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 »How “Tech-savvy” are you?
But a question that stays stuck in my brain is “What impact is all this technology having on actual fire service delivery?” And it's that question that motivated me to write this piece today.
Read More »Sample SOG for Training Activities During Hot Weather
One of our legacy programs that my staff and I developed was a SOG for the conduct of outdoor training activities during periods of high temperature and high humidity.
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 »Why 3 is Better than 2 on an EMS Call
By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer It was a hot and humid August evening in 1979, and I was a new EMT working my first job in public safety. My employer was a private sector ambulance service that had the contract to provide EMS to the city of Richmond, Virginia. On this night, my partner—a “street savvy” dude if there ...
Read More »Where are you getting your information about firefighters and cancer?
Sponsored content from RESCUE Intellitech By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer When historians look back on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it was mismanaged in the U.S., one of the key failures at the federal level will be the lack of a communication strategy that’s familiar to anyone who’s has education, training, and experience as an emergency manager. The coronavirus ...
Read More »How long with this s*it go on?
By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer NJ fire chief sexually harassed teen volunteer: lawsuit I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired. About sexual harassment in the fire service. And if you are male firefighter—of any rank—why aren’t you as well? As I’ve written in this space many times, male firefighters could stop sexual harassment, sexual assaults, and all ...
Read More »What to Read: 3 Books Every Firefighter Should Read Right Now
I'm grateful to know three very special people, Dawn Balstad-Johnson, Dr. Burt Clark, and Asst. Chief (Ret.) Linda Green, and even more grateful to have read all three of their incredible books. Here, for my money, are three outstanding books that should be in your firefighter library or that of a firefighter you love.
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.
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