April 2008 Blog Posts (184)

R.I.T. Drills

Hello everyone. I'm looking for some information on some R.I.T Drills. I've been put in charge of the R.I.T. training this year and I am looking for some good drills to use for the class. If anyone has suggestions please feel free to leave them. Thanks alot and Take care.

Added by RICK on April 15, 2008 at 6:56pm — 3 Comments

Firefighter Appreciation Day

As many of you know, we here in the Cincinnati area experienced the loss of two of our own. Channel 9 here has initiated a Appreciation Day for firefighters on April 17th. Let's not let this be an isolated event. I believe this could be a time to, not only express appreciation to those who serve, to to expand awareness of firefighter safety. Get your community involved! If you do something for April 17th, please post it here to let everyone know of ways to become active in their community. Here… Continue

Added by Michael Finney on April 15, 2008 at 1:12pm — 1 Comment

Home sweet home

I am finally home after working 2 overtime shifts. It is good to be home, relax and see my dog. I hope all is going well with everyone out there.

Added by firegirl1 on April 15, 2008 at 10:16am — No Comments

THANK YOU

I would like to say thanks for the memories to all my former co-workers at GADSDEN ETOWAH EMS.I want you to know that I enjoyed working with you.I want to say thanks to Chicken for giving me my chance,and I only hope that since I have been terminated I did not let you down.I know there are some whom I will remain friends then there are those who will probably not even look at me if you see me on the street.Just remember what I did was to cover my butt,and also to help everybody.The EMS system… Continue

Added by WILLIAM HUDSON on April 14, 2008 at 8:30pm — 2 Comments

Inspiration From Others

My daughter Caroline turns four tomorrow. She’s our middle child and some of you know she has Down syndrome which makes her life a little more interesting than yours and mine. When she was born, we really had no idea what to expect. I knew some friends whose children had DS, but really, other than that, I had no inkling of the potential issues that could possibly be made manifest as a result of this diagnosis.

The short form… Continue

Added by Mick Mayers on April 14, 2008 at 8:30pm — 5 Comments

Passed the Paramedic National Registry Written Test!!!

I passed the the National Registry! I still lack the skills part but, hopefully, I will get that knocked out sometime during these next upcoming weeks. Thanks to everyone that wished me luck!

For all those in the Texas region getting ready to take the registry or needing a refresher course, Jon Puryear has an EXCELLENT course. You can sign up for a 2-day classroom course or order the course online. He sends a CD/DVD that has audio lectures and also sends a packet of paper notes and… Continue

Added by CJ on April 14, 2008 at 2:39pm — 6 Comments

Please Stop!

Please! Please! I beg you, please stop writing if you can not spell, punctuate or don’t know the meaning of a word. Many of us get on this site and ask for advice. Great, that's what this site is all about. But I can't imagine why anyone would take you seriously or even reply when the dictionary has been butchered and 2nd grade English was completely disregarded. This could be a great site for Firefighters to sound off and gather great information, but we don't need a translator. Maybe I'll… Continue

Added by Dan Morriss on April 14, 2008 at 12:16pm — 16 Comments

Bomb Threat Planning and Management

NOTE: Anyone can attend

Cost:$100.00

Dates: April 25, 2008 (1pm-5pm EST) and May 2 (1pm-5pm EST) This seminar is divided into two sessions.

Bombings, attempted bombings and bomb threats can cause extreme disruption, fear, and even panic in organizations whose personnel are not trained to handle such situations. Inappropriate and costly management decisions are often made due to a lack of organizational planning and a methodology for handling bomb threats,… Continue

Added by Michael Finney on April 14, 2008 at 10:24am — No Comments

TNT: The Accidental Runner; The Longest Run is.....

The longest run is the one you have to do, by yourself, in the rain, and your iPod craps out just far enough from the parking lot to not allow you to go back and get a new battery.

Part of the training process for running a distance event like a half marathon is the dreaded "long run". This is a recommended once a week event, and our team of runners normally gather at 7:00 a.m. at the Niskayuna Bike Path to get it done with some camaraderie, planned water stops, and the… Continue

Added by Mary Ellen Shea on April 14, 2008 at 8:08am — 25 Comments

Show me what Firefighters can do. Help Out

We are about to have our American Cancer Society Relay for Life her locally.

I am asking that any of you that have been touched by cancer take the time to go to my page and make a donation

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RelayForLifeGreatWestDivision?px=3617804&pg=personal&fr_id=5696

Thanks for taking the time and caring enough to give

Delbert Humphries

GCSOD45

Dispatcher, Search and Rescue, Ex… Continue

Added by Delbert on April 14, 2008 at 7:28am — No Comments

Fire Chief Passing

On April 12, 2008 Fire Chief James Gudroe of the Dexter Fire Department, Maine passed away unexpectedly from a non line of duty medical condition.

Please keep Jim's family and the Dexter fire Department in your thoughts and prayers.

Jim will have a full firefighter's funeral at the request of his family

Funeral services are as follows;

Visiting hours Friday April 18, 2008, 1400-1600 and 1800-2000 at Crosby Funeral Home on Main St, Dexter,… Continue

Added by Bill on April 13, 2008 at 9:24pm — 2 Comments

Question: Incident Time clock.

I have been real troubled lately to see firefighters dying in buildings 45 minutes to TWO HOURS after time of dispatch. As an incident continues in time the building becomes less stable and collapse or failure of some type is bound to occur. Does your department have a running incident clock and are those firefiighters on scene reminded of the time spent fighting fire?

Added by Dan Morriss on April 13, 2008 at 8:16pm — 1 Comment

April week 2

well we finshed the week with some great weather in the 70's saturday and sunday that would of been great except me and a fair number of friends were stuck in a I-300 class all weekend that sucked. Paper never seems to go away this year has been the worst I have seen so far, lots of new develpments going on. We had no calls this week so that was great, instructed the other night on preserving evidence for origin and cause most of them seem to get it fairly well, some will never ever seem to get… Continue

Added by Gordon Hennigs on April 13, 2008 at 6:30pm — No Comments

Busy 1st month for me

I figure i would post a blog being i just joined this site, alittle background first though. I have only been on my Vol Dept. for just over a month Still learning the ropes im actually going to a esstential class next month. i have already been on one structure fire a barn fire, several grass a few car fires and one Accident. The Accident being my 1st call and sadly it was one of the worst one my dept has delt with in a very long time. My town is rather strange though we have two different… Continue

Added by Mike Yocom on April 13, 2008 at 3:19pm — 1 Comment

Disheartening posts. . .

Just over a year ago, I wanted to find a way to help and support the community in which I live. I joined my county's Medical Reserve Corp as a way of "helping out". I joined this forum a few months back to gain additional knowledge and feedback for responding to community wide emergencies, so far, most of the information I've read here has been helpful and extremely insightful.

Today though, as I was browsing through the groups on this forum, I came across one particular group… Continue

Added by Karen on April 12, 2008 at 8:31pm — 11 Comments

Five Surprising Salaries

This was one of the featured articles today on MSN.com.

"Five Surprising Salaries

By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

Much has been made of people who live beyond their means. When you see a neighbor bring home a fancy new car, you can't help but wonder how she can afford it on her salary. However, you can't assume you know how much she (or anybody) makes unless you've seen her tax returns.

Plenty of people earn surprising paychecks… Continue

Added by CJ on April 12, 2008 at 7:07pm — 1 Comment

did i ever say how much i hate needles???????

I am so sick of seeing and feeling needles its not funny!!! Tuesday i had to do a 3 hour sugar test and they stuck me 6 times, Thursday i went for my normal doc appointment and they surprise me with another amnio reduction but they couldn't do it b/c this time i asked them to put me under or else i was going to put up a fight. well they sent me upstairs to labor and delivery to see the anestesiologist (i know i can't spell that one) well the first nurse tried to put an IV in me and blew my… Continue

Added by Trish Girard on April 12, 2008 at 2:14pm — No Comments

Aussies in Indianapolis

Indianapolis hosted its annual Firefighter Training Conference this past week. I would love to hear from any of the Australian Firefighters who attended. Please share with me your thoughts and experiences.

Added by Lisa on April 12, 2008 at 2:01pm — No Comments

Did ya ever???

Did ya ever think that at 3 am you would be cleaning out the back of your rig from the last pt that puked all over

Did ya ever think that you would dedicate your life to saving the lives of those that sometimes dont want to be saved

Did ya ever think that you could chat about a multisystem trauma while eating a hamburger

wonder what a real 9 to 5 would be like ( yea right what ever)

wonder what hazmat personel are called besides "glow… Continue

Added by John Thomson on April 12, 2008 at 12:23am — No Comments

I NEED HElP

hey i got this project and i need as much info on the history of firefighting as possible the catch is i got to have it done my the April 15th and it has to be 6pages of info

Added by Sam Smith on April 12, 2008 at 12:09am — 3 Comments