In the end, firefighters contract disease, illness and death through inhalation, ingestion or absorption. To prevent exposure means wearing air and USING it, clean bodies and clean PPE. While the prescription for prevention is simple, the process is complex.
Read More »Tag Archives: firefighter deaths
Readers Weigh-In: Why aren’t We Changing Our Ways?
If you are a fire service leader who's REALLY interested in attaining zero firefighter deaths and injuries, you must take 32+ minutes to watch this video that was produced by Dr. Burt Clark. (Dr. Clark has served the American Fire Service for 40+ years and is one of the "founding fathers" of the Executive Fire Officer Program at the National Fire Academy, along with the now-retired Charles "Chuck" Burkell).
Read More »Good Guys and Gals Wear a Mask–And the Rest of Their Gear
I’ve come to realize that firefighters dying in fires is our very own inconvenient truth in the fire service…In spite of all we know about fire, in spite of all of the advances that have been made in technology, in spite of all of the advances in the science of fire prevention and suppression, in spite of the billions of dollars spent—firefighters still die.
Read More »The Long and Winding Road: A Firefighter’s Battle with Cancer
I began noticing that I had large lump in my neck, and while I wasn’t getting sick, it won’t go away. I’d noticed it about a week earlier, and now I’m going in for a check.
Read More »Update: What I’ve Continued to Learn by Reviewing Firefighting Videos
By: Robert Avsec Note to My Readers: I first published this piece early in 2013. I think it’s pertinent to republish it–with some revisions–because I continue to see the same threats to the safety and well-being of firefighters. (I don’t think I’m alone in this assessment as I see numerous postings in other venues every day that are sounding the ...
Read More »The Year in Review: Top 10 Most Viewed Posts
Over the course of the last year, I’ve attempted to provide you—the readers of this blog—with a wide variety of subjects for you consideration and thought. So here are the ten most viewed posts for 2013.
Read More »Smoke and Firefighter Disorientation: The Link to Firefighter Fatalities and Injuries
If we cannot objectively analyze our own actions and the actions of others for the purpose of learning and not repeating mistakes, can we really call ourselves professional firefighters?
Read More »What is the Fire Service Culture?
It’s like the weather: everyone talks about it. “It” is the culture of the fire service in the United States of America. We hear it, we see it (in print and on-line), and we talk about it. Lately, what’s most prominent in this communication is: We need to change the fire service culture.
Read More »Why are We Entering Burning Structures With Too Few Firefighters?
Is your department consistently faced with an inadequate number of qualified and properly equipped firefighters arriving at the scene of a structure fire? Are your people launching an interior fire attack solo, or with only another member with them? (We know this is happening every day in the USA, don't we).
Read More »What’s One More Noise on the Fireground?
First off, a faulty PASS device is UNACCEPTABLE on any fire scene. When firefighters and officers hear a PASS sounding it should ONLY mean that a fellow firefighter is in need of assistance.
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