November 2014 Blog Posts (38)

I am working on a research paper, and my topic on how Firefighters are in their own tribe.  If you think of when you the firefighter is in a room of people you don't know, it is hard to start up a conversation but if there is another firefighter in the room it is easier to strike up a conversation.  My question is what is everyone's opinion on how and why we could consider the firefighting community to be their own tribe?

Thank you,

Brent Blamires

Training…

At a recent class I attended the instructor  speaking on the merits of studying today’s fire behavior and tactics exhibited a piece of paper with one sentence written on it, the words scribbled by a great fire service leader said, “Quick water is the…

I recently attended the IAFC-VCOS Symposium in Clearwater Beach.  It was a tremendous experience filled with great course content, lively discussions and debate about how to move the fire service forward in a unified fashion, and awesome networking with current and future fire service leaders from all across the country.  As you might expect, one of the most talked about topics was the ongoing UL/NIST fire behavior research.  It’s important stuff, to be sure.  In fact, the underlying theme…

       I know I don’t need to tell you this, but your department doesn’t have all the answers; neither does your Chief, your Training Officer or you. For that matter, no fireground or emergency scene has ever, or will ever, go flawlessly. We’re human. We’re imperfect. And that’s okay, although this doesn’t mean that we should be satisfied with the status quo, but instead we should strive for excellence. If you’re reading this,…

Wellness is to Training as Health is to the Fire Ground

A direct correlation that may save your life

Health and wellness are two terms we often hear in today’s fire service. Yet most have not embraced their true meaning. In a profession such as ours, the ever-changing demands require us to be flexible in both body and mind.  We can…

Leading a crew of diverse personalities can be challenging. As a fire officer it is your job to make sure everyone on your team is being as productive as possible, even if you have to adjust how you treat each individual to do so. The more effective you are at individualizing your leadership style, the more effectively your subordinates will carry out their assigned…

This past week, a firefighter was killed and 20 people were injured after an ammonia leak at a meat processing plant in Israel. The leak occurred at the Hod Hefer processing plant at Emek Hefer industrial zone north of Netanya. The incident forced the evacuation of over a hundred people from the surrounding area. Some reports state that the leak occurred after one of the factory’s employees hit a pipe from a 60 ton storage…

The Sunday Preach

"Recovery"

"Show me a firefighter who has performed flawlessly and to the letter of the SOP at every fire and I will show you a bold faced liar...The mettle of the character of the firefighter is forged in how he or she adapts, recovers and learns from a mistake. Don't languish over what is done. Accept the situation, address it, and move on, obviously in the shortest amount of time available." (Pg. 287 "Reducing Residential Injury and LODD")

Change…

In the first two blogs we discussed the different factors that are important if you want to begin a chaplain program. Many of them relate directly to your drive and determination in seeing the plan through regardless of the obstacles you face in beginning this important program.

This time I would like to focus on how to be effective once this program has gotten off the ground. How do you make sure that you are influencing people and making a difference in your department?…

It's time to play inside, at least in my neck of the woods in Northern Ohio. The cold/snowy weather is upon us and unless you want to sit in the fire house all day it can be a challenge to keep your members fresh and well prepared. So why not a "game night or day".

The following game described below I call…

I want to take a moment to introduce you to our recently redeveloped site, located at www.NotJustAnotherFire.net. We are excited to be working with FireEMSBlogs and all of the PennWell…

There is an ongoing devaluing of the fire problem from within our industry which leads to a lack of education among firefighters.  As individuals and as a culture, we seek the easy fix, the next distraction, or the short answer because we don't have the attention span to sit and read (I'll keep this short, I promise), watch a video, or get out and train. We are losing the ability to walk and…

The recent spate of assaults against firefighters leads me to believe there ought to be a law against such behavior and the individual assaulting a firefighter should be tossed in jail and the key tossed away.

Assault is defined as intentionally placing another person in reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm or intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of an imminent harmful or offensive contact.  No intent to cause physical injury needs to…

One of the ways I mentally prepare and train as an incident commander is to review major working fires around the country, this past Sunday while reviewing the day’s prior events I read about a terrible tragedy that occurred in Portland, Maine where five victims perished in a fire in a large two story duplex apartment house. I researched the photos and listened to the fire department audio from the scene and based on these I am assuming…

Here is a quick drill for figuring out hose stretches for larger complexes or properties with long set backs. The key is to get out and figure this out long before the call comes in. Share and add your own information to it.

Company Drill for EHT Hose Stretch…

Meet Michael Jacob (Jake) O’Melia

 Grandview is a town of twenty-seven thousand, Northeastern coast inhabitants. There are several bustling businesses on both sides of Main Street in the downtown business district.

Of particular interest is Hermie’s General Store. When you walk through the front doors at Hermie’s, you step back in time. The floors are hardwood and…

Today’s quick tip is covering a challenging problem that may arise in extrications with very heavy…

While perusing several of the social media sites, I’ve noticed that there seems to be some nerd-bashing going on in the fire service these days. What do I mean by nerd bashing? Maybe not complete nerd bashing but definitely some separatist bully-like behavior between the jocks and the geeks. While recently attending my wife’s 20 year high school reunion and meeting many people that my wife had given me the scoop on, prior to introducing me to them. I started to notice that many of the geeks…