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Health and Wellness

Alternate Posting Location: Public Safety Face Mask Survey Results

View all of the results from nearly 4,000 cops, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics and corrections officers. Face masks: Here’s what cops, firefighters, medics and COs have to say about use, policy and effectiveness One of the questions is about off-duty face mask use. This is what we learned: Off-duty face mask use by public safety respondents […]

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Operations

Why I drive slow on snow and ice covered, slippery roads

I don’t mind letting other cars zip by me on the interstate when the roads are snow-covered, icy, slick and slippery. Here are the reasons I drive slow: My car, a 2005 Toyota Sienna Minivan, is fully paid for and has been for at least a decade. Life without a car payment is always better […]

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Safety Tips

Response to historic landmarks, churches, schools and other mass gatherings

Your jurisdiction likely does not have a building as old or as historic as the Notre Dame cathedral, but it is sure to have buildings of local importance that need preplans. Read my Rapid Response to the Notre Dame cathedral on FireRescue1.com Rapid Response: Historic landmark fires are a tactical and emotional challenge for firefighters

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Uncategorized

Wildland Fires: Need More Attention, Training and Support

In California, as well as many parts of the western United States, the wildfire season is lengthening because of a combination of drought, urbanization, invasive plant disease and climate change. The firefighters fighting California’s wildfires, the police and EMS providers who are evacuating civilians and caring for the injured deserve our interest, attention and support. As the […]

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EMS Tips

EMS Tips – Active Shooter NFPA Standard – Retirement Age – Failure to Yield

1. Active Shooter NFPA Standard 3000 NFPA 3000, Standard for Preparedness and Response to Active Shooter and/or Hostile Events, gives guidance on active shooter or active threat preparedness and response (EMS1.com). “Hostile events are happening with greater frequency and ferocity today. It’s critical that we take steps to protect people from this increasing threat,” NFPA president […]

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Uncategorized

EMS Tips – 2017 LODDs – Personal Safety

I am taking a moment today to remember the colleagues we have lost in the line of duty. 1. EMS Line of Duty Deaths 2017 EMS1 reported 11 EMT or paramedic line of duty death incidents in 2017. 2. Police Officer Line of Duty Deaths 2017 The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund issued a preliminary […]

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Uncategorized

Climate change is impacting emergency responders

On Tuesday morning when the death toll from the Sonoma and Napa counties was just 11 people (it’s now 35 dead) and only 1,400 structures had been destroyed I wrote a FireRescue1.com and EMS1.com article. “In the last two months, historic levels of rainfall, flooding and wildfire in the continental U.S. and its territories have […]

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News and Events

When protests and mass gatherings turn violent

After the Thursday shooting deaths of five Dallas police officers I had the chance to talk to Chris Cebollero about his experience as the Christian Hospital EMS Chief during the Ferguson protests and riots. Cebollero shares some important lessons learned, as well as some mistakes he made, to help other EMS chiefs, leaders and field […]

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EMS Education Tips

Recap of ISFSI Fall Conference Presentations

Last week I presented two sessions at the ISFSI Fall Instructor Conference. Both groups were engaged and added lots of great information to the sessions. Fortunately I arrived plenty early to set-up and test the projector settings. It took a several attempts to figure out why my slides were not being projected. Then I looked […]

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Uncategorized

2014 ISFSI Fall Conference at Ohio Fire Academy Slides

Today I am presenting two talks to the International Society of Fire Science Instructors Fall Conference attendees at the Ohio Fire Academy. Below are the slides for those presentations. Learn more about the ISFSI Fall Conference. Distraction is Deadly from Greg Friese Integrating Smartphones and Tablet Devices into Fire and EMS Education from Greg Friese