Featured Blog Posts (1,722)

Fortune Tellers

In my last blog titled “Dig In.” I talked about the importance of story telling in the fire service and how it serves as a means of sharing experiences, traditions and values from generation to generation. In this article I try to tell a story, and in that story, I hope you can find a lesson to share for generations to come.

Almost every firefighter I meet speaks of how they always knew, from the time… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:22pm — 6 Comments

What are you going to do about it?

A lot of people look to me for solutions to their recruitment and retention challenges. The fact is, we know what the answers are.

Join me for a conversation about the future of the volunteer fire service as I've signed on with Fire-Rescue Magazine (… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:00pm — No Comments

Getting Familiar with Unfamiliar Dirt

I recently spent a week on vacation that included a lot of reading on the beach. I was able to complete a six-book series, the Corean Chronicles by L.E. Modsitt, Jr... an excellent read if you're into the genre. In one of the books, a group of soldiers is deployed to an area with which none of them are familiar. They're tired from traveling and just want to… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on September 6, 2009 at 12:20pm — 1 Comment

Glad to be a part of FirefighterNation!

We are glad to be associated with the folks here at FirefighterNation and respectfully request you also learn more about us, Ted Corporandy and Paul Schuller at www.firenuggets.com We too, are all about firefighter safety and networking....

Stay safe,
Paul and Ted

Added by Paul A. Schuller on September 7, 2009 at 11:25pm — 1 Comment

Just Enough Leadership

Henry Mintzberg is not a fan of the “American” style of leadership.

In the July-August 2009 edition of Harvard Business Review, writing in Rebuilding Companies as Communities, Mintzberg asserts:

"They sat in their offices and announced the goals they want others to attain, instead of getting on the ground and helping improve performance. Executives did not know what was going on, and employees didn’t care what went on. What a monumental failure… Continue

Added by Mike Ward on September 6, 2009 at 12:17pm — 6 Comments

Near Miss: The 400-lb. Patient in the Room

NEAR-MISS REPORT

The 400-lb. Patient in the Room: We must ensure safe operations during unique calls, like transporting the immobile, obese patient

By Deputy Chief John B. Tippett Jr.

The role of the fire service has expanded well beyond the original concept and ideals promulgated by early colonists Peter Stuyvesant and Benjamin Franklin. What hasn’t changed in the last 300 years: the tradition of rising to the occasion when called upon to assist a… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on September 5, 2009 at 10:30am — 2 Comments

Heads Up! Part 2: How to perform a tree rescue

RESCUE TRAINING

By Andy Speier

Consider this scenario: A parachutist is blown off course and gets caught hanging by their chute in a tree 150 feet off the ground. The branch nearest the ground is 50 feet away, and there’s no vehicle access to the site. Is your department or rescue team prepared and trained to initiate a rescue in this situation? How long until the parachutist becomes unconscious and unable to assist with the rescue?

In my… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on September 4, 2009 at 4:00pm — No Comments

Safe Shuttling: Best Practices for water-hauling operations

RURAL FIRE COMMAND

By Mike Kucsma

I’d like to think that the fire service is starting to make some strides when it comes to reducing apparatus accidents and, therefore, the number of injuries and fatalities associated with such incidents. And although I could make driving safety the topic of this article—and even address some personal near misses—I’m going to leave that to my colleagues who deliver the driving safety and seatbelt message louder and more… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on September 4, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

A Long Stretch: Large buildings mean longer hoselines

FIRE ATTACK

A Long Stretch: Large buildings mean longer hoselines

By Greg Jakubowski

Large homes, schools, hospitals, malls, office buildings, churches, warehouses, industrial complexes and other large buildings all have one thing in common when it comes to fighting fires in them: Firefighters will likely need to stretch a hoseline longer than 200 feet from the engine company to the seat of the fire.

BUILDING CHALLENGES

Although the… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on August 31, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Pause for a Moment

I went to Catholic school my entire life (which to some, explains a lot), and I'd say I received a good education. I was taught to believe that people are generally good, that we're all more alike than we are different, and that life is a gift.

Life is a tricky gift, though, isn't it? You curse it on your worst days, you hope it never ends on your best, and as you get older, it seems to go by faster and faster, just when you need it to slow down, or pause, for a bit.

When… Continue

Added by Cindy Devone-Pacheco, FireRescue on August 31, 2009 at 5:00pm — 3 Comments

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter

Notes from a Rookie Firefighter...September 1, 2009

I can't believe a week has gone by since this happened.

I was eating pizza at an outside table at Arminio's in Chatham, NJ where I work and a truck made a tight turn around the corner very close to my table. A cylinder (probably propane) popped off the truck and started hissing with flames shooting out. I went inside and told the owner to call 911 and then went back outside to make sure people didn't walk near the… Continue

Added by Denise Imperiale on September 1, 2009 at 9:46pm — No Comments

Time for another talk with the daughter

This from my almost 21 y/o college daughter.

School day 2: got the soccer class canceled by passing out so instead of taking a text in my next 2 classes I was surrounded by very attractive emts :) Best day yet!

I'm assuming she's OK since this was sent after her 'episode'.

Added by Jay Nicholson on September 2, 2009 at 8:38pm — No Comments

Dig In.

Dig in.

“Early on in my fire service career, we responded to a report of a tractor-trailer rolled over on a nearby state highway. We arrived on scene and found a truck lying on its passenger side. The wheels were facing the roadway and the top of the cab was on the shoulder of the road. The truck driver was being treated as walking wounded. It seemed like a relatively benign accident.

As we approached the curb side we realized that this was no ordinary call. It turned out… Continue

Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 2, 2009 at 6:00pm — 9 Comments

1 Giant Step for Truckies: Managing Parapets

One Giant Step for Truckies: How to safely manage parapets

By Peter F. Kertzie

The amount of energy we exert scurrying up an aerial ladder to a roof can range from minimal to extreme, depending on the angle of the ladder, the load we’re carrying and the weather, smoke and fire conditions. One thing we can count on during our ascent: There will be sturdy, evenly spaced rungs under our feet the entire time. And if we’re using a platform or Snorkel and simply… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on September 2, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

343 Memorial Climb Honors 9/11 Firefighters, Features Family Activities

343 Memorial Climb Honors 9/11 Firefighters, Features Family Activities

By Laura Carman

Named in honor of the 343 firefighters who were lost in the World Trade Center disaster on September 11, 2001 and sponsored by the Fallen Heroes Family Support Fund (FHFSF), the Firefighters Benefit Festival aka 343 Memorial Climb will be held at Standridge Stadium in Carrollton on September 19, 2009 from 3:00pm – 7:00pm.

This year will have tons of fun family… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on August 31, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

Highly Mobile Minis: HMA Fire Apparatus debuts 4 prototypes

Highly Mobile Minis: HMA Fire Apparatus debuts 4 prototypes

Story & Photos by Bob Vaccaro

A new fire apparatus manufacturer has emerged with four new products for the fire service industry. HMA Fire Apparatus, based in Madison, Wis., is an up-and-coming fire apparatus and equipment company that’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.

I had the pleasure of spending some time at FDIC with Rory Groonwald, the vice president of operations and… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on August 31, 2009 at 6:00am — No Comments

NIMS: It's Not Perfect, But It Does Work

It’s Not Perfect, But It Does Work

In defense of the National Incident Management System/Incident Command System

Story & Photo By Harold Schapelhouman

Recently, I finished reviewing the December 2008 National Incident Management System (NIMS) update. It wasn’t light reading so it took me a while to get through it, but it was a good review and an informative update. The 158-page document can be found at… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on August 31, 2009 at 5:00am — 1 Comment

Remembering Jim Page: FireRescue board members share their thoughts

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Jim Page, FireRescue magazine's founder and the father of EMS in the fire service. Below, several FireRescue board members share their memories of Jim.

“I only knew Jim Page a few years. But because of reading his many columns and editorials, I felt like I know him my whole life. I first met Jim back in 2002 at FDIC. I had just started working for Fire Rescue Magazine as it's Apparatus Technical… Continue

Added by Fire Rescue Magazine on August 31, 2009 at 8:00am — No Comments

Ramp Strikes, Mom's Name, and Survival

From All Hazards Contemplations...

Although I love to read, I haven't had much reading time lately. Work and completing the edits of my chapter in Jones & Bartlett's new Fundamentals of Technical Rescue has taken up most of my spare time. I have been able to complete a book I have… Continue

Added by Ben Waller on August 30, 2009 at 9:38pm — No Comments

Professional Development gets an FRI Push

ED KAPLAN IS OBSESSED WITH FIREFIGHTER EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

He is the architect of the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) initiative started 12 years ago at the National Fire Academy (click HERE for related article). He has encouraged, cajoled and conceptualized the concept of linking training with academic achievement and… Continue

Added by Mike Ward on August 30, 2009 at 5:28am — No Comments