May 2014 Blog Posts (53)

This week is another retro-SOS from my original first few months. These were pictures only so now that we are broadcasting out to the FE community and in full blog mode I will add some commentary. Again, if you already saw this one I hope you get another laugh or affirmation that you are not alone in your thinking.…

Lieut. Ray McCormack speaks fluently about the acronym "DICERS-VO" on the fire ground, while defining it very well.  I got to thinking the other day, many acronyms flood the fire service and why add another one.  As tactics are a major part of the job, organizations are formed from the top, and many times the services/programs we provide are implemented from above the operations staff.  No fire department can operate without funding, apparatus, manpower, and tools.  The defined "Mission" can…

Everyone knows the tale of Hansel and Gretel. Two kids who get lost in the woods and leave a trail of bread crumbs to lead themselves back home. Well while the method was not perfect Hansel and Gretel had a great idea and it is something we can use on the fireground.

Here are the two styles of door chocks I carry in my gear. While this may seem simple think about this…

Not all responders are blessed with the newest equipment. If a high strength post is too much for your cutter, attempt a pie cut as shown. Many times this will allow you to "cut around" the stronger portions of the post.   

We often times are not able to get out of service in order to get vital training. Either other companies beat us to it, calls get in the way, or other vital mission critical stuff pops up (staffing, broken equipment, etc.). We also sometimes lack the proper resources to perform certain drills. This is when the creativeness and ingenuity of the american firefighter starts to take over! Some times in order to get some great training all you need to do is look around the fire…

Have you ever seen a high ranking officer that tends to build their "inner-circle" with officers who are like-minded and often times "yes-men". You know what I mean, the guys who would follow their officer to the most ridiculous lengths just so it keeps them in the good graces of command? The guys who sacrifice their personal convictions just to…

There are those of us who have a very supportive Council Council and Mayor, unfortunately there are also some who know the sting of this cartoon all too well.

I recently watched a short program about the large, powerful ships that break ice near the poles of Earth for other ships. These machines are enormous and create a phenomenal amounts of power.

Some of the most powerful are powered by nuclear means and can break ice in the oceans and seas as thick as 10 feet. The ships power provides the energy to push and plow through the ice while it's weight and super thick hull do the work and protect the ship from damage.

As the ship moves…

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Big Shot

When we think about teaching young people in the Fire Service and preparing them for what is ahead, we need to remember where WE came from, and the people who taught us. Leaders, formal or informal, should invest less time whining about what young people don’t know and more time on what you can teach them. Everyone has experiences and knowledge to share.

I get so…

The time was 2:35am as the crew of Squad 4 was being diverted off a previous call. Dispatch relayed the information, “Squad 4 respond to a MVC involving three vehicles, with a confirmed entrapment.” This stretch of Interstate 95, has been a consistent location for bad entrapment crashes. As the officer on Sq-4, it was the moment of truth. Climbing off the rig, among a maze of damaged vehicles, I remained focused on the task at hand. Each member of the crew had a task.  After grabbing the…

So we continue to tweak and hone in our application of the lessons from the latest fire dynamic research.  One of the issues that continues to be "sticky" is the management of flow path.  While at FDIC 2014, I had the honor to meet Dr. Michael Reick from Germany.  He created a device that has been in use in Germany for over 10 years with reported great success.  In fact, they have more than 14,000 units in service and have documented more than 1,200 successful deployments on working…