The Sadness of Coincidences

I've been writing this blog plus another for several years now. I don't write every day or every week, and usually, not every month. But as it turns out, I'm writing this post one month after my last. So, what would bring me to this point?

Some of you may know that under our Twitter handle of @DalmatProd. All too often, my Tweets begin with the hash-tag, #LODD (Line Of Duty Death). I send out the info only upon confirmation of the loss and it includes the person's name, age, department, date of last alarm, and a compressed URL with details of the notice.

Sadly, all four of the line-of-duty-deaths that have occurred over the past five days have been health-related. No one died while battling a massive blaze; no one died in a collapse. Apparently, all four of our brothers were lost due to medical causes. And this is exactly what I wrote about in last month's column. For goodness sakes, just a month or so ago, we lost a firefighter who was 22 years old, to a health-related cause. 

Last week I was watching, "The View," and actor Kevin Sorbo, who used to play Hercules in a show of the same name, was appearing as a guest host. And during his segment, he mentioned that near the end of the show's sixth season, he suffered  several small strokes, due to a ruptured aneurism near his shoulder. He talked about having to relearn to coordinate his motor skills so he could walk again and speech therapy to help him re-tune his speaking ability. He considers himself one lucky guy and has even written a book about what he has been through, "True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal & How Nearly Dying Saved My Life."

For at least a decade many of us connected with fire-rescue and EMS, along with many in various specialties of the medical community, have worked hard to promote stroke awareness through the re-phrasing from "stroke," to "brain attack." And the reason is simple. Almost everyone older than 13 knows a little about the symptoms of a "heart attack." However, ask them, "What is a stroke?" and many will be lost. However, most of the time, a stroke is exactly the same medical occurrence as a heart attack, except that it happens in the brain, to wit, a blockage of blood flow to the organ. 

Now in Sorbo's case, his stroke was caused by an rupture in an artery near his shoulder. When the artery ruptures, it allows blood to escape its normal path. When that happens, the blood cells don't have the "flow" behind them to push them along. The cells start to "crowd up" and eventually, like the proverbial snowball rolling down the hill, a mass of these loose cells get sucked up back into the blood vessel. The problem is that the vessel is built to handle a certain size cell, the like lanes on a highway. When this "clump" of cells re-enter the vessel, the clump is too big for the vessel and stops it up, like your bathroom seek. That stoppage, interferes with the blood flow the brain needs and BANGO! you have a "brain attack!"

While aneurisms can occur on their own due to a weakness in the blood vessel's walls, they are often the by-product of HTN or "hypertension," which we know is a curable and preventable medical condition. You can't walk into most supermarkets or pharmacies and not see one of the blood pressure machines. While they are not always the most accurate readings, they can provide you with a range that you may want to advise your doctor of. Additionally, brain-attacks are often a sign of CAD (Coronary Artery Disease). But all too often, people often relate CAD to heart disease, not brain disease. 

Worst of all, too many of us, male and female alike, still suffer from this "macho" image that we are invincible and that the only danger to us is on the fireground. Do you still fight a fully-involved car fire without wearing SCBA (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus)? Or a dark, smoke-charged 2nd story window  of an apartment building? Why are you willing to take care of yourself on the fireground, but fail to care enough about your health to do so off the fireground?

If you have a family, do you make sure your kids get their shots? Take their vitamins? Do you call the doctor if their running a fever and complaining about ear pain? If so, why? Because you want the best for your children, the best for your family. Are you not a member of that same family? Are you not one of its very leaders? Then don't you owe yourself the very same diligence for your own health that you demand for your significant other and children!

It's time for us to put on our "big-boy" pants and schedule a visit with your family doctor or the department surgeon. Find out what your blood pressure is; learn what your total cholesterol is and if you need to change your food and alcohol intake, as well as salt, exercise, etc. to get it under control. If you are already on blood pressure or cholesterol meds, you owe to yourself, your family, and your colleagues, to do what you need to do to clean up your physical act and get as healthy as you can!

I never want send a Tweet about you!

Winning the Battles, But Losing the Wars?

My wife says I'm strange! OK, for most husbands, that's not too out of the ordinary. I suppose that most of us have an idiosyncrasy or two that may give our spouses pause. And for those of you who know me, you’re probably nodding your heads. 

However, what bothers her is that while reading the newspaper, I regularly read through the obituary column. I’m not quite sure how this habit started, however it has provided me with important information on the passing of an acquaintance that I had not heard about previously. As a matter of fact, when I was working as the administrator for a physician’s office, I came across the obit of one of our patients whom we had not seen in quite a while. In this case, the death was accidental, probably having nothing to do with a medical condition. Yet, when the rest of the staff arrived at the office that morning, no one else knew anything about this patient’s demise.

This strange habit carries over to my unwavering interest in the fire/rescue service. Through various email sources, as well as via Firehouse^© Magazine, I carefully read through the details of each LODD (Line of Duty Death) listed. Why? It is because my attachment to my former avocation connects me to the well-known concept of the “firehouse brotherhood.” Though there are hundreds of women in today’s fire/rescue service, the term “brotherhood” is used as an endearment. We are family. No matter where you served, no matter whether you are/were a career member, a volunteer, or paid-on-call. Once you have carried the “red badge of courage,” you are in the family. And just as we pray for our loved ones to be safe, the same holds true for each and every brother and sister we have in the fire/rescue service.

Thus, when we hear of or read a notice of an LODD, it tears at our heart strings. I read each notice carefully. Why? Once he/she is lost, what difference is it how it occurred? The difference is that in the last couple of decades, firefighter deaths on the fireground, have been dramatically reduced. Yet, the total number of firefighters deaths per year, has remained around an average of 100, except for this past year, 2012. So, if we’re not losing our brothers on the fireground, why are we losing so many?

Some pass in either POV (Personally Owned Vehicle) or apparatus collisions on the way to or from the scene of a call. A more recent spate of losses have been from fire/rescue personnel on the scene of an incident on a public roadway, who are then struck by an oncoming vehicle. All too often, the driver who hits and often kills the rescue worker, is intoxicated or distracted and fails to heed the gazillion flashing lights, the tall orange cones, the brightly burning and smoking roadside flares, etc. And I write this column while living in the State of Florida which is one of the few remaining states that has not outlawed texting while driving. As a matter of fact, a new bill was introduced to the Florida Legislature recently, however, the previous five or six efforts never made to the floor! One Florida representative said that he felt that a law banning texting while driving infringes on the driver’s Second Amendment’s rights. Sadly, we occasionally lose members in the crash of a firefighting aircraft or a medical helicopter.

Yet, with all these various mechanisms of tragic loss, there is still one more that is all too common and one that we might stand a good chance of controlling and that is firefighters’ health. Sadly, the obituaries often note that the firefighter had just returned from a series of strenuous calls, or they had had a busy shift the day before and passed in their sleep. Some even collapse at the station or on the scene of an incident. Listen, no matter where it happens it is one too many losses that we might be able to prevent. If we don’t, we might win the “battles,” but we could lose the war.

Around the country, numerous departments, especially career, have drawn a line in the sand. They have created new, strict, standards for the well-being of their members. One of the most stringent is a “No Smoking” standard. “If you’re a smoker, don’t bother to apply for the job!” Some have taken it to, what might be considered an extreme by stating, “If you have used any type of tobacco product within 365 days prior to your application, don’t bother to apply!”

Back in junior high (middle) school and high school, I was in a successful band and part of the “cool” look was smoking cigarettes.  I gave up cigarettes when I got to college and switched to what I now call the “pseudo-cigars” of the day, i.e. Tijuana Smalls^®, Hav-A-Tampa^®, etc.  When I graduated, I took up a pipe and smoked it fairly regularly at home and in my office and never had an inclination to go back.

When I first volunteered on the job, several of the career members and numerous volunteers either smoked cigarettes or chew tobacco. I never gave it another thought. However, after my SCBA training and using it numerous times on active calls, I started to notice something. Here we were wearing SCBA to prevent the inhalation of smoke, poisonous hydro-carbons, and other toxic gases. Yet, when we were on a working fire and were rotated out for a spell, a lot of guys would dump the SCBA’s then light up a cigarette. 

I saw the same thing happen even more when I moved to the Syracuse NY area and joined a great combo department up there. We had some wild structure fires in the middle of those upstate New York winters. Ambient temps were in the single digits. Add a little wind-chill and we were somewhere between -10^o - -25^o F! Yet, the same thing happened. We’d spell-out and many of the guys would light up right after dumping their SCBA gear.

What was wrong with this picture?

What were we wearing the SCBA for? An endurance test? 

I’ve been out of active service since 1985. But fate has determined that I didn’t get enough practice during my eight years of service. No, since 1985, I’ve had the “luck” of being first or one of the first people to appear on the scene of a significant incident. From full-arrests to MVC’s (Motor Vehicle Collision) with overturned vehicles, ejections, to car vs. pedestrian, I’ve too often been the first one with any emergency medical experience who shows up. Over the past 28 years, I’ve made it a habit to carry an well-stocked BLS jump kit in my car, along with gloves, rope, collars etc. So, I feel pretty well-prepared. Except for one item…me!

I’m 28 years older and most definitely a “few” pounds heavier than I was in my heyday. And even back, I wasn’t the poster boy for volunteer firefighter health. Add to that two bad knees and a lumbar back that has caused me to be declared disabled. No, I don’t think twice about doing the right thing. The adrenalin kicks in and I do what I have to do until local fire/rescue and EMS show up. But I do know what working at every one of these incidents in the past nearly 30 years takes out of me. Because once that adrenalin stops coursing through my veins, I’m wiped out!

The difference is, I do what I do because it’s a part of who I am. We all know the axiom, “You can take the boy out of the firehouse, but you’ll never get the firehouse out of the boy.” This isn’t my job! And if the Good Lord decides that it’s time for my interview, then so be it. I will go, knowing I did what was the right thing to do.

However today, we are losing far too many brothers and sisters to preventable disease. Though part of our jobs is to help prevent the calls we respond to, we never will be able to prevent them all. So, yes, there is danger in the work we do. But, it’s not impossible for most of us to lose weight. It’s not impossible for us to change to healthier diets. It’s not impossible for us to get some regular cardio work-out time in. It’s not impossible to work with either our own physician or the department surgeon, to check us for possible medical conditions we’ve developed since getting on the job and keeping them in check. 

What is impossible is for your family to bring you back if you become a statistic due to preventable illness. Don’t give me that crap about being too busy! When I was on the job, I worked an average of 80 hours per week in my vocation, had a wife and two daughters, and still found time to volunteer at the local firehouse. Ask yourself, “What’s more important? You taking a day off to spend with your doctor and some medical tests or your wife and kids taking a day off to bury you with honors?”

The “LODD Notice” column in Firehouse^® isn’t going to go away. But you can make it a lot shorter!

"100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" = #26Acts

     Remember when we were kids and were taking a long drive with our parents, or perhaps on a camp bus on the way to an event? What's the first song the comes to mind, most often used to kill time and perhaps, to drive your parents or the bus driver crazy?

 

     "A hundred bottles of beer on the wall,

     A hundred bottles of beer;

     You take one down and pass it around,

     Ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall.

    Etcetera, Etcetera, Etcetera.

 

     A dedicated group of kids could keep that ditty going right through either the very end and the last bottle, or your parent turning around and yelling, "If you kids don't stop singing that piece of crap, we ain't going nowhere! Got it?"

 

     Several years ago, the term, "Pay it forward," entered our vernacular. At first, many people didn't understand the message that it was bringing to the masses. "Who's paying for what? Are you paying for me? What am I paying for? What is 'paying it forward?" 

 

     Slowly, people began to understand the turn of the phrase, to do something good for someone other than yourself. It didn't necessarily have to deal with cold, hard cash. It might have meant to do someone a favor; help someone out with a problem. And when finished helping them and they thanked you, you would advise them to "pay it forward," and do something nice for someone else. And so on.

 

     Those of us in the fire-rescue service are always ready to help someone else out. Rarely does that help come in the form of money. Most of the time, that help comes as we respond to that person's emergency situation. In both my eight active years, as well as the time Dalmatian Productions has been around to try and shoot or gather video of emergency responders, there have been plenty of occasions when we would be sitting around, just waiting for the bells to ring. And sometimes, we would actually acknowledge that for us to be able to perform our services, someone would have to suffer, in some manner. What a horrible  thought that turned out to be. For us to do a good deed, someone would have to have a serious need for our help. We didn't cause it, nor did we create it. This has almost always been the relationship between emergency services personnel and the public that they serve. However, what happens after the emergency is over? Do we just roll up our hoses, wash the apparatus, and wait for the next call? Or do we reach up and pull another "bottle" off of the "wall?"

 

     Many, many, many of us have been searching for ways to reach out and help both the families and the community of Newtown, CT. None of us, even in our deepest, darkest, place, could ever conceive of perpetrating such a heinous act as the cold-blooded killing of twenty children, ages 6-7, and six wonderful adults who had dedicated themselves to the art of elementary education. What's done is done and we cannot "unblow that horn," as a late friend of mine would often say. So what next? We all cannot make our way up to Connecticut to try and lend a hand, though many strangers have done exactly that! Three teenagers from Georgia drove through the night, to visit with students from Newtown High School, just to give them a hug. As one of the travelers said, "I know if this had happened to me, I'd need a hug to help me."

 

     Yesterday, NBC journalist, Ann Curry posted a tweet with the simple Twitter code of #26Acts. Her idea was that one of the best ways to honor the memories of the 26 victims of the Newtown killings, was to turn evil into goodness. For each victim, perform an act of kindness. Immediately, the tweet went viral, across the U.S. and across the globe. Responding tweets told of everything from simply helping someone cross the street to turning over the proceeds of a well-earned paycheck to another who has been unemployed for several months. These and thousands of others have been "paying it forward" for more than twenty-fours hours now.

 

     Even before I knew of the #26Acts, I was trying to think about what I could do to help out there. As I sat here at my computer, I was running the multiple videos that had been playing out on the various news outlets on Friday and through the weekend. Then it donned on me. I thought about that part of me that has never left my soul and still defines who I am. I am a boy of the firehouse. And I thought about my brothers and sisters in Newtown and the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department. They were some of the first rescuers on scene. What they saw was no less what is scene on a battlefield, on any given day. The horror and tragedy of war were thrown in their faces last Friday. So, I wrote the following to them:

 

"To my sisters and brothers in Newtown CT - On Friday, you answered an alarm that no amount of training could have ever prepared you or any of us who have or currently serve the fire-rescue service, for. Drills and simulations are one thing; the horror of Friday, December 14th, could not have even been imagined.Yet, as we your colleagues would expect, you acted with valor and bravery, above and beyond the call of duty.

However, this is who we are and what we do; we, along with our sisters and brothers, in blue, run in when everyone else is running out, of emergency situations.

In the highest honor and regard of the history of the American Fire-Service, thank you for your courage, your dedication, and your perseverance to the goals of our vocation or avocation. May the Almighty guard and protect you and yours, and bring you solace and comfort for your efforts."

 

"Twenty-six Acts of Kindness to do,

Twenty-six martyrs we share,

I took one down and shared it around,

Twenty-five Acts of Kindness I bear..."

    

   

 

 

Farewell, Dear Friend

Life always brings us great highs and some unthinkable lows. Like a well-tuned sine wave, the peaks of the highs of life are often ecstatic and joyful, like the birth of a child, the marriage of a loving couple, etc. Yet, to remain in balance, the lows mirror the opposite highs. And almost to anyone, the lowest point we can find is the loss of someone close to us; perhaps a family member or a good friend. The sadness and grief seem insurmountable; a return to normalcy a distant light similar to the stars, light-years away, unreachable in our lifetimes. Many of us stand at that low point this weekend, for we have lost a son, a brother, a husband, and a good friend this past week, Joel Connable.

My life experiences in Jewish ritual have brought me through many occasions of this cycle of life. Though not an ordained rabbi, I have officiated at many of the happy events and all too many of the saddest. I have officiated at numerous funerals, both for acquaintances and strangers. Yet, as prepared as I am to officiate when called upon, I have found that as of late, I am ill-prepared to deal with the loss of a close friend or relative. I find myself in that situation, once again.

I knew Joel for a couple of years before I had even met him. Joel came to South Florida as a reporter for our local NBC "O & O" (Owned and Operated) station, WTVJ, Channel 6. From the start, my wife and I liked his reporting style. He did not simply look into the camera; Joel looked through the camera, directly at his viewers. Each of us felt that Joel was speaking directly to us.

Before too much time had passed, one of NBC6's key anchors, the wonderful Tony Segretto, retired, leaving the main 6 PM and 11 PM newscasts needing someone to step into Tony's shoes, and those were big shoes to fill. Smartly, Joel was chosen as the new anchor and he transitioned into the position seamlessly. Bear in mind that Tony had been a long-time name and favorite at NBC6, having been one of the three people who hunkered down in the old studio and weathered Hurricane Andrew in 1992. At that time, Tony was the lead sportscaster from the station and had spent his entire career at WTVJ. No matter who was awarded the anchor's chair, he or she would be looked at very critically by WTVJ's viewers. Yet, Joel sat down that first evening and "sold it."

The two stories that had the most impact on my of Joel's ability to deliver news were the story he did on his own health situation with Type 1, Juvenile Diabetes. Joel was first diagnosed around the age of twelve or thirteen and by this point, was using an insulin pump to regulate his system. In this story, he spoke directly to a younger audience, South Florida teens, who were fighting the same battle as he had. It was a great educational peace, expressing the fact that even with JD, you could achieve whatever your dreams were. He explained that he had himself been a paramedic, a volunteer firefighter, a private pilot, and even a news anchor. He admonished the kids to not give up on life. instead, they should shape their lives into what they wanted. JD was just along for the ride.

The second story was the miraculous landing of the US Airways jet in the Hudson River in New York City. Both his passion for and, experience in aviation, gave him a unique perspective to report from, unlike the average reporter who would simply be a "newsreader." Joel used every "weapon" in his arsenal, to help the viewer understand every angle of the accident, the rescue, the impact on the passengers, and most of all, the pressure and stress that the pilot and co-pilot were under once they made their fateful decision.

Our family watched that 6 PM newscast each evening, followed by the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. Until, one week in 2009, we found substitutes sitting in Joel's chair. At first, we took it as his vacation time or illness. After several weeks, we knew there had to have been a change. Never one to just walk away from change of something I liked, I started snooping around online to see if I could determine where had he disappeared to.

Finally, I turned to Facebook. There, I found Joel's page. Though there were no hints there as to what had happened between him and NBC6, I learned more about his life. I dropped him a polite note, advising that our family missed him and inquiring if everything was OK in his life. I also mentioned that I too, had been a volunteer firefighter/EMT, in Upstate New York and that my partners and I had a production company working to produce a reality series based on the fire service. If he had any interest, I enclosed my business number for him to call. Honestly, I didn't expect to receive an answer. This guy was an anchor at a major television station, one actually owned by the network. He had hundreds of Facebook "friends," and I would probably be looked at as a "stalker-fan."

And that was exactly what didn't happen! Joel accepted my "friend" request and wrote me a very nice note. While he didn't explain what was going on with him and NBC6, he did express an interest in our plans for a TV series and would love to get together to have lunch and talk. No matter where you're from, if you're a firefighter and meet another firefighter, the first thing you both do after the preliminary greetings, is to swap fire and rescue stories with each other. We met at a Kosher Israeli restaurant in Sunrise and spent a couple of hours getting to know each other and tossing around ideas to tweak our concept for the television series.

It was Joel, who before we had even spoke with any companies or agents in Los Angeles, who had the idea of steering the show away from the run-of-the-mill, everyday-type of calls, to highlighting departments, not just domestically, but internationally, as well, that had to meet unique challenges that most of us would never see. The scenes started popping up, one after the other, San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, Hawaii County Station 19 on Kona, facing at least two active volcanos, Israel Fire Brigade and Magen David Adom (Israel's EMS) rockets being fired over the border daily, Paris with their mobile Emergency Rooms, and many more. This was where Joel's love for and experience in travel provided us with several "ins" for contacting international departments. It was also his idea that instead of a standard "host" for the show, we would make the host participate in every rescue or incident. The host would be like a fish out of water, thrust into the most difficult parts of the incident.

I loved his ideas, but more, I loved his passion and dedication. He took my original idea, fine-tuned it to meet what we believed would generate interest as a news reporter and thus, to the networks, and gave it a strong breath of life. We entered the restaurant as acquaintances via social media and walked out as friends.

Needless to say, when I spoke with my partners that evening, everyone liked what they heard. They liked the edge that Joel brought to the concept of the show and they too were amazed, that from such an inconsequential connection via social media, we had a new direction to use to steer our production.

At the same time, Joel and his business partner were now working on their travel promotion business. Yet, he never turned me down for a lunch meeting or a planning session. At that time, we had a new puppy, Remy, and once, when we were going to meet at his apartment, he invited me to bring Remy to meet his adorable Lola. I packed Remy’s bag with her food and toys to keep her busy so as not to bother Lola if they didn’t socialize well. No need to worry. They got along famously, running all around the apartment, jumping over the couches, the tables, the toys, and yes, even us.

That December, he hosted a get-together at his apartment on the Saturday evening of the Winterfest Boat Parade. His living room, on the thirtieth floor, had a beautiful view of the New River, and though it was raining, the parade went on and we had a fantastic view. As the consummate host, he was running around making sure everyone had something to drink and eat.

For the next few months we worked hard on the show and making contacts. The existing partners of Dalmatian all agreed that Joel had given so much to the new plan that we would bring him in as a full partner of the corporation. We closed a deal with the San Francisco Fire Department to fly out in April 2010 and film with them. Joel told me to take care of the business side of the shoot and he would arrange all the travel plans and bring on board our two terrific video-journalists, Adam Kaplan and Eric Rodriguez.  We had a great time with the department and they were as helpful as could be. Unfortunately, the show did not come about, but it was not due to lack of effort. We even put Joel in some really unprofessional bits, but he was game for it all. “Whatever it takes,” he told our partner, Jesse and me. While there, he did shoot a terrific piece on the San Francisco Fire Department’s Ladder Shop, with Adam. That piece brought us a Suncoast Emmy nomination.

During the shoot, I fell and blew out my knee. Joel called the airline and tried to get me bumped up to first-class. He was pretty “determined” on the phone, to say the least, but that cabin was full. He came to me so apologetic that he hadn’t been successful. I told him not to worry, I’d be fine. But that’s the kind of person he was.

Time passed and luckily, Joel’s “Travel News Network” was becoming more and more successful. He was able to travel a great deal, oft times, with his parents. I remember him telling me about their upcoming trip to Europe and how much he was looking to be able to go with them. As I used to do, I depended heavily on my late parents for advice and direction when I was perplexed. When Joel was confused about his life, he turned to his parents and as he would tell me of their conversations, they reminded me of my own parents and the encouragement and advice they would give me.

As busy as he was, Joel would still drop me a line here and there. When my wife had significant surgery this past March, he chided himself in an email, for not having checked up on us sooner. I told him not to worry about it, since we both knew how much he cared. He told me about his darling Angela and the happiness she brought into his life.

About six weeks ago, I found a couple of video games I had borrowed a while ago and had forgotten to return earlier. I sent him the package with a “mea culpa” not enclosed. He wrote me back and told me not to worry about it. Then he told me he was heading up to Seattle, getting back into television news and he was going to be able to keep the travel business going as well.  But most importantly, he told me that he and Angela were engaged. I wished him a “mazal tov” and we both said we’d be in touch. But, we won’t. Not anymore.

 

May his soul be bound up in the bond of life and may his memory always be for a blessing.

 

 

 

 

 

Television - Is It the "Great Wasteland" for the Fire Service?

For many years, there were several occupations that were/are depicted on television and , for the most part, were pretty safe bets for shows, i.e. cops, doctors, and attorneys. So, who's missing from this picture? How about firefighters?

Sure, there have been a few shows about firefighters, such as, "EMERGENCY," from NBC, back in the 1970's. Though Johnny Gage was occasionally set-up to look like a womanizer, its original executive producer, Jack Webb, of "DRAGNET" fame, was dedicated to representing the profession, plus the new vocation of, "paramedics," accurately. Sure, there was some dramatic license taken, but for the most part, it never insulted the intelligence of most firefighters who watched the show, and it actually contributed to many people choosing to become firefighters, paramedics, and/or EMT's. To me, that is a contribution to society.

There were a few others dramas as well, including, "Firehouse" and "Code Red," neither of which had a major impact on their ratings or the industry. Most recently, there was, "Rescue Me," by Denis Leary. In the beginning, the show was decent, but somewhere in the first or second season when Leary's character raped his ex-wife, the show's credibility dropped dramatically.

And now comes, "Chicago Fire," produced by Dick Wolf, of the various, "Law & Order" franchises. As noted above, shows about cops and lawyers have proved a good formula, on the most part. And Wolf certainly brought a great deal of "street cred" to this production. Unfortunately, he must have left his credibility back in the office when he arrived on-set to producer, "Chicago Fire."

I recorded the premiere of  "Chicago Fire," the other evening and just watched the first twenty minutes. Now I am the first to admit that I've been out of the active service since 1985, thus I'm not sure if what I saw on this show are new SOP's (standard operating procedures) for most departments today, or were just Hollywood "make-believe."

Here are three major weaknesses to the fire service credibility that I saw in these first 20 minutes: 

1. Working House Fire-White smoke showing from the first floor, with a strong orange glow being seen from the cab of the first arrival apparatus in the first floor interior. Fire had not vented yet. Chief's size-up report to Central is as he exits his vehicle, with no 360 assessment. First crew approaches front door and without any looking, checking, etc., punches in the door with a Halligan, enters without a hose. When the Chief is told that a victim's brother is upstairs & had not exited the building, the aerial is raised and two firefighters approach the window. The closest one takes his Halligan and punches in the window without knowing if the fire has been vented. The firefighter behind him tried to stop him. The window breaks and the first firefighter says, "See, it must be vented," and enters the room. Suddenly, the firefighter on the 1st floor says there's no vent and the upper room backdrafts, killing the firefighter in that room. 

2. At an MVC, (Motor Vehicle Collision) they find a couple of victims in the car, but no driver. Then, one firefighter looks at the river and declares the driver was ejected, over the railing of the bridge, into the river, below. Two rescue firefighters suit-up and as they're making their way into the river, someone else yells that one of the people looking on is the driver, and another firefighter runs over and tackles him. 

3. In the firehouse, one of the EMT's passes one of the lead character firefighters and hands him a vial of some medication. He moves to a private area and shoots up. At that point, I hit the stop button. So, I ask you, is this a fairly true representation of the CFD (Chicago Fire Department) and/or where firefighting in general, has gone since I retired? 

In my mind, while I understand the drama and the need for conflict, whether it be on-the-job or through-the-job, I believe that my brave and dedicated colleagues of the Chicago Fire Department are some of the best in the business and even with a well-experienced, Deputy Chief as the technical advisor, these three scenes did an injustice to the men and women of CFD. Why is it that most shows about doctors, cops, and attorneys are fairly true to the profession and its only us, firefighters, who are thrown under the proverbial bus?

On the off-chance that you may agree with me and believe that it is time for a program to present and accurate and true representation of America's fire service, by the men and women who actually serve every day, please visit Dalmatian Productions, Inc.

 Be safe and let's make sure everyone comes home!

Our Experience - Your Safety

Besides keeping you posted on our progress with our production, we also see our obligation to keep you posted on home fire safety. As it happens, being in October, which is recognized as National Fire Protection Month, I have to very important items to share.

Thanks to Congress and their attempts to manipulate our lives, (for a change!) we now turn back our clocks to revert to Standard Time at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November. With that, there has been a strong push by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), fire departments, and other safety organizations, to associate changing our clocks as a reminder to change the batteries in our smoke detectors.("Change Your Clocks-Change Your Batteries") If you live in a private home, most often the choice of whether there are smoke detectors in your home, and where they are located, are up to you. There is no dearth of sources to help you learn where to place your smoke detectors. You can even take a short trip to your local fire house and ask them for their suggestions. Not only will you get excellent information, but you also add a bond and very well, could start a friendship with these wonderful men and women who put their lives on the line every day to protect you and your family.

Recently though, NBC Night News ran a very interesting and important story about the two different types of smoke detectors on the market and how each one works. What makes this story stand out, is that the difference in how they work just might make a difference in whether or not someone survives a smoldering fire in their home. 

It is important to note the both detectors work, as long as the battery is installed properly and it is mounted in an appropriate locations as advocated by the many safety organizations, and even the manufacturers, on their instruction/installation sheet. 

The safest "victim" is an educated victim. Just like reading the emergency exit and safety card on an airliner, it is very important that you know how your smoke detector works optimally. So I urge you to visit this link, http://dai.ly/QdwFgm and watch the report. Then, make it your business to assure that:

1. You have working smoke detectors in your home.

2. You have a fresh battery in your smoke detector. Live by the safety promotion: "Change Your Clocks-Change Your Batteries"

3. If you cannot afford a smoke detector, drop in at your local firehouse. Not only with they most likely provide you with at least one free detector, they will mostly likely volunteer to come your home and install it correctly for you!

4. Have an emergency exit plan for your home! Don't rely on your front door or your garage door. Your children have probably learned the "E.D.I.T.H. - Exit Drills in the Home," at their schools. Review it with them and make sure you set up a safe place where everyone will meet after evacuating your home.
5. If you live in a multi-story home, evacuation ladders are available at reasonable costs. For most, there is no installation at all. They hook on the window sill and have stand-offs to make it easier to climb down the rungs. Both both two and three-story versions are available.

6. In the event of a fire or emergency:

     ***** CALL 911 FIRST!!! CALL 911 FIRST!!! CALL 911 FIRST!!!

   ***** EVACUATE YOUR HOME! DO NOT WASTE TIME BY TRYING TO COLLECT ITEMS. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! YOUR LIFE IS NOT WORTH THE MEMENTOS YOU MAY TRY TO RETRIEVE!

     ***** GATHER WITH YOUR FAMILY AT YOUR SAFE MEETING PLACE. 

How does that old proverb go? "An ounce of prevention is with a pound of cure!"

And on a personal note, I just learned that we at Dalmatian Productions, Inc. must bid a fond farewell to our partner and good friend, Joel Connable. Joel has been a vital member of the "resurrected" DalmatProd and was great to work with. His experience as a NYC paramedic, a volunteer firefighter, as well as a television news report and anchor, made him an integral member of the team. If you live in the Northwest, Joel is heading for Seattle and KOMO-TV. We wish him and his fiance, as well as his lovable dog, Lola, safe travels and a wonderful new life in Seattle.

Time Passed..Changes Happen

September 19, 2012

It's difficult to believe that four months have passed since our last post. There are two reasons why that occurred:

1. Life became quite busy

2. Several positive developments have only recent happened.

I'll not bore you with the details of Number 1. But let me tell you about Number 2. Several weeks back, I was reading Firehouse(R) Magazine and as I looked through the pages, I realized that this magazine represented our target audience. So I decided to write a "Letter to the Editor" about the fact that the the fire service has been seriously ignored by the networks who proffer what they call, "reality" TV. 
Having been working a good number of years to sell a show, most of these networks had no interest in the "reality" of the fire service. So, I thought it might be better to change our approach. What if instead of just taking a show to the network, what if we brought both viewers and corporate partners to back us up?
Keeping this in mind, I wrote a "letter to the editor" of Firehouse(R) magazine and discussed how the public's view of the fire service has evolved since the tragedy of 9/11. At that time, we were the "heroes" for all. All around the country, people finally began to appreciate the local department. As time passed, so did their appreciation. Then the economy almost bottomed out and now, municipalities, villages, counties, etc. had to cut their budgets and one of the first places they looked were either at the unions and their benefits or in volunteer departments, their equipment purchases. Suddenly, the fire service was an easy target. My letter called for the support, not money, from the industry.
The letter was published in a special, two-page layout. I was truly surprised and am very grateful  to the magazine for doing so. Within just a couple of days of receiving my issue just under two weeks ago,  I started to receive emails from numerous departments and over this weekend, I received our first corporate interest.
Now, just today, after conducting services for the High Holidays for a wonderful, small congregation in Wisconsin, where I spoke about the fire/service, a congregant came up to introduce herself and told me that her family company contributes to the industry, making hose couplings and custom lengths, as well as hose testing. Now that's what I call a stroke of luck. We exchanged business cards and plan on being in touch during the coming week. 
I'll take it a sign of progress and hope you will too. If you are a member of the fire/rescue service, please visit our web site, www.dalmatianproductions.tv and drop us a line.
Thanks for dropping by!