In the beginning there was the Hurst Hydraulic Rescue Tool — the Jaws of Life — and extricating patients from motor vehicle crashes has never been the same.

But in 2013, how many of our organizations are training their people from Day #1 to be their “face of customer service”? I’m not saying that the firefighting curriculum that constitutes the majority of entry level training is not pertinent, it is. I am saying that now, more than ever before, 24/7/365 organizations only have one chance to make a good impression…and in most cases we don’t get to choose who makes that customer contact.

I can’t remember the first time I heard this phrase, and I couldn’t tell you how many times I heard it since, but it’s one I never forget. Perhaps you’ve heard it, too? Employees don’t leave the company. They leave their boss. Author Unknown

Make sure it really works? Are they serious? This is just some of what's been happening while NFPA and its research partners examine "mitigation technologies"...people continue to be killed and injured and property continues to be destroyed because of food-on-the-stove fires that CAN be prevented through the installation of HEHLT.

Let us never forget that there were 20 members on the Prescott-based Granite Mountain Hotshots on that fateful June 30th, 2013.

Many developers and builders may not be aware that they can obtain up to 5 DCA Websitepoints—as part of their Development Design Criteria—when they include HEHLT on the electric ranges for their project.

In memory of our brother firefighters from the Prescott, AZ Hotshot Crew who lost their lives in the service to others during a firefight outside Yarnell, AZ on Sunday, June 30, 2013.  My deepest sympathies to their families and the community they left behind. —Robert Avsec

Gender issues. Did you know that researchers have found that when a large percentage of both men and women hear those two words, what they really “hear” is “woman’s issues.”

See how Union City, GA, the Department of Defense, a growing number of colleges and universities, and more are eliminating FOS fires using HEHLT!

Your department’s website still needs to be the bedrock for your Internet presence, but with Web 2.0 there is so much more. Let’s take a look at some of the tools in the toolbox, shall we?