Tag Archives: firefighter injuries

By:  Robert Avsec Note to My Readers: I first published this piece early in 2013.  I think it’s pertinent to republish it–with some revisions–because I continue to see the same threats to the safety and well-being of firefighters. (I don’t think I’m alone in this assessment as I see numerous postings in other venues every day that are sounding the ...

Over the course of the last year, I’ve attempted to provide you—the readers of this blog—with a wide variety of subjects for you consideration and thought. So here are the ten most viewed posts for 2013.

If we cannot objectively analyze our own actions and the actions of others for the purpose of learning and not repeating mistakes, can we really call ourselves professional firefighters?

It’s like the weather: everyone talks about it. “It” is the culture of the fire service in the United States of America. We hear it, we see it (in print and on-line), and we talk about it. Lately, what’s most prominent in this communication is: We need to change the fire service culture.

Is your department consistently faced with an inadequate number of qualified and properly equipped firefighters arriving at the scene of a structure fire? Are your people launching an interior fire attack solo, or with only another member with them? (We know this is happening every day in the USA, don't we).

First off, a faulty PASS device is UNACCEPTABLE on any fire scene. When firefighters and officers hear a PASS sounding it should ONLY mean that a fellow firefighter is in need of assistance.

In the past couple of years, many communities have been faced with torrential rains and flooding. As we've seen in the most recent flooding in Colorado, we are exposed to a huge risk when it comes to emergency response to both the slow rising water type of flooding and flash floods.

It seems to me that many fire and EMS organizations are a bit "Johnny-come-lately" when it comes to the health and well-being of their people, and some still have not come to the party. I was very fortunate to have spent my career with one of the organizations that‘s frequently been on the forefront of efforts to constantly make improvements for the safety, health and welfare of its people.

In these days of budget reductions and inadequate staffing, the best use of RIC is the non-deployment of RIC because our proactive fireground behaviors ensured that they were never needed.

More importantly, why do we--Yes, WE in the fire service--continue to view residential sprinklers as a "threat to our way of life" rather than as the only true lifesaving weapon in our battle against fire? Why do we keep pursuing better equipment and protective clothing and SCBA to fight fires in dwellings that become more hazardous to our health and safety every year?