Tag Archives: firefighter deaths

Taking Care of the Rescued Firefighter

We have to be able to seamlessly move from firefighter rescue to firefighter patient care. And that will entail additional training and practice on the part of both firefighters and the EMS providers — who may not be firefighters. Why? Because in addition to a firefighter who may be in need of life-saving medical intervention, such an event is also a workplace injury site if the firefighter survives, or the site of a line-of-duty death if resuscitation efforts are unsuccessful or the firefighter later succumbs to his injuries.

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Residential Fire Sprinkler Systems: What do you know?

As the number of residential fire sprinkler systems in the country continues to grow, fire service leaders need to ensure that our fire officers and firefighters have the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities to work with these systems to effectively ensure extinguishment of the fire and effectively address property conservation, the third incident priority.

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Being the First-line Supervisor Ain’t Easy

The company officer (first-line supervisor) is the toughest "gig" in any fire department, but too many of those officers make it harder than it needs to be by not wanting "to be the bad guy", i.e., the officer who follows policy and procedure and makes everyone else follow them as well.

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Watch the 2014 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service Live

Each year on the weekend that closes National Fire Prevention Week in the United States, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation conducts activities and ceremonies that honor the brave men and women who lost their lives in the fight against fire in the 365 days since last year's ceremonies. This year both the Candlelight Vigil and the Memorial Ceremony will be live streamed across the Internet and available for satellite download by cable TV providers in local communities.

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Suggestion for Revised Firefighter Oath

Today, the public scrutiny is almost instantaneous because the Internet and social media platforms give anyone with a device and access an outlet to this "new" court of public opinion. And in this "court" there is no judge and no jury of your peers--only millions of people with Internet access and their own oft-times "half-baked" opinions.

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Revisiting: “Thinking Outside the Box” for Fire Protection in the USA

Sound rather harsh? Sound unrealistic? So does closing fire stations and laying off firefighters. So does continuing to expose firefighters to increasing levels of risk of injury or death because of negligence on the part of building occupants, developers, and builders. So does continuing to increase the fiscal burden to local taxpayers to pay for an antiquated fire protection model that is reactive rather than proactive.

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What You Don’t Know about Smoke Can Hurt You

In contrast, nearly 95 percent of the firefighters who have attended the class have made personal behavioral changes in their tactical approaches to fireground operations. While it’s a great feat to see individual firefighters taking note of the education, it’s disappointing that the majority of departments are not immediately taking action to protect the lives of their firefighters.

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Tampa II: Additional Food-for-Thought

This brings to question, are fireground officers and today’s firefighters receiving adequate training? The question remains, are proper size-ups being conducted to allow for a decision regarding whether it is an offensive or defensive fire attack [situation]? It all comes down to decision making capability and fire ground safety. We simply need to focus on the basic fundamentals of fire fighting.

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Tampa II Conference: Food for Thought

In support of our brother and sister firefighters and "industry insiders" who are in Tampa this week, I'm going to repost a couple of the blogs I've written in this space on the topic of firefighter deaths and injuries and our progress--and lack thereof--in reducing both of those outcomes. The first is Smoke and Firefighter Disorientation: The Link to Firefighter Fatalities and Injuries.

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