April 2009 Blog Posts (166)

MDEMSP - Beach benifit 4/18

This saturday MDEMSP is having a Beach Benifit and ride. They are motorcycling to ocean city then back to Cancun Cantina for a PARTY

There are raffel tickets $5 each call/email/instant message if you would like to purchase one... please help me sell them & come see me this weekend!! I will be registering people for the ride driving to the beach and partying like a rock-star at cancun… Continue

Added by Cyn on April 12, 2009 at 7:43pm — No Comments

Velma Oklahoma fires

since thursday april 9, 2009 fires have burned through and destroyed land and homes in velma, ok along with the rest of eastern Stephens County. After fighting fires for 72 hours the rain brought it to a hault thank god... Prayers for all the people in Velma, Stephens county, and oklahoma all together that lost so much this week.

Added by Chaz Shults on April 12, 2009 at 7:31pm — 1 Comment

Avoiding The Dirty Dozen on the Fire Scene

Gordon Dupont wrote an interesting artcile on Human Factors and how to avoid the dirty dozen, in relation to the aviation industry.

Check it out at:

http://www.ihst.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ciDdCM%2FClnw%3D&tabid=1784&language=en-US

These are the 12 contributing factors that can set you up to make an error no matter what your occupation and can easily be adpated to the fire scene. Consider the… Continue

Added by lutan1 on April 12, 2009 at 7:30pm — 6 Comments

Flying the Flag at Half Staff

Good afternoon:

We as members of the Public Safety community are very mindful of the customs and traditions of our various services. Many of the traditions within the fire department have been handed down for, well, since 1736. 1736 was the year that Ben Franklin started the first fire department in Philadelphia.

When we learn of a Line of Duty Death, we are quick to show our compassion, our grief, and our support of a fallen brother or sister. While we strive to follow… Continue

Added by Coach on April 12, 2009 at 3:00pm — 7 Comments

Old TV Shows

I know this has nothing to do with firefighting, but a bit of history on everything from TV shows to military history, many of us may know or not know and this is showing my age but though it would be nice for a change, let me know what you think.

As it was at the beginning

1960 Philco Predicta UG-4744

1966 1961 1967

The Beverly Hillbillies 1962 Howdy and Buffalo Bob 1955

Leave It To Beaver… Continue

Added by Bob Allard on April 12, 2009 at 11:30am — 3 Comments

A Little Lesson

As a member of our department for nearly two decades, having served as a reserve police officer and worked as a 911 dispatcher for nearly a decade, I've seen a lot and I've heard a lot, but nothing prepared me for February 12th, 2008.

Safety is critical and we all know that, but I learned a tough lesson that night that will live forever in my mind, my fellow brethren and my family.

The simple and short… Continue

Added by Chris Tomlinson on April 12, 2009 at 12:10am — 2 Comments

To evaluate progress, Take a SEET

From my All Hazards Contemplations blog...

During simple call like a room and contents fire, it's usually fairly easy to evaluate progress.

The black smoke turns to white steam, the fire goes out, the building cools down, we go home, and the invetigators take over. The next morning, the local newspaper reports the wins and losses...hopefully with a box score that… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on April 11, 2009 at 10:31pm — No Comments

Maersk Ship returns to port safely!!! Prayer needed for Captain

The USS Maersk Alabama has returned to port safely. The crew and everyone aboard is doing well and are in good health. However; The captain of this ship is still being held hostage by pirates.

As firefighters, we all know the feeling of not being sure if you will make it home safely from a call. I urge all of you to keep the captain, crew, and their familes in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Added by Dustin J. Millis on April 11, 2009 at 3:45pm — No Comments

FF I/II class coming to an end

I started teaching a Firefighter I/II class in January. It has been a very educational experience for both me and those in the class. While I felt my skills and knowledge were kept up to date I was amazed at the amount of little things I learned.

I've served on our volunteer fire department for 15 years and have seen and experienced quite a bit in all those years. It never ceases to amaze me how much one can learn. Even if it means covering the same thing you've covered umpteen… Continue

Added by Station10Capt106 on April 11, 2009 at 12:34pm — 4 Comments

Physical Fitness, Apparatus Accidents, LODD's,

Good morning.

As is becoming my early morning custom, I have reviewed a number of fire service boards, blogs, web sites, and news sites, searching for news items of relevance to me. Although there is nothing new so to speak from last night, most recent postings are following common themes.

Line Of Duty Deaths:

We continue to lose our public safety personnel at an alarming rate. One week ago today three Pittsburgh Police Oficers were ambushed, shot and killed. A… Continue

Added by Coach on April 11, 2009 at 10:52am — No Comments

Pittsburgh Police, LODD's, some local stuff

Pittsburgh LODD's

First I want to extend my appreciation to all the Law Enforcement Officers from throughout the nation who converged on Pittsburgh following the tragedy last weekend. Three of our police officers were killed while responding to a domestic call. Guys dog pissed on a carpet, momma wants him thrown out of the house. Jerk pulls on a balistic vest, loads his weapons (includng an AK47), and ambuses the officers when they arrived. Yesterday 2 of our officers were laid to rest.… Continue

Added by Coach on April 11, 2009 at 10:50am — No Comments

Stay Positive and Be the Change Agent

I was talking to some old friends that I had worked with when I had originally got hired as a career firefighter. We were discussing the “good old days” and having a good laugh. We all have moved on to different departments and districts since then, but we all agreed that those were some the best times of our careers. The pay and benefits weren’t great, we had our share of issues with the city, but we were a tight group and we had a blast on duty.

Most of us have moved on to bigger… Continue

Added by Jason Hoevelmann on April 10, 2009 at 11:49pm — No Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...April 10, 2009

I think this was the first time in my life I didn't reflect on the fact that today was Good Friday. I've been working so hard at my new part-time job, which I LOVE, writing webcontent for lawyers. Everything else is privileged so I cannot say more. I am, of course, still a realtor and tomorrow morning will be boxing up a tiny house for someone who died.

It's been pretty quiet around the firehouse. Last week was a our pancake… Continue

Added by Denise Imperiale on April 10, 2009 at 10:34pm — No Comments

Emergency Services Interactive Simulators

While I was searching around I found this FREE simulator looks good for free.

http://www.firesimulator.com/

Added by Texas HazMat on April 10, 2009 at 2:03pm — 2 Comments

CRITICAL CARE TRAINING

CRITICAL CARE TRAINING

Este Blog "Cursos AHA Perú" ha sido creado por el grupo "Critical Care Training" encargado del entrenamiento y difusión del conocimiento en Reanimación Cardiopulmonar (RCP) brindando la acreditación internacional bajo estándares de la American Heart Association (AHA). En este espacio podrá encontrar la información necesaria para obtener el grado BLS, ACLS y/o PALS.

www.cursosahaperu.blogspot.com

criticalcaretraining@gmail.com

Informes e… Continue

Added by pablo lister on April 10, 2009 at 1:01pm — No Comments

National Registry

So tomorrow I take my practicals to finish my EMT-B. I am soooo nervous.. Feel like I dont know anything. And then registry.. OMG I dont know about all of this. I just get really nervous about test. I have this thinking where I have to do things perfect or I get upset. I dont know why but I am just like that.. Will keep all of you updated. Then I start my fire class, while trying to keep my grades up for Nursing.. AHHH
FREAK OUT!!!!!

Added by Erika N Seager on April 10, 2009 at 12:50pm — 2 Comments

Expecting The Expected

Early this morning I posted an article on my blog at Firehouse Zen regarding the need to guard against complacency and to not just expect those "smells and bells" calls to always be smells and bells, but to do our job and keep the "big one" in mind, because someday, that's exactly what you are going to encounter.

How about thinking about the expected as well? How often do… Continue

Added by Mick Mayers on April 10, 2009 at 10:42am — 4 Comments

Accountability do we do it or not?

Accountability all Fire Company's talk about it. Some thought of how to do it. Some company's

even go as far as to issue accountability tags. There are all different form of the tags that are issued out

there. If we finally get the tags with the persons picture on them with, there rank on them and the fire

company name. Everything is so far so far so good. Now you have to train your people to use the tags.

There should be three tags to each fire… Continue

Added by anna m mills on April 10, 2009 at 9:06am — 3 Comments

FF's family goes hungry so prisoner can eat!!!!!!!!

Nice title, huh? It may be true very soon in Indiana.

Yesterday, Indiana's senate proposed plans for a new two year budget. With the economy the way it is right now, naturally there were cuts in almost all areas. Included in the cuts... Public Safety, things like overtime for police and FF's, fuel and maintnence budgets, and funding for new PPE all face the chopping block.

However; one area where the senate has decided to increase spending... Healthier meals for Indiana… Continue

Added by Dustin J. Millis on April 10, 2009 at 1:27am — 3 Comments

"We Run Red Lights For A Living" - AOL Story From Boston -2009.04.09

'We Run Red Lights For a Living'

Inside A Fire Engine Driver's Mind by Craig Howie | AOL Autos Posted: 09 April 2009

Not many young drivers make the jump from riding a motorcycle around town to weaving a 15-ton red behemoth through traffic with lights flashing and sirens blaring, but when Boston Fire Captain and driver trainer Scott Wahlen joined the service 13 years ago, he didn't even have his own driver's license. Now he… Continue

Added by A.J. on April 9, 2009 at 8:30pm — No Comments