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Train Your Replacement. Bob did. Paul does.

Bob Newell was both old school and cutting edge at the same time, always focused on training his replacements. I was fortunate enough to be just one of many.

It's been 5 years since I wrote "Missing a Mentor: What about Bob?" — a tribute to someone who I admittedly underappreciated until it was too late.

A lot has happened in these 5 years. I was a chief officer in my volunteer fire department then and now I'm back to riding backwards, still struggling to find my place in my company. The ups and downs in my personal and professional life are countless. Against all odds, I even survived long enough to turn 50 last week. lol

We've built three new multi-million dollar live fire training facilities, created state-of-the-art roof ventilation simulators, added fresh blood to our cadre of dedicated instructors and coordinated nearly 5,000 training events from our Erie County Fire Academy. Those are big investments.

I think that one of our greatest investments, and thus our greatest returns have come from the fact that we've trained and graduated more than 1,000 new firefighters in our county in the past 5 years. More than a thousand firefighters now unselfishly serving their volunteer fire departments and their communities.

If anyone thinks that today's generation is only all about themselves and not about giving back — they need to observe one of our Firefighter 1 Boot Camp courses. I'm proud to say that Erie County NY is bucking the national decline in volunteerism as we brought in over 600 new recruits in 2012. Those sheer numbers are a tribute to the great work ethic and spirit of our caring community.

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Posted by tiger on January 23, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Funding & Staffing, Hot Topics, Technology & Communications, Training, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: adventure, BOB NEWELL, Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, erie county, FDIC, firefighter, firefighter netcast, Generation Y, kids, leadership, motivation, Paul Hasenmeier, practices, recruit, recruitment, run to the curb, Tiger Schmittendorf, TRAIN YOUR REPLACEMENT, Training, volunteer

Thanks and Giving!

While a lot of folks are counting out the days before Thanksgiving by sharing day-by-day what they’re thankful for, I’ve decided to summarize the past few weeks here as they have been some of the most challenging and rewarding times I’ve ever had in my life. Here’s to giving, receiving and thanks:

GIVING: Just a few weeks ago I was deployed with seven of my cohorts on the Western New York Incident Management Team (IMT) to assist in the response and recovery efforts related to the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy blowing through Long Island and New York City.

RECEIVING: As we were traveling through New York City on our way to our final destination at the Nassau County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) we were informed that they had absolutely no means of housing our eight-person team. There were no hotel rooms available within an hour or more of our work site and despite bringing cots and bedding with us, there was ‘no room at any inn.’

Thank God I have friends in the fire service throughout the state and country as it took just one phone call to Rob Leonard, a good friend and brother firefighter with the Syosset Volunteer Fire Department and public relations committee chair with FASNY, to find us a place to rest our heads. Despite being without power and heat at his own home, Rob connected us with their chief and commissioners to clear the way for us to bunk at their nicely appointed Woodbury Firehouse.

THANKS: Due to the widespread lodging shortage, Syosset accommodated us for the first three nights of our deployment. Warm beds and hot showers were a welcome relief at the end of the 14-18 hour days we were working. Without them we would have literally been left out in the cold. For their generosity, hospitality and brotherhood in the face of their own challenges – we THANK them.

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Posted by tiger on November 22, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Funding & Staffing, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Safety, Special Operations, Training, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, erie county, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, motivation, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

32 Years in the 15032

Lt. John Mitchell of FirefighterNetcast.com fame and Snyder Fire Chief (Ret.) Tom Merrill are just two of the countless friends I have been blessed to gain in my 32 years in the fire service.

Editor’s Note: The Federal Fire Department Identification (FDID) Number for the Evans Center Volunteer Fire Company is 15032, thus the title of this article teaser “32 Years in the 15032.”

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

It was thirty-two years ago, on September 2, 1980, when I raised my right hand and said “I will” serve my community as I was sworn in as the first junior firefighter the Evans: Center Volunteer Fire Company ever had. I was 17.

Like the old sidewalk they’re replacing outside our fire station, my path in the fire service has been full of both ups and downs. From the highs of truly helping people and really saving lives — to the agony we face in the streets, and sometimes in the firehouse, when our best efforts just aren’t enough, at least in the eyes of some people.

Through all of it though, I have had the good fortune of always being surrounded by great people who have had a deep and profound impact on both my personal and professional life.

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Posted by tiger on September 23, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Public Relations, Training • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, erie county, fire department, firefighter, firefighter netcast, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, military, motivation, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

Video Killed the Recruitment Star

In his February 17th Morning Lineup features (and updated on February 20th), FireGeezer.com's Bill Schumm discusses and demonstrates the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of using video as a recruitment tool. While his perspective on why we face the recruitment and retention challenges we do are certainly part of puzzle, the value of his commentary lies in the subliminal call to action that we need to be more creative in creating the solutions.

Certainly, a recruitment video with appropriate visuals and a good, solid message can be effective, but FireGeezer proposes that we need to do something about our culture, our society, to inspire and perpetuate volunteerism. I couldn't agree more.

As I've said before:

“Simply put, it’s my belief that the survival and success of the volunteer fire service relies on our ability to create more opportunities – for more people – to volunteer less time.

Our success depends on our ability to effectively plan for, lead and manage people; whether you don’t have enough – or you have more than you can handle.

The possibilities for their involvement are only limited by our imaginations.”
- Tiger Schmittendorf – From: "A New Pyramid Scheme for your Volunteer Fire Department"

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Posted by tiger on February 20, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Technology & Communications, Videos • Tagged: campaign, FASNY, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, grant, marketing, motivation, practices, Public Relations, recruitment, SAFER, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer, volunteering

@FireRECRUITER: Rise to the challenge

An article recently posted to FirefighterNation.com outlines the challenges faced by volunteer fire departments in Pennsylvania in recruiting and retaining their members. Although these types of articles are becoming all too frequent, this one in particular is better than most in that it focuses on the positives of being a volunteer firefighter — not all the negatives. I’ve cited many examples of what not to say if you’re actually looking to solve your R&R challenges in a previous post titled “Is this our best approach?” Too often, it seems that we hand a prospective candidate all of the reasons and excuses why they wouldn’t join on a silver platter.

I have to tip my helmet to the volunteer fire service in Pennsylvania who is no stranger to these challenges — or to innovative solutions to those challenges. I’ve previously mentioned them in “PA VFDs Dip Into Fountain of Youth” for potential solutions as well as I’ve applauded their efforts in the successful recruitment campaign: “Roll with It!” — the sexiest thing to come to volunteer recruitment I’ve ever seen. It rivals the GoArmy.com and NationalGuard.com campaigns.

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Posted by tiger on November 29, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, R&R Toolkits, Videos • Tagged: campaign, fire department, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, marketing, motivation, practices, public information officer, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, SAFER, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteering

Impact of the Digital Age on Recruitment and Retention

The world is changing rapidly and the fire service is getting caught up in the tornado effect of technology on our society.

More and more fire departments are smartly using web sites, e-mail and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter to recruit new firefighters and to stay connected to their community. There isn't much you can't do with a mobile device today that took a super-computer to do less than 30 years ago.

I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a conversation with a large group of fire instructors titled: "From the Xbox to the Box Alarm" for the University of Kansas Fire and Rescue Institute wherein we discussed today's and tomorrow's generation of firefighters. The conversation focused not only on the challenges in understanding, motivating, training and leading this unique cadre of individuals, but also enlightened the participants as to the tremendous potential they possess for moving our fire service forward.

And, naturally, you can't have a conversation about today's generation of firefighters without discussing the importance of technology and the impact of social networking.

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Posted by tiger on November 1, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Fire Prevention & Education, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: btfd.org, burlington township volunteer fire department, campaign, curt varone, dave statter, facebook, fire critic, fire department, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, rhett fleitz, rom duckworth, statter911.com, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, tweets, twitter, volunteer, volunteering

Going Forward in the Fire Service

I am often reluctant to write about commercial business ventures in my blogs and other platforms as I am sensitive to the trusted relationship between a writer and their readers, and leary about self-promotion. Thus I have delayed writing this post for quite some time.

It wasn’t until I came to the realization that this is not about me or what I’m involved in as much as it is about you – my readers, followers and the fire service at large – that I felt the timing was right for sharing this exciting news.

Earlier this year I was invited by my long time and good friends Dave Iannone and Chris Hebert to share in their vision for tipping the traditional training program on its head. Dave and Chris have a knack for surrounding themselves with inspired people and a solid reputation for bringing innovative and successful solutions to the fire service community, so it wasn’t much of a tough sell for me to join them and the other members of their team at the table.

The conversations were very indepth and engaging, even sparring at points, but all with a common goal in mind: to bring a new and exciting approach to providing training for firefighters and first responders. As I looked around the room, I saw a tremendous amount of passion and caring for getting this right.

It wasn’t long before I was hooked and signed on as chief of training, charged with driving the direction of the educational content of their new conference concept.

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Posted by tiger on September 6, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Technology & Communications, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: alan brunacini, courage to be safe, dennis rubin, everyone goes home, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter, firefighter netcast, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, go forward media, go forward training, go>forward fire, leadership, marketing, motivation, National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, practices, recruitment, rich gasaway, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, tim sendelbach, Training, tweets, twitter

Void Space

Firefighter, officer, chief—these are the titles of the jobs we sign up for. But just like “bingo chairman,” “corresponding secretary” or “roads and grounds committee member,” the title of “leader” is not something at the top of our list of “I want to be that guy” jobs that we strive for when we first join the volunteer fire department.

Although almost everyone who joins the fire service dreams of being chief one day, they probably don’t dream of being a “fire service leader”; that is, it’s not necessarily an inherent thought process to connect the title of “chief” with “leader.” And while the title of fire chief may conjure up images of flashing lights and standing in front of a burning building barking orders into a portable radio, as we know all too well, being a “fire service leader” requires a lot more preparation and hard work than that.

There is much discussion going on in the fire service today about this "void space" created by the potentially damaging collision of retiring experience and the growing lack of experience of today's firefighters and officers. When I say growing, I'm referring to the fact that as our fire load goes down (that's a good thing), so does our experience level, accordingly (that's a bad thing). Thus we end up with a "growing" lack of experience.

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Posted by tiger on April 19, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Backstep Firefighter, Bill Carey, Chief Jack Snook, Chief Jeff Johnson, fire service, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, Generation Y, leadership, motivation, Paul Hasenmeier, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, volunteer

X-Box Live

That’s right!

“From the X-Box to the Box Alarm: Motivating and Leading Today’s Firefighters” is back by popular demand at FDIC 2011. I hope to see you in Indianapolis March 22-26, 2011. Look me up if you plan on attending and look for my presentation titled: “Understanding & Motivating Today’s Firefighters” modeled after my feature article: “From the X-Box to the Box Alarm.”

Some 300 first responders engaged in the discussion at FDIC last April and this year’s conversation promises to be refreshed with my ongoing observational research; new samples of recruitment, retention and leadership solutions and feedback from last year’s participants.

I’ll also be including fresh insight from some X-Box firefighters from Hyattsville Volunteers and FDLiveIn.com I recently spoke with about generational differences and what we can learn from and about them. Some of the information will be pre-recorded material and some of it will be provided by members of our “live studio audience.” (more…)

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Posted by tiger on March 7, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, FDIC, firefighternation, Generation Y, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteering

Not just a Daddy’s Girl

Her Dad was a fire lieutenant and her two youngest brothers (twins) joined as cadets, then volunteers and eventually became career firefighters.

But when Janet Wilmoth tried to join her local volunteer fire department, the fire chief told her to “Go home and have babies.”

She went on to do that too, but in the meantime, Janet Wilmoth took another approach to the fire service. She’s been with Fire Chief Magazine since 1986 and now leads the charge for improving the fire service as the publication’s editorial director.

I wonder if that chief has since been reminded of that famous quote: “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel!”

Join Janet and Tiger Schmittendorf, host of the Firefighter Storytellers Internet radio show live at 9pm EST on Wednesday-February 9, 2011, as Janet tells her story of growing up as a firefighter’s daughter to being a fire service leader. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on February 7, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, Fire Chief Magazine, fire department, fire service, Janet Wilmoth, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

@FireRECRUITER: Are you flush or flushing?

As I do with much in life, I take new experiences and new information and compare it to other aspects of my life in emergency services. Whenever it’s the least bit relevant – I try to apply it to the business I love: the fire service.

Such was the case this past week when I completed a National Fire Academy on Safety Operations and Management. I applied the process and premise of managing safety in our organizations and applied it to recruitment and retention.

While the resulting article may raise more questions than it provides answers, I hope you’ll ask yourself these same questions to assess whether or not your volunteer fire department is taking the right steps to be flush with volunteers — or needlessly flushing them and their experience away.

Click this article to read more at www.FireRECRUITER.com.

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Posted by tiger on February 5, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development • Tagged: fire department, fire service, leadership, motivation, recruitment, Safety, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteering

Not Your Typical “Truckie”

Glenn Usdin was a Run-to-the-Curb kid, growing up in the Long Island New York fire service and rising to the rank of fire chief in Lancaster PA. Like many in the fire service, his career path has taken him in several different directions including a tenure as associate publisher of Fire Engineering Magazine, president of American-LaFrance Used Fire Apparatus, now the owner of a large used fire apparatus company – Command Fire Apparatus and his most recent venture with FireEMS Blogs, founding the FireTruckBlog.com.

Listen in as Chief Usdin shares his story of how he’s made a career out of his fascination with fire trucks with host Tiger Schmittendorf on the Firefighter Storytellers Internet radio show live at 9pm EST on Wednesday-January 12, 2011. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on January 10, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Billy Goldfeder, Brotherhood, fire department, fire rescue magazine, fire service, firefighter netcast, firefighternation, FIRETRUCKBLOG.COM, GLENN USDIN, leadership, marketing, motivation, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

It’s that time of year.

A thought provoking article in the Fire Engineering Training Community by my good friend and fellow blogger ChiefReason reminded me to re-post this piece I wrote several years ago titled: “Starting the New Year Right!”

Art’s blog titled “The Day the Passion Died” suggests that we’re all due for a fire service check-up to make sure that we’re physically, mentally, emotionally prepared for the challenges that lie ahead, and just as importantly, that our head - our attitude – is in the right place.

His writings remind us all to revisit our fire department and personal goals and direction every once in a while, and there’s no better time to do so than as we’re about to embark upon a brand new year full of new challenges and opportunities. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on December 20, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire engineering magazine, fire service, FireEMS Blogs, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, motivation, recruitment, retention, Tiger Schmittendorf, volunteer

Paying Tribute

Today marks the 235th birthday of the United States Marine Corps and tomorrow is Veterans Day. What a great time to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices made by our military service men and women who protect our lives and our freedom around the world every day.

To that end, I thought it appropriate to tie a few events together in an effort to pay appropriate recognition and thanks to our Veterans.

The Story of a True Serviceman:

I’m pleased to announce that tomorrow evening will feature a special Veterans Day Tribute on my Firefighter Storytellers Radio Show on Firefighter Netcast with my good friend Dan Frontera. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on November 10, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, In the Line of Duty, Public Relations • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire service, firefighter, flag, line of duty death, military, motivation, National Guard, Specialist Blake D. Whipple, Tiger Schmittendorf, US Marines, Veterans Day

My Flag

The view of my flag --- from my hammock.

Whenever I get the chance, I take full advantage of the opportunity to lie in my hammock on the front porch of our house. The porch is covered and it’s on the east side of the house, protected from the sometimes gusty winds that come off Lake Erie not far from us.

The hammock is made out of soft woven strings stretched to a metal ring on each end. The rings have heavy chains connected to them that are attached to hooks that secure the entire hammock to its metal pedestal. The rope strings are covered by a comfortable bedding pad that even has a built-in pillow tied to it. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on September 12, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, News, Public Relations, Public Relations • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire service, firefighter, firefighternation, FirefighterNation.com, leadership, line of duty death, lodd, motivation, September 11th, Tiger Schmittendorf

What’s your story?

It’s been a great, long, hot summer — causing me to take some time away from blogging to spend with my family and friends. Although I haven’t been writing much, I have been doing a lot of reading and observing. And, it’s my observation that the need for effective story telling in the fire service has never been greater.

This was never more apparent than during my observation of and interaction with recruits participating in the Firefighter 1 Boot Camp at the Erie County Emergency Services Training & Operations Center where I work.

Each day, I had the opportunity to spend time with those 50 recruits from 37 different fire departments across our county, talking not just tactics and techniques, but about life in the fire service. (more…)

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Posted by tiger on September 5, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: Brotherhood, fire department, fire service, firefighter, leadership, marketing, motivation, Public Relations, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, volunteer, volunteering

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

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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.

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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, training-fire-rescue-topics, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Vehicle Operations & Apparatus • 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…)

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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

Run-to-the-Curb is Top Story

That's me with Past Chief John Latimore, one of my best friends in the fire service and the neighborhood I grew up in.

It’s been more than a month since my presentation at FDIC and my live Internet radio talk show on FirefighterNetcast from the show floor, but a lot of exciting things have happened since then.

Feedback from my show about the importance of storytelling in the fire service with special guest Chief Tom Merrill was tremendous and it’s amazing to see the influence that the Run-to-the-Curb (RttC) concept has had on people. Several firefighters have since shared their own personal stories of growing up in and around the fire service. In fact, so many have responded that it’s tough to keep up with and more of their stories are pending publication here.

Read more at: http://runtothecurb.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/run-to-the-curb-is-top-story/

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Posted by tiger on June 7, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Public Relations, Technology & Communications, Training & Development • Tagged: Brotherhood, clean the litterbox, fire department, fire rescue magazine, firefighter, Generation Y, kids, leadership, marketing, motivation, public information officer, Public Relations, recruit, recruitment, retention, run to the curb, story telling, Tiger Schmittendorf, Training, 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.

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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?

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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!”

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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…)

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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

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…)

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Posted by tiger on April 25, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, All Blogs, Brotherhood, Command & Leadership, fire, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, Public Relations, R&R Toolkits, Training & Development, 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

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