Vision 20/20 Symposium Live
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May 2012 0 comments
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Apr 2012 A Renaissance Fire and Life Safety Education Workshop
(download)
Many fire departments today are lacking a strong safety education program. Often, fire chiefs blame budget issues on their choice to avoid supporting fire and life safety education efforts. Maybe we can reverse this trend? We're holding a renaissance fire and life safety education workshop at the Ohio Fire Academy tomorrow. With a few people in attendance, we might be able to reach more people in our communities with the knowledge they need to be more safe. Then, we'll sow and grow.
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Feb 2012 New Fire Stations Possible in Kettering, OH
Kettering needs new fire power: wdtn.com
"I wouldn't say we are reorganizing our fire department we are actually looking for optimal fire stations in the future," said Mark Schwieterman, City Manager.
Schwieterman says they have identified this area of Far Hills, just west of Fairmont High School, as a potential location for the first new fire station to be built.
Schwieterman says it's still all in the very early stages, so he wasn't able to provide an exact dollar amount, but says each new station should cost somewhere between $2 and 4-million to construct.
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Sep 2011 September Magazine Cartoon by Paul Combs
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Aug 2011 FireRescue1: FCC to roll out multimedia, texting support for 911
See the written story by Brooks Boliek of Politico.com at FireRescue1.
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May 2011 Do You Sleep With a Firefighter?
(download)
Fire Sprinkler Facts
- Eight of out 10 fire deaths occur in the home.
- Fire sprinklers save lives, reduce property loss and can even help cut
homeowner insurance premiums.
- Home fire sprinklers can contain and may even extinguish a fire in
less time than it would take the fire department to arrive on the
scene.
- Installing both smoke alarms and a fire sprinkler system reduces the
risk of home fire death by 82%, relative to having neither.
- Only the sprinkler closest to the fire will activate, spraying water
directly on the fire. Ninety percent of fires are contained by the
operation of just one sprinkler.*
- Nationally, on average, home fire sprinkler systems add 1% to 1.5%
of the total building cost in new construction.
- Home fire sprinklers use only a small fraction of the water used by
fire department hoses.
- Modern residential sprinklers are inconspicuous and can be
mounted flush with walls or ceilings.
For more information go to the Home Fire Sprinkler web site at:
*Automatic Sprinklers: A 10-Year Study, Scottsdale, AZ
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Apr 2011 Charlotte FD Chief "Has a Big Helmet"
Charlotte area radio personalities Woody and Wilcox (and Creepy Jeffrey) seem to think that Chief Jon Hannan has a very large fire helmet. Perhaps it stood out more to them because it is a clean white, but honestly, it's no larger than every other fire fighter helmet of the classic variety.
You can see my PIO friend Captain Rob Brisley floating around the studio taking photos -- and displaying the helmet to the video camera. Props to Charlotte FD for once again showing how fire fighters (and even chiefs) are real people. This is a department that knows how to engage in their community, how to show honesty in the profession, and how to have a good time doing what they do!
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Mar 2011 Ross at the Fire Department
Image quality isn't the best, but this too much fun not to share. Wouldn't be surprised to see him sign up.
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Feb 2011 Four Minutes to Save Your Life
One of the greatest challenges fire and life safety educators have is to help more people understand the importance of working smoke alarms in the home. Perhaps we've said it so many times that people simply tune out the message. The fact is -- almost one-fourth of home fire deaths happen where there are NO working smoke alarms. If we know people die from fire in homes where there is no alarm -- or no working alarm -- why do we continue to ignore the message?
Take four minutes to watch the video in this post. Your life -- and the lives of your loved ones -- is worth four minutes of your time, right?
(download)
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) launched the Install. Inspect. Protect. Campaign, encouraging people to install and maintain smoke alarms and sprinklers, practice fire escape plans, and perform a home safety walk-through.The USFA recommends installing smoke alarms both inside and outside of sleeping areas and on every level of your home; testing them monthly; changing alkaline batteries at least once a year; and installing ionization and photoelectric smoke alarms or dual sensor smoke alarms. For more information, visit www.usfa.dhs.gov/smokealarms or call the USFA Publications Office at (800) 561-3356.
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Oct 2010 Fire Is...
I've been impressed by the efforts of Dr. Frank Field and his children, Storm and Allison, for many years. As reporters they have seen the tragedy of fire in the faces of the victims. They have heard the stories of sorrow and regret from those that are left behind.
Made possible by a grant by MetLife in 2006, Field and his team released a series of videos designed to help people -- especially middle school kids -- learn the true nature of fire. Through the grant a DVD made its way into fire stations around the country as an insert to Firehouse magazine.
According to Field,
Most fire education in this country is directed at elementary school students, primarily to young children who color pictures and learn to "stop, drop and roll." The middle school students in 5th, 6th, and 7th grades are not taught the truth - that fire is not fun. "Fire Is…" identifies fire as dangerous and shows what can happen when children are burned or killed in a blaze.
Dr. Field's video Fire Is... is being shown across the nation -- in classrooms, on web sites and in homes. I first started using it in my programs in 2006, as well.
Here's the first of the series, called Fire is... Black. Please share it. Dr. Field would be pleased and lives may be saved.
Rich Palmer
I'm just a singer, songwriter, safety educator, public information officer, new media enthusiast, dad, husband, and fan of many things online.
