Gordon Graham here again, and thanks for taking the time to glance at my little corner of the Credit Union site. There are a lot of great people providing some comments for you to read and perhaps glean a couple of thoughts for your usage – and I am honored to be able to give you my “nickel’s worth” on a monthly basis.

And the focus of my brief piece today is the importance of “inter-department” cooperation. When a major event occurs – and there are a lot of them on the horizon
including a terrorist attack, a technology failure, a transportation tragedy, a mass casualty event, or an Act of God (and I wonder who came up with that description) – will your fire department be able to work with other responders – like police – and will your efforts be complementary and fully integrated – or will it end up in a “clustermess” – and I just invented that word to get it past the editor of this piece. (more…)

EXPERIENCE
Does the fire service experience more or less fires today as compared to yesterday? The obvious answer is- – - – - – - -LESS! Just as sprinklers, smoke detectors, and other similar factors have collectively reduced the number of fires, the experience level of personnel has also been reduced. Therefore, when a modern firefighter arrives at a typical one-room fire in a single-family dwelling (which NFPA indicates is 60-70% of our fires), the excitement level can be abnormally high (more…)

By Paul H. Stein and Ettore A. Berardinelli

It’s fair to say that most of us think that the requirements to be called a teacher are a four-year college degree and a state certified teaching credential. But think about this. Have you ever shown someone that special knot you use to tie things down in your truck? Have you ever set an example for your kids by doing the right thing, even though it would have been more convenient to simply ignore the rules? Are you aware of safety issues and share your knowledge with fellow crewmembers? Do you believe that you need to set the proper example at all times? Well, according to the following definition, you are a “teacher”, even though you probably won’t be able to get a position at your local high School’s Physics Department! (more…)