Why Us? Why is it Always Firefighters??

In no other profession do its workers go form "Heroes-to-Zeros" more quickly than in fire-rescue. It doesn't matter if we're career, volunteer, combo or paid-on-call, we are all "painted" with the same, very wide brush. "Why?" you ask. Because everything we do is inherent in performing our sworn oath, to protect and save people and property. 

Think about it; almost every time there is a big story about a rescue, a major conflagration and yes, even an LODD, all manner of newspapers, Internet sites, television stations, all whip up a huge froth, lauding the fire-rescue people who were involved as "great heroes," "bravest of the brave," and so on. Then, a week later, community leaders start asking questions about the career department's contract or the volunteer department's need to replace a twenty-seven year old engine, with seals leaking and a tank that can barely hold water! Not to mention the need for new PPE, Haz-Mat needs, etc. "Heroes-to-Zeros!"

This revolving door of adoration followed by disrespect has always bothered me. It bothered me before I became a firefighter and it has bothered me ever since. For the most part, our comrades in "blue" and "green" are not affected by this as much as the fire-rescue service is. Funny thing is that all three services take an oath for the greater good of society. However, in my eyes, we always wind up with the "short straw."

If you've been following this blog for a time you are well aware that for the last twenty or so years, our company, Dalmatian Productions, Inc., has been working very diligently to bring a positive-themed show about the fire service to television. OK, so it was only television and videotape when we started in 1992 and today, it is all manner of video distribution. 

When the "tone" of reality turned negative, we decided that the only chance we had was to try dramatic television. We had bounced around several ideas and finally settled on our current project, "CAUSE & ORIGIN." When writing the script, our goals were to be as realistic as possible, include educational aspects and develop a story that will entertain viewers whether or no they are affiliated with the fire service. Our story line is not just "smoke, flames and sirens;' rather it tells the complete story of a third-generation firefighter and what he deals with in his department and in his home life. We have provided both our synopsis and pilot script to many folks, both in and out of the fire service. Not one, not a single one came back with a negative review or comment! We believe that speaks to the quality of our premise and how it is told. 

Having had a great deal of exposure to and work with the Philadelphia Fire Department, we based our story there. And we are very proud to say that the PFD and the Office of Film & Television support our efforts. 

However, if you look at any television listings magazine, you will see a plethora of television shows based on the police. There's a mixture of shows that have been on for many years and others that are more recent, as well as news one debuting this month. This begs the question, "Where are any shows about the fire service?"

That answer is simple. There is one. Only one. One that chose titillation, infidelity and drug abuse, not to mention numerous depictions of actions that no firefighter would do, nor would an officer order a firefighter to do. 

That's it. No more. Just one show. Does this speak to the point that the fire service is so droll and simplistic that it cannot carry a television audience? Are we just blase and not worth the effort?

To be perfectly honest, maybe we are. A year ago, we posted both the synopsis and the entire script for the pilot episode on Amazon's TV website. It allows people to visit the project, read whatever is posted there about it and to leave their own comments. If there is a strong, positive reaction by the visitors, Amazon might actually, pick the show up, at least to produce a pilot episode.  I busted my butt to get as many people as I could to go to the site. I used our Twitter accounts, emails and phone calls. And the total number of people that just visited the site over three or four months? Twelve! Only twelve people took a few minutes to visit our page on the Amazon site. 

Somehow, some way, we, as a united effort, need to get a message to the TV-streaming industry, that a strong and positive show about the fire service is, at the least, worth producing a pilot and testing it with audiences. These networks spend hundreds of millions of dollars on pilots and shows that they cut after just two or three episodes. All we want is a chance. 

Finally, the message I want to get across to every producer is to remember who shows up at your door when you dial 9-1-1 for a medical or fire emergency!

Stay safe and let's make sure every firefighter goes home.

New For Us - New for you - Let's Do This Together

We have been creating these podcasts only since last November. Yet, we have been very lucky to have had some excellent guests who have shared their passion for one aspect of this job or another. And we are very grateful to them for having done so.

If you have followed some of our "tweets" on Twitter from @Dalmatprod, and/or rerad some of our messages here in the Blog, you know that there are two areas we are dedicated to: leadership and premature LODD's due to preventable health issues. Well friends, we're adding a third area as of today - the immediate reduction of firefighter cancer incidences.

Earlier this week, we interviewed a new guest, Bill Banks of Fire-Tec in Margate FL. he was a Ft. Lauderdale firefighter for over 20 years and retired a few years ago as a battalion chief.We had a great interview and even though we had previously said we were going to release a new "5-Alarm Task Force" podcast every other Monday, we're going to work our butts of to get Bill's interview on the air by this Monday.

We didn't find Bill on our own. A couple of months ago, we had a new follower, Cindi Ell, who is the president of the International Firefighter Cancer Network. Their goal? "Working to Extinguish Firefighter Cancer Throughout the World" We also were followed by the people behind the new, "Cool Towel." And they told us about Cindy and her work and Bill and his work.

Now to many of us, when we think of firefighter cancer, we immediately look back at the terrible tragedy of 9|11 and the brave men and women who worked that pile, day in and day out. We now know that many of them contracted all different types of cancer and other afflictions, all due to their selfless efforts. However, that assumption would be incorrect. Here's a cold hard fact for you: The cancer rate in the U.S. general populace is 22%. The cancer rate among U.S. firefighters is 68%!!! 

So, in the next few weeks, look for our interview with Bill Banks, Cindy Ell and the team from "Cool Towel."

Stay Safe
Everybody Goes Home

Why Does it Seem We Are always Knocking Our Heads Against the Wall?

Come on...if you've been a firefighter for a couple of years, you already know that this headline means. You've seen it, you've heard and most likely, you've dealt with it. And the same is true for every officer, from our lieutenants to our chiefs. We go from "hero-to-zero" in a single heartbeat. And why? Are we not doing this job that 99.9% love. Is this not the job/avocation that we dreamed of since we were little kids and perhaps was the job referenced in the quote, "If you find a job you love, you'll never have to work a day in your life?" Then why the hell is it so difficult? No, not difficult to do...difficult to be!

A major part of our work is fire education and prevention. Yet, there never seems to be enough money in the budget to hire more people to do this job and/or purchase the educational tools that will help us reach our audiences from age five to eighty five? And what is the goal of this fire education that we strive for? To reduce the number of fires and injuries to the people and property in our communities.

We just posted Episode 7 of our podcast, "5-Alarm Task Force," with Chief Tim Travers of the NFPA Sprinkler Initiative. (Find us on iTunes or at 5-Alarm Task Force)

Now we all know that sprinklers are not a new invention or method to suppress fires. As Chief Travers says they go back into some of the factories of the late 1800's. Most of us probably have one commercial property in our districts that is has sprinklers or at least, a standpipe system. And...I'll wager that quite a few of us have been called out to a sprinklered property, where the activation of one or two sprinkler heads mitigated the fire we faced on arrival. Then why the hell is it so hard to convince our municipal and state legislators to pass a bill requiring sprinklers to be installed in every new, 1-or-2 family residence! When you listen to what Chief Travers has to say, you will probably be as wide-eyed as I've been, to hear his experiences as he covers almost one-half of the U.S.

The key word is this discussion is, new construction. We are not asking for retrofitting every residential structure in the country! (Although we all know plenty of structures that could sure use a sprinkler retrofit!). The Initiative is the effort to require sprinklers in new construction. You need to hear some of the myths and downright falsehoods that are presented by those against this proposal. We require smoke detectors in every new residential structure. Chief Travers even has the numbers to show the difference in the number of lives lost before the smoke detector legislation and since. He also has the figures for the loss of human life caused by improper disposal of cigarettes and how, once proper legislation to require self-extinguishing cigarettes was passed, that number dropped!

Are you asking, "What can I do about it?" If are that's good! The first thing to do is learn the facts. Not from a book, not from a PDF file online; just sit back and listen to Chief Travers' interview on this podcast. I am very sure that almost every one of us believes that there is not enough human-power and money to really allow us to do as large a fire prevention and education program that we desire to. However, your help here only may cost you some time. Here's how:

1. Listen to Chief Travers and you'll learn a great deal about this program. 

2. Go to http://www.firesprinklerinitiative.org and learn some more ,especially if there is an Initiative committee in your state.  

3. Learn what you can do to help the Initiative if your state (like mine, Florida) has not passed the proper legislation. 

4. Fight back against the naysayers with facts.There are still 20 states that have either dropped the ball or haven't even tried to pick it up.

Remember, every time a new state passes the legislation and enforces it, there will be lives saved. And that is the business we're in; we save lives.

Listen and Learn!

Stay Safe!

Every one goes home!

Wingspread VI Conference - 50 Years Later 1966-2016

When I first heard the phrase, "Wingspread VI," I thought a volunteer department was holding an annual fundraiser! But I was wrong.....very wrong!

Back in 1966, The Johnson Foundation (an outgrowth of Johnson Wax, for those of you old enough!) invited several representatives from the fire service to discuss the state of the fire service and emergency service in general. If you are indeed old enough, you'll know that the Bronx was going up in flames on an almost daily occurrence and that firefighting was a tough job.

The attending members had discussions; maybe some very strong discussions, about where we were and where we should be heading. It was a touch meeting, but they left with the consensus that they would return in ten years and see what had changed, both in society and for emergency services.

Zoom ahead to the Summer of 2016 and a much larger group of folks from the fire services, EMS, federal emergency management, etc. gathered once again in Wisconsin, to look back at the 1996 meeting and to look ahead towards the 2016 event. As you can imagine, it's not easy to review the past ten years in a single "gulp" so to speak and even more so when looking ahead another decade.

Lest you "assume" that the results are kept hush-hush, you will be glad to know that, if not already done, the complete report from Wingspread VI will be released very soon. You will be able to read the results at the website of the National fire Heritage Center (http://thenfhc.org/). This will be the first time that technology has been at a level that could lend itself to this type of dissemination. 

Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Chief Alan ("Bruno") Brunacini and Chief Dennis Rubin, both participants in this last conference and others. You can hear our complete discussion with them on our podcast, "5-Alarm Task Force: News & Issues for Today's First Responders.  Connect here: 5-Alarm Task Force.  Feel free to leave your comments on the discussion and let us know what you see ahead for the fire service in the next ten years.

Stay Safe & Let's Make Sure Everyone Goes Home!

PLEASE - We are grateful to those of you who come to read our blog. Please let us know that you were here! If we don't know, we can't say, "Thanks!" And the same holds true for our podcast page. Please hit the "Like" button and/or leave a comment. Your feedback is very important as we consider seeking advertising assistance for the podcast!

 

Is it Really a New Year?

Here we are almost in the middle of the new year, 2017. Now ask yourself, how much of 2017 is new and how much is the same old stuff (being polite) from 2016?
There's a new POTUS. That's for sure!
But what else is new?

For our businesses, Dalmatian Productions, Inc. and Cause & Origin, LLC, the first ten days of 2017 have been pretty good. Not super, not awesome, but pretty good. If you're a regular follower of this blog (and we don't know if you are, since no one ever signs in below to follow the blog), it's been quite a while since we've had any good news about our new TV show about the fire service, "CAUSE & ORIGIN." Thankfully, we do have some nice news to share....but I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself.

First things first: Our podcast, "5-Alarm Task Force," had a very successful launch! Between November and December, we had four excellent shows. Excellent? Am I calling them excellent? Yes, because we had five excellent guests who brought their "A-game" to their discussions.

We started with Capt. Joe DeVito (@joed911). Joe leads his troops for the FT. Myers Beach Fire Control District and his topic dealt with our attitudes; towards the job, the department, etc. I must add that Capt. Joe had been a friend and mentor since we joined Twitter and he was one of those who pushed me to consider doing a podcast. Thanks, Cap!

We were next joined by Lt. Grant Schwalbe who is with Estero Fire Rescue. He discussed two areas. The first deals with primary search; a step-by-step thought process with your search. Grant, along with his partner Paul Capo, have a company and website, "When Bad Things Happen." In it, they teach how to prevent those bad things and, if necessary, what to do when they happen. The "First & Ten" topic is about your requisite actions to perform in those first ten minutes.

Our next podcast featured Dan Kerrigan (@DanKerrigan) and Jim Moss (@JimMoss), two officers who are fully dedicated to firefighter fitness. Most of us are sick and tired of seeing anywhere between 40%-60% of LODD's being attributed to preventable health issues. Call the following a phrase or a motto, whatever, because it rings so true:

"We must not simply survive the fireground, we must be able to THRIVE on the fireground. It all starts with a foundation of functional fitness."

In the fourth show we were joined by Chief Dennis Rubin. Chief Rubin is well-known as one of the foremost instructors in the fire service. In this show, the Chief discussed the topic of leadership; from the snot-nosed, belly-crawling, nozzle-jockey (Editor's phrase) up the ranks to the Chief. Each of us has the seed of leadership in us. However, it's up to each of us to decided what we are going to do with that seed.

As you can see, it was a terrific start to our new idea. And we already have over a dozen new guests already booked for the new year. So keep your eye out for updates on Twitter or on our podcast site, http://bit.ly/5-AlarmTFPodcast.

"And now, to the rest of our story..."

January has indeed been supportive of our project. Just two weeks ago, we re-submitted our story to the Philadelphia Office of Film & Television. There had been a change in the leadership of the Philadelphia Fire Department and we wanted to make an attempt to gain  their support. Both the director of the Film & TV Office, re-read our work and fell in love with it all over again. She took the liberty of sending it to a good friend who is not only a well known television producer, but also, a Philadelphia native. He answered her email quickly in a positive manner and told her that he was giving to his "team" to look at it.

Subsequently, we also send copies of the synopsis and script to the new commissioner of fire and the deputy commissioner. This week, we received positive comments from them. Why is this important? We've learned that when you want to make a "pitch" in Hollywood, whether for TV or film, the more detail you can provide, the better your chances are. Thus, we are able to provide a synopsis, a fully written script for the pilot episode and the fact that the locale where the story is to be based, is already "on board" with the project.

Finally, yesterday I receive an email and follow-up phone call from our partner who lives and works in Los Angeles. At the time of his email, he had just sent two excellent contacts over to another well-known television and motion picture producer, who was looking for a script for a network. That's good, right? Then when we called me, he advised that he just had another contact bring our material to another well known television actor and producer, who is also looking for a script.

Are we set? Are we in the money? No! Not by a long shot. However, these three opportunities are ones we have never been able to find before. We have tried and tried. Most people would have given up and let the dinghy sink. Not us. Of the four of us, we have all been or still are, first responders, most with the fire service. And that is why it is so important to us.

We'll keep you posted if and when there are new details. And we thank you for your interest and support.

Stay safe and let's make sure everyone goes home!

You Think You're Ready. Do Your Officers Agree?

First, let me express our best wishes to all of you, for a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year. This is a great time for reflection. No, not in order to declare "New Year's resolutions," but to help you set a personal course for the next twelve months.

If you have been following this blog and listening to our podcasts, you will know that a good deal of our conversation has been about leadership. So for this post, I will concentrate of those of you who are front-line firefighters and not officers. Yet, it is quite possible that some or many of you are thinking about advancing your career to become a line officer. However, you must see your responsibilities clearly, if this is to happen.

You may feel that you have the key leadership traits that one needs. Moreover, some of your comrades and/or an officer or two have given you that, for many of us, is that desperately-needed "pat-on-the-back." And from that, you now see the "Yellow Brick Road," ahead of you through "rose-colored glasses." However, to be a leader is much more involved than ordering those under you. 

"What do you mean? I can tell people what to do! Isn't that enough?"

If you even have to ask that question, take a step back. You're not ready to be a leader!

Why not? Because you are being short-sighted. You're not seeing the forest for the trees. Let's go back and review everything that happens when the tones hit. However, I don't want you to look at yourself in this "mental movie." I want you to watch your lieutenant, captain, of any officer that rides in the right seat. Sure, sure, he/she will handle the sirens, airhorns, and even the bells! But that "right seat" demands a lot more than your dexterity with switches, pedals and ropes.

Watch that officer. Record in your mind everything that officer does. Besides managing the emergency signals, he/she is listening to or requesting updated information on your destination and its event. As it turns out, you'll be first on scene. As the officer get the first glimpse, he/she is on the radio with the update that you have a working structure fire. As soon as he/she has that info, they assign each of you to a task. A good officer will also make sure that those in the jump-seats, are properly attired and fully encased in their PPE and wearing/tested their SCBA.

At that very same time, the officer is sizing up the scene in his/her head; preparing for rescues, planning for the incoming apparatus' location and their jobs, assessing the need for mutual aid and additional manpower. And all this is happening in just a few seconds.

Are you ready for that responsibility? Are you mature enough to understand that there is every possibility that you will be burdened with making life or death decisions? Do you have the necessary abilities and inner strength to command such a complex scene as the IC? 

Do you lay-in on arrival or just drop the hydrant package for the next due apparatus. Do you have your firefighters pull a line or begin a search for reported trapped victims? Are you able to set those primary commands in action and leave the safety of the apparatus to do a 360-degree assessment of the property, with the voices of dispatch, incoming line officers, senior officers and your own teams calling you on your radio?

Listen, you may have everything it takes to be a leader and a line officer and perhaps, even a chief officer. However, you must understand that though you think you're ready to the lead the troops, you must first truthfully assess all of the duties and responsibilities of an officer and then, see if you're ready. If you are not sure, ask the person in the mirror. He/she will never lie to you.

You take it from there!

Watch for our next podcast from "5-Alarm Task Force," coming soon!

Stay Safe!

 

"5-Alarm Task Force" Featuring Chief Dennis Rubin Now Posted

If you've listened to the first couple of shows, you'll note that I kind of have a "bee in my bonnet" are two key issues facing the fire service today:
1. Health issues that are ignored
2. Leadership

Though I've been out of active service for over thirty years, the fire service has been and will always be, in my heart. I care too much about it not to do what I can to stir the pot, so to speak, to get others' attention.

When Chief Rubin accepted our invitation be be a guest, he asked me what topics I was interested in. I thought a moment and felt that I'd lead off with an important aspect of being a chief and that would be leadership. 

Chief Rubin laughed and said he was very pleased I chose it, as it is one of his favorites as well. He then sent me his bio and I could clearly see why. Beside his latest textbook, "It's Always About Leadership,"  (which is just now available), his other books and almost his entire career are all about leadership.

I realize that we live in a very different society these days. I refer to it as the "ME Society;" where almost every person believes that the world was created for and revolves about him/her. You know, the ones who will always bust a red light, because it's "them," and wherever "they" go is more important than anyone else. Or the one who cuts in front of you at the supermarket's "!0 Items or Less" register with 2 1/2 dozen items. and turns to you and says., "I just have to go ahead of you! I have to be someplace that's very important," as they look down their nose at you with a loaf of bread, a box of diapers, and a carton of milk! Is this the type of leader we would want?

Luckily, Chief Rubin does not see the "Me" group in our fire service these days. He sees many young men and women who are willing to do all that is necessary to be a firefighter in their communities; ready to protect lives and property. And from this group and the group before them, we are seeing firefighters who have the guts and fortitude, as well as the willingness and dedication to learn, that it will take to become a line officer or higher, in the fire service. Chief Rubin both explains to us and guides us on this journey that results in a strong and capable leader. You can take that same journey as you listen to Chief Rubin explain why, "It's Always About Leadership!"
5-Alarm Task Force 

From all of us at Dalmatian Productions, Inc., Cause & Origin, LLC, and 5-Alarm Task Force,we wish you a joyous Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy & Safe New Year!