How important is health and exercise to you? With your physically demanding job, exercise is critical in staying fit for duty. What exercises are you doing to keep you and your fellow firefighters in shape? During last week’s Safety, Health and Survival Week, Firehouse.com showed several easy core strength training and functional movement videos that can be performed with minimal equipment.

Check out this video where Lt. Evans of the Alexandria fire department and his recruits demonstrate burpies, an exercise incorporating strength and cardio that engages all muscles within the body. And all you need for this workout is you!

Share |

Captain Scott L. Sargent of the Los Angeles Police Department wrote about the recent changes in department policy and adjudication procedure on PoliceOne.com:

Use of Force Policy Change — Over the past several years, the LAPD has undertaken the process of evaluating and formally adopting the standards established in Graham v. Connor, 490 US 386 (1989). The new objective reasonableness based policy was approved by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners in July 2009. That policy revised and streamlined many separate force related policies and has been fully incorporated into the department’s entry level and in-service training, as well as the comprehensive use of force review and adjudication processes.

Elimination of the UOF Continuum — In 2009, the LAPD finalized the incorporation of objective reasonableness and the new UOF Policy into all areas of department operations and training for in-service and the academy. This past continuum based mandate has historically been an ineffective and unreasonable burden on officers, and is contrary to best practices and effective training. Requiring officers to classify or categorize a suspect’s behavior (i.e., aggressive combative) before electing a force option is an unnecessary intervening step and can result in a delayed response or hesitation. The new LAPD UOF Options Chart directly supports best practices in use of force training, ensures effective articulation in arrest reports and mandates the development of critical thinking skills. The new common sense training protocol has been well received because it allows officers to elect any objectively reasonable force option in response to the suspect’s behavior.

You can read about additional changes on the original article.

How do you feel about the LAPD policies? Do you think they’re applicable to smaller departments?

Share |

As firefighters, you want your community to be better prepared for fires, including how to prevent fires from occurring. While you may not always have the time or funds to provide your community with constant hands-on safety training, there are other ways to get the safety message out. NFPA provides 15 safety tip sheets to download, print and share.

Safety tip sheets:

• Campus
• Candles
• Carbon monoxide
• Christmas trees
• Clothes dryer
• Cooking
• Escape planning
• Generators
• Grilling
• Halloween
• Heating
• Hotels/motels
• Lightning
• Smoke alarms
• Winter/holiday

Share |

PoliceOne.com has released the first of a two-part article on a comprehensive nationwide survey of mistaken-identity, “friendly fire” law enforcement fatalities recently completed by governor’s task force in New York. The group documented 26 cases over the last 30 years in which out-of-uniform officers in the U.S. have been mistaken for criminals and shot dead by fellow officers. Ten of the 14 killed in the last 15 years in these mistaken-identity events have been “people of color,” according to the task force’s final report.

(more…)

Share |

By Joel Calfee for Lion Connects

A dream of Mike Dubron, a Los Angeles County firefighter and the founder of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN), started with coffee talk during a shift change after surviving his own personal battle with cancer. For him, talking to other people, especially those who had been diagnosed with the same kind of cancer he was battling, brought him comfort, strength and hope.

Founded in 2005 by a group of cancer survivors, caregivers, advocates and volunteers, the FCSN was formed as a 501 (C) (3) nonprofit program organization funded by tax-deductible donations. The mission of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network is to provide active and retired fire department members and their families an opportunity to receive assistance when dealing with cancer with the objective of providing timely assistance when diagnosed. The FCSN continues to grow throughout the world promoting firefighters with program awareness, education, information library, mentorship, advocates, comfort and support, special events and a regional coordinator program.

We have mentors from the fire service to share insight into how they dealt with cancer in which you or someone you know have been diagnosed.  Arrangements will be made through the FCSN’s wellness coordinator for various forms of assistance, such as providing a “tool box” of information for those recently diagnosed.

We encourage anyone requesting assistance to become a member prior to FCSN sending out information. There is no membership fee, and it can be easily done on our website. You can also become a friend of the FCSN by joining the network. We are always looking for assistance from volunteers in helping get the message out and supporting the network.

If you need assistance or want to help we may be contacted by internet www.FirefighterCancerSupport.org, by e-mail on the “Contact Us” page or by phone 866-994-FCSN.

We can “Fight Cancer With Fire,” and “Together We Can Make A Difference.” Remember, cancer does not discriminate, so protect yourself, your coworkers and your family.

For more information, please visit us on the web.

Until then, remember to stay low, stay cool and be safe.

(Editor’s note: Joel Calfee is the Health and Safety Chairman of the IAFF Local 341 in Houston, a member of the Houston Fire Department and the Texas Regional Director of the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.)

Share |

The 2010 Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week kicked off this year’s theme: Fit for Duty running June 20-26. According the Fire Engineering article, Safety, Health and Survival Week is a collaborative program sponsored by the IAFC and the IAFF, coordinated by the IAFC Safety, Health and Survival Section and the IAFF Division of Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine, in partnership with more than 20 national fire service organizations. With more than 50 percent of firefighter line-of-duty deaths caused by health and fitness-related issues, the IAFC and IAFF believe its imperative that there be a concentrated effort in implementing wellness and fitness programs.

The article goes on to state that Safety, Health and Survival Week’s Fit for Duty theme will cover a variety of topics that are extremely important to all firefighters and EMS personnel. The program will assist fire departments with implementing their own programs to prepare firefighters and EMS personnel with healthy habits that reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers, thereby increasing the chance for a longer and healthier life.

First responders will spend this week focusing on the following topics:
• Sunday: Food & Nutrition
• Monday: Fitness
• Tuesday: Stress Management
• Wednesday: Smoking / Smokeless Tobacco Cessation
• Thursday: Alcohol and Other Drugs
• Friday: Infectious Diseases
• Saturday: Suicide Prevention

During the week, departments are also encouraged to support comprehensive fitness assessments, medical screenings, and educational programs that build and maintain medically and physically fit personnel and help in reducing health and fitness-related deaths or injuries.

Check out this video on Firehouse.com focusing on Monday’s fitness topic. In this video, Lt. Evans demonstrates easy core-building exercises that can be performed with minimal equipment.

Share |

Working long hours, run after run, takes a toll on your feet. Do your feet slide around in your boots or are they kept intact? A comfortable boot is essential to safety on the fireground, because when your feet hurt, you can lose mobility and stamina.

We’ve partnered with a leading North American fire boot manufacturer, The Shoe Technology Company (STC), to take an inside look at their facility where they show how they build boots – from the inside out. Check out this short video illustrating how they keep firefigher’s feet comfortable with their Lock-Fit Ankle Support System™ that provides anatomical ankle padding ensuring the foot is securely positioned within the boot.

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of videos taken at STC, giving you a quick insight into the quality construction behind their firefighting boots.

Share |

Three years ago today, nine firefighters lost their lives in a Charleston, SC furniture warehouse fire, marking the largest number of firefighter casualties at a single incident since 9/11.

Multiple investigative reports from NIOSH, the City of Charleston Post-Incident Assessment and Review Team and The Post and Courier analyzed the circumstances surrounding the fire and possible procedural problems within the Charleston Fire Department. These reports arrived at similar conclusions: a lack of a unified command structure, improper use of PPE and an uncoordinated communication network left firefighters on the scene unprepared to deal with a large, non-code compliant structure filled with highly flammable materials.

(more…)

Share |

Recently, firesprinklerinitiative.org posted the results of a study on how automatic fire sprinklers can help protect the environment.

The study involved the burning of two furnished living rooms, one of which had been outfitted with a quick-response sprinkler. Forty-four seconds after ignition, the single sprinkler head in the protected living room activated and began to fight the fire, while fire raged in the unprotected room. After five minutes, the fire in the sprinklered room continued to be contained, while in the unprotected room, every combustible item was burning. After the test, FM Global compared the environmental impact of each fire, specifically:

• the types, quantity and duration of air and water pollutants released from a home fire
• water usage from fire sprinklers and firefighters’ hoses
• the environmental impact resulting from burning household furnishings and finish materials as well as disposing the fire-damaged contents of a home
• the carbon footprint associated with rebuilding a burnt home

The findings show that greenhouse gases released by burning buildings can be reduced by 98% when automatic fire sprinklers are installed. The study, a collaborative effort of FM Global and the Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition, also found that automatic fire sprinklers:

• reduce fire damage by up to 97%
• reduce water usage to fight a home fire by upwards of 90%
• reduce the amount of water pollution released into the environment

This video shows the difference between the two burning living rooms.

There are photos and additional information about the test burn at FM Global.

The complete scientific research findings from this study are available in an FM Global report, ”The Environmental Impact of Automatic Fire Sprinklers“.

Share |

The staff at PoliceOne.com featured a potentially powerful new tool for law enforcement officers: an iPhone app that uses facial recognition software to identify suspects in a statewide database. Currently being developed in Mass., the MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Identification System) works simply by taking the suspect’s picture.

Here’s a video of the app in action:

What do you think? Do you or others in your department carry iPhones on patrol? Would mobile software like this motivate you to purchase an iPhone or a similarly equipped smartphone?

Share |