Amar Patel | 08/01/2012

There’s a saying that the only thing you can count on is change, and that’s especially true when it comes to providing emergency services. Whether you’ve recently begun using an electronic medical record (EMR) to chart your patient’s vital signs (rather than writing them on paper), or you’re participating in a new, interactive fire and rescue training activity with high-tech simulation mannequins, you know change is inevitable. The key to dealing with change in a positive way is to embrace it. Read More...

Relevant Tags: EMS 2012, ems, health, professionals, care reform, ems professionals, hill day, reform ems

Bobby Sheikhan | 08/01/2012

From the time it capsized at a refinery dock in Texas City, the listing barge — loaded with 235,000 gallons of sulfuric acid — began seeping its toxic, corrosive load into the 30-foot-deep waterway. The water mixing with sulfuric acid inside the hull had begun to corrode the steel. This process reduced the barge’s structural integrity and created reactions inside the sealed compartment that generated a cloud of highly flammable, highly pressurized hydrogen gas — just one spark away from a calamitous blast. It was time for a new plan. That plan included federal and regional Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel expanding... Read More...

Relevant Tags: COMMUNICATIONS, wireless, monitoring, systems, hazmat, response, real time, wirelessly connected, new plan, hazmat teams, sulfuric acid, connected monitoring, monitoring systems, using wirelessly, monitoring equipment

Mike Coffey | 08/01/2012

Foam fire streams are one of the few fire streams that have a special purpose. That purpose is a four-fold plan: Separating fuels from fire Cools temperature of the fuel and surrounding surfaces Smothers or suppresses the release of flammable vapors thereby reducing chances of re-ignition or the initial ignition of a fuel Penetration of water by reducing its surface tension and allowing water to penetrate into a deep-seated fire area Read More...

Relevant Tags: From the Editor, foam, class, water, fuel, fire streams

Dave Murphy | 08/01/2012

With national elections on the horizon, we are constantly bombarded by each candidate’s economic quick-fix version which usually only serves to raise the debt ceiling culminating in just another “rainbow stew” budget line item to be shouldered by the American worker. In reality, the only possible long term solution to what ails our great nation was proposed in 2002, just before his untimely death. It has been 10 years since the passing of a true American hero, Senator Paul Wellstone. A dated dispatch from the St. Paul Pioneer Press that quotes Senator Wellstone as saying, from the Senate floor, “if you want real welfare reform, you focus on ... Read More...

Relevant Tags: EMS 2012, education, service, job, health, wellstone, american, fire service, good education, good job, health care, good healthcare

Ron Cheves | 08/01/2012

I’m really tired of reading about volunteer firefighters doing stupid things! Some people already think of us as tobacco chewing, redneck, 4X4 truck driving, “belly-hanging-over our-belts,” wanna-be heroes, and we’re sure not helping our own cause. Read the news from across the country and you’ll see that we’re giving the public plenty to talk about. We had volunteer firefighters in Tennessee who responded to a fire and then refused to extinguish the fire because the homeowners did not pay their fire dues. Why respond in the first place? So you could get your photo taken and be the subject of national news? Read More...

Relevant Tags: THE VOLUNTEER DEPARTMENT, volunteer, fire, chief, volunteer firefighters, fire service, about volunteer, truck driving

Ken Newell | 08/01/2012

“Should our new station be two floors or one floor?” It’s not unusual for this question to be brought up during the preliminary stages of public safety station design, and it’s one that we’ve heard many times over the years while working with officials on new and renovated stations. If this is your question, there are numerous factors to consider before making a final decision. And, as those who work in emergency services know full well, the best decisions are well-informed decisions. Therefore, let’s examine a few key factors that you need to consider. Read More...

Relevant Tags: EMS 2012, station, fire, multi, building, design, stations, multi story, station design, single story, public safety, fire station, two floors

By Sherry Brooks | 08/01/2012

When we received Lee Wilson’s photo for the cover we immediately thought of brotherhood. If you ask 10 people what brotherhood means to them you’ll get 10 different answers. What does brotherhood mean to you? E-mail us at [email protected] . I will share your comments in our next issue with a possible photo and short bio. Our staff enjoyed meeting everyone who visited our booth at the South Carolina Fire-Rescue Conference in Myrtle Beach in June. What a great job the S.C. Firefighters’ Association does with this conference! Bobby Richardson was the keynote speaker and we have included an overview of his address in this i... Read More...

Relevant Tags: FROM THE EDITOR, brotherhood, truck, summer, editor, fire truck, from editor, fire rescue, south carolina

| 08/01/2012

Several years ago I was at the scene of a 1,000 gallon Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank that was laying on its side leaking what was clearly liquid, creating a large white vapor cloud around the tank and creating a Lower Explosive Limits (LEL) hot zone of greater than 500 feet down wind of the tank.  The fire department personnel went to work setting up hot zones, shutting down a major highway, performing evacuation and tactical strategies for entry to attempt mitigation.  A second alarm for manpower was called for due to the heat and humidity.  At this point you could say we were in the textbook.  The following could be the picture in ... Read More...

Relevant Tags: Rescue, fire, safety, firefighter, service, fire rescue, aggressive ignorance, safety program, fire responses