Featured Blog Posts (1,722)

How Dedicated to Serve Are You?

When you say we'll protect you and serve you, where do you draw the line? Does there have to be a fire? A medical emergency? Or just a genuine need for help when you have run out of places to go or people to turn to?

http://firehousezen.com/2010/07/18/dedication-to-customer-service/

Added by Mick Mayers on July 19, 2010 at 8:00am — 5 Comments

"Save Our Survivors" Campaign Seeks $250,000 to Help 9/11 First Responders

The Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation has launched the “Save Our Survivors” campaign to provide portable air purification systems to ailing 9/11 survivors. Fire departments are being asked to organize fund-raising events to help their fellow responders who are overwhelmed by their illnesses. The goal is $250,000 to purchase 500 desperately needed air-purification systems. These systems will ease the struggle and… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 16, 2010 at 4:42pm — No Comments

Rescue Report: Maine Firefighters Rescue Young Girl from Entrapment

Boulder Traps Teenager

By Tom Vines

Photos Courtesy Bath Fire Department

On April 2, Bath, Maine, firefighters rescued a young girl from an unusual entrapment.

At 1456 HRS, fire dispatch in Bath, a town in southwest Maine, received a 911 call from a man reporting that his 14-year-old daughter was entrapped by a large… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 15, 2010 at 7:00am — No Comments

New Post on Firehouse Zen: The Roto-Ray

New Zen:…

Continue

Added by Mick Mayers on July 14, 2010 at 10:13am — No Comments

Tool Mounting: Get with the Program

INSIDE THE APPARATUS INDUSTRY

If you’re going to shell out that much cash for an apparatus, then don’t forget to plan out your tool-mounting needs

Story & Photos by Bob Vaccaro…

Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 14, 2010 at 6:30am — No Comments

Mayday? Name It! A new mnemonic for effectively calling maydays

Mayday? Name It!

A new mnemonic for effectively calling maydays

By William Burns

Recently, the fire department I work for mandated that all company officers review with their companies reports from the Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System (www.firefighternearmiss.com). Report… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 12, 2010 at 8:00am — 8 Comments

Fire blankets at Notre Dame and other observations while abroad

I recently returned from two weeks in Paris and Dublin. Now, this was a personal vacation, and since my husband isn’t affiliated with the fire service, he has only so much patience for chasing foreign ladder trucks down narrow streets. So I didn’t make any trips to fire stations or go on any ridealongs with the “sappeur-pompiers.”

But I did find myself thinking about how fire must be fought in these places that are so different than U.S. cities, and I did find myself… Continue

Added by Shannon Pieper, FireRescue Magazine on July 10, 2010 at 10:07pm — No Comments

Not so sweet "Sound of Music!"

Doe, a deer a female deer

Ray, the medic on the call

Me, the name I call myself

FA, the start of what was said….

SO, what will my penance be?

LA, it was the newest in the fleet!

TI, it’s technically not my…

Continue

Added by Peter Lupkowski on July 9, 2010 at 10:13am — 1 Comment

Competent vs. Proficient

Competent vs. Proficient: It's important that every firefighter masters certain basic competencies, but you need to go the extra step to ensure they become proficient at those skills

By Scott Cook

Competent and proficient.

As firefighters, we tend to look at these two words as being one and the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 9, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

Tractor-Trailer vs. Sedan Incident Offers Lessons Learned

By David Cone

Photos Courtesy Old Lyme Fire Department and Old Saybrook Fire Department

The view from the highway. The trailer is rolled onto its left side, and the cab is beyond the wooden sound barrier. An…

Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 8, 2010 at 6:30am — 3 Comments

Deep Impact: Going the extra mile to help someone can affect your entire community

Deep Impact

Going the extra mile to help someone can affect your entire community

By Ray Gayk

Have you ever thought about the impact your department has on the community you serve? Sometimes the impact is very clear, such as when we help save a life or make a great stop on a fire. We train hard for those moments, and when… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 7, 2010 at 8:00am — 1 Comment

Leadership Skills: Opportunity's Knocking--Will You Open the Door?

Leadership Skills: That Noise You Hear … It’s the sound of opportunity knocking—will you open the door?

From the June issue of FireRescue magazine

By Chief Marc Revere

There’s a fable about a lumberjack who was purported to be the best in the land and had won numerous competitions. The edge of his axe blade was honed to perfection;… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 6, 2010 at 4:40pm — No Comments

Fire on the Mountain: FireRescue recalls the South Canyon Fire

Fire on the Mountain: FireRescue recalls the South Canyon Fire

By FireRescue Editor-in-Chief Timothy E. Sendelbach

The South Canyon Fire is perhaps one of the most controversial fires in U.S. history. To this day, it sparks conversation and concern about firefighters’—and commanding officers’—understanding of entrapment situations, situational awareness, LCES, etc. In short, it stirs emotion because it was an avoidable…

Continue

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

The Charleston 9 - Another Perspective, Part 2

On our way from the staging area to the Coliseum, one person in particular stood out from the crowd of people lining the streets. Once we exited I-526 and turned onto the city streets, I noticed a woman kneeling on the sidewalk. Her right hand was held over her heart and her left hand was held aloft giving the …

Continue

Added by Ben Waller on July 3, 2010 at 6:42pm — 1 Comment

Eleven Minutes to Mayday; What You Need to Know

Eleven Minutes to Mayday; What You Need to Know

By Christopher J. Naum, SFPE

CommandSafety.com

The Colerain Township (OH) Fire and EMS Department under the leadership of Director and Chief G. Bruce Smith recently released its final report…

Continue

Added by Christopher J. Naum, SFPE on July 3, 2010 at 7:16am — No Comments

Put It All Together: Integrate multimedia into post-incident analyses to solidify lessons learned

By Brett Bowman & Jennie Collins

Photos Courtesy Prince William County (Va.) Department of Fire and Rescue

Have you ever participated in the experiment where a person reads a group of people directions to fold a piece of paper in half, fold it in half again, tear off the upper right-hand corner, etc.? By the end of the exercise, there are usually multiple versions of the end product because there was no visual reference to ensure…

Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 2, 2010 at 4:30am — No Comments

Challenge News: Firefighter Combat Challenge has strong start

CHALLENGE NEWS

On Your Mark … Firefighter Combat Challenge has strong start

Story & Photos by Michael DeGrandpre…

Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 1, 2010 at 8:00am — No Comments

“Marketing” Isn’t a Dirty Word: How to market your service, personnel & apparatus to your community

By Chief Jeffrey D. Johnson, EFO, CFO, MIFireE

From the July issue of FireRescue magazine

At the bedside of an 80-year-old woman with a fractured hip, I learned my first lesson in marketing. As my crew—clad in bunker pants and T-shirts emblazoned with the word “fire”—began treating the woman, the local private ambulance crew entered the opposite side of the room. They were dressed in crisp uniforms complete…

Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on July 1, 2010 at 8:00am — 2 Comments

More FDIC Hot Products from FireRescue's Technical Editors

The July issue of FireRescue magazine features technical editors’ picks for the best new products showcased at FDIC 2010. Here’s what we couldn’t fit in the magazine:

Council Tool’s Special Operations Survival (SOS) Tool

Review by Greg Jakubowski

OK, I’m a bit of a “tool geek.” I like companies that are always thinking about ways to help us do our job better. Carrying handfuls of tools to a fire building doesn’t work very well,…