Skip Coleman's Blog (19)

I saw this in the paper a few days back.  Someone taught them good! 

What do they have? A Vacant Storefront, 90+ degree temps outside and no exposure problems.

Not because this is my old department but examples of this reinforce the concept that some departments just "get…

Continue

Just a quick recap of last question. Does your department have a mandatory seat belt policy? Is it enforced and who is responsible for its enforcement?  Does the officer have any culpability if a firefighter knowingly violates the policy and should he?

13 responses were all pretty identical (with the exception of 1).

All 13 said their department had a policy. Only one said that it was never enforced even with accidents and injuries. It was interesting that 4 of the responses we from… Continue

First off I want to thank everyone for the kind words I received at this years FDIC.

Ever onward!

At this years FDIC I was moderator of Round Table "Off Line".

One of the questions I posed to the esteemed panel was "We continually hear of firefighter injured and/or killed in vehicular accidents because they were not wearing their seat belts. Should the office be held responsible for this and to what extent?".

We had a good discussion there and I hope we have a similar good… Continue

I was forwarded the letter below (in red) from my wife.  Her sisters’ life-long friend sent it to her. 

Mike had a fire in his home and lost everything.  Literally, everything.  This is not about the fire department that responded.  This is an extremely rural, mountainous region and I am sure they did everything possible.

The reason for this is simply to remind us all of what I am sure most of us take for granted.  “Someone had a fire in their home”!  OMG!  I have gone to…

Continue

I suppose we all have pet peeves. As anal as I am, I have more than my share. One of them is what is shown in the photo above. Now, to be fair, no water is flowing (yet) and I am sure that the men and women of the Pawtucket fire department are among the best in the country. But - what's the firefighter doing at the tip of the aerial?

In my opinion, he or she is in one of the most dangerous positions a firefighter can put themselves in - and… Continue

Ok! On March 22nd. I asked "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN THE FLOOR YOU ARE CRAWLING ON IS BECOMING WEAKENED BY FIRE?" I had one fire officer post a comment. One!

Billy Goldfeder recently put out another e-mail on his "Secret List" about another firefighter falling into a basement in a floor collapse. PLEASE don't tell me that as an officer, don't have a method of determining the fire conditions below you. Please. Pass on to other firefighters how you know if the floor assembly you are crawling on… Continue

Last week, the members of the Toledo Fire Department were faced with a very difficult decision. Along with the decisions they made at fires and on EMS runs which affect life and death and the preservation of property, they had to decide on the shape of the Brother and Sisterhood of the department. The question: “Let 125 young firefighters get laid off and for the remaining brothers and sisters with seniority, keep their well deserved pay-raises, pension pick-ups and reduced healthcare costs OR… Continue

I Blogged last (February 5th. to be exact) on "How do you know when it's getting too hot when you are inside a fire building"? I extend the question!



God Love Billy Goldfeder! He sends out his "Secret List" and as we all should be aware, most of us are dying responding to and returning from incidents. If you look at the list of other ways we are dying and getting hurt "really bad", collapses of floor assemblies is at the top of the list.



Many are as a result of fires… Continue

Alright! The blog has been there for weeks. Only one comment. I just finished teaching to 100 or so firefighters from the south east. No one there had an answer! Continue

OK! I have a question. I have brought this up to the past few groups I have worked with. It stems from the video of the kids (recruit firefighters) from the DC area putting on the demonstration to the pre-school kid and they get burned. If you haven’t seen it – here is a short clip. Demo very short.wmv

This also springs from recent… Continue

I look at the Fire Engineering web page more than once daily. There are several places I go when I visit - one of them being the photo;s on the front page. I skim through and look for good things and bad. I find both (in my opinion).

Kudos' to DFD and the 9th. Battalion. This picture is great (again - in my opinion).

I don't think most departments use aerials enough for "normal" operations. Here is a straight stick, spotted correctly and… Continue

I just finished giving a two-day training program to a very “together” group of firefighters and officers. I won’t mention where the training took place, but it was very apparent that these departments worked well together.

The group of fire departments was part of an area where over 40 departments existed in the same county. Of course, there was a major metropolitan department representing one of the 40 departments and surprisingly, they were represented at the training.

I had the… Continue

In my last post, I was talking about the “NEVER” word. You see, we say things around the kitchen table and the young crew members listen and pick up on this stuff. Their minds are quite impressionable at that early age and their concern is to do a good job. So they listen and take in what they hear. So, if you’re at the kitchen table and discussing a fire and one of the old salts says something like “Did you see what Engine 16 did on Elm Street? They used a fog stream inside a building.” Then… Continue

I usually question veteran firefighters that tell a recruit or new-be “Son! Never hit smoke with a hose stream – Only the “red-stuff”!” or “Never take your gloves off”. (For those of you who are scratching your head saying “Tommie told me to never hit smoke”! If your intent is to cool unprotected steel, like the underside of a metal deck roof you are crawling under and all you see is smoke up there – it’s OK to hit smoke! I’ll discuss the glove thing in a minute.)

You see, when we tell… Continue

As I mentioned in my last blog about buddy breathing, 75% of what you learn (hands-on wise) is lost - forgotten, if you don't reinforce (practice) it within two weeks. There is psychological theory that states "when people are put in a stressful situation, they revert to what is "usual and customary" for them. These to "theory's" work hand in hand and ignoring them has cost a lot of us our lives.

Rick Lasky took self-rescue and firefighter rescue to new levels several years ago. With the… Continue

This Blog was originally posted September 14 but was deleted in the set up on the new web site. I am posting it again.



I generally let politics roll off my back. I believe I'm too ignorant about the true facts and history in general to comment. But something caught my eye (or more rightfully so - my ear) a few days back. I was listening to talk radio and the host mentioned that if you visit the White House web site… Continue

I have two problems with the buddy-breathing device on SCBA’s.



1) Unless you drill on using it “often”, like once a month, in blacked out facepiece conditions, you probably won’t be able to actually do it in a real, stress-filled emergency. 75% of what you learn is forgotten within two weeks if it is not reinforced! (That’s a fact Jack!)



2) It’s (for lack of a better word) illegal to use. Not to buy (to the joy of the manufactures) but to actually use.



When I… Continue

This is an excellent photo of proper line placement. The first line at almost every fire should be positioned so as to cut the spread of fire. I realize that the great temptation is to put water on the fire. However, in this case, more good things will happen if the initial line is stretched between savable victims and the fire - or between savable property and the fire - do one you do both!

Congratulations Northbrook Il. FD…

Continue

Continue