Fire Rescue EMS Technology and Tech Reviews

By Jason Krusen | 01/10/2013

In the day of ever changing technology and information over load it is extremely important that first responders understand what is going on. There is no excuse for us to not know what has occurred in our communities, county, region, state, nation, or even the world within moments of it occurring. The media is at an ultimate frenzy to be the first to break the story, and if they are not the first they will have the exclusive interview 10 minutes later. Not only are they competing with each other, but with every Tom, Dick, and Harry that has a smart phone and a link to social media. Read More...

Relevant Tags: HAZMAT, responders, know what, first responders, law enforcement, fire department, our communities, should know

Dennis Amodio | 10/05/2012

(This is part three of a three-part series on pre-planning.) More often than not, schools have standard procedures for responding to an incident or emergency that aren’t as effective or efficient as they can be. I know one high school that has their town’s fire department enter the building through the second floor window. The fire department actually uses a ladder to get into the building rather than walking through the door. This happens because the department doesn’t have access to the school’s keys, and the school hasn’t taken the steps to provide the department with the correct situational awareness. A solution to this problem is simple... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE PRE-PLANNING, schools, planning, electronic, building, emergency, pre planning, first responders, emergency preparedness, fire department

By Mike Coffey | 10/05/2012

Fire alarm systems have become commonplace responses in today’s fire service. Between carbon monoxide alarms, general fire alarm activations, smoke detectors, other detection devices and pull stations — we stay busy answering these calls for service. Understanding what the system and devices attached to them are telling us can help identify problems and keep properties from becoming even more of a statistic than they already are. Read More...

Relevant Tags: fire, alarm, system, detection, fire alarm, alarm systems, false alarms, detection devices, fire department, returning foundations, detection system, carbon monoxide

Dennis Amodio | 08/01/2012

I’ve been in the fire service for over 35 years. I can say with confidence that pre-planning is essential, but not because of my years of fire service experience. What 35 years of experience yields is a long view of where pre-plans have been, a clear picture of where they are now and a good idea of where they’re going. Or where they could go. Or where they should go. That said, I’ve seen my fair share of approaches to pre-planning over the years. There are many different ways to pre-plan, and many different forms pre-plans can take. But it wasn’t until recently that I had the chance to work with a different, more dynamic, more interactive wa... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE PRE-PLANNING, electronic, planning, information, pre planning, first responders, fire service, situational awareness, planning first

David Pease | 08/01/2012

Spring has come and gone and we are now in the dead of summer. If the winter was any indication of how the summer is going to be, we could be in big trouble. Hopefully, the temperatures will not be as hot and the humidity will stay down. We lose a lot of training time between the vacations and heat, but perhaps at least the temperatures will be tolerable. I saw some of you at the Myrtle Beach Fire/Rescue show and I’m looking forward to seeing more of you at the fire conference in Raleigh in August. I was involved in a one-day stabilization class at Goldston Fire in June. We had 92 students in attendance from North Carolina and some from Sout... Read More...

Relevant Tags: EXTRICATION EDUCATION, vehicles, fuel, summer, alternate fuel

David Pease | 10/14/2011

As I write this column, I have come to realize that not only with age comes wisdom and experience, but sometimes the sadness of losing friends that we have known and trained with for some time. Over the years I have seen some of my fellow rescuers leave this life of either old age, disease, or sudden illness, as well as one of my own members that committed suicide. A realization that Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD) is something we should make use of when there are stresses in our lives, or the lives of our members. Calls can be extremely stressful and we have to deal with that stress. But that is another article all together. Read More...

Relevant Tags: Extrication Education, impact, side, bags, extrication, side impact, frontal airbags, dual activating, extrication education

Joe Robinson | 01/11/2011

Have you noticed how the scene lighting and equipment that we use today has changed the fire service, and for that matter all of public safety? We have come a long way from using the head lights on the truck to light up the fire grounds, or for law enforcement to look for evidence at a crime scene. It use to be that when you needed lights to work by you would point the truck in the direction you were working, or use a flashlight. Read More...

Relevant Tags: TECHNOLOGY YOU CAN USE, computing, cloud, data, option, management, good, cloud computing, technology can, data management, good option, computing good, what cloud, protecting department, computing option

Dave Adams | 01/11/2011

Leaders in first response know information is powerful in fighting budget wars, managing daily operations; and protecting the department in lawsuits. Read More...

Relevant Tags: TECHNOLOGY YOU CAN USE, computing, cloud, data, option, management, good, cloud computing, technology can, data management, good option, computing good, what cloud, protecting department, computing option

Tim Wojcik | 07/25/2010

In 2009, Executive Fire Officer Paul Melfi published the following statement, “Giving a firefighter a portable radio is an investment in saving lives. But you must also provide proper training, policies for radio operations, and equipment maintenance. Personnel must know all the intricacies of the portable radio in addition to being able to operate it, maintain it, and ensure that it is ready for use at all times.” While many departments do have a Radio Operations SOG (Standard Operating Guideline), many do not have an SOG that covers the use/assignment of radios by firefighters in the IDLH environment. So, what does the NFPA have to say abo... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FIRE,radio, radios, firefighter, idlh, firefighters, department, safety, idlh environment, portable radio, one radio, training policies, proper training

Michael Medeiros | 07/25/2010

All across America we see fire departments and emergency services taking measures to outfit there companies with newer trucks and better equipment. These same departments spend large amounts of money to make sure the apparatus we ride on has all the bells and whistles, yet we are still neglecting the major tool in our arsenal, the people who drive and use this equipment. Read More...

Relevant Tags: FITNESS TRAINING,fitness, health, departments, wellness, department, programs, health fitness, fitness key, wellness program, first responders, apparatus ride

| 04/26/2010

The 2010 South Carolina Fire-Rescue Conference will be held in Myrtle Beach, SC, June 7-12, 2010. The goal is to provide a training and education conference that is entertaining and professionally stimulating. Pre-conference seminars and classroom sessions are taught by nationally recognized experts, and premier South Carolina fire service instructors, who have proven leadership skills developed under fire. H.O.T. classes/workshops Advanced Automobile Extrication Fire Ground Command Simulation Techniques of Searching Fire Buildings The Art of Not Breathing Smoke The Four R’s of Accountability and Fire Ground Decision Making Firefighting Tech... Read More...

Relevant Tags: Fire,fire, june, rescue, conference, held, firefighter, fire rescue, carolina fire, rescue conference, convention center, rescue ems, held friday, south carolina, friday june

Mike McMonagle | 04/26/2010

As we all know, “emergency response” involves more than just fighting fires or tending to someone who has been injured. That is not to say that suppressing a fully involved structure fire or resuscitating an unresponsive heart attack victim are simple feats. Rather, they are the public-facing actions that are typically prefaced by behind-the-scenes information gathering and analyzing that is oftentimes performed while en route to the call. Whether it is a paramedic accessing past medical records, or a firefighter reviewing a building layout for a facility before arrival, the information that is available will ultimately shape the means by wh... Read More...

Relevant Tags: Fire,fire, software, emergency, information, computer, emergency response, fire rescue, rescue ems, fully rugged, pre incident, carolina fire, paper based, response field, mobile computing, emergency respo

DAVID PEASE — REDS Team | 04/26/2010

Spring will soon be here and so will the storms that follow. With our ever changing environment, storms can bring down a lot of water in a short period. With the onset of increasing growth and development, this water sometimes has no place to go. The result is flooded streets and populated areas. We also have to consider the seasonal water activities of the public, thus resulting in more water recovery operations. Let’s take a look at some of the personal equipment needed for this type of operations. Keeping our personal equipment in mind, even if we are not directly involved in water rescue operations, you may still be in close proximity to... Read More...

Relevant Tags: Rescue,water, rescue, equipment, operations, helmet, water rescue, rescue ems, fire rescue, ems journal, rescue operations, equipment considerations, carolina fire

David Pease | 10/21/2009

Several years back, I wrote about the Rescue Jack stabilization struts. Now they have introduced a new line of struts that only improve on previous ones. The new X-Struts will give rescuers more stability, capability and versatility. Read More...

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