August 2012 Blog Posts (11)

Once a firefighter, always a firefighter - in this life and beyond!

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Do you workout on shift?  Should you workout on shift and what is the best workout to perform?

This is a major…

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   Why is a very profound word , esp. in our line of work. Today we are seeing this word being used quite a lot , not only by our younger Firefighters , but our older firefighters as well. years ago we did we didn't ask Why, we did as we were told , we did the job that was required by us, did we ask Why? , of course we did , but not out load , because we knew that an order was given and followed it .

  In today's Fire Service , you hear Why , asked quite alot , at least 5 times a day…

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I stepped away from blogging back in April. The reason can be summed up in three words: my sister Dixie.

Dixie passed away on June 6^th of this year; less than two days after turning 62 years old. She had finally succumbed to a rare, dark and evil disease called Hashimoto’s Syndrome. From what I understand, it is connected to a chemical imbalance between the thyroid and the brain. What I witnessed was an insidious parasite that consumed an otherwise normal, adult female, who…

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As firefighters, we all know the common apprehensions associated with in house or even academy sponsored training. Many firefighters fear they will fail, feel that they will learn nothing, or that it is only for people who haven't been there and done that. One problem I see is that many departments or companies decide to train only to "check the box". We all know ISO, NFPA or the CFAI require a certain commitment to company level or department sanctioned training in order to remain compliant,… Continue

Here's my August Fire Engineering magazine editorial illustration. Yep, I'm sure many of you can relate!!

To buy a print of this illustration, visit:

http://artstudioseven.com/page-fire-ems-prints.htm

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Who needs rock stars when you have pipers? For over 150 years, pipers and drummers have been serving the fire service during parades, special events, conventions, retirements, ceremonies, and of course, funerals for our fallen. I still get chills when I hear bagpipes – anywhere, anytime, it never fails. There’s a swell of pride knowing that these are OUR rock…

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Cabbies across the pond would make great Chauffeurs in the American Fire Service

Like the rest of the Country, I was watching the Summer Olympics and listened to an interview with a local resident of London explaining the ‘insiders’ way to navigate the city. She offered the normal tips of how to get around and what historic landmarks not to miss. None of that distracted me from typing away on my computer and completing other tasks in my office but one particular…

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Many people roam the face of the planet just doing what they do to get by. Some wander aimlessly with no direction, no motivation or even ambition. Few get to realize their goals, their dreams - their passion.

Earlier I sat down to work on a program in development about fundamentals. The terminal objective is to answer, "What’s in it for me" in regards to the fire…

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http://www.fireengineering.com/blogs/feblognetwork/billy-greenwood.html

 

 

While surfing the endless world wide web not long ago, I came across this video of a very challenging fire that some firefighters encountered.  The point of me posting this video is to make each of you think about your actions if you were first in.  How would you address the multiple challenges that show themselves in this video.  In both my career and volunteer departments we have the exact same structures and could have the exact same fire occur in our area.  This post is meant to cause…

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