Fire Chiefs of the Year 2013

Each year many Fire Chiefs (career and volunteer) are nominated to be CHIEF OF THE YEAR.  The winners are then announced at the Fire-Rescue International conference.

This year there were 12 career nominees and 5 volunteer nominees.

The 2013 winners have been announced!  They are... (career chief) RANDY MIROWSKI and (volunteer chief) FREDDY JOHNSON SR

Congrats to all of you!! 

Career nominees included:

• Joe Florentine -- Little Elm (TX) Fire Dept
• Randall Groves -- Eugene (OR) Fire Dept
• David Hall -- Springfield (MO) Fire Dept
• Joanne Hayes-White -- San Francisco (CA) Fire Dept
• Rhoda Mae Kerr -- Austin (TX) Fire Dept
• Rich Marinucci -- Northville Township (MI) Fire Dept
• Mark Melvin -- Fort Bragg (NC) Fire & Emergency Services
• RANDY MIROWSKI -- Loveland (CO) Fire Rescue Authority
• Wayne Senter -- South Kitsap (WA) Fire Dept
• Floyd Shotwell -- Bruce-Romeo (MI) Fire Dept
• Paul Syx -- Bessemer (AL) Fire Dept
• Adam Thiel -- Alexandria (VA) Fire Dept

Volunteer nominees included:

• Charles Addington II -- Wolfforth (TX) Fire & EMS
• Greg Ball -- Oktibbeha County (MS) Fire/Rescue Dept
• FREDDY JOHNSON SR -- Stoney Point, Parkton (NC) Volunteer Fire Dept
• Thomas Renz -- Barnes (WI) Fire Dept
• Chad Sonnier -- Scott (LA) Fire Dept

Pot is Legal in Washington state and Colorado

On November 6, 2012, the lively battle of the Presidential election overwhelmed headlines.

Lost in the shuffle were stories such as the "Legalize Pot" vote in Washington state and Colorado.

Both states passed laws which legalize marijuana possession.  In fact, the new laws require each state to license commercial growers, plus make marijuana available for sale in stores next year.

This Fire Chief, Dominick Swinhart in Camas, WA, says he has no plans to do anything.

Former narcotics Police Officer, Neill Franklin, sent a letter to President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Federal government to respect the two state's new laws.  Here's a link to his letter and a list of the 73 Law Enforcement members who signed it.


The Police Chief, John Jackson, in Greenwood Village, CO has warned of "more impaired drivers."

EMTs are concerned that they will see more patient injuries and illnesses due to marijuana use.

And this week the Indiana State Police Superintendent, Paul Whitesell, said he would like to see pot legalized.

Wow.  So many questions come to mind.  How might this affect society?  How will the Federal government respond?  How will (or would) your Department respond?

If you have answers or thoughts, let us know!

Best place to do so is on our Facebook Post ... www.facebook.com/PublicSafetyStores

A Team of Heroes - Dispatch, Police, Fire, Paramedic, ER

Raoul Meekcom lives in Tualatin, Oregon with his wife Sandra.  But last month Raoul had a heart attack which should have taken his life.

However, thanks to 45 minutes of excellent work from the 911 dispatcher, a police officer, a firefighter, a paramedic and an ER doctor... Raoul is alive today!

Sandra called 911 as soon as she found her husband lying lifelessly on the bathroom floor.  The response started with 30-year dispatcher Rita McQuiston coaching Sandra through CPR techniques and chest compressions.

Then Tualatin police officer, Chet Lemon, arrived to take over the CPR.

Then Tualatin Valley fire chief, Mark Cross, came and contributed to the effort.

Then Tualatin paramedic, Jeff Hunter, showed up to help revive Raoul.

Then an ambulance took Raoul to the Emergency Room.

And finally ER doctor, Jerry Tran, brought the effort to a positive conclusion... after 45 minutes, Raoul's body responded!

Raoul does not remember anything from that day.  But he knows who does remember that day... his wife, 911 dispatcher (Rita McQuiston) and the multiple first responders who saved his life!

Check out this video of Raoul and Sandra meeting their heroes!

Fire Chief of the Year

Have you submitted your nomination for Fire Chief of the Year?  The deadline is June 15th!!

This 17-year tradition (dating back to 1995) is publicized by Fire Chief magazine.  And the 2012 award will be presented at the Fire-Rescue International Show in Denver this August.

Your Fire Chief is likely a brave individual who takes on many responsibilities - like Firefighting, EMS, managing your Department and purchasing your Fire and EMS supplies.  Its no wonder being a Firefighter is one of the most stressful jobs of 2012!

Take this opportunity to show your Fire Chief your support!  Click here for more information, and check out this video...

A little Firefighting, a lot more Doctoring

As you know, Fire Departments respond to far more EMS calls than actual Firefighting calls.  In fact, an EMS event occurs literally every second in the US!  60-70% of all calls to a Fire Department are for "medical" reasons, not "fire" reasons.

But most firefighters joined the Fire Department not for the gentleness of doctoring ... they joined for the action of firefighting!!

So, to rub a little salt in the wound, firefighters often grow weary of medical patients who become "frequent flyers."  These are medical patients who call on the Department so many times they might as well get a loyalty card and a frequent flyer number!

Firefighters get frustrated that this takes away from their first love - firefighting.  But sometimes their loud complaining can have unintended consequences - by leading Politicians and the Public to believe the EMS function should be privatized.  And perhaps parts of it should, but keep in mind the EMS work brings in quite a lot of money to a Fire Department.  It would be a tremendous loss of resources, and potentially jobs, if Fire Departments began to loose out on the EMS side.

Marc Scrivener wrote a terrific article about this in the Fire Chief Blog.

For now, Fire Departments offer both excellent EMS and firefighting services.  And the complexity of being superb at both is one of the reasons being a firefighter is ranked among the most stressful jobs of 2012.

So to firefighters everywhere ... you do a great job, keep it up!!