My blood is boiling… I just read this article , and it pissed me off. This “dad” advises, via public proclamation, his son to quit being a firefighter, and go do something else. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!!!! It has been ...
Read More »The Conundrum Of Frequent Flyers
“Everett firefighters in trouble for leaving homeless man under bridge” was a recent TV station story up in my neck of the woods. You can watch the story here, and read more of the details here. Of course, the Monday ...
Read More »Tin Cans and String
WTH? I can’t believe what I just read. The Washington DC Fire Department, located in the heart of federal grant land, cant’ even communicate with other agencies during emergencies. Last month’s deadly Metro subway fire exposed big time problems with ...
Read More »It’s Time To Herd The Cats
“Volunteers bring risk that is hard to manage.” This recent tweet, made by someone with purported emergency management experience, was made in response to my asking the question about several tweets they posted discounting the concept of using volunteers for ...
Read More »Somebody Needs To Own It
Who’s tired of hearing about the ugliness in Ferguson, Missouri? Me, for one. I’m tired of watching a community commit suicide by Molotov cocktail, while dedicated police officers try to contain the chaos without getting hurt. I’m tired of hearing ...
Read More »FSACK-A New Epidemic of Arrogance
Is there something in the water? Recent stories of leadership faux pas by fire chiefs, including allegations of criminal and racial activities are damaging the reputation of their departments and the fire service in general. Dave Statter’s blog, Statter911 features ...
Read More »There Is No Silver Bullet
I just got back from the Oregon Emergency Medical Services conference in Salem, where I talked about the use of social media for crisis communications. After the three presentations I asked one of the conference coordinators if he had heard ...
Read More »1.5 Hours Is Now 1.5 Days
A videotaped interview of four government employees responsible for handling public information functions after the August 24, 2014 Napa, California earthquake reveals real challenges and inherent conflicts between quickly informing the public, fulfilling incident command responsibilities and ensuring the safety ...
Read More »Deafening Silence In Ferguson
Over the past two days I’ve closely followed the civil unrest in the small enclave of Ferguson, Missouri, a small suburb outside of St. Louis. A Ferguson police officer shot and killed a young African American male after some type ...
Read More »There’s Ebolota Shakin’ Going On
Ebola, the nasty hemorrhagic fever virus described in detail in Tom Clancy’s 1996 book Executive Orders, caused a fair amount of public consternation in the U.S., and for good reason. The latest outbreak in the African countries of Guinea, Liberia and ...
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