I've been truly fortunate to have a really fulfilling second career as a freelance writer after retiring as a fire department battalion chief. And the journey to get there has been kind of unique but I'm sure most freelance writers would say something similar if asked.
Read More »Commentary
Taking a systematic approach to cancer risk reduction for firefighters
So, when it comes to your fire departments, cancer risk reduction efforts, do you have a system? Or is your current state that of several “moving parts” that may or may not be congruent with one another?
Read More »Is it bravery or is it courage?
Bravery and courage are frequently used interchangeably in our daily discussions. But in truth, they convey two different reactions that we humans can have to a stressful situation. Read on to see what those two reactions look like.
Read More »For those who are caregivers to others
By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer and Widower My wife of 40+ years, Wilma Avsec, died on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020, at CAMC Memorial Hospital in Charleston, West Virginia. The late Wilma Lester Avsec I had taken her there on Monday, Oct. 26, because she had been taking medicine and breathing treatments for bronchitis since the previous Thursday; however, by ...
Read More »In honor of my Queen, the unsinkable Mrs. Avsec
My wife of 40+ years, Wilma Lester Avsec, died last Saturday, October 31, 2020 at CAMC Memorial Hospital here in Charleston, WV. I'd taken her there on Monday, October 26th, because she'd been taking medicine and breathing treatments for bronchitis since the previous Thursday, however by Monday morning she was not getting better.
Read More »Why are these fire service topics “evergreen?”
By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer In the online publishing world, my editors use the term evergreen to describe a past article, that with a bit of tweaking (updating), is still highly relevant enough to use again. In the past few months, as I was tasked with tweaking a couple of my past articles for new posting, I started looking ...
Read More »Symbols of rank mean everything in a fire and EMS organization
And all fire and EMS departments enforce this, and empower their COs, by giving them visible symbols of their new authority that are understood by everyone from the newest probie firefighter to the Fire Chief (e.g., collar insignia, different color uniform shirts, different color helmets, or different helmet shields).
Read More »Are you wearing your mask?
Don the mask. Like Spiderman and Batman and all the other masked superheroes! So, when it came to wearing a face mask against the coronavirus, it means the same to me. I put the mask on because it protects other people.
Read More »Why isn’t every week safety week in Fire and EMS?
How many of our leaders are taking the information from NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Reports and using that information to take a good, hard and objective look at their organization and asking the tough question, "What are we doing to prevent this from happening here?
Read More »Don’t forget life before the COVID-19 pandemic
By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer And there was life before COVID-19 and for many fire departments that life was a struggle that life that already included: All fire departments, especially those that provide EMS in their community, are on the front-lines in the COVID-19 pandemic response. Lack of adequate funding and stress-free lending for personnel and equipment; Finding and ...
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