One of our favorite things here at LION is hearing from firefighters who tell us how our products have enhanced their health, performance and safety in the line of duty. Recently we’ve heard from two firefighters who wear our structural firefighting boots and have contacted us to share their feedback. Now we’d like to share their thoughts with you:

“At 0630 on September 11, a possible house fire alarm came in. I had already changed out of my uniform into my civilian clothes. I wore sandals to work the morning before….that is correct no socks. I jumped in to my LION Technical Footwear™ Marshall boots, pulled up my bunker pants and hopped on the engine.  The fire alarm was in fact a working fire. Two story residential dwelling with fire and smoke coming out the D side of the house. During this house fire, another firefighter became trapped in a burned out staircase in front of myself and a Captain.  We quickly helped the trapped firefighter out of the stairwell literally seconds before the room behind us became fully charged with smoke and flames.

Your boots with the Lock-Fit Ankle Support System™ worked very well. I would have had to worry about possible blisters on my heels from not wearing socks in my boots, but your boots protected my heels and didn’t slip at all while fighting this working fire and rescuing a fellow firefighter.

Thank you!”

– Ron Brickell, firefighter, Omaha, Nebraska

“I had the opportunity to attend the FDIC conference last year and stopped at the LION booth. I tried on numerous pair of boots, not only at the LION booth but many other vendors. I made my decision that the boots from LION were the best fit and price for me. After returning to Minot, I tossed around the thought of buying a pair of boots from LION. I made my decision, and just as I went to send the order in, I received an email notification that I had won a pair (exact same I tried on at FDIC). I have been wearing them now for about 6 months and I love them, they are the best boot I have ever worn. My fire department has purchased Black Diamond, I wore a pair of them for a while and I honestly would go barefoot before I would wear them again. Thank you LION for all of your hard work in making such great boots!!!

Keep up the good work!”

– Ken Sisk, firefighter, Minot, ND

How about you? Do you love your LION Janesville® turnout gear or LION Paul Conway Helmet®? Have you worn our LION Technical Footwear® boots or our new LION Protective Gloves®? If so, let us know what you like about our products. You can always post your pics and feedback on our Facebook wall, or you can e-mail us directly. We’d love to share your stories and photos next.

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LION announces the CLOSEOUT of all wildlands products. All Nomex® and Advance® wildlands shirts, coveralls and cargo pants are now available to the fire service at factory direct closeout pricing. All garments are in-stock and ready to ship making now the best time ever to take advantage of these products priced well below wholesale.

Check out our webpage for detailed product information including pricing and sizing.

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By Linda Willing, FR1

The potential problem with texting as a substitute for other forms of communication is that it is extremely low context

You need to communicate with someone right away. How will you do it? If you are like most people today, your first impulse will be to pick up your phone and send a text message.

Younger people are particularly likely to choose texting as a preferred communication method. For them, email is just too much trouble, and actually talking to someone on the phone? Forget about it.

Texting has much to recommend it. As a communication medium it is fast, easy, and can be done from almost anywhere. Unlike phone conversations, there are few privacy issues with those around you.

Click here to read the entire article on FireRescue1.

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By Pete Carey, Contra Costa Times
via PoliceOne.com

I zipped up the flack jacket, put on an Army helmet and snapped a pair of goggles over my eyes.

Suddenly I was crouching with a squad of infantrymen on a dusty street in a village somewhere in Afghanistan.

Or my avatar was. But I bear witness — it felt like I was there.

If I turned my head, the 3-D scene and point of view changed. I could walk in any direction, kneel or stand up and the scene would change as I moved. I could fire my weapon — a realistic M4 rifle replica loaded with electronics — and see the bullets hit their target.

Glancing up at the building a hundred yards away that our intelligence said contained seven bad guys, I spotted a sniper on the roof.

Shouldering my rifle, I fired.

(more…)

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LION is and has always been known for bringing the most comfortable and safe gear to the fire service. We’ve recently gathered feedback from firefighters about what they’re looking for in improving comfort and the interface in the head, neck and face area and have developed the brand new Contoured Comfort Collar. Field testing validated these improvements, and now we are bringing these changes to all wearers of LION Janesville® turnout gear by making the Contoured Comfort Collar standard on all LION Janesville® turnout coat models beginning Oct. 1.

Some features and benefits of our new collar design include:
–  Ergonomically shaped using contoured pattern to improve comfort and interface.
–  Smooth one piece transition at the shell/liner interface increasing comfort. No bulky seams or hook and loop to rub at the back of the neck.
–  Liner attachment at the top of the collar to allow for a natural break in order to use the collar effectively in the up or down position.
–  Continuous thermal and moisture protection around the neck and face to provide optimum comfort while the collar is upright or rolled down.
–   Versatility – up or down, improves interface with other PPE elements.
–  Standard 3” collar height with optional 4” height. Optional throat tab.

Want to know more about LION’s full line of personal protective equipment for firefighters, such as structural boots, gloves and helmets? Visit http://www.lionprotects.com/fire-and-rescue to see our product lineup.

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By Tom Howell Jr. and Andrea Noble
For The Washington Post

The D.C. government has temporarily halted use of one of its most popular Twitter accounts in order to get a tighter handle on information disseminated about emergency operations.

The District’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Twitter account has been on hiatus since Aug. 30, when the communications officer who ran it went on vacation, officials said. The account, which provided real-time information on emergency incidents in the city ranging from traffic accidents to fatal shootings, has been suspended as officials decide what information is safe to put online.

“We looked at some of the information that was going out on the Twitter account, and decided it needed to be filtered through the director of communications first,” Fire and EMS Chief Kenneth Ellerbe said on Wednesday at Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s weekly press conference.

If incorrect information goes out on Twitter, he said, “it puts all of us at risk.”

Read the full article on The Washington Times’ site.

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Make sure you train, research and follow best practices and standards when fighting any fire

by Jason Hoevelmann, FireRescue1

Basement fires of today are not the same as the basement fires of years past. It seems we are hearing more and more often about firefighters falling through floors early in an incident.

Construction

It is paramount that we understand what type of building construction we are dealing with in our areas. It is our responsibility to know if they are traditional, legacy construction or if they’re newer with low mass, engineered construction.

Click here to read the entire article on FireRescue1.

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By Dr. Paul Davis
President and founder of the FFCC

For the uninitiate (a person unfamiliar with a specific topic or subject) upon first seeing the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, the likely question: “What is this and where did it come from?“ Good questions, both.

Back in the dark ages of personnel selection, fire chiefs believed that big(ger) people tended to excel at the avocation. Ergo, there were minimum height and weight standards. No one considered that women would ever want a career in this most male of occupations. Disparate impact was an unfamiliar term in those days. So, in 1975, Chief David Gratz who was the director of fire-rescue service for Montgomery County (MD) and Dr. Leonard Marks paid us a visit at the Sports Medicine Center of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health, Department of Kinesiology. They wanted to know if there was a way to measure what it took to, for example, climb a ladder and chop a hole in a roof. “Sure,” we remarked.

(more…)

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By: Ed Raposo, FireLink

What best prepares a firefighter for the job? Classroom lectures? Experience through on-the-job training? Both? Neither? Each option has its proponents and its opponents. There have been discussions (and at times, heated debates) about experience versus credentials at firehouse kitchen tables all over the country for years.

What we are really talking about is training. What training method works best? What training method works best for you? Before you answer, think about the last time you learned something. For decades, people have been studying the ways, the means, and the methods that we humans learn “stuff”. After all this research, they came up with a blinding flash of the obvious: It depends.

In this “Kitchen Table Debrief” I will talk about the various methods we use to learn new things, and how we can best ensure our organizations implement the principles and methods to help everyone continue to learn and grow.

Click here to read the entire article on FireLink.

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You know about the Firefighter Combat Challenge events happening across the U.S., but did you know that the FFCC has spread around the globe? Many countries embrace the health, safety and performance ideals embodied in the Challenge’s extreme tasks and obstacles. FFCC founder and President Dr. Paul Davis was at the Berlin 2011 Challenge last month and had a few pictures to share. You can see more of the photos on our Facebook Page.

Don’t forget that World Challenge XX is right around the corner. Now that it’s September, keep checking this page for updates, schedules, information about byes, Grand National Champions (GNC), location information, hotels and additional things to do in Myrtle Beach.

(more…)

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