RON KANTERMAN's Blog (29)

Most of us probably take some time in the summer to relax at the shore or up in the mountains. (I’m thinking the gang in Colorado is looking for the beach and the gang in Florida is heading for Montana, just sayin’.) In any event, we talk “health and safety” every day at every call, at every training class and every drill. Why not? It’s all about surviving the fire service and getting out healthy and in one piece. But what about off duty or when not tied up with the volunteer company? I know…

The inventor, thinker, genius, mathematician and all around smart guy, Albert Einstein once said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” I think he was right. We worked the same way for a long time (the first 270 years or so) and injuries and LODDs became part and parcel to our service. We thought that simply doing it “over and over again” the same way and thinking it would change all by itself, would work. It didn’t. However…

Journal Entry #52

Dear brothers and sisters,

I missed you all at FDIC this year (home with a temporary medical issue) while Fire Engineering rolled out my new book. I’ve heard from many of you regarding same, seeking information. I’m very proud of this project and wish you a healthy career and safe operations always!

Ronnie K…

For the past 20 years, I’ve had the privilege to volunteer at the annual Memorial Weekend sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. From 1998-2000, I worked on a logistical crew moving stuff all over the campus in order to re-set the place for the in-coming families, their grief sessions, ceremonies, etc.…

The inventor, thinker, genius, mathematician and smart guy, Albert Einstein once said, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” We worked the same way for a long time (282 years or so) and our injuries and LODD’s became part of life. However, it seems we’re on our way to better days. Changing the way 1 million firefighters think and behave is not an easy task. What most of us who have been around for a few minutes talk about,…

Brothers and Sisters,

What a perfect day to sit down at the keyboard and write about this year. It’s December 7, Pearl Harbor day. Thank you all veterans for what you’ve done for our country.

As most of you know, I battled prostate cancer this year (surgery in March) and am very happy to report the blood tests are coming back clean. Like the folks who lived in Pearl Harbor and persevered through the attack and never saw it coming. I was back in the O.R. three times since March…

I have deferred my blog page this month to a good friend with a great message. I mentioned Rob (not by name) in Journal Entry #45 “Cancer.” He’s the chief that put off his cardiac testing and went to play golf because he was told there is a 10% chance of a false positive so he couldn’t possibly be sick! He’s in great shape! Well, here’s the real story. I thank…

When considering the command process, there are numerous interferences that do not allow the Incident Commander to fully execute his or her battle plan. Let’s look at the ordinary every day citizen. When bad things happen, “people” usually band together and want to help. (The first major human behavior study for a large fire was performed by John L. Bryan after the MGM Grand hotel fire in Las Vegas in 1980) His theories have proven themselves time and time again, e.g. the WTC bombing in…

First and foremost, thank you all for your good wishes, thoughts and prayers regarding my cancersurgery. It went well and it looks like they got it all.

Hopefully, you looked at the subject title and asked yourself, “what is he talking about?” which caused you to read on. I’ll be presenting this class at FDIC 2017 so come by and see precisely what I’m talking about. (…

Ron Kanterman, February 2017

That’s exactly what I said to the urologist on the day after Christmas, when he told me that my tests came back positive and I have prostate cancer. Actually, he said I had a “little cancer” to which I asked, “is that like being a little pregnant?” After we both had a chuckle, he started to drone on about the test results, what they mean and possible treatments. For the first 30…

By James McLoughlin

I met Jimmy Mac about 10 years ago. He serves as a Deputy Chief with the City of Hartford Fire Department, the capital of Connecticut. Jimmy was a fixture at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Memorial Weekend ceremonies for many years through his participation and coordination of the Honor Guard group. He founded the CT Statewide HG as well as the National Honor Guard Commander’s Association. His…

Fifteen years have gone by like a flash. About 3,000 kids were left without a parent after September 11, 2001. The babies that were born that day or shortly thereafter are now sophomores in High School. The revitalization of the city's downtown, powered by $30 billion in government and private investment, includes not just the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, but also two new malls filled with upscale retailers, thousands of new hotel rooms and dozens of eateries. There are 29…

Happy summer everyone. I had breakfast with two close fire service friends yesterday morning (Jim Murtagh-NY, Jack Murphy-NJ) and on the way home I was giving thought to my next blog. Lucky for me, I opened my email this morning and my good buddy Rob Beattie from New Jersey who had visited with us in the past wrote something that I thought was spot on. He loves the job as I do and lots of you. Rob makes a point of telling us how and why and even offers a few tips on how to get others to…

Everything we do revolves around this fairly new concept for the fire service. Even keeping the fire in the room of origin is risk reduction. The National Fire Academy developed an entire curriculum and delivers it across the board from a two day state weekend program to the Managing Officer program to the Executive Fire Officer program. There must be something to it if they are pushing it out at all levels.

I recently attended the Connecticut Fire Officer’s Weekend at the…

I was working away the other day and the “almost daily” TSL popped up on my screen. I took a quick read and it was about some internal strife at the PG County FD in Maryland. I know a bunch of those guys through the NFFF Memorial Weekend. They are a hardworking, respectful, smart group of guys, so I dug in a bit in disbelief. Billy posted a note regarding a shoving match at a fire…

I’m sure one of these categories fits you. Summer camp is done and the kids are bored, and driving you nuts. The kids are back to school or are going back to school shortly. You dropped your college student at the campus for another year of who knows what? Vacationing at the camp grounds, Disney, a resort, a remote island, the south of France or the back yard stay-cation are a distant memory. Did I hit it yet? One thing is for sure. We’re about to embark on the fall season and school is just…

Once again while searching for a journal topic, this one fell in my lap. Rob Beattie is a long time friend and firefighter (North Plainfield, N.J.) and has taken a fresh perspective on who we are and what we do. I truly enjoyed reading this one. I think you will to. Nice job Cap!

Be safe,

Ronnie K

By Guest Blogger Rob Beattie, June 2015

Everyone loves the underdog,…

As most of you know by now, our friend and major contributor to the American Fire Service has left us. Deputy U.S. Fire Administrator Glenn Gaines (retired Chief from Fairfax County,VA) passed away on Sunday, April 12, 2015.

 I met Glenn when he was still active in Fairfax. He and Burt Phelps were my instructors when I took my first 6 day class at the National Fire Academy 25 years…

A little bit of buzz lately on “aggressive” interior attack. Dave Dodson, retired Battalion Chief from Colorado said “we need to be intellectually aggressive, not arbitrarily aggressive.” He recorded it on Volume 4 of the Everyone Goes Home video series. My Connecticut Compadres PJ Norwood and Frank Ricci were live last week on the “Hump Day Hangout” with Bobby Halton.…

My buddy Eddie Buchanan (VA) continues to write about transitional attack and the good work the “da guys” (Steve K and Danny M) from UL and NIST have done. He has also discussed S.L.I.C.E.R.S. at length. While Eddie is calling for calm, I’d like step in, support and agree with him. This new found information (which some guys wrote about a long time ago too) is in fact another…