"Calling All Cars! Calling All Cars!! Where is Everybody???

If you're either over the age of 50 or an aficionado of old, black-and-white crime series and movies, you'll probably recognize the title of this blog entry. In these well-aged television programs and movies, one would hear someone on the police radio reaching out to any vehicles on the department's frequency. While it might sound somewhat comical today, its reality is all too real for the fire service and everyone involved in public safety. Here we are, well on our way into the 21st century  where we can send and receive radio signals from our satellites, billions of miles away and we still need to deal with inferior radio communications for first responders.

In his "Fire Politics" column in the June issue of FIREHOUSE(R), Kevin O'Connor (who serves as the Assistant to the General President of the IAFF) explains that the actual "creation" of the FirstNet program, is not much of a program after all. If you're a relatively young and new firefighter, you may not know that as far back as 1982, leaders of the fire and police services have been requesting, simply put, a radio band allotment, dedicated to voice and data communications for first responders. You might be thinking,"Radio band? Every one of us has a radio with our frequencies!" However, FirstNet goes further by providing interoperability between departments and agencies. Imagine, after a major incident in your response area that required numerous mutual-aid agencies, you have the ability to turn to a frequency that enables you to hear commands and other information directly from the incident commander.

Think of it this way, on 9|11, the FDNY could barely communicate with the NYPD. This led to another call to the government to build, "a national, interoperable communications network exclusively for public safety"* In 1992, in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, Miami-Dade County Fire-Rescue and Police units were barely able to communicate with like agencies responding from Broward, Palm Beach, and other agencies, to assist. FirstNet could have precluded those difficulties.

Mr. O'Connor goes on to explain that while the government provided certain bandwidth for the project, it is for data only, no voice. Moreover, the program will be managed, not by leaders in the fields of Public Safety, but by former "bigwigs" in the telecom industry and non-public safety executives; leaving a very small representation (sic "voice) from Public Safety officials who truly know and understand what is needed. And to add insult to injury, the bandwidth is not exclusive to Public Safety; rather it is "shared" and can be used by commercial users.

Pretty disappointing, right? Now ask the most important question, WHY? Why did this effort to provide public safety a strong radio spectrum to use on major disasters, fail? It appears that many of us were the cause. "What? Us? What did we do? I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything! Oh...I see...I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!" Too many of us did not do anything to lend our support to the effort. 

As current and former firefighters, LEO's, EMT's and Paramedics, we can no longer afford to leave issues as important as FirstNet, on the shoulders of just a few of our great leaders. We must begin to play a role in guiding public safety to its very best and most professional level that we can. Additionally, all of us, whether career, volunteer, on-call, etc., can participate.

How? Visit this link to the Congressional Fire Services Caucus. Keep abreast of what the government is doing for or to us. Be sure to read Mr. O'Connor's  "Fire Politics" column in the June issue of FIREHOUSE(R) Magazine. If you're a career firefighter and IAFF member, be sure to read and discuss the news and issues at the local, state and federal levels that effect the fire service. If you're a volunteer, you're able to interact with the Congressional Caucus mentioned above. And all of us can contact our congressional representatives and request their assistance in improving public safety for all. 

Remember - if we are unable to protect ourselves, how are we expected to protect those we are sworn to serve?

*Kevin O'Connor, "Fire Politics," FIREHOUSE Magazine, June 2017, p.18.

5-Alarm Task Force 

 

Wow!

That's about the only word we can say about the last couple of weeks. When we finally decided to follow the suggestion from a couple of our Twitter friends, we had no idea it would take off this quickly and more importantly, allow us to bring the number and for some, the caliber of guests, to the show. The funny thing is, I was doing something just like this 16 years ago! That's right...16 years ago; before the word "podcast" was even a spark of a thought in someone's head!

Back in 2001, we were working hard to bring our reality-based TV show to air. Titled, "America's Heroes: The Men & Women of Fire/Rescue," it featured real video of fire-rescue services from around the country (long before everyone had a camera in their cellphones!) and interviews with some of the first responders involved in the incidents. Now you need to remember, this was at the the time when "Reality TV" had not sunk to the slimy sewer it dwells in now. You can see that video at:

http://bit.ly/1hvSYxH

Through a mutual friend, we were introduced to a firefighter/paramedic and PIO from Boca Raton, a great guy named, Frank Correggio. We had just returned from a trip to Israel during a very difficult time there. 

So Frank gave me a call and told me he had a long-running radio/Internet show called, "Burning Issues." He had had a partner for a few years and now he was doing the show on his own. He broadcast from a small AM radio station in Boca Raton. That station was part of a network of stations around the southeast, owned by a company, and the show was multi-cast on them, as well. Moreover, he had a major apparatus manufacturer as his banner sponsor and they used a Real(R) server to broadcast on the Internet. So, Burning Issues was broadcast around the world. He asked me if I'd come on the following Sunday as a guest, and I did. 

Well, we hit it off that evening. We had a great time with the interview and swapping "war stories." Now upon my return from Israel in July, I had been invited to return to Israel's Channel 10 in the Fall, to help them produce our type of show for that station. Additionally, through the same guy who had connected me with Frank, I was asked to write a skit for children that would be broadcast in October, about fire prevention week and appear on the Rosie O'Donnell show. The first night I was Frank's guest was September 2, 2001.

Monday morning, I went back to work at our offices. On Thursday, September 6th,  I heard from the agent from the Rosie O'Donnell Show, that they liked the skit I wrote and she was having her staff meeting about in the following Tuesday morning. That Tuesday was 9|11 and everyone's plans and lives were turned upside down.

The following Saturday the 15th, I receive a phone call from Frank. He asked me if I was able to join him the following night on his show. He explained that coming from New York and knowing a lot of FDNY firefighters and many from the surrounding volunteer departments on Long Island, he did not want to do this broadcast alone. 

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. Frank had excellent contacts with the heads of Broward Sheriff's office, Broward County Fire, Boca Fire, Miami and Miami-Dade Fire, etc. Yet, he asked me to join him. I was humbled. I was sad. And I joined him. 

It was a tough broadcast for both of us. We received a couple of phone calls, including one from a long-time listener in Australia, who called to express his sympathies. He too, was a firefighter and felt the pain that the rest of us did. 

If my first appearance planted a seed between us, then the show on September 16th forged the bond of our friendship. I joined him almost every Sunday night from there on. We even flew out to FDIC 2002 in Indianapolis, which in itself, due to the tragedy of 9|11, was a  moving and very emotional experience that I will never forget. We broadcast live from the exhibition hall, both audio and video and had many, many amazing interviews.

Frank and I worked together for almost five years, when work took him on another path. We remain good friends and I sincerely hope that I can invite him to be on our podcast to talk about "Burning Issues." 

We hope you'll pause for a moment and leave us a brief comment here. Use the link at the top of the page to go to our Podcast Page and listen to the shows we already have in the can. And we hope you'll forward to more great guest and important information from some of the leaders of the American Fire Service today.

Stay Safe and let's make sure that Everyone Goes Home!