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Night at the Museum

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Christina, Kyle, Tiger and Dennis

Christina, Kyle, Tiger and Dennis at the Buffalo Fire Historical Museum. PHOTO BY: Margaret Coghlan

OK. I admit it.

It was a day at the museum but hey, nobody ever made a movie with the catchy title: “Day at the Museum.”

Regardless, we had a great day recently when we visited the Buffalo Fire Historical Museum on William St. near Ogden St. on the city’s eastern border with the Town of Cheektowaga.

I was there once before, a very long time ago, but had forgotten just how rich the museum is with placeholders of our heritage. And the best part was, I went with friends.

I dragged along my best friend Chief Denny Allen, my 21-year old niece Christina who is a new firefighter with neighboring Lake Erie Beach; and Kyle, the 9-year old son of another best friend – Chief John Latimore. I’ll tell you about Kyle another day but for now, Kyle is a real kid with a great imagination who represents everything good about the neighborhood we grew up in. He’s a real stitch and fun to have around. That’s why I was glad he accepted our invitation to join us on this most excellent adventure. (more…)

Posted by on January 26, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , ,

Keeping People

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RecruitersGot any bright ideas?

Here’s a link to a FirefighterNation discussion started by a firefighter struggling to maintain the membership in his volunteer fire department.

“In my group we have people that come and don’t show up for 6 months; people who quit due to other members ill behavior and misconduct – and people who stay and do as they are told.

What do we do to keep members and to have the members come back?”

Join the Recruiters Group on FFN and chime in on the chat: Keeping People

Posted by on January 23, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Please CO-operate. It’s a matter of life and death.

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Buffalo News Photo of 16-year old Amanda Hansen whose life was snuffed out by Carbon Monoxide - the silent killer

Buffalo News Photo of 16-year old Amanda Hansen whose life was snuffed out by Carbon Monoxide - the silent killer

This morning’s Buffalo News headline featured the photo of a bright, beautiful 16-year old girl with a promising future, her life snuffed out by a silent killer yesterday.

Carbon Monoxide (CO) is colorless and odorless. It strikes with symptoms that could easily be mistaken for the flu. Small doses accumulated over time can be as dangerous as a prolonged exposure. Left undetected, there is potential for harm and death in almost every household in America.

Carbon Monoxide is a normal by-product of combustion. Natural gas fired appliances (stoves, boilers, hot water tanks, furnaces, etc.) give off carbon monoxide. So do wood burning stoves and fireplaces. However, under normal operating conditions and with sufficient ventilation, the CO does not accummulate to levels that can be dangerous to your health. (more…)

Posted by on January 18, 2009 • Filed under: All Blogs, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Prevention & Education, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, HazMat, News, Safety • Tagged: ,

That’s Why.

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Friendship NY Firefighter Tom Torpey is flanked by his mom Sissy and wife Jessica at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo NY

Friendship NY Firefighter Tom Torpey is flanked by his mom Sissy and wife Jessica at the Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo NY

I recently responded to a post on FirefighterNation.com from my friend Adam Box, who shared the dilemma he was experiencing with his significant other:

Tomorrow, I will be attending the funeral of Elizabeth Fire Department Acting Captain Gary Stephens. This will be my second (unfortunately I doubt it will be my last) time attending a LODD funeral.

I was in a bit of a bad mood (about something unrelated) and was talking to my girlfriend and mentioned I would be attending the funeral. She asked me why, since funerals put me in a bad mood, I would go to another funeral that I didn’t have to go. I know I need to go. (more…)

Posted by on January 6, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Rescues, Safety, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Schmittendorf Signs On for Fire Service Leader Round-Table

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Chief Billy Goldfeder

Chief Billy Goldfeder

The Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) has secured volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention specialist Tiger Schmittendorf as part of a round-table presentation at their 2009 Convention in Niagara Falls, NY.

Schmittendorf will join Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, host of FirefighterCloseCalls.com; J. Gordon Routley, who oversaw the inquiry into the Charleston Sofa Store firefighter fatalities; and Phoenix Fire Department Chief (Ret.) Alan Brunacini, who is largely credited with promoting customer service in the fire service as we know it today.

The four-man team will culminate what promises to be a day of lively, informative and even entertaining presentations at the FASNY convention on August 20, 2009. The panel will field questions from the audience and will discuss everything from firefighter safety to firefighting as a service industry. (more…)

Posted by on January 5, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Safety, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Conveying Tragedy

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I consider myself a student of effective public and media relations. One of the most difficult messages a fire chief or public information officer must convey is that of a tragedy where, despite our best efforts, the results are fatal.

I often coach fire officers and public officials at incident scenes as how to best deliver difficult news. While I encourage them to focus on the role of the rescuers – not the victims, showing respect and concern for all those affected by the tragedy is very important as we speak publicly. This uncomfortable situation is one that any of us could be faced with at any time.

Such was the case on the early morning of New Year’s Day in the City of Tonawanda NY. Despite heroic efforts to reach her, a young female died in this residential structure fire. I know firsthand how these events can have a profound impact on you and your outlook on life.

As I do most information, I viewed this news story through three different sets of eyes. As a citizen, I was deeply affected by the loss of life in our community, especially by fire, and felt badly for those whose lives were changed by it. (more…)

Posted by on January 3, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Public Relations, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Some things bear repeating

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I’m not one to regurgitate information. I don’t do a lot of pass through e-mails. And I certainly don’t perpetuate “Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Some inane subject matter” e-mails like so many copy-and-paste-challenged people do.

But some things bear repeating. Some things strike you so profoundly, so succintly, that you simply feel obligated to pass it along, even if so many others have done so already.

This is one of those occasions. I’m re-publishing (with permission) this excerpt of an e-mail from my good friend and mentor Billy Goldfeder. It’s from his not-so-secret Secret List at FirefighterCloseCalls.com. If you don’t subscribe to it, you’re either out of touch or you don’t care about our brother firefighters getting hurt and dead.

This one hurts to the bone. Read it. Re-read it. Make adjustments to your life and fire service operations as appropriate.

Stay safe. Train often. Happy New Year! (more…)

Posted by on January 2, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, Major Incidents, Safety, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , ,

Schmittendorf Selected to Deliver Leadership Training

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Tiger Schmittendorf has been selected as one of only 25 firefighters from across New York State to be certified as an instructor of the newly developed
“7 Habits of Effective Firefighters” training program.

Customized specifically for the New York State Association of Fire Chiefs (NYSAFC) by Franklin-Covey, this “7 Habits” program is funded by a SAFER grant from the US Department of Homeland Security.

Schmittendorf will spend two days of intensive training at the NYSAFC headquarters in early January and will return at the end of the month to earn his certification as an instructor. He will be joined by Sean Crotty, past chief of the North Boston Volunteer Fire Company in Erie County, and other firefighters from across the state.

Following certification, the team of instructors will then provide the leadership training to fire departments across New York State.

Stay tuned to TigerSchmittendorf.com for exciting announcements about these training opportunities.

Posted by on January 1, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, News, Training & Development • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Starting Out the New Year Right!

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I originally wrote this piece back in 2002 but I feel it’s appropriate to re-visit it every year as we evaluate and re-align our outlook on life in the fire service.

My purpose for posting is not totally unselfish. I use this as an evaluation tool to examine my relationship with my fire department and the fire service at large, and make adjustments as necessary.

As I go through the various challenges that these relationships present from year to year, I find that these words are not as easy to live up to, at least in their entirety. Nonetheless, I use these reflections each year to perservere and re-dedicate myself to being a leader in the emergency services community. Hopefully these words will have the same impact on you. (more…)

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Posted by on January 1, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , , ,
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