By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer https://thesaurus.plus/img/antonyms/217/inoculate.png Well, is it? Are you and your family inoculated against preventable fires? You may think that it’s enough that you inform yourself about how to prevent fires and act to improve and protect your environment (e.g., your home or business) from a preventable fire. But you probably live in a community with other ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer This past week, I posted the following on my Facebook account: That’s me, at my first job at Allied Ambulance Services, circa 1979. Hard to believe that it was 40 years ago today, August 13th, 1979, that I arrived in Richmond, Virginia to start my first job in public safety working as an EMT ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Photo Source: http://tinyurl.com/y5vllmj2 One of my earliest memories from my Hazardous Materials-Operations course was hearing the instructor say, “Your structural firefighting PPE is not acceptable chemical protective clothing.” That was true in the mid-1980’s when I took that course and it’s still true today. As concern within the fire service about firefighters developing cancer ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece entitled, Stop Romanticizing Firefighting. Apparently some people didn’t get the memo. Source: YouTube, https://youtu.be/znBtV5t4j9U This video was posted on a Facebook Group I follow with the caption “Fearless.” Along with a bazillon hastags: #firefighter #fireman #rescue #firstresponder #thinredline #firedept #firelife #firefighters #firerescue #firetruck #firestation #firemen #fire#wildlandfirefighters #firstrespondertaskforce For me, fearless is not the first word that came to ...

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Read a great piece, and even better guidance and direction, on this critical issue from my fire service colleague and Situational Awareness Matters guru, Richard Gasaway! I recently was contacted by a fire officer asking whether their mayday procedure should include a provision for a dedicated mayday channel for the distressed crew to transmit ...

When I last wrote a post for Fire & EMS Leader Pro (March 2017), I was freshly retired from my 32-year career. I was between therapists. I wasn’t taking any medication for my new friend depression. I was, in a nutshell, miserable.

So, if firefighters are tactical athletes--And I agree, as do the manufacturers of turn out gear and footwear—why do most fire departments not treat them like athletes when they suffer last time injuries or illness?

By: Tanya Bettridge, Guest Blogger, Public Educator The number of smoke/CO alarms, that are either given away or outright installed by fire departments in communities across the planet, shocks me. The fire service tends to revolve the “install or not” conversation around the issue of liability; I prefer to look at it as “what are we trying to address?” Anyone who ...

Hearing loss for firefighters is a real risk of the job, so does your helmet provide hearing protection just by putting it on? Eye injuries are another risk of firefighting and other emergency service delivery tasks (e.g., auto extrication). Does your helmet have built-in full-face protection that’s protected from heat and physical damage until you need it?

By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer ICYMI, here are the first three segments of this four-part series from earlier this week: What is your department doing for National Fire Prevention Week? Tanya Bettridge is a Fire and Life Safety Educator You Should Know Jennifer Cooper is a fire and life safety mentor you need to know Now if you’ve been ...