Skip to content

Archives for fire-service

See all posts in the network tagged with fire-service

Run-to-the-Curb Radio: Chief Tim Sendelbach

It’s like “Run-to-the-Curb Radio” — but better!

“Firefighter Storytellers” is a natural outgrowth from my popular “Run to the Curb” series — as it offers a radio show designed simply to facilitate kitchen table type discussions between firefighters.

“Storytellers” is an open-format radio show in which listeners are encouraged to call in with their own stories of what brought them to the fire service, what’s made the experience memorable for them, and to share their insight as to what keeps them going day-in and day-out, serving in our business of delivering emergency services to our communities.

Tonight’s installment (Wednesday-July 14, 2010) features Chief Tim Sendelbach, fire service leader and Editor-in-Chief of FireRescue Magazine. Like many others, Tim’s roots in the fire service started with his Dad, a firefighter in his hometown of Wilder, Kentucky.

Produced by John Mitchell and Rhett Fleitz of FirefighterNetcast, visit their site now, sign up for a new user account for BlogTalkRadio, and be prepared to join in the conversation with each new show.

Listen in. Log in. Call in.

What’s your story?

Link to the show for Wednesday-July 14, 2010 – 9pm EDT on Firefighter Netcast

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on July 14, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, motivation, Public Relations, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Get Fit. Get Safe. Make It Personal.

My Three-Part Risk Management Plan: Alex, Laurie and Kathleen

Despite the fact that I wrote this piece for Fire-Rescue Magazine last year, I’m pretty sure its content is still relevant as we ponder recent and not so recent events during Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week http://www.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/usfa-reminds-you-that….

As I stated in comments to another blog by John Mitchell (www.firedaily.com) titled: “The Charleston 43″ (http://www.firefighternation.com/profiles/blogs/the-charleston-43) — if we don’t make these incidents personal to us, incidents like these have the unique ability to quickly become personal for us.

Thus, I present for your review, a re-post of “Make It Personal” http://tigerschmittendorf.com/2009/09/07/make-it-personal/

Let me know what you think of the piece and what you’re doing to make Safety Week 2010 personal for you.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on June 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, Training & Development, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: 16 life safety initiatives, Billy Goldfeder, Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, courage to be safe, everyone goes home, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, line of duty death, lodd, motivation, practices, Safety, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

Raising a flag about lowering THE FLAG!

It’s after Memorial Day-2010 and I’ve been working on this blog for about a week, in hopes of having it finished prior to the start of the holiday weekend but life got in the way and that didn’t happen.

In retrospect, I’m glad I procrastinated. I’m glad I waited, because now, I think this blog has even more meaning.

The hot dogs are all gone, the parties and picnics are over. Now it’s time to think about what Memorial Day is really about. My goal is not to go into some patriotic tirade that offers the opportunity for readers to tune out before they even tune in, but more importantly to share with you some personal experiences that have put this annual remembrance in perspective for me. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on June 7, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Public Relations • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire department, fire service, firefighter, funeral, Generation Y, leadership, line of duty death, motivation, practices, public information officer, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Local Fire News Sites Get Press, Mixed Reviews

A recent article in the Buffalo News featured two online fire service sites (www.ecfwire.com and www.ereicountyfireblotter.com) that provide live audio feeds and in-depth news coverage of the fire service here in Erie County.

Although the article focuses on the potential training value, some fire chiefs had mixed feelings about what could be considered a form of social media and the information they share.

Read it here:

http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/05/22/1058838/wire-fire-on-the-web.html

What do you have in your Internet neighborhood?

What’s your take on citizen-jouranlism sites like these?

Discuss it here and on FirefighterNation.com.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on May 25, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: erie county, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Make the Right Investments

The following article tells of a small city that is threatening to stop collecting a voluntary public donation that has brought thousands and thousands of dollars in mission-critical equipment to their combination (paid/volunteer) fire department.

Apparently, the threat is in response to a dwindling number of volunteer firefighters in their department, between 5 and 10, as the article points out. Without a lot of volunteers, they apparently don’t feel it’s appropriate to collect a donation on behalf of the volunteer side of their fire department. This situation seems to be causing quite a riff in the department.

Is it just me, or does any one else smell opportunity?

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on May 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: campaign, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, tweets, twitter, volunteer

@FireRECRUITER: It’s EMS Week – Roll With It!

From www.FireRECRUITER.com:

In honor of EMS Week-2010, I thought I’d promote the (dare I say) sexiest video I’ve ever seen come to volunteer recruitment and retention.

“Roll With It!” is a part music video, part movie trailer — full-on high energy – high impact web site for the recruitment of fire and EMS personnel.

Celebrate EMS Week in style: “Roll With It!”

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on May 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Patient Management, Public Relations • Tagged: campaign, CFR, Clearinghouse, emergency medical services, ems, EMT, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Paramedic, Pennsylvania, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, Roll With It, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering, www.rollwithit.com

Tis’ the Season

THIS IS A DRILL! This is not an actual event. Evans Center Firefighters "responded" to a Pre-Prom Season DWI Drill that demonstrated the devastating effects of drinking and driving to juniors and seniors at the Lake Shore High School. Photo by Tiger Schmittendorf

THIS IS A DRILL! This is not an actual event. Evans Center Firefighters "responded" to a Pre-Prom Season Stop-DWI Drill that demonstrated the devastating effects of drinking and driving to juniors and seniors at the Lake Shore High School. Photo by Tiger Schmittendorf

Despite the fact that as I’m writing this it feels far more like winter than spring in Buffalo, it’s not those seasons I’m talking about in this story.

Evans Center, my volunteer fire company, planned and supported a Pre-Prom Season Stop-DWI drill for our Juniors and Seniors at the Lake Shore Central Senior High School Friday morning. Coordinated by our Asst. Chief Tom Szczepaniak, Principal Chris Walsh and the Town of Evans Police Department’s Chief Ernie Masullo, Capt. Chuck Danzi and Patrolman Ralph Maslach — the assembly and demonstration stressed the devastating effects of making poor decisions relating to drinking and driving.

Not much unlike what is done at schools across the country at this time of the year, the Lake Shore team put together a comprehensive program that really hit home with these at-risk young adults. And, when I say “at-risk” I mean that, statisticly, they are at great risk of being involved in an alcohol-related accident before they graduate from high school or make it to their freshman semester in college. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on May 9, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Public Relations, Training & Development • Tagged: accident, Angola NY, Buffalo NY, campaign, clean the litterbox, coroner, DOA, drill, Erie County Stop-DWI, Evans Center Volunteer Fire Company, evans police department, extrication, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, John Latimore, Lake Shore Central School District, Lake Shore Senior High School, Latimore-Schiavone Funeral Home, mercy flight of wny, mothers day, motivation, pre-prom, prom season, public information officer, Public Relations, stop dwi, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering, YNN

@Run-to-the-Curb: Planting a Seed.

It should be no secret by now that I have a passion for story telling, and especially telling of the importance of sharing stories in the fire service as a means of passing down our history, traditions and values.

It’s almost an obsession.

It’s gotten so bad that I’ve started drawing my Blackberry from its holster and pressing the voice note “Record” button at the drop of a hint that a story is about to unfold in conversation. While I took a lot of friendly fire for that from friends while sharing in some “networking opportunities” at FDIC recently, the gems I’ve captured are absolutely priceless. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to read and listen to some of them soon.

It was also at FDIC that I was reminded of what got me on this story-telling kick and who inspired me to tell my stories by creating the Run-to-the-Curb concept.

Click here to read the rest of the story of how I got my story-telling start. (Try to say that 10-times, fast)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on May 3, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, recruitment, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

The FDIC Experience: Returning Home

Alex, Laurie and Kathleen

Alex, Laurie and Kathleen

My goal is to chronicle, as best I can, some of the many great experiences I had last week at FDIC-2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. There’s so many of them flowing through my brain, some of them are short snippets while others I remember as full-length features, and I plan to present them accordingly.

My FDIC-2010 experience ranks up there with some of the greatest memories of my career and life. Full of laughs (my stomach still hurts), meeting good people (and John and Rhett too!), going on “adventures” together and most importantly, sharing the brotherhood that few other professions enjoy.

So, with the intent of eventually sharing all of these experiences, I thought I would start with the end of the trip instead of the beginning; for in the end, in a very unexpected way, the value of my trip to FDIC and the importance of my returning home became very apparent to me.

You’ll see why in just a little bit. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on April 25, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development, fire, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: 16 life safety initiatives, Brotherhood, facebook, FDIC, fire critic, fire daily, fire department, fire department instructors conference, fire rescue magazine, fire service, fire-ems blogs, fire-rescue, firecritic, firedaily, firefighter, firefighter netcast, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, kids, leadership, make-a-wish foundation, motivation, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

Live, from Indianapolis, it’s Saturday Morning!

ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy

ChiefReasonArt, Chris Naum and some other guy at FDIC 2009

Join Snyder NY Chief Tom Merrill and I for a live broadcast from the show floor of FDIC on Saturday-April 24 from 9:30-10:30am CST. We’ll be special guests of FireCritic Rhett Fleitz and FireDaily John Mitchell — hosts of the new hit Internet talk show series: FirefighterNetcast.

We’ll be discussing my FDIC presentation, my www.runtothecurb.com project and the importance of storytelling in the fire service. Chief Merrill will be sharing some of his own stories and who knows, we just might drag some unsuspecting passerby into the conversation.

A full schedule of Netcasts are being hosted at the Fire-Rescue Magazine / FirefighterNation.com / Fire-EMS Blogs.com Booth #3755 throughout the week.

I hope you can join me for my conversation titled: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” on Thursday-April 22, 2010 at 10:30am in Room 127-128; and most certainly at the MeetUp at Indy. You do not want to miss this gathering:

When: Friday April 23rd – 8pm
Where: Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery just blocks away from the Convention Center at 10 West Washington.
What: Blogger/FireEMSBlogs.com/Firefighter Nation/Fire Rescue Magazine meetup.

The event is being sponsored by the great folks at: Fire-Rescue Magazine / FirefighterNation.com / Fire-EMS Blogs.com booth #3755. Hit me up at the show for some free drink tickets. However, I can’t be responsible for your resulting actions!

Even if you can’t physically be there, I’ll be Tweeting, updating my status on Facebook and maybe even blogging throughout the show as I meet and greet some of the biggest names and greatest faces in the fire service. It’s gonna be cool. Very cool.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on April 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: blog network, Brotherhood, campaign, clean the litterbox, Clearinghouse, facebook, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, fire-ems blogs, firecritic, firedaily, firefighter, firefighter netcast, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, kids, leadership, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

Going to the Show! See You in Indy.

I hope to see all of my loyal followers (both of them) at FDIC in a few short weeks. I’ll be presenting “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” on Thursday-April 22, 2010 at 10:30am in Room 127-128. There’s room for 308 of my closest, most personal friends so there’s really no excuse for not joining me! LOL (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Featured, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, campaign, clean the litterbox, Clearinghouse, erie county, FDIC, fire department, fire department instructors conference, fire engineering magazine, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, kids, leadership, marketing, motivation, practices, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, SAFER, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Recruiting in a Gray Area

My helmet is off to the folks in the Syosset NY Fire Department for recognizing 40+ aged recruits as a viable part of the solutions to our recruitment and retention challenges.

Age is Nothing But a Number at Syosset Fire Dept.

Joining later in life is becoming more the norm

The approach and image of the volunteer fire service portrayed in this article is in sharp contrast to the news articles I highlighted in “Is This Our Best Approach?”

In fact, I came across a similar article today that raises the exact same question:

Fire Companies Struggling to Get Volunteers.

I think we can do better. Let me know what you think.

Read the whole story at FireRECRUITER.com.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on April 6, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

Run-to-the-Curb Kids: Collect the whole set!

Rhett Fleitz at FireCritic.com has compiled one of the greatest collections of firefighter stories in hosting his first edition of the First Due Blog Carnival which asked our brothers and sisters to answer the question: “I am a firefighter because…”

It fits right in line with my theory on the importance of story telling in the fire service and even includes my own personal story of how it was others who forecasted that I was going to be a firefighter one day.

Take a peak at Run-to-the-Curb.com and be sure to stop back there to tell your story.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 24, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

FireRECRUITER: The Art of Speed-Recruiting

If you had just 30 seconds to convince someone why they should join your volunteer fire department, what would you say?

What would your message be? Do you have a standard sales pitch that you use for just such occasions? Can you even say hello in 30 seconds?

I recently had the opportunity to coach and practice some speed-recruiting exercises with the Doyle Hose Co. 1 in Cheektowaga NY. They had been invited to be a part of career day at the local high school in their response area and they invited me to join them.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 18, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: billboard, campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

It was in the cards.

Blogger’s Note: The following is my submission to the Fire Critic’s First Due Fire Blog Carnival focusing on the topic: “I’m a firefighter because…”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My mother died from lung cancer when I was thirteen years old.

Now, that’s something I don’t wish on anyone, but I can certainly point to positive points of my character that can be attributed to that single tragic event in my life. My responsibility, resiliency, work ethic, and my servant attitude are all credits to my mother and the fact that I lost her so early in my childhood – all characteristics that would prove to be pivotal throughout my career, especially in the fire service.

Unbeknownst to me, my mother kept a keepsake box for several of the eight kids in my family. My father gave me mine shortly after she died. I still have it and have continued that family tradition with our kids.

Amongst many other treasures in that box were two cards and a hand-made book that may have forecasted where I would be today.

The first card was to my parents congratulating them when I was born. The card was from the Evans Center Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary. Today, I celebrate my twenty-ninth year with that very same fire department. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 14, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire department, fire service, firefighter, motivation, recruitment, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Re-Enlist.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I’m posting this blog literally minutes after completing my first NetCast on the topic of volunteer recruitment and retention, compliments of FireCritic and FireDaily at www.firefighternetcast.com. What a tremendous opportunity that was to connect with so many people via the live chat and simultaneous telephone call-ins.

My helmet is off to those two gentlemen for harnessing that technology to accomplish something that they may not even realize they’re doing: Telling Stories.

Storytelling is important to the survival and success of the fire service. Very important. As I wrote in my article: “Saving Stories,” in this month’s edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine, storytelling “passes on our traditions, conveys our values and protects the rich heritage of the fire service.” Thanks to Rhett and John for doing just that through the tales shared on FirefighterNetcast.com.

At the end of the Netcast, I let the cat out of the bag about a new partnership I created between our volunteer fire service and the National Guard. Look for more info on that coming soon. In the meantime, the following is a story that is a little bit about my love for my father, my passion for the fire service and my appreciation for the military men and women who protect our freedom every day. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 11, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

LIVE: Casting a Net over Recruitment and Retention Challenges

I was in Texas for Advanced Unified Incident Command training last week (which I’ll tell you about soon), so I’m late getting this out.

I’ve been asked by FireCritic and FireDaily to join them as their special guest on this week’s edition of Firefighter NetCast.

Naturally, we’ll be discussing volunteer recruitment and retention along with an overview of my presentation “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm” at FDIC (Thursday-April 22nd at 10:30am) and my cover story in the March edition of Fire-Rescue Magazine featuring my storytelling project: Run-to-the-Curb.com.

I hope you can join us at 9pm ET this Wednesday-March 10, 2010 at Firefighter Netcast for a lively discussion of challenges and solutions to the volunteer fire service’s survival and success.

Stay safe. Train often.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 8, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

RuntotheCurb: Everybody Loves Sparky

Everybody Loves Sparky the Fire Dog!

Everybody Loves Sparky the Fire Dog!

Just as much as kids love firefighters, every kid (well, almost every kid) loves Sparky.

Recently I had the chance to catch some Run-to-the-Curb type kids interacting with their favorite Fire Dog, learning all about fire prevention and safety and making new friends. Thanks to Sparky, I’m sure these kids will be running to the curb to watch the fire trucks go by, just as soon as they’re old enough.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on March 1, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Fire Prevention & Education, Fire Rescue Topics • Tagged: adventure, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, recruitment, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf

@FireRECRUITER: Big Win for the Youngins’

The Volunteer and Combination Officers Section of the IAFC recently released a new and long overdue guideline focusing on the proper and safe operation of fire department youth programs.

It holds something for everyone including chief officers, youth leaders, fire department administration, parents, support liaisons and the youth themselves.

Read more at FireRecruiter.com>>>

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on February 21, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Clearinghouse, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits • Tagged: Brotherhood, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@RuntotheCurb: I remember my first time…

I opened up Internet Explorer where my home page is literally my home page: www.tigerschmittendorf.com and I clicked on the FireEMS Blogs icon in the upper left hand corner to see what my fellow bloggers were up to tonight.

I was drawn to a blog from the “Raising Ladders” site that caught my eye, titled: “Finally, a first due job… and a pretty good one, at that.” I didn’t think much of the title when I first read it until I got into the rest of the story. It was the author’s first real working fire in his career.

His story, along with my story telling experiences earlier in the evening, got me to thinking: “I remember my first time…”

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 27, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighting Operations, Fires • Tagged: adventure, Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, motivation, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

@RttC: Remember as a Kid…

The title of this discussion on FirefighterNation.com really caught my attention as I remember a lot of things as a kid — and many of them are related to the fire service.

This particular discussion revolves around the author’s childhood memories of hearing the fire siren sounding and then tuning to a particular AM station on his radio dial where they would broadcast the call location for all to hear.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 23, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: Brotherhood, discussion, fire department, fire service, firefighter, FirefighterNation.com, kids, motivation, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Two years gone by now

There’s a lot of talk these days about what we’re missing in the fire service. And with all this discussion of leadership, of mentorship, sharing, caring and passing down values, traditions and the rich heritage of firefighters, Ithought it appropriate to revisit a very personal blog I wrote two years ago today, January 22, 2010.

When we talk about people who have influenced our careers and our lives, many people often refer to that person as someone who they didn’t realize had made such an impact on them until they were no longer in our lives. My friend Bob Newell was one of those people.

I guess I had taken Bob for granted. I had underestimated how much of an influence he had been on me, how much he was someone who’s friendship I cherished. His death, and these realizations really took me by surprise. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 22, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: adventure, Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire department, fire service, firefighter, funeral, leadership, motivation, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

@FireRECRUITER: Who can afford to volunteer?

Who Can Afford to Volunteer?

That’s the question asked by Don Grogg, a commissioner for Harris County Emergency Service District No. 9 in Texas in this article titled: “Suburban Fire Districts Sound the Alarm” in the Houston Chronicle.

While I understand that they have somewhat unique staffing and support challenges, when you ask it like that, who could expect anyone to answer with: “I can. Pick me. Pick me.”

Other than a closing remark about one department who expanded their boundaries for joining, the article does a great job at identifying the problems — but few if any solutions.

As I’ve asked before, “Is this our best approach?”

Here’s the link to the article at FireRECRUITER.com. You decide.

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 19, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News • Tagged: campaign, Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: 10 Step Guide to Volunteering

I feel that overall, the guide offers valuable insight into the world of volunteer firefighting and any effort to draw attention to the opportunities available to serve your community — are good efforts.

The guide outlines 10 individual tips for preparing to join our ranks. (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 4, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development, fire • Tagged: Clearinghouse, fire department, fire service, firefighter, FireRECRUITER.com, Generation Y, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

Fire Chief Blogs His Way Through Fire Academy Experience

St. Paul MN Fire Chief Tim Butler is blogging about his fire academy experiences

St. Paul MN Fire Chief Tim Butler is blogging about his fire academy experiences

I don’t remember how and when I stumbled across this particular blog, but it’s a good one.

St. Paul, Minnesota Fire Chief Tim Butler has written a blog about his experiences with the fire department since being appointed to the position two years ago. What’s so unique about this chief’s blog is that it details his adventures in participating in the latest recruit academy executed by the fire department.

The chief indicated early on after his appointment that he fully intended to experience everything his firefighters have experienced. In that vain, he prepared himself for and is actively engaged in the academy.

I was very impressed with his attitude as he wrote “We (sic) must share a common bond – a common culture – and a shared base of experience and perspective. We all must be confident in each member’s ability to operate safely and effectively on an incident scene or when representing our department to the public.” (more…)

Share on Facebook

Posted by tiger on January 2, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: adventure, blog, blogging, Brotherhood, fire academy, fire chief, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, recruit, recruitment, St. Paul Minnesota, Training, training academy

RT @news4buffalo: Fatal accident closes Rt. 16 in Holland/Sardinia when a car and semi collided: http://ow.ly/2rwWw 2 weeks ago
RT @firechiefmag: Dedicate or name your fire station? http://blog.firechief.com/mutual_aid/2010/08/17/in-dedication/ 2 weeks ago
RT @FireCritic: “Fire Fair” informs and strengthens community's safety — Kirkland ... http://bit.ly/byxChe 2 weeks ago
The battery died in my pager this morning. Perfect timing. I'm on vacation! 2 weeks ago
RT @ECFireBlotter: LIVE Streaming Coverage from Firemen’s Day at the Fair...For the convenience of those who (cont) http://tl.gd/33oebr 2 weeks ago
More updates...

© Copyright Tiger Schmittendorf 2009. All rights reserved.