First responders are killing themselves, one seatbelt at a time.

Like lemmings drawn to the edge of a precipice, firefighters, EMT's, Fire police and other emergency responders are engaged in a race to the death, literally. Rollovers, ejections,blunt force trauma, crush victims, decapitations.....do I have your attention yet? We talk about how to do the job better and faster, and the volunteer services in particular seem to feel the compulsion to defend or justify their efforts vs.…

Someone on this site mentioned how dangerous the driving public's refusal to yield to emergency vehicles has become. He then commented that perhaps it's time for OFPC to distribute a public service announcement reminding drivers that they must yield the road to an emergency vehicle using lights and sirens.

(See Section 1144 of the Vehicle & Traffic Law in NYS)

We know what John Q.…

I saw something this morning that scared the hell out of me. It was enough to make me want to pull over and take my organization's magnet decal off of the side of my car because I was afraid that someone might think I was affiliated with the IDIOT in the "Shall Remain Unnamed" Fire Department guilty of the following traffic transgression:

The Scene: A busy four lane artery outside of the metro area of Albany.

The issue: Some form of fire "emergency" (turns…

As if the public's perception of volunteer firefighters as rabble-rousing, beer-swilling Howdy-Doody's fascinated by lights and sirens wasn't bad enough, I received this today in my in-box from "The Secret List"....

Hey....

In today's "ain't we proud" segment, a New York Firefighter was shot and wounded by another Firefighter who was drunk, in their upstate New York firehouse. FF Tyler Drake, 21, of Alexandria Bay, was accidentally shot in the right arm around…

The FASNY EMS Committee has released the dates for their 3rd Annual One-Day EMS Seminar at Stony Brook University on Long Island (Saturday, February 2, 2008) and for the 26th Annual EMS Weekend Conference at Montour Falls (Saturday and Sunday, March 1 & 2, 2008) !!! These two educational programs have sold out the past two years, so keep your eyes peeled for the registration form posting on the FASNY website (…

The statistics are grim. The number of men and women signing up to volunteer for Emergency Services is declining at an alarming rate. Not only are the new recruit numbers dwindling, those that already belong are not staying.

Is it a social issue? Are the younger members of society simply not stimulated to respond to civic responsibility? Is today's fire service not exciting enough or is there too much competition for their time....

Remember when you were a kid, and one of the…

We were up in the Adirondacks this past week at the Au Sable Forks Fire Department giving the FASNY "CSI, New York: Crash Scene Investigation" seminar. Little did we know we'd be competing with a forest fire for attendees, but the group was enthusiastic, attentive, and asked some great questions.

One item that came up for discussion during the break was whether it's better to come to a complete stop at a dicey intersection or just slow to a rolling stop? The recommended course of…

“CSI, New York: Crash Scene Investigation”

This 3 hour seminar will focus on four crash scene investigations involving emergency services…

They say "Never Forget", as if we could. Today started like any day, just like it did on that day; the difference is that today we hold a memory of loss and grief mixed with pride and outrage.

I light a candle in my heart for those that we had worked with at Windows on the World and Wild Blue and for the families, colleagues and friends of all the victims; whether they were heroes or just every day people living their every day lives, until there was no more time.…

Yes, you read that right, a FREE Hybrid Vehicle Familiarization Seminar ...

“Hybrid Vehicle Hazards: What Every Firefighter Should Know”…