Firefighter Safety
Fireground safety, incident management, rescue operations and line-of-duty risk.
Cancer Risk Reduction: Supporting Motivation in Your Firefighters
I was fortunate in my career to attend many good—and some not so good—leadership and management courses, classes, and seminars. One common thread always seemed to be that one of the key functions of a leader/manager/supervisor (take your pick) is to motivate their employees or members. But can we really motivate another individual? Learn how to create an "atmosphere" that supports motivation in your firefighters.
What’s on my mind? Thoughts of a former firefighter
And yes, the flashover was just as it is described in all the firefighting textbooks. That, I can verify. I don’t remember much after that. I remember my arms in front of me, falling, my head and body striking something, which turned out to be the first floor. I remember hearing the horn sounding for a firefighter evacuation.
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?
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…
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.
Are you ready for Safety Stand Down 2020?
I wrote several pieces for FireRescue1.com in 2015 on this topic of roadway safety that, unfortunately, are still relevant in 2020. I encourage you and your firefighters to review these articles—and others like them—in preparation for this week’s Safety Stand Down.
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?
How Cutting-Edge County Bought Its First SCBA Washer
Sponsored content by RESCUE Intellitech By: Robert Avsec, Executive Fire Officer Note: The story you’re about to read is true in every respect except one: There…
The Turnout Gear Myth
One of my earliest memories from my Hazardous Materials-Operations course was hearing the instructor say, “Your structural firefighting PPE is…
What’s wrong with this picture?
A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece entitled, Stop Romanticizing Firefighting. Apparently some people didn’t get the memo.…
Making Rapid Intervention Crews even better
Read a great piece, and even better guidance and direction, on this critical issue from my fire service colleague and…
What’s so funny about the helmet?
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?