My family is inspiration and motivation for much of what I do in the fire service. Alex, Laurie and Kathleen (l-r).

This blog is a companion piece to my article titled “Make it Personal” featured in the June 2009 edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine.
From: www.tigerschmittendorf.com

I was reading a not so tongue-in-cheek blog on FirefighterNation.com written by my good friend Art Goodrich titled: “Ordering From the Risk Menu” and it reminded me of a Saturday I spent recently, full of fire service activities.

I started the day by attending a heavy dose of an 8-hour seminar focusing on preparation for a Line of Duty Death. If you’ve ever read one of my blogs, you know I’m very passionate about fire service funerals and making sure that they’re planned and executed appropriately, always considering the family’s needs first.

In contrast to Art’s blog, it’s important to plan that stuff too, but if we really think about it, doesn’t the need for proper funeral planning only further acknowledge our acceptance of failure in protecting our own from the risks we face?

Later that day I attended a benefit for four firefighters from Friendship and Cuba, NY who were critically injured in a wall collapse at a commercial structure fire. While at the benefit, three of the four firefighters who could walk without the aid of a walker took me across the street to the scene of the incident. We walked behind the large brick structure connected to businesses on both sides.

The pile of burned bricks still lay there just as they did on December 21, 2008, the day the wall fell on them. They showed me how the chaos played out. The 19-year old on the nozzle related how he looked down when a single brick hit the ground next to him. When he looked up, it was too late.

He had to turn his body in a very deliberate and mechanical fashion in order to demonstrate the self-defense maneuver he made when he saw the wall coming at him. That’s because he is still in a neck brace and has no timeline for full recovery.

Read the rest of the blog at: www.tigerschmittendorf.com and leave a comment.
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Stay safe. Train often.

Tiger Schmittendorf is chairman of FASNY’s Recruitment and Retention Committee and serves the County of Erie Department of Emergency Services (Buffalo NY) as Deputy Fire Coordinator. He created a recruitment effort that doubled his own fire department’s membership and helped net 525+ new volunteers countywide. He is a Nationally Certified Fire Instructor and has been a firefighter since 1980. Visit his blog at www.tigerschmittendorf.com.

Tiger Schmittendorf will join Ret. Phoenix Chief Alan Brunacini and J. Gordon Routely in a fire service roundtable discussion at the FASNY Convention in Niagara Falls, NY on Thursday-August 20, 2009.