Best of the Rest – Learning to Crawl, Fingerprints, Chicago Fire, All My Rowdy Friends…and More

The other week, I had a Brother contact me about visiting Roanoke. When Brothers visit Roanoke, Willie and I try our best to roll out the red carpet and put our best foot forward. Unfortunately for Willie, he has two left feet! Chief Scott Morrison from  Knotts Island Volunteer Fire Department was in town working and I ensured him we would have a good time. Willie and I both would have taken him around, but Willie was working. Therefore it was my job to show him as much of Roanoke as I could. I think we stopped in or drove by firehouses 1, old 1, 2, 3, old 3, 5, 7, 8, old 9, and 13…not bad for a half day of touring. We broke bread with Captain Wines at 13 and were delighted when Willie Sr. showed up with a friend for lunch as well. It actually gave me a chance to step into some of the houses I don’t get to all that often. I even met two firefighters who I hadn’t met before from the last recruit school.

Captain Wines, Chief Scott Morrison, Lt. Rhett Fleitz

We got a new guy at #3 A-shift about a month ago. Aaron (prounounced A-run) Parker is from the last recruit school and is fitting in just great. I will be introducing my entire crew this week hopefully. I have been meaning to do it, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet. It will be worth it, trust me!

Other than that, everything is busy as hell. Lacrosse season ends this weekend with a league tournament. I coach my son’s U9 and U11 teams and the U11 will be playing in the tournament. It should be a blast.

Dave Statter and I are gearing up for our presentation on Social Media in two weeks. Join us at the Ohio Fire & Emergency Services Foundation’s 2012 Leadership Conference in Newark, Ohio for May 23 & 24. Click here to sign up.

a little humor for your day. Shared by Benjamin Kimball

Shoutout – AESTFire

Facebook – AEST Inc.

About – In March of 2009 we incorporated to meet an ever-increasing need to provide quality training to area emergency service and industrial organizations. AEST Inc is comprised of many highly qualified, trained, and professional instructors.We all began as firefighters. AEST Inc expanded our services to include testing pumps, ladders, and fire hose all on site at your department. We are able to provide an excellent service at an affordable price.

Training

For EMS Training, check out CentreLearn. Our good friend Greg Friese is on the team there. They have a blog set up here as well…and on Facebook!

Tac-Med LLC is running some online training via their Facebook page. Check it out here.

FireGround Flowthrough – The Order of Operations. Check out this article by Chris Brennan of Fire Service Warrior.

Green Maltese offers Fireground Considerations. Check it out!

Video: Jason Jefferies teaches us how to crawl…check it out! Thanks to Chief Mike France for posting this in the Fire Service Training/Safety FB Group!

Tweet of the Week

 

Seems reasonable!

News and Opinion

Mark Vonappen offers us “Fingerprints” in his latest installment at Fully Involved…sink your teeth into this one. Mark’s musings are becoming very popular due in part to the topic, in part to the writing style, and in part because it is unforgiving, candid, and no nonsense. I love it!

I took this pic from the bumper of their fire engine a week into the recovery efforts after one of the worst tornadoes Indiana has seen in a long time! -Bill- Nineveh FD

Chicago Fire Preview: Clips From NBC’s Drama Show Fire And Heated Conversation. Have you heard of the new series on Firefighters based on Chicago’s Bravest? Get the sneak preview here!

Retired Norfolk Firefighter Sara Jones needs your help in her 4th battle with Cancer. Read more about it here.

FirstDueTackle.com put together a pretty decent list of Training web sites, blogs, and magazines in this post here.

All My Rowdy FriendsThe Hose Jockey talks about “The Network” that is being created and he is a part of. If you don’t know what “The Network” is, read the post and then start reading some of the other great blogs out there!

5 Terrifying Secrets About Riding in an Ambulance…just as it implies, from Cracked.com

Backstep Firefighter – OHIO Close Calls. Blaming Radios and Remembering Past Tragedy Calls show hindsight and misguided blame. Are we sure we’re headed in the right direction when looking for “lessons learned”?

IronFiremen.com – America’s Fire Captain Willie Wines Jr. talks about “Old School Captains” and gets a little validation for his abilities.

Jury awards more than $800,000 to family of fallen firefighter. The civil trial for Kilgore firefighter Kyle Perkins’ death is finally over. After rehashing the 2009 tragedy in a two-week trial, Monday’s verdict is a small victory for an East Texas family, and a brotherhood of East Texas firefighters.

This video was shared on Facebook: