I never met Jamie Middlebrook but I knew him.  I knew his heart and soul,  for it is the heart and soul that unites every man and woman into the brotherhood and sisterhood of the fire service.  It is the desire to serve,  the urge to help,  The compassion one had for his fellow man. 

Jamie paid the ultimate sacrifice of any firefighter,  giving up his life while serving the community and because of this the entire fire service feels his loss.

Today I had the honor of attending…

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Man it seems like ages since I've been to FFN.  The past 3 months or so I haven't been here to see what's going on or keeping up on what the gang has been doing here.  But hopefully I'll be fixing that and rejoining the ranks.

 

The past few months have brought about many changes.  I've been putting in many hours working EMS and just got hired working part time for another EMS service in a neighboring county. While this is good for the paycheck it does put a crimp into the free…

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I hate the term “New Year’s Resolution”. That is why I intentionally waited until now to post this. New Year’s Resolutions are those things we wishfully tell ourselves that we are going to do to make our lives better or more wholesome while we are drunkenly celebrating the turning of the calendar.

No this post isn’t about resolutions, it is about goals.

Do you have any specific goals for your professional development this year (and yes, even volunteers can have…

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What motivates you?

This apparently simple question is actually quite deceptive. Have you ever really taken the time to look within yourself…

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Yesterday we were paged out for a 10-50 PI with possible entrapment. Enroute we received details that the car snapped a utility pole, so we had possible lines down to contend with. Our unit arrived on scene a few minutes behind the ambulance. I went up to help the medics while the rest of our truck surveyed the vehicle to see if there was any extrication needed.

The car was a small sedan that was travelling down the country road way to fast. It lost control on a curve and the…

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In the fire service we are always stressing speed. Tones go off and we run. Flying down the road the radio squawks out “Step on it, fire is progressing”. On scene we hear “hurry up and stretch that line”, “get that ladder up quickly”. Working an accident where there is entrapment the captain yells “hurry up, get that roof flapped”.…

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How high is your bar set on your volunteer department? Are you well trained and professional in your actions or are you still part of the good ol’ boys club meeting every night to down a few and play some cards?

Firefighting has changed rapidly over the years. While we do not face the number of…

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First of all I thought that I'd preface this with a little history. I originally became a First Responder in 1995 and and EMT-B in 1997. I worked part time as a medic for about a year and then since I just met my wife and we got engaged something had to go. I kept the fire dept but stepped back from EMS. I let my EMT-B cert expire and just maintained my First Responder Cert.

The last couple years I started getting the EMS bug again and last year became recertified and an…

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We have all been on these calls before. 67 yr old grandmother fell and broke her hip in the kitchen. 38 yr old father fell from the roof shingling the garage. 28 yr old female 7 months pregnant experiencing severe cramping and pain.



It doesn’t matter the gender, age, race or religion. We rush to the scene to render the best aid we can give to the patient. Our crew will rush into the house. Lights and sirens blaring. We jump out of our rigs grabbing medic bags, backboards, Oxygen… Continue

with temperatures topping 90-95% in Indiana I have noticed that the run volume has increased dramatically for heat related emergencies. As firefighters we need to take extra precautions during extremely hot days so that we don't become a victem ourselves.



Take some preventative measures and make sure that you stay well hydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.



On scene make sure you check the tough guy attitude and visit rehab frequently. I've seen many guys… Continue

I shed a tear today in front of my kids. I was not ashamed nor did I try to hid it. At noon I took my 7 yr old twins and 3 year old to the court house square. We stopped at each white cross displayed in perfect symetry in front of our majestic 1878 court house. We passed at each cross as i read the name of the soldier who paid the ultimate price for our freedom.



I paused longer at the name of a marine who I went to high school with. We knelt in front of his cross as I said a prayer.… Continue

In January I started teaching my first Firefighter I/II course. Last week was the last official night of class and I have a couple review nights scheduled this week before they take the state exam. I hope that this has been a good experience for those in my class and that they have learned the essentials needed to do the job safely.



I learned alot during the past 4 months. First is that no matter how much experience we have we can always learn something. Going through the course I… Continue

Tonight I will be presenting a refresher course on bloodborne pathogens. We all know and preach BSI, scene safe, universal precautions when we do training or during skills days but do we really practice it out in the streets?



I've been reflecting back over the last couple years and am reluctant to admit that we (myself included) sometimes get lax out on the scene.



It is scary to think about what all you can catch from someone through blood or bodily fluids. We like to… Continue

I've been teaching a FFI/II course which is almost finished (yeee haw - my wife will be sooo glad) While we have been doing alot of the practical skills as we covered the material, this Saturday will be a 1/2 day event to kind of put it all together.



I've been busy preparing the past few weeks, getting supplies and other insturctors lined up to help. I think that we will all have a very fun and EDUCATIONAL day.



I have search and rescue planned for upstairs. Will be setting… Continue

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

Getting people to join and volunteer for you fire department is one thing. After you get them how do you make sure you keep 'em. Turn over rate can be high in many departments. Not only is this frustrating but also turns into a time consuming and potentially expensive situation as your department will consantly have to devote more and more time into training new members (hopefully getting them FFI/II certified) along with the expense involved in purchasing the training supplies or sending them… Continue

This question has plagued many volunteer departments for decades. People volunteer for many different reasons: everyone in their family has done so for generations so they do so also, to help serve their community and others, to enrich their own life and add to their experiences, and to seek the glory and spotlight.



The first and last reason are the hardest to deal with. If someone joins just because their grandpa and father were on and that is their only motivation then you will not… Continue