pain and suffering of delayed onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.

Whether you’re starting a new program or intensifying an old one, some very interesting things occur… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on January 4, 2010 at 10:00am — No Comments

On the other side...

So it's only been a month and one day since I had my surgeries and I've already injured myself. Today was the first day I've really got to ride my bike, so I decided to go mountain biking up in the mountains by Pine Flat Lake. Everything was okay until I took a turn too fast on a dirt path and found myself tumbling down a 30 foot cliff down into a ravine. Barely had cell phone reception to call an ambulance and half way through the call my phone died. Luckily they got enough information on my… Continue

Added by Christian Cossey on January 4, 2010 at 3:20am — 1 Comment

Tales from a tailboard fireman ~ Promotions

Promotions on the San Jose Fire Department are based on a written test and an oral board consisting of chief officers from other departments. The orals have several stations covering tactics, personnel issues, and whatever else is dreamed up as relevant by whatever branch of the city is in charge of the process at that time. In my 25 years, the tests varied greatly.

In the beginning, the written tests were formulated by senior staff of the fire department. Questions came from our… Continue

Added by mike simms on January 3, 2010 at 12:15pm — 2 Comments

Incident Command: When 'Quantity' Communications Overcomes 'Quality'. When in charge, do you over do it?

I understand the need for scene size up, ect... but what about the micro-chief???

Who is it you say, we all have one or seen one in action. They assume command and fill up every comm channel with chatter failing to use others around to gather the important info.

Everyone has a job on the fire scene but what about giving a sit rep every 30 seconds. Too much too little? Should it be on single company, large or all scenes?

Yes all comms today are crappy, most… Continue

Added by Richard Williams on January 2, 2010 at 11:30pm — 13 Comments