RT @HenricoFire: From the desk of Chief Anthony McDowell:
Congratulations to our newest Battalion Chiefs, effective June 15:... http://t.c…10 minutes ago
Sadly the Louisa County Fire family has lost one of their own. Yesterday while driving to his assigned duty station 21-year-old career firefighter Charles Wilson was involved in an MVA and was not able to survive the injuries.
He also was a volunteer with the Mineral Volunteer Fire Department and Mineral Volunteer Rescue Squad.
I was given the opportunity to review the COBRABRAID 550 Paracord Bracelet “Firefighter” edition as well as the “Firefighter” edition key chain here are my thoughts on the products.
First the bracelet. It is made out of very durable paracord material. When I say durable I mean it. I got this bracelet dirty, wet, sweaty, soapy, hot, cold, you name it I put it through it and it stood up to all the tests I put it through. The design is nothing new as the thin redline in the black bracelet has been a symbol of fallen firefighter remembrance for as long as I can remember.
This version of the bracelet is secured with a velcro strap. The positives of this are the ability for you to add some extra tightness to your bracelet. However I found the material to become irritating while sweating, or if the bracelet became wet. COBRABRAID does offer a variety of other fastening devices for their bracelets so this is something customizable to the end-user. If you plan on wearing this during physical activity I would use some vaseline or runners glide to keep irritation down.
The key chain…
The key chain design is just like the bracelet, and the durability is the same as well. The only negative to this product is the carabiner size. It is very small and as I often clip my keys to my bag while I am at work the carabiner did not fit around the straps of my bag. I also often clip my keys to my belt loops while going into a store off duty, and some of my belt loops were to big for the carabiner. Other than that this is a solid product but could use some improvement with a larger carabiner option.
If this style is not to your liking then do not fret COBRABRAID offers a wide variety of bracelet, with multiple fastening and color options. They even have some special military, and police ones. They are also beginning to add medallions to the bracelets to add even more customization features. In these medallions you can add Maltese crosses, stars of life, your department patch etc.
For more information check them out on the web a WWW.COBRABRAID.COM oh and did I forget to mention this product is “Made In The USA” which is a huge point in any companies favor.
Ok so I know what you’re saying, you really like these products but you’re a little strapped for cash, well have no fear the great people over at COBRABRAID sent me a second bracelet and key chain combo to give away to my loyal readers.
These could be yours. All you have to do is email me at averagejakeff@gmail.com or tweet @averagejakeff me with the hashtag #COBRABRAID by July 9th 2012. Make sure you include your mailing address and name so if you win I can get them out to you asap. All entries will be assigned a number and via the “random number generator” (drawing out of a hat) the winner will be selected, and the prize sent out to you.
So tell your friends, enter to win and go to WWW.COBRABRAID.COM and check out all they have to offer. A big shout out to COBRABRAID for allowing me the chance to review the products an reward my readers with great products.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
Above you will find the link to the 2012 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb in Richmond Virginia. If you do not know what the Stair Climb is, it is an event that raises money for the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation to assist with the families of our fallen brothers. Additionally this money goes tot he FDNY Counseling Unit that is run almost completely on donations. It is also your chance to remember the 343 firefighters that were murdered on 9/11/01 when the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.
Most every one had or has a “Never Forget” shirt, sticker, or hat, now is the chance to put your money where your mouth is and truly honor our brothers by climbing 110 stories with one of the fallens picture with you.
Still do not want to climb? Brian Brush from www.fireservicewarrior.com explains in this video why you should climb and why there are no excuses.
Brian is dead on! We have thousands of firefighters just in the Metro Richmond area, can you think of any reason why thousands of firefighters who promised to never forget, would not be fighting to be a part of this event? Can you think of any reason why all 343 members names of the fallen should not be represented by a firefighter from this area?
Now is the time to show if you are really a firefighter and apart of this brotherhood or if you are just talking. Participating in this event is literally walking the walk of brotherhood.
Like Brian says in the video, if you do not feel you can make the climb send in your $25 and I will carry your firefighters photo with me. I will do Brian one better though, there is a ton of time to get ready for this climb so I am making the offer to anyone who is willing to take it to come and train with you. I will even organize group workouts if enough interest is shown. So email me, tweet me, comment on the blog with you contact info and I will come train for this climb with you!
It is not about racing, it is not about athletic accomplishment, it is about honor, and respect to our fallen brothers. Every firefighter in America promised to never forget the sacrifice the 343 made, are you ready to keep that promise?
Print this flyer off and put it up in your firehouse, sign up for the climb, and climb with 343 of your brothers on September 9th 2012 and make sure you keep the promise we all made to the 343, not by just talking about it, but by showing that we have not and will never forget them, or there families.
You can bet NOTHING will keep me away from this event, and will be on the stairs on Sept. 9th 2012!
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
Within the next few months, my department is going to be undertaking a huge shift. Several of our senior command staff officers including our fire chief will be retiring. These are exciting and scary times for everyone involved. Exciting because the moves made in the next few months will/could determine the organization we are and the direction we go for the next 10 years! Scary because good, bad, or indifferent we know what we have with our current leadership complement and the thought of the unknown with new leadership in critical roles can be something that keeps people awake at night.
This has made me think a lot about if it was up to me, where would I send the organization, or more importantly how would I lead a organizaiton or even on a smaller scale a shift or company through times like this? What values would I want to instill in my company officers, firefighters, and the like?
A few years ago an officer who I have a lot of respect for, and now have the privilege of working for introduced me to a term, and leadership philosophy called “Servant Leadership”. Simply put the only reason an organization exists is to serve its customers. So in turn the only reason the leadership exists is to serve the subordinates.
An example would be the company officer. His sole job in its base form is to make sure that his/her firefighters have everything they need to serve the customer. These “needs” run the gauntlet from more training on hose deployment, to a hot meal at the end of the tour but the point is to make sure that the firefighters have everything they need in order to provide the best service delivery to the customer. Now much like your parents making you eat your vegetables sometimes the things your subordinates “need” are not going to coincide with everything they “want” or “like”.
This should go from the top down. The Fire Chief should make sure that his Assistants or Deputies have everything they need in order to do their job, and so on and so on. Applying this leadership model takes the leaders ego, and needs out of it and focuses on the needs of those you swore to protect and serve.
At the end of the day the fire service itself is a service industry. We exist to serve the citizen/customer who require our services. This is not down playing the extraordinary feats that happen every day in fire departments all over the world, however it is an attempt to really realize our true mission. Sure rescuing a fire victim is a feat of bravery, and should be regarded as such, but taking care of someone who broke their arm is just an important. The only difference is the level of service needed to mitigate the need of the customer, but the preparation for both must be spot on at all times.
These are values I feel that are desperately needed in a lot of organizations. The whats in it for me attitude and the attitude of self entitlement have no place in the fire service as this job is not about us, or you. Sure we deserve to make a living, and have a pension but that is the reward for providing a term of service that should meet the needs of those in which you swore to serve. Simply showing up and putting in time is not enough.
Please feel free to share some of your thoughts on leadership in the comments section, or on twitter @averagejakeff.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
As the summer months are upon us the temperature is beginning the sky-rocket. If we are not prepared this can have an adverse affect on our operations and our overall health.
For our normal duty shifts our preparation is actually quite simple. Stay hydrated, ensure proper rehab, and rotate crews effectively. For Incident Commanders ensuring that adequate manpower (engines, ladders, ambulances, etc.) are available.
However if you are going to be participating in an intensive training class (HTR, recruit school, live burns) during these summer months some extra preparation is necessary. You have to expose yourself to this heat stress under physical activity several weeks prior to the training program in order to acclimate your self to the stress of operating in high temperatures.
In addition to that we need to ensure that as a part of our regular physical fitness regimen we are including our PPE. Lets face it running, and lifting are great but we perform in the elements and in PPE/SCBA. This will truly tell us how ready we are for our job on the fireground. When we get a fire is not the time to figure out we are not ready.
Like Chris Huston over at www.engineco22.net says “We can not control how many fires we run, but we can control how ready we are for the ones we do run”
So in short, prehab, workout, rehab, train and be ready! The summer months are challenging for firefighters, yet the calls keep coming in. It is our JOB to be ready to meet the needs of every incident, every citizen, and our fellow firemen.
Another thing to be aware of though is the danger level associated with operating in the heat. Even though we have to be ready and we can not say “no it is to hot” we should have the ability to adjust our response based on the dangers of heat. It gets hot every where but especially here in the South humidity is a large concern. Enough humidity can make a 90 degree day feel like 100 and that presents its own unique problems.
This is just one of the many “charts” or guides that you can use to determine how you need to limit your outdoor exertion. Like I said we still have to work even in the danger environments but knowing the danger ahead of time can assist use in calling the appropriate resources, and ramping up our rehab needs. It is imperative that the company officer determine the predicted weather patterns at the beginning of each shift/tour of duty. This will allow the company officer to make important tactical decisions, and determine proper crew rotation and resources.
The summer months are tough, are you and your company ready?
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
Today I attended the 2012 Virginia Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service. During the service the 6 firefighters from the Commonwealth of Virginia were honored for their service, and dedication to Virginia’s fire service.
The service was great, it was not overstated but definitely not understated, and was perfect to provide some closure for the families (immediate and fire service).
Several Virginia Fire Departments played integral roles in either providing apparatus, honor guard, or just coordination of the event. A big thanks goes out the St. Andrews Legion Pipes and Drum Corps for providing the marching music. it just simply would not be a fire department function without pipes and drums and this band does an awesome job.
Here are some pictures:
St. Andrews Legion
Most of the pictures I took were on the outside as during the ceremony I did not think taking pictures was appropriate.
While sitting through the event, and often during things like this I began to have some self-reflection. Listening to the eulogies, reading the stories of the life and death of my fellow brothers, and seeing the reaction of the families and crowd mae me dwell on a few points.
1. I do not want my wife and kids getting one of those flags: This may initially come off as harsh but I am sure if you could ask the 6 honored today they would not have wanted this outcome for their family either. That flag while a great symbol of the dedication they served signals an end and sometimes and end not in the best of circumstances. Sure things happen in this job but I do not want my wife and kids sitting there getting that flag for something I could have prevented.
2. Have I let people know how I feel about them?: All fo the 6 honored had someone come up and speak about them. They all offered great stories, and kind words about the fallen. While those words are appreciated, I hope the fallen got to hear them while they were alive. I hope the people I care about (family and fire service family) know how I feel about them, but in case they don’t I am gonna make sure to let them know before they are no longer with us.
3. Motivation/reinforcement: While reading about the causes of these deaths mostly medical related in nature, It has validated the changes I have made in my diet, and fitness regimen. It also validated that the attention to detail, constant training, are truly the right path. These are things I have always known but every once in a while you need that validation. I know this path is the right one and I am motivated to continue walking it, and even expanding it! As I said earlier things happen on this job but I know I can prevent a lot of them by being well-trained (physically, and mentally), and doing the right things.
4. Sadness: You would think this emotion would be a prerequisite for events like this but usually I do not get sad I get mad. I get mad at the lack of turnout, I get mad that people can not take a few hours of their own time to pay respects to our fallen brothers. However this time I just felt sad. Sad for those who did not make it, as they missed out on a chance to view or participate in something that could change their life. Much like the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb so many people missed out on a chance to do something meaningful, and life changing. In just my department alone there are 600 firefighters, in the metro Richmond area there are probably around 2-3,000, who knows how many are in the entire Commonwealth and not a lot of people showed up to this event. I have gotten beyond anger and just feel sad for the ones who choose to pass up great chances.
Overall this was a great event! I am glad I went and will definitely go again.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!
Your driving the engine for your tour, you get dispatched for a structure fire. In flash you’re heading to the scene and you see a column of smoke over the horizon! Your officer gives you the hydrant location, and tells you “LAY IN”! You make the block, stop at the hydrant get out wrap it, back in and your driving up to the scene. You arrive and see a 2 story single family dwelling with smoke coming out of the 2nd floor windows. You pull the parking brake, you engage the pump, put the gear selector in drive, and hop out of the rig. By this time your officer has made his lap and is reporting heavy fire on side Charlie, and the fireman with you has gotten the line pulled and is ready for water. You pull the discharge valve and begin to throttle up…..nothing……you keep pressing the throttle button…..nothing. You did everything right, but your gauges are at zero and your crew needs water now! What happens in the next few seconds makes you a hero or a ZERO!
Has this ever happened to anyone? I’m sure it has, the reality of the situation is that fire trucks are manufactured and with them becoming more computerized sometimes things break, or malfunction. In times like these you need to have an understanding of how to place your apparatus pump into gear manually. Usually it is not that complicated, but NONE OF THEM ARE THE SAME!!!! Even the same make and model can be different. For example in my department we run all front line Pierce Quantum engines. Even our reserves are quantums. Some of the older ones in reserve status are in the 1995-96 range and the one I ride on today is a 2011. The manual pump procedure for the new vs old is VERY different. In fact some of the older ones it takes 2 people to perform the procedure. Then you throw in different manufactures and different years. The engine I learned to pump on when I was about 18 was a 1989 KME. In order to put that into manual pump you had to close valve A, open valve B, then pull the manual lever, finally placing the gear shift in drive, a far more complicated process.
The moral of this story is know the rig your riding, especially if you in a department like mine where everyone (except officers) share the driving responsibilities. Take some time this month to look over your pumper and go over your manual pump procedure. It is a simple drill, but could prove valuable in the right situation.
As usual thanks for reading, spread the word, and STAY SAFE!!!!
