Ben Waller's Blog (46)

I didn't do anything special on September 11, and here's why...

Remembering the firefighters, police officers, and medics who were killed on 9/11/01 is important; in fact it's so important that I have included it into the culture of my average workday. I have visual memory triggers to help me remember, including 9/11 memorial decals on both my personal and work vehicles. I wear a bracelet memorializing Captain Terry Hatton of FDNY Rescue 1. Helmet stickers, check.

There are two even more important things I do on a routine basis. The first is that… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on September 13, 2008 at 10:00am — 8 Comments

Simple explanations for complicated concepts - don't make a situation more complicated than it already is.

The United States military distills some of their most complicated - and most important - concepts into a single word...

Duty

Honor

Country

This fits into the value system for the people who are the most important to me as well...

Love

Family

Home

Firefighter

Paramedic

Friend

One of the smartest people I know is Mick Mayers. Mick deals with a lot of state and national-level planning and response issues.… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on August 16, 2008 at 11:30am — 2 Comments

Does your apparatus have a Good Luck Compartment?

When you check off your assigned response vehicle, does the check sheet have a line item for the compartment full of good luck? Virtually every fire and EMS agency completes vehicle checks on a daily, weekly, or some similar periodic basis. There are compartments full of medical equipment, tools, hose, ladders, or whatever, depending on the vehicle type and how your department sets it up. Is the Good Luck compartment included?

Funny thing...I've worked engines, trucks, rescues,… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on July 28, 2008 at 7:43pm — 4 Comments

Does RIT really work?

Does RIT really work?

Does RIT really work? There is a lot of evidence that RIT teams, no matter how well-trained, are ineffective in saving firefighters in real-life Mayday situations. If this were not the case, we’d be hearing RIT success stories on a daily basis. We don’t.

There are numerous accounts of ineffective RIT responses. Here are a… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on July 20, 2008 at 9:41pm — 8 Comments

June 18, 2007

Tommorrow, it will have been a year since the horrible tragedy at the Sofa Super Store.

The year has flown by for most of us, but it's been the longest and saddest year in the lives of our brothers from the Charleston Fire Department and especially for the families of the Charleston 9. I was one of the family escorts for the memorial service, and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I knew two of the nine, and that just made it worse.

Heather, if you read this,… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on June 17, 2008 at 10:25pm — 1 Comment

Disbanded fire stations and companies - a sad part of fire service history

I've moved around quite a bit in my career, and it's sad to see how many stations and units have been disbanded throughout the history of various fire departments. FDNY, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and quite a few others have some pretty good historical photos and records of old fire stations and disbanded fire companies.

Some of the ones from my past that I really miss...

Hagerstown Community Rescue Service Squad 75A - I hated the slime… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on May 14, 2008 at 10:26pm — No Comments