The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847), called the Zadroga Act or Zadroga Bill, was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and will soon become law. When enacted, the Zadroga Act will provide $4.3 billion in funding, establishes the World Trade Center Health Program to monitor and provide medical care to people who develop health conditions caused by 9/11 toxic exposure, orders research of 9/11 related diseases, and reopens the Victim Compensation Fund. For more information, see “What is the Zadroga Act?”
Two recent, high-profile incidents highlighted the practice of using flammable gas to purge or clean piping systems intended for industrial appliances. In both instances, the release of the gas to the atmosphere without specific controls allowed the gas to be ignited and produce fatal explosions. Denise Beach, a senior engineer at NFPA, talks about one of these incidents and the steps taken to amend NFPA 54, National Fuel Gas Code, to help prevent similar tragedies from occuring.
With the holiday season quickly bearing down on us and our waistline, I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate a column to my thoughts on food and eating. As a culture, we have decided to refer to this basic need and activity as diet and nutrition. Whatever you call it, we have issues with it.
Many Americans are overweight and heading toward obesity. I prefer the classic definition of obesity: “having excessive body fat.” That is pretty straightforward. I like it because a person can be fat at 200 pounds or even fatter at 150 pounds. It all depends on the percentage of your weight that is fat. But I digress; this is a discussion for another time. Today I am going to talk about simple ways to eat better so you won’t gain weight but still enjoy yourself between Thanksgiving week and January 2.
The Firefighter Combat Challenge World Championships are the culmination of a season of hard work and rigorous training for teams around the world. Congratulations to all of the competitors for their dedication, hard work, sportsmanship and camaraderie throughout the season each year. Their passion for firefighting, competition and sport are unmatched.
LION has been a long-term supporter and the official turnout gear and helmet sponsor of the Challenge because we believe in its mission of encouraging firefighter fitness and demonstrating the profession’s rigors in a public way. Wearing full turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), competitors race head-to-head as they simulate the physical demands of real-life firefighting by performing a linked series of five tasks including climbing the 5-story tower, hoisting, chopping, dragging hoses and rescuing a life-sized, 175-lb. “victim” as they race against themselves, their opponent and the clock.
Check out this video of LION Janesville turnout gear in action – and what FFCC competitors have to say about it – at the 2010 Firefighter Combat Challenge World Championships in Myrtle Beach, S.C., last month.
Two years ago, the National Fire Academy (NFA) began hosting Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior (S-190) and Wildland Firefighter Training (S-130) in a computer-driven, online format through www.nfaonline.dhs.gov. In partnership with the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) and the National Association of State Foresters, these NFA courses allow structural fire departments to obtain the training necessary for safe operations in the wildland-urban interface. If your department responds to any type of vegetation fires, the safety of your firefighters may depend on this education. These courses are free and are specifically designed so that structural fire departments with limited resources can take advantage of these opportunities.
Combustible dusts can pose a fire and explosion hazard when specific conditions exist. Awareness of these conditions is the first step towards establishing a combustible dust hazard process management program. During the Orlando conference, Guy Colonna’s, manager of NFPA’s Industrial Chemical Engineering division, presented a three-part educational session on hazard recognition, the evaluation and analysis of a potentional explosion situation, and steps to take to minimize or eliminate a fire or explosion incident.
We’ve all had bosses who appeared to be good leaders but were terrible at managing, and vice versa. Both disciplines take hard work. Management entails lots of work in planning, organizing, staffing, delegating, budgeting, and all the other aspects we learned about POSDCORB (for you younger readers, ask an old chief about that acronym.) Can you be a good leader and a good manager at the same time? I say yes. Can you be good at one and not the other? I say yes again. Can you be lousy at both? Of course! I knew a chief of a small combination fire department. He was a great manager and administrator. He could justify a delivery of ice to the firehouse on a freezing day in February and get the funding for it from city hall. He couldn’t lead the men to the breakfast table. He had no “people skills” or leadership qualities and had a tendency to mess with the troops regularly. I once asked him why he did that. His answer was “because I can.” Glad he’s gone.
NFPA Fire Protection Engineer Matt Klaus provided a report on a new standard, NFPA 3, Commissioning and Integrated Testing of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems. The document is being processed in the Annual 2011 revision cycle. Matt provided attendees with a firsthand review of the draft document as it moves forward, and who needs to be involved in commissioning projects.
You’ve done the hardest part, you survived your initiation years and become a valuable part of your department. Now what? Most promotion advice resources neglect public service jobs such as career firefighting so here’s your chance to learn what it takes to move up in the ranks. FireLink featured writer Battalion Chief Paul Lepore has offered a multitude of resources to get you started.
FireRescue1.com writer Adam K. Thiel raised an increasingly important issue after several news stories, like PETA’s announced plans to partner with fire departments for advertising space and KFC’s marketing campaign to place ads on fire hydrants and extinguishers for their “fiery” wings, have revealed the dire financial situation many departments face today and to what lengths they’re willing to go to make ends meet.
The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (H.R. 847), called the Zadroga Act or Zadroga Bill, was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate, and will soon become law. When enacted, the Zadroga Act will provide $4.3 billion in funding, establishes the World Trade Center Health Program to monitor and provide medical care to people who develop health conditions caused by 9/11 toxic exposure, orders research of 9/11 related diseases, and reopens the Victim Compensation Fund. For more information, see “What is the Zadroga Act?”
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