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You’ve spilled something there on your shirt, Chief.

A conversation heard at a Midwestern fire department between Bobby, the Training Officer and his Chief:

 

Fire Chief:  Go away, Bobby, I’m eating.

T.O. Bobby:  Hey, Your Eminence, I have some good news and I have some good news.

Fire Chief:  You know me, Bobby.  Give me the bad news first.

T.O. Bobby:  There is no bad news, Chief.

Fire Chief:  There’s never no bad news, Bobby.  This is 2010, remember?

T.O. Bobby:  Well, Chief, it’s actually 20-   Doesn’t matter.  Anyway, it’s true.  No bad news, today!

Fire Chief:  OK, then give me the second good news thing first.

T.O. Bobby:  Ahh, still trying to trip me up, eh?  OK, well I found a way to get some kick-ass training for a few of our guys and want to allow YOU the opportunity to offer it to them.

Fire Chief:  That’s what I’m not paying you anything extra for, Bobby.

T.O. Bobby:  What would you say if I found a place, a NEARBY place, which offered a fire training and leadership conference?

Fire Chief:  You mean Indiana?  You know we can’t afford that anymore, Bobby.  Those dinner receipts from Shula’s put us over budget again last year.  T.O. Bobby:  No, not there.  Closer.  And we don’t have to stay in the Super Duper 6 Motel on the freeway on the other side of town because we didn’t lock in our room reservations back in 2006.

Fire Chief:  Hey, it was only 17.5 miles away and the parking downtown was under $30 a day, what are you complaining about?

T.O. Bobby:  Who’s complaining?  When we needed to get to the convention center, I fought to sit in the middle of the front seat of our Command Vehicle with your CAD shoved up my a—

Fire Chief:  Should have called shotgun there and back all included no take-backs.  Did you find a place that we wouldn’t have to drive to from the hotel?

T.O. Bobby:  Yep.  You’ve spilled something there on your shirt, Chief.

Fire Chief:  And we certainly don’t want to wait for such an event to happen one per year.  Fire training has been treated more like an anniversary than a continuous opportunity.  We need it all the time!

T.O. Bobby:  That’s another good news item.  This event is only a few weeks away, and the next a couple of weeks after that.  They’re scheduling a bunch of regional training seminars all next year customized to the area in which they’re presented!

Fire Chief:  Bet the event doesn’t have nationally-known speakers discussing current issues to the fire serice.

T.O. Bobby:  How much?

Fire Chief:  How much what?

T.O. Bobby:  Howmuchyawannabet?

Fire Chief:  Name one that I would know.

T.O. Bobby:  Mitchell.

Fire Chief:  Mitchell who?  Never heard of him.

T.O. Bobby:  John Mitchell?

Fire Chief:  Wasn’t that Nixon’s Attorney General?  He’s teaching fire stuff now?

T.O. Bobby:  No, no, no.  Look, forget Mitchell- that was a joke.  Let me try someone else.  Ever hear of Chief Brunacini?

Fire Chief:  Duh.  OK, who else?

T.O. Bobby:  Let’s see, they’ve got Dennis Rubin, Chris Naum, Rick Gasaway, Paul Hasenmeier, Tiger Something-or-other, and hey, Tim Sendelbach is keynoting!

Fire Chief:  And Nixon’s AG?  Isn’t he dead?

T.O. Bobby:  Yeah, Chief.  He’s dead. 

Fire Chief:  But you know our staff needs hands-on work.  Just last night, two guys from Red Shift busted two axes forcing entry into that house, remember?

T.O. Bobby:  Yes, Chief.  The unlocked glass sliding door kicked their asses.  That’s another plus.  The crack team from Brotherhood Instructors will be heading up several opportunities for hands-on training.  They’ve got classes on R.I.T., forcible entry, engine and truck company ops, and even that new “Man in the Machine” class we’ve been hearing about.

Fire Chief:  That’s hot.

T.O. Bobby:  Yes, Chief.  You made a little joke there.

Fire Chief:  What do you mean?

T.O. Bobby:  H-O-T.  Hands- on- tra… Never mind.

Fire Chief:  Well it all sounds great, Bobby-boy, but you know we can’t afford to send guys to conferences like these.  They’re too expensive, and most of the money just goes to some magazine publisher.  Not my idea of “sharing the knowledge.”

T.O. Bobby:  Chief, I know that.  But all this training comes at an affordable price.  I think you’d be surprised.

Fire Chief:  Surprised?  What have I told you about surprises?  I’m the friggin’ Chief- I HATE surprises.  Now go surprise me with cutting that 10 percent from your training budget.

T.O. Bobby:  That’s just it, Your Heaviness.  If we can sign up our guys by Friday, we can save 10 percent with Early Bird Registration.

Fire Chief:  You know, Bobby, you make it very difficult for me to pass on this opportunity.  To take advantage of the savings, perhaps we should use the Googles to sign up.  Can we sign up on the Googles?

T.O. Bobby:  Yes, Chief.  Just go to http://goforwardtraining.com/gateway/ and you can have all the information of the Gateway Midwest Program in St. Charles outside of St. Louis in October.

Fire Chief:  Bobby.  I have an idea. 

T.O. Bobby:  What’s that, Your Highness?

Fire Chief:  Let’s check out this new customized regional training I’ve been hearing about.  I think it’s near St. Louis or something.

T.O. Bobby:  Ahh, sure, Chief.  Great idea!

Fire Chief:  Make sure those Red Shift yahoos get signed up for the forcible entry program.  I don’t care if they’re free that weekend or not.

T.O. Bobby:  Doesn’t matter, sire.  There’s another regional conference set up in the Philly area just a couple of weeks later, and much more to come.

Fire Chief:  Your diatribe has become monotonous and tedious, as usual.  I grow weary of your presence.  Be gone. 

T.O. Bobby:  Done!

Fire Chief:  Oh, and Bobby?  Don’t forget to keep making me look good.

T.O. Bobby:  Of course, Your Majesty….

Posted in Chicagoland, News, Training, Training & Development

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Posted by on September 28, 2011 • No comments

343. Never Forget? We Already Did.

343.

We have this number stuck in our heads.  Obviously, it represents the number of firefighters lost at the World Trade Center on 9/11 when our country- indeed, our Brothers- were attacked by terrorists from the Middle East.

We read 343 names. 

We ring a bell 343 times. 

We get a 343 sticker for our helmet or a bumper sticker or window decal that simply says 343. 

T-shirts, tattoos, you name it- we solemnly pay tribute to the 343.

We’re Brothers.  That’s what we do.

343.

This week, I heard alot of "343", and "Never Forget."  Yet, not once on this, the tenth anniversary of 9/11, did I hear a “Brother” give any attention to the number of FDNY Brothers and Sisters who have continued to die from the 9/11 attack. 

What?  There were more?

You know, the Brothers and Sisters who worked up to 16-hour shifts for weeks on “The Pile” breathing in a toxic cloud of plastic, jet fuel, and human body parts.

Any guesses at that number?  My bet is that you have no clue.

Nope, it’s not 343. 

Actually, it just eclipsed 343.  That’s right- we’ve lost another 343+.  And my bet is we’ll be losing another 343 soon as well.

We won’t be seeing their names carved on a granite wall, will we?

343.  It’s a snapshot in time, but far from the reality of the number of firefighters lost from the attack at the WTC on 9/11.

Stay tuned, and I’ll continue this story and help you “Brothers” to understand why we should remember that 343 is just a number.  And I'll tell you how to be a true Brother beyond just latching onto the hype of the number 343.

Stay stoked.

Posted in Brotherhood, Firefighter Safety & Health, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, LODD, News, WTF?

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Posted by on September 12, 2011 • 9 comments

Here’s my rant on “Never Forget”. I hope it pisses you off.

Click here to listen to my ranr as I gave it on this week's Firefighter Netcast program

It’s been 10 years since the horror.  How are you remembering?

We see the networks ramp up their coverage of the tragedy with all the videos seen and various fire entities do their best to commemorate the lives of the three thousand taken that day- including 343 of our nation’s finest.

We’re remembering by hearing stories of individual lives lost and those left behind, by attending local tributes, by ringing bells, by running stairs, by wearing bracelets, by carrying photos around our necks and in our helmets, by wearing t-shirts admonishing us to “never forget,” by getting misty at the piper’s playing of Amazing Grace and the mournful notes of a bugler signaling Taps.

It’s the national response to an American tragedy with millions of Americans remembering/commemorating/memorializing- each in their own way.  It’s the way we do things.  We pause, we remember, and we move on.

Is it enough, Brother?  Hell no, it’s not.

Why are our Brothers and Sisters STILL waging a war to obtain benefits from the long-term effects of their heroic actions working “The Pile” in the hours, days, and weeks that followed?

The same government that told them- within days- that The Pile’s environment was “safe” to work in is STILL denying that the cancer ravaging their bodies is connected in any way.  Our Brothers and Sisters are being told that enough time hasn’t past to make that determination. 

How does this make you feel? 

The only reason I ask is that I’m not hearing much from any of you out there whenever these stories of how we are being treated bubble up to the surface.. 

This treatment of the “other heroes” of the days and weeks that followed the deaths of the 343 is ludicrous and they deserve much better than this.

This is pure crap and it pisses me off.  Where is your outrage?

Howabaout the unconscionable lack of progress made in one of the findings of the 9/11 commission wherein police and firefighters are STILL unable to communicate with each other when (not if) the next attack occurs?  Ten years later!

Again, How does this make you feel?  Again, I ask is that because I’m still hearing crickets as these stories get reported.

This is pure crap and it pisses me off.  Where is your outrage?

As we pause to remember the brave folks who gave their lives at The World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and in Shanksville, please- don’t forget so many of the others who are still suffering today from working the pile, and those who will suffer in the future because we have –to date- STILL FAILED to do everything we can to help us meet the challenges from the next attack.

So, go ahead and buy the t-shirt.  Wear the bracelet.  Climb the stairs with or without gear.  Put the stickers on your truck bumper and make your helmets look cool.

But I dare you to be outraged and to do more.  Do what the fallen would want you to do.  Make yourself heard whenever you feel that they would want you to do so.

Don’t forget – NEVER FORGET- that the attacks on America and indeed- America’s fire service continue to this very day. 

Never forget that.

 

Stay stoked, my friends.

-J

Posted in Brotherhood, In the Line of Duty, Line of Duty, LODD, Major Incidents, NetCast, Never Forget, News, WTF?

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Posted by on September 8, 2011 • 1 comment