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By Michael E. Cox, Jr.



Training a large number of career recruit firefighters can be a daunting task for any department; however, when a department is faced with a skyrocketing number of vacancies due to attrition, increased overtime costs, a year-long delay in the hiring process, plus one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression, the difficulty level of such an undertaking grows exponentially.



In November 2008, Anne Arundel County Executive John…

By Joseph A. Masington & Guy Seeley



Today’s challenging economic climate has had a substantial impact on fire services across the country, forcing many communities to slash budgets, and forcing even the most fiscally minded fire department leaders to make tough choices regarding available resources, from closing fire stations on a rolling or permanent basis to reducing the number of firefighters on duty during a given shift.



As a result, the amount of…

TECHNICAL RESCUE

By Harold Schapelhouman



On Thursday, Sept. 9, at 1812 HRS, the San Mateo County Public Safety Communications Center (PSC) received a report that an explosion and subsequent fire had occurred in the Glenview neighborhood area of San Bruno, Calif., a city within San Mateo County, which borders the Pacific Ocean, the San Francisco Bay, the City of San Francisco and Santa Clara County. This region is often…

RIDING BACKWORDS – September 2010

Generally speaking, an open door policy refers to the availability of management to any employee at any level. Open door policies allow employees to step outside the traditional boundaries created by the hierarchy of an organization – what we know as the chain of command. Open door policies permit employees to bring their concerns to the appropriate level they feel can provide the impetus necessary to resolve their issue. Our discussion will…

REALITY CHECK

Beware the Lowering of the Bar

When standards of conduct begin to slip, the consequences can be far-reaching

By Scott Cook

Last month I wrote about the collision of USS Hartford and USS New Orleans and its relationship to the fire service, specifically in relation to officer responsibilities. You’ll recall…