tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62903236107040086772024-03-15T20:10:13.989-05:0010-24REKINDLEWritten and maintained by a retired career firefighter, this blog includes posts on a wide range of topics, which may include the fire service, travel, or other unsolicited viewpoints. Opinions expressed, other than those attributed, are my own. Please feel free to share as needed with appropriate attribution. (However, should something be considered offensive or really, really stupid, then it was most likely placed by a clever imposter. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-37202389559427025852021-08-18T14:18:00.003-05:002021-08-18T15:57:53.310-05:00Another Country Road<div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><i><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DnzIp-ee-zMd2IBzTFgIXJrT5VRgs-ypeA0ZqqgjctgI19gV_l8uLgBJOIN7vkOoNln46o9sXBx-V0hXxrtl47O0oBsXJgLwluK0svuFzuZLohnb5KToKdJ7CrmfZCxtWPicc8sUYZv3/s810/3D1F3FD3-ABC0-442D-A648-653132A8B568_1_201_a.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="670" data-original-width="810" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8DnzIp-ee-zMd2IBzTFgIXJrT5VRgs-ypeA0ZqqgjctgI19gV_l8uLgBJOIN7vkOoNln46o9sXBx-V0hXxrtl47O0oBsXJgLwluK0svuFzuZLohnb5KToKdJ7CrmfZCxtWPicc8sUYZv3/w320-h266/3D1F3FD3-ABC0-442D-A648-653132A8B568_1_201_a.jpeg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i>Published in American Motorcyclist Magazine, April, 1983 - </i><i><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Copyright 1983© By Rick Ornberg</span> </i></div><div class="column"><p></p></div></div></div><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Cruising along the highway with only the high stalks of corn to witness my passage, I looked at the sky and noticed how the clouds seemed to follow overhead, giving no hint of my speed. The Kawasaki 750 LTD hummed smoothly, sending subtle vibrations through my fingers as they lightly held the handlebar grips. The fairing pushed aside the wind and swirled it behind me, where it gently patted my back – seemingly propelling my body in unison with the bike. Tires on the smooth blacktop road made a barely audible hum as I rode.</span></p><div class="page" title="Page 1"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Leaning back on a small duffle bag, I brought my feet up to the highway pegs and felt as if I were riding on a recliner. The road alternately rose and fell in front of me, with the bike hugging each contour as if on a track. The once gentle curves of the open country began to sharpen a bit, requiring a slower speed as I neared a small town. A small yellow “School Bus” sign signaled the small bit of civilization that lay ahead.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Around a final curve and I was on Main Street. Two pickup trucks and a ‘65 Chevy with a tattered bumper sticker that read, “Drink Milk-The Udder Un-Cola,” occupied the parking spaces in front of a small cafe. I glanced at my reflection in the cafe window as I rode past, and pondered the drifter on the black motorcycle who looked back.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Slowing to 25 mph and glancing down a side street I saw two children look up from their toy earth movers long enough to wave at a stranger passing through town. Well away from the main highways, with no notable tourist attractions nearby, this hamlet rarely saw any visitors. Usually, visitors pass through towns on roads that lead somewhere. This little town marked only a brief interruption in the sea of rolling hills and fields that surrounded it.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">In barely the time it took to fully drop my speed for the town, I saw the 55 mph sign that announced the start of the next long stretch of highway. The town disappeared quickly in my mirrors, and the farmhouses grew farther apart as I piloted the bike through banked curves, over slowly rising hills and past old mill ponds.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">The sun setting behind me created a long misshapen shadow ahead on the road. Soon, the shadow was replaced by the beam of my headlight as twilight turned to darkness. Reaching the top of a hill, miles from anywhere, I pulled over to the side of the road and killed the engine. Dropping the kickstand and leaning back with a cigarette, I noticed that even though there was no moon, I could still see the shadow of my right hand on the fuel tank. The Milky Way and the constellations were so bright I could have read by their light alone. Listening to the crickets and</span></p></div></div></div><div class="page" title="Page 2"><div class="layoutArea"><div class="column"><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">frogs, I watched the night sky sporadically light up as meteoric sparklers cut across over my head.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">This sky, miles from the nearest street light or neon sign, was much richer than the one I was accustomed to at home. There, the night sky shone with a yellowish-gray light against the silhouette of rooftops visible in every direction. There was no Milky Way at home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Hearing a distant rumble, I looked to the west and saw a storm, still miles away, lumbering across the landscape on stilts of lightning.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Starting the engine again, and disturbing a small flock of birds, I moved the machine back onto the road and increased my speed. It was time to start heading for home. The night air carried the slight chill of day’s end and quickly shifted my mind back to the realities of home.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">I tried to ignore the increasing traffic and decreasing quality of the roads, and thought instead about the next weekend and another brief escape. Pulling into the garage, I sat on the bike for a moment and gave the throttle one more twist in neutral to mark the end of the trip. Turning off the ignition, I listened to the muffled crackling of the engine as it cooled. First the sounds came rapidly, like a metallic popcorn maker. Then they grew further apart and lower in tone, gradually fading away. Even the engine was reluctant to rest.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: TimesNewRomanPSMT; font-size: 12pt;">Stopping at the garage door, I turned and almost projected my thoughts at the now-quiet machine. “Next week,” I thought. “Next week we’ll try another country road.”</span></p></div></div></div>Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-63470908641875132020-05-29T07:57:00.000-05:002020-05-29T07:57:41.307-05:00HAND SANITIZER EXPLODES INSIDE CAR! - Well, not actually....<div style="caret-color: rgb(29, 33, 41); color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwT2IBvL-FQjve-5uVH56FBwJsQsm-5gHnrAngRof-gHU8D8TqiT7yUlUT-UZPQzzGFxCtvDo1G9mOoRBSJBQYPUbFvdCoEZTlRY1hamSaNRH6xSi5Y_KIB0W3zIxSLOGF2r2TX9y3Fxt/s1600/exploding-hand-sanitizer-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="618" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkwT2IBvL-FQjve-5uVH56FBwJsQsm-5gHnrAngRof-gHU8D8TqiT7yUlUT-UZPQzzGFxCtvDo1G9mOoRBSJBQYPUbFvdCoEZTlRY1hamSaNRH6xSi5Y_KIB0W3zIxSLOGF2r2TX9y3Fxt/s320/exploding-hand-sanitizer-01.jpg" width="320" /></a> Recently there was a story on the wires concerning a fire department warning of the dangers of sealed bottles of hand sanitizers heating up and exploding inside a vehicle. Many of those carrying the story also included warnings about storing hand sanitizer in cars or RV’s as a result.</div>
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Though it sounds logical to most, and for understandable conclusions that flammable products, confined and subjected to high heat can<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"> be BAD, the truth is a bit more complicated. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As a source for rapid combustion or explosion the hand sanitizer gets a bad rep. It’s not likely to happen, as internal vehicle temperatures, by one laboratory’s findings, would need to reach over 1,000 degrees F. Just about anything will burst into flames well before that point.</span></div>
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OK, under the universal rule of “@%$& Happens”, it’s possible that an improperly sealed container, however, could potentially leak product thereby releasing flammable fumes that could be subject to ignition from a nearby source, but the same might be argued about some after shave lotions and other products.</div>
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If a bottle of hand sanitizer is exposed to flames and subsequently ruptures, shure ‘nuff it will feed a fire with gusto. But then, so would other commonly stored products in an RV packed for travel.</div>
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Now that we’re all in a world revolving around copious amounts of hand sanitizer, the best thing would not leave such products in a car or vehicle left in the sun for a long period of time — just in case. If I'm out of my RV when subject to high internal temps, I’ll leave it in a sealed, insulated cooler or — one of the most insulated parts of any vehicle or RV — inside the freezer compartment.</div>
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And keep washing my hands, of course.</div>
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Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-5449416019480771502019-06-06T14:14:00.000-05:002019-06-06T14:14:15.627-05:00Judging Cowardice Is A Scary Thing<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I’ve watched recent news coverage of a Sheriff’s Deputy who now faces charges of failing to act during the Parkland School mass shooting. On the surface, the problem seems clear as the officer is videotaped allegedly hesitating and avoiding entering a school with an active shooter on the rampage. The officer maintains he was following existing protocol. <br /><br /> The rest of the story is widely known, as quick response by law enforcement and aggressive tactics took over, but sadly the end result was the tragic deaths of many students and school staff. I offer no defense for such inactivity by a sworn officer.<br /><br /> But now the raw anger continues, and the officer could face a potential 99 years in prison for his alleged inactivity. The accusation of cowardice, whether specifically stated or not, is at the center of the anger.<br /><br /> Without arguing the merits of this specific case it struck me that, within the charges of negligence, the core of the anger are accusations and declarations of cowardice. I wonder by what measure or yardstick do accusers and potential jurors measure bravery, or identify cowardice in someone other than themselves. Will jurors be made up of proven “heroes” wearing their medals of valor, Police or Fire personnel with their certificates of meritorious service, or others who — in eyes of others — have proven their own bravery?<br /><br /> As combat soldiers leave the protection of their cover and progress across a battlefield, some are killed halfway, some drop for cover two-thirds of the way, others move further and are killed, and some even make it all the way. Which group then, if any, can be labeled cowards? Which are brave and which were pinned down and could move no further? Are they cowards for not pushing ahead anyway? <br /><br /> Medals and citations for bravery are easier to quantify and qualify because they can be measured by an end result. Cowardice, on the other hand, is more difficult to assess objectively since it is based essentially on non-action. In the extreme or severe negative outcome final assessments can be clouded by emotion and become mostly subjective.<br /><br /> “Warriors to the front, cowards to the rear,” was a war cry attributed to Sioux warriors leading the initial charge against Custers’ 7th Calvary. In that case, position rather than result was the only qualifier.<br /><br /> There are ways to punish negligence or cowardice of those in public safety positions. Employment termination, loss of pay or pension benefits, etc. are often imposed and I’m sure may be appropriate in this case. <br /><br /> Imprisonment, for any length of time however, seems wrong when the prosecutors, judges and jurors themselves most likely have never been similarly tested. If those were my kids that were killed, perhaps I’d be calling for jail time too.<br /><br /> That said, judging cowardice is still a scary thing.<br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"># # #</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span>Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-1508252718747350112018-11-15T09:48:00.003-06:002022-05-09T12:00:40.643-05:00NEW TRICKS FOR AN OLD FIRE DOG<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif">One of the goals of my book, <i><a href="http://amzn.to/2wn3SkH" target="_blank">10-24: A Firefighter Looks Back,</a></i> was to highlight some of the changes from when I first joined the department to when I retired. This month it’ll be 22 years since I hung up my helmet, and I’ve found that my images of the fire service today are still dominated by those in 1996. A bit dated, I was recently reminded.</span><br />
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-kerning: none;"> It struck me while having a conversation with my son who was an ER nurse in Dallas, now a Doctor of Nurse Practice. We were talking about how TV shows cast an unrealistic image of EMS procedures and challenges. “Like that one medical show showing the seriously injured patient on the bloody gurney in ER and the family members right there within the drawn curtains interrupting and questioning every move,” I said. “Ridiculous,” I added to punctuate my disbelief.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-kerning: none;"> “Actually, Dad, there have been studies showing…” he replied offering a well studied and reasoned approach to improving patient care with some relatives in the ER alcove during treatment. “Hmmmmm,” I said while reeling in my know-it-all, been-there-done-that attitude — at least for this conversation, that is. That’s when I did an updated recount of the date today, and dates back when I was in the trenches. It was now well over two decades since I was on an EMS call.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-kerning: none;"> Monitoring fire service blogs, Twitter feeds and related industry news feeds, I failed in some cases to realize that much of our futuristic equipment predictions, proposed treatment practice improvements and high tech resources are currently in use. What were previously “you know what they oughta do” wishes are now in use saving lives of citizens and first responders as well. </span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-kerning: none;"> The thing that hasn’t changed in all these years since my first response in 1971, is that stuff changes. And like most things, the good changes survive and are built upon, and the bad changes eventually sentence themselves to obscurity.</span></div>
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<span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-kerning: none;"> And old fire dogs like me continue to watch, judge, pontificate a bit and hopefully learn. </span></div>
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Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-74834698994806155682018-05-30T17:14:00.002-05:002018-05-30T17:14:26.373-05:00Check for a key before using a fire axe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A friend and I were having a discussion on management techniques and lifestyles and how they’ve changed over the past several decades and discovered that we both had distinctly different styles. He was a retired executive, having risen through the ranks of a successful business eventually reaching top management before retiring. I had a slightly different path, ranging through a basically blue collar environment through the Army, 26 years as a career firefighter, topping off my work experience as a business association executive director and marketing business owner. <br /><br /> He approached a potential obstacle or threat by first evaluating the situation, exploring possible actions and potential results, and perhaps trying to benefit by the input of a committee or task force before final implementation.<br /><br /> I generally approached the problem by taking a fire axe to it.<br /><br /> Both have their obvious good and bad results depending upon the urgency, scope of impact, and consequences after the fact. <br /><br /> In fact both methods have their place and best used as a combination of both when opportunity or necessity allowed or required. What we agreed upon finally though, was that only experience helps us make those choices, and only maturity and self confidence allow us to deal with the eventual success or failure. I've learned that I can accept a claim of “I told you so!” from anyone that is equally comfortable with admitting, “OK, I was wrong,” without pointing at mitigating causes or influences. <br /><br /> We once responded to a report of smoke inside a building, finding the main doorway to the small six flat locked. Just before my trusty axe completed the first half of a hefty swing a nearby civilian yelled out, “Wait! I have a key,” saving the door from destruction and me from a lot of embarrassment. That’s when I learned to always quickly check for a key first, a practice that now serves me when dealing with business obstacles, lifes' speed bumps, politics, news reporting, and other challenges.<br /><br /> Sometimes it turns out there is no key, or — sorry to stretch the metaphor a bit further — I find somebody must have changed the lock when I wasn’t looking.<br /><br /> Besides, that axe is getting a lot heavier!<br />
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# # #<br />Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-53009395569646322072017-11-02T15:31:00.000-05:002017-11-02T15:45:42.915-05:00Earn your own hero “strutting rights”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">It happens every year. Twice a year as a matter of fact.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Spring and Fall are great opportunities to take a few moments and replace all the batteries in the smoke detectors in your home.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Besides being the most safe way to keep you alerted in case of a fire, it also helps you avoid that irritating “beep” noise that drives you nuts when a battery gets low. — <i>You know</i>, the beep that has you standing in the middle of the room listening to determine its origin, only to reposition yourself elsewhere to catch the next mysterious beep?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> And then again, until you find the guilty detector, and so on.</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Changing the battery — <i>for those of you who may not already be experienced </i>— is as simple has untwisting the smoke detector from the mounting, opening or sliding open a little plastic door, and pulling out the existing 9 volt battery and replacing it with a new 9 volt battery.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(There’s only one way to plug it in.) Then replace the battery into it’s appointed area, and remount the detector. Press the Test button and that’s all there is to it.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Well, afterwards you could also quietly strut around the house in your own “hero” mode for a bit, because you’ve actually earned the right. Especially if there’s a fire overnight and your freshly and full powered detector lets you know in time to get up, and to get out. Stand tall at the window with your fists on your hips gazing heroically out into the future and reflecting on your selfless act of heroism.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You can even say out loud, “It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!” whether anybody hears it or not. Hey, it’s YOUR special time!</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"> Oh, and by the way, if you do it this weekend, (Nov 5, 2017) it’s a good time to set your clocks back an hour too!</span></span></div>
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-58084813167896509772017-08-24T13:24:00.003-05:002024-03-14T12:22:31.515-05:00MY Total Eclipse of 2017<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGNXpBzX81BeIi3G7z6Q1rVavpKxf8APTJpEOGtLddp_O1z0mNIi_JJF6GgTvxSOYaSUy1F-nSQgRymEeAlbHQJi1zEL3aBU32YOHponYf7UY3r-Z_o0Ihe7YrN2idoPeNFsWssJnThk2/s1600/fullsizeoutput_3a24.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="641" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbGNXpBzX81BeIi3G7z6Q1rVavpKxf8APTJpEOGtLddp_O1z0mNIi_JJF6GgTvxSOYaSUy1F-nSQgRymEeAlbHQJi1zEL3aBU32YOHponYf7UY3r-Z_o0Ihe7YrN2idoPeNFsWssJnThk2/s200/fullsizeoutput_3a24.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>NASA/MSFC/Joseph Matus</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-kerning: none;"> After months of pre-planning and a few last minute destination changes as the weather in some areas became “iffy” at best, I eventually wound up in Glendo, Wyoming for an ideal viewing area. "Ideal" for me was somewhere in the direct path of the eclipse that I could also stay overnight in my small van-sized RV the night before. I also avoided the historic traffic jams that followed later that night and the morning of August 21</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-kerning: none; font-size: 13.3px; line-height: normal;"><sup>st</sup></span><span style="font-kerning: none;">.</span></div>
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As mid-day approached and everyones’ cardboard viewing glasses appeared in hand, I was a solitary viewer in a cleared field populated by many other RV’s and tents. I, along with many others, stood a half mile or so away from the larger concentration of other campers and day viewers lakeside along the large Glendo, WY reservoir. The town of 205 swelled to an estimated crowd of 300,000 — all of whom united as one happy family to see what they could see. With well over two minutes of totality the only criteria was looking UP, so everyone had a front seat position.</span></div>
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For me, Totality meant more than just full coverage of the sun by the moon. Totality included the entire on-site experience complete with my whole world going dark, temperature and wind dropping 20 degrees, a full 360 degree beautiful sunset along the entire horizon surrounding me, the appearance of a couple of planets and stars at mid-day, and the shared oohs and ahhhs and sporadic emotional outbursts of cheers and applause as each component of totality unfolded.</span></div>
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The initial partial coverage included several minutes of a sunny day seemingly unaffected by the moons’ slow passage across the sun, beginning with a small bite which then grew to quarter, then one-half and then three-quarter crescent until only a small but bright sliver of light remained. Even at this point daylight, though dimmed slightly as if an overcast day, still ruled everything in sight.</span></div>
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Then, with a bright instantaneous flash at about 7 or 8 o’clock position on the sun’s circumference, the sun was blotted out by the moon -- creating a black color I’d never seen before -- just barely corralled by a bright corona of blazingly silver light with varying glowing streaks of linear solar plasma reaching out thousands, if not millions of miles into space. I noticed about a minute into full coverage, as I strained to adjust my aging eyes to better focus on the suns’ corona and watching for a prominence or two, that I started to see multiple images. This, the sight I had driven over 1,000 miles to see unobstructed was now being slightly refracted by the beginnings of a tear welling up in each of my eyes. A quick swipe across each with the upper sleeve on my polo shirt and I was back in business.</span></div>
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I was surprised by the lack of colors, as I was expecting to see bright yellows along with the white light of the sun. Yet here and there along the outer edge, I noticed slight splashes of reddish orange as if the edge of the sun was bubbling. This, I learned later, were prominences of solar plasma exploding out away from the sun, only to collapse downward again.</span></div>
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Just an instant before the moon began to release the sun and return daylight to us all, a short ripple of light appeared at the suns’ 2 or 3 o’clock positioned revealing what has long been called “Baileys Beads” as a smattering of sunlight spilled through mountain ranges and canyons on the edge of the moon. Then a bright flash in the same area -- creating what's referred to as the “Diamond Ring” effect -- signaled the end of totality and a quick return to the safety glasses as the moon crept slowly across and away.</span></div>
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Visually the experience far surpassed any of the professional and scientific images that I’ve seen since the event. There’s something they always miss compared to when the image gathered by the human eye works in harmony with the human heart and imagination. I get goose bumps just typing this or explaining it, something I learned is shared by most who have experienced totality in person.</span></div>
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Another total eclipse crosses several US states in 2024. Whatever it takes, be there!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times"; line-height: normal;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "times"; line-height: normal;"> </span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-82460659590337139872017-06-03T09:27:00.000-05:002017-06-03T14:57:51.327-05:00Make mine an "Old Style" for awhile<div class="p1">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6err_YRmDwHSv_9a9M4B5Os9o0a1aB2NBO204OkQe51FWIMcgFs7uRFRI8BYO2Z1vqtqrGBFCy070s1_nMRylWp5SZTt3K1Tm9czg5IvoxaKGBcN9RIU5wNkM7gQbsrtL1Zpn0v-ThwV8/s1600/OldstyleFD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="413" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6err_YRmDwHSv_9a9M4B5Os9o0a1aB2NBO204OkQe51FWIMcgFs7uRFRI8BYO2Z1vqtqrGBFCy070s1_nMRylWp5SZTt3K1Tm9czg5IvoxaKGBcN9RIU5wNkM7gQbsrtL1Zpn0v-ThwV8/s200/OldstyleFD.jpg" width="200" /></a> I’m Johnny Come Lately with news of how Old Style has again issued a run of specially designed cans sporting the a Fire Service axes and emblem and more. It’s a fundraising effort where Old Style will donate 20 cents from every commemorative case sold to four fire related charities. Though initially issued 3 or 4 years ago, this most recent effort will last through August of this year or while supplies last.</div>
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What also caught my eye was that the program was extended to include my now home state of Wisconsin and Indiana as well. Part of the company’s Midwest Bravest program, over $45,000 has been raised. Donations are earmarked for the <b><i>Ende, Menzer, Walsh and Quinn Retirees, Widows and Children’s Assistance Fund</i>,</b> the <i>I<b>PPFA Remembrance & Survivors Fund</b></i><b>,</b> the <i><b>Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin Charitable Foundation</b></i> and the <i><b>Professional Firefighters’ Union of Indiana.</b></i></div>
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Supplies of Old Style seemed scarce nearby my home in Wisconsin, but a recent drive down to Illinois allowed me to pick up a case — for souvenir purpose only, of course. Ahem….</div>
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Nice going, Old Style!! </div>
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-80649484198236130612016-09-21T11:56:00.001-05:002021-07-16T15:28:55.579-05:00HELP! I've fallen and can't get up! Down and helpless on the Washington coast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"This is bad. This is real bad," I thought.<br />
<br />
Once I started to see more clearly after slipping between a few huge driftwood logs on Ruby Beach in far northwestern Olympic National Park, I felt my head to see if there were any knots or bumps from slamming my head on one of the logs. I finally sat up as a woman passing nearby moved my way asking, "Are you OK?"<br />
<br />
Sitting there feeling around for my glasses I said, "Not sure, but I think so." I found my glasses sans one lens. "Crap," I said feeling around for something smooth and shiny among the rocks and stones. Finding the missing lens and popping it back in place I could finally both see and focus on my situation. I made some motion to try and push myself up to sit on one of the logs, and found that my right foot was just laying there, still attached of course, but angled sharply to the right. It didn't take any of my 26 years of EMS first responder experience as a retired Des Plaines, IL firefighter to know my ankle was broken, and badly. Revelation number two sunk in then, with the realization that I was stuck on a beach 2000 miles from home near the furthest northwestern point in the continental US, 40 or so miles from any medical help, and no cell service at all. Zero bars, once just an inconvenience, became extra scary to this clumsy near 70 year old stranded and crippled on the log strewn shore.<br />
<br />
The woman who saw me fall, I learned, was a young woman visiting from Ireland. As she sat and stayed with me also finding her cell phone of no use, a young couple came over from another direction, asking if they could help. I said yes, I'll need to contact 911 or the Park Service and pointed to my ankle. Trying not to wince, the couple realized my situation was severe immediately. The young man took off up the path to the parking area seeking assistance as his girlfriend occupied another log, literally becoming one of two helpful and watchful bookends keeping me company as we waited for help.<br />
<br />
Over the next 45 minutes or so, the young man returned twice to check me out and returned to the lot watching for help to arrive. Finally, I saw the telltale EMS t-shirts on two men and one woman carrying medical bags and equipment. They were EMS workers attached to the Forks Community Hospital some 40 miles away, and immediately began checking me out from head to toe, gathering vital signs and doing a comprehensive survey of my condition.<br />
<br />
I identified myself as a retired firefighter and that I'd done a self survey as well, to which they politely acknowledged but continued to professionally do their own anyway. Soon they expertly removed my shoe -- <i>carefully without cutting the laces since I told them they were brand new shoes I bought to help calm my wife's concerns about me tripping or falling somewhere</i> -- and splinted my leg from thigh down in an inflatable splint. Then the wait began as more National Park Rangers were called for to assist moving me from the beach and up the winding and climbing pathway to the waiting ambulance in the parking area where I had left my small van-sized RV.<br />
<br />
After about an hours' wait — the National Park covers a lot of territory in the Olympic Penninsula — several more Rangers arrived and I was transported via a large single wheel attached to a basket in sort of an oversized wheelbarrow with 3 or more rescuers on ether side. After a 40 mile trip north back to the EMS crews' home base to Forks Community Hospital in Forks, WA, I was finally wheeled into the emergency room where I was examined, x-rayed and treated by the most friendly, professional and sincerely caring ER staff and Doctors I'd ever encountered. Sure, I was probably expecting a more industrial-type, assembly line experience like some more busy and overloaded ER's I've seen over my EMS years, but the up to date and current facility was matched by all the personnel I encountered. It was not the "Mayberry Clinic" I expected, though the kind, sympathetic and friendly treatment was almost idyllic.<br />
<br />
Slowly, as I was scheduled for surgery that evening, panic began to arise as I considered my plight: So far from home, traveling alone, having just been told I'd probably need 6 weeks or so until I could even think of driving. I had a sizable investment in a modern and well equipped 2015 Roadtrek 170V RV van sitting alone in a lot 40 miles south still at Ruby Beach and no plan or idea of how I would get myself, much less my RV, back home to Wisconsin. I finally made the inevitable call home to my wife who, up til now, figured I was happily still taking photos along the west coast.<br />
<br />
I won't go into a detailed account of the conversation, but I made the call, assuring her I was in good hands and receiving excellent care. I would call her after surgery, still several hours away, and the surgeon assured that he would also call her once surgery was done. I began my wait for the trip to the OR as I was prepped and situated for the reduction and surgery that would follow.<br />
<br />
"Is there any way I can secure my RV down there at Ruby Beach?" I asked the admitting doctor in the ER. He pointed to a fellow standing in the doorway. "A couple of guys from Maintenance said they'd be happy to help," said the Doctor. I handed over the keys to a friendly middle-aged guy who assured me he knew where the lot was at the beach and that two of them would head out now and bring it back and leave it secure in the hospital lot. When he returned the key just before surgery, they both refused any kind of payment. "Just wanted to help out," they said, adding ten-fold to my faith in mankind overall. I was overwhelmed by their help and effort, and then my cellphone rang.<br />
<br />
My wife had called my oldest son in Dallas, Texas area where he works as an ER Nurse at a hospital in Plano, TX. "Your son is making arrangements to fly out from Dallas to Seattle, rent a car and drive from the airport to Port Angeles, WA then hop on a bus to the hospital. He will be there late tomorrow afternoon to drive you and the RV back home." <br />
<br />
Over the next several days, my wife and family became my strength and sole support. At that moment, however, for the first time in my adult life, after years of responding to emergencies of others, I felt all the panic start to fade away and my eyes started to tear up for a few transitional and eye-opening moments. Laying there so far away from home, alone, injured and awaiting surgery, I realized that amidst the pain and worry, that I was both the luckiest man in the world and the world's proudest father.<br />
<br />
And that Forks, WA rocks!! <br />
<br />
Epilogue: <i>Surgery went ok, resulting in a metal plate and a few screws to repair my broken ankle, and was splinted to keep it immobile for my several day trip home for follow up by my own Doctors. My son showed up as promised the next day. What followed were 4 days of a road trip where my son drove the RV all day, then schlepped me in and out of motels and saw to my needs, subtly watching for any signs of difficulties associated with my ankle or surgery. That trip could be a whole separate story on it's own, but I'm going to keep that within family and selfishly save those warm memories for myself. Oh, and no more solo distant hiking adventures so far away. Ever!</i>Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-12795093227200813642016-04-20T14:53:00.000-05:002016-05-11T09:19:27.415-05:00Firefighters shot while entering home: Update of protocols called for<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpkbx0t40pQ7qs1v4GFx2oUSBJxw8jkSxWGSvJID5v3ei00soLuDbOzkCGDG3ipaqON74wOf1d2Hz1Mn5Qx9ShG-zvRuaAiKGEnKv7-rjcunlbbKuDaaUF7jY7-s_Nv_FCBedf38RNdwG/s1600/halligantool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTpkbx0t40pQ7qs1v4GFx2oUSBJxw8jkSxWGSvJID5v3ei00soLuDbOzkCGDG3ipaqON74wOf1d2Hz1Mn5Qx9ShG-zvRuaAiKGEnKv7-rjcunlbbKuDaaUF7jY7-s_Nv_FCBedf38RNdwG/s200/halligantool.jpg" width="200" /></a> Recently, two Maryland firefighters were shot by a homeowner who did not realize they entered his home following a request by the owner’s brother to check on his welfare. One of the firefighters died from the gunshot wound shortly after. Classified as a “routine” welfare check by local fire officials, this is the second time a firefighter was shot in the same district during this type of call, with one firefighter wounded in 2008 in similar circumstances. “We will probably give them a little more guidance to help those people make better informed decisions,” said the Fire Chief in a local news story.<br />
The argument is strong on both sides of the first-responder community, with some calling the firefighters “heroes” for their attempts to help another, with others calling for much stronger indicators — such as actually observing someone incapacitated, or hearing calls for help or screams within — before making forcible entry into a residence, especially these days when more Americans are protecting their individual homes and “castles” with firearms under a protective 2nd Amendment. (Full disclosure: I’m one of them.)<br />
Leaving the ongoing firearm debate aside, there’s the matter of who should make such entry and under what circumstances. How many times do you knock? How loud do you call out? How many times do you call out? Should a 2nd floor entry be attempted first? (Often 2nd story windows aren’t locked.) And leading all those questions is whether firefighters should be making forcible entry “just in case” at all or leave such initial entry to trained police officers.<br />
I fall on the side of following the cops inside in any situation when a forcible entry is made when there’s no flame, smoke or audible indicators to do so. Some will immediately remind me of how “seconds count in a medical emergency”, and they’ll be right. Taking that one extra step of precaution can save lives as well. Others will question whether fire or EMS personnel will be lesser servants should they pause. Maybe, but fire and EMS personnel make such decisions everyday when they stop and take time to check if a floor over a fire is spongy or not before proceeding, or taking time to check prior medication before injecting another drug that might prove lethal in combination. Seconds do count to be sure. But so does common sense.<br />
Individual courage and sense of duty is always admirable, but unfortunately not always productive. Protocols for such calls to “check on the welfare” should primarily be a police response with EMS backup. Or, at the very least, an EMS or Fire response, though <i>only with on-site Police support.</i> Either way, firefighters may be the experts in <i>how to break in</i> and make entry, but in most cases void of smoke, fire or screams, the Police know best <i>when to break in</i>.<br />
Fire and Police have always been two equal parts of an ongoing competitive game. Everyday, however, they continue to work best as a team when it comes to saving lives — of both first responders and the citizens they serve.<br />
###<br />
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<br />Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-66298972722043151842016-02-03T10:04:00.000-06:002016-02-03T10:05:43.907-06:00Could just One More Sentence save lives?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUplpk_UNZPbaXuHKqOE0x6wrwBWYDqmt0ysNJtgCqas7SC0qLb0KVnRkVLAKBDvpykGZCORr9qyQrBjb-sg7no_djudQW5FAyqK8auZpg4Hq80wewW7Obr7s8sqvW2UTFsonMgcpINkU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-02-03+at+9.57.22+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUplpk_UNZPbaXuHKqOE0x6wrwBWYDqmt0ysNJtgCqas7SC0qLb0KVnRkVLAKBDvpykGZCORr9qyQrBjb-sg7no_djudQW5FAyqK8auZpg4Hq80wewW7Obr7s8sqvW2UTFsonMgcpINkU/s200/Screen+Shot+2016-02-03+at+9.57.22+AM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From "Adopt-A-Hydrant" flyer,<br />
Des Plaines, IL FD</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So far this winter we've all been subjected to massive coverage of snow storms around the country, partly because it's news but partly because such 24/7 coverage has proven to increase both viewership and advertising opportunities for broadcasters. Of a more local staple for news media are residential fires that result in a tragic loss of life. It seems that with both of these important stories, what is often missing is just one more sentence. Just one additional statement that could possibly help save lives but is often omitted.<br />
The most recent east coast "snow-maggedon" displayed the expected footage of folks shoveling snow, plows slicing away at snow buildup on streets and roads, aerial footage of highway backups and endless radar evaluations. Reporters made snowballs, jammed yardsticks into the snow and alternated between footage of snow blowers and kids sliding down hills in plastic saucers. On one national network, the studio anchor actually convinced a somewhat hesitant field reporter to fall back in the snow and demonstrate for America the fine art of making snow angels.<br />
What was disturbingly missing from these reports, however, was that One More Sentence. Something like, "And please be sure to keep neighborhood fire hydrants free of snow and accessible to first responders." While many local news outlets team up with the local fire department and show how buried hydrants can delay a fire response, the national news seemed to be more interested in frolicking in the snow. It only takes a few seconds to say, but hopefully some listeners will think a bit after clearing their own sidewalks or driveways and clear the snow away from a nearby neighborhood hydrant buried by passing plows. It takes time for responding firefighters to dig out a hydrant, and even more time if they can’t locate one buried in mounds of snow and ice plowed up from the street.<br />
The other One More Sentence deficit in the both national and local news is the one that should conclude every report of a residential fire fatality where it applies. That would be, "Fire officials report that there were no functioning smoke alarms present.”<br />
In my 26 years as a career firefighter, I can't recall a single fatality or serious injury in a home that was protected by a working smoke detector. There may have been some, but I suspect those incidents are extremely rare. I'd expect that it would be one of the first questions from a reporter since most such fatalities are due to smoke inhalation. The piercing shrill of an activated smoke detector has proven to be a tremendous life saving device providing warning enough to escape and help others get out as well. Where there are no such detectors, the news accounts usually include the family member or neighbor telling how, "I just couldn't get past the smoke and flames," to help those inside.<br />
Smoke detectors would seem to be a no brainer to most folks, and having the security of an easily spotted and accessible fire hydrant near your home would also seem to be important during a snowstorm. But we're all victims of differing priorities and distractions, and this does seem to be the era of short attention spans.<br />
All the more reason that news coverage could help save some lives, I believe, by providing a quick reminder about buried hydrants and having a working smoke detector by adding that crucial and possibly life saving One More Sentence.<br />
<br />Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-13973907047243172032015-11-30T10:30:00.004-06:002017-04-17T07:24:28.198-05:00Keep RV Fire Escape Clear<style>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Fires in occupied RV’s are rare, but as more and more RV’rs continue to extend the camping experience into winter months using propane furnaces or electric heaters that can be used when hooked to shore power or generators, fire hazards increase as well.<br /> Sticks and bricks homeowners have long been encouraged by local fire departments to practice regular Escape Drills in the Home (EDITH). Fire safety experts know that the feeling of sudden panic experienced while still in a half-sleep stupor can lead to bad judgments and reactions ending with tragic results. I vividly remember a few incidents where we’ve found a victim who died only because they lost their way in the smoke and darkness or found an exit blocked.<br /> Applying this kind of detailed and comprehensive drill to an RV or small camper would seem like overkill, but some basic pre-planning and nightly preparation checks can both save lives and prevent injuries in case of a middle of the night fire.<br /> Though all RV’s and campers have several exits, some of them may be blocked temporarily at night being used as a sleeping area. Others may be blocked with other stuff relocated to accommodate a sleeping area elsewhere. In addition to the obvious need to keep your smoke detector operational, here are a few things to consider:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Keep all exit opportunities clear, or in the case of smaller Class B's or camper vans, be sure the person sleeping in front of an exit knows how to open it quickly.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Know where the proper lever or latch is located or if there is a corresponding locking latch that needs to be operated before opening. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Don’t block that latch.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Keep portable heaters away from anything that can burn, i.e. trash bin, laundry, bedding (even blankets or covers that may slide off of you overnight).</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Is your fire extinguisher readily available and located at or near an exit? (Should only be used after everyone is outside anyway, but you never know.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anticipate people or pet movement overnight that might dislodge, topple or move flammable objects.</span></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Add your own additional precautions unique to your situation here.</span></i> </li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Every RV and camper environment is different, so precautions taken will differ as well. Take a few moments to inventory your own unique living and sleeping arrangements and then imagine how you’d quickly react in case of a fire in your unit.<br /> Firefighters refer to trailers, campers, RV’s and the like as “matchbooks” because of the amount of materials that can burn (called a “fire load”) contained in a small space. As such they are often extinguished, but rarely saved. While it may be easy to imagine how you’d put out this fire, or deal with that fire and so on, when it comes to the real thing actual reactions may be different. <br /> How to <i>get the hell out quickly</i> may be the only way to save your life. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-55009193118183752922015-09-10T11:33:00.001-05:002022-09-30T09:18:06.050-05:009/11 - Remember the Blood of Heroes <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">As
a retired career firefighter I do the same thing each year as September
11th approaches. Recalling the horrors of September 11, 2001 and the
loss of so many firefighters and first responders among the nearly 3,000
who perished, I see how the event itself seems to have dimmed in the
collective memories of many in this country. Just within the past week,
one TV pundit went as far as saying we all “over-reacted” to the event.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">
I finally had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero in New York in 2011.
For many firefighters, including the retired members like myself, such a
visit is our own “pilgrimage to Mecca” -- forgive the ironic metaphor
-- to show respect for the fallen. I was as surprised as my grown son
who was with me was when I was unexpectedly moved to tears at one point
viewing a display case showing the hundreds of patches from Police and
Fire units from around the world. It epitomized and drove home the sense
of brotherhood and family that first responders share, and how the
survivors continue to honor their memory and ultimate sacrifice.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> Each year I share a link to a 9/11 memorial site that contains a moving video, “</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yxSlf9I9IQ">Remember the Blood of Heroes</a> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> offering a powerful visual and audio reminder to all of us of how we
felt that day. It begins with a series of applicable quotes that lead to
a moving and powerful payoff, one that I believe many Americans need to
revisit from time to time.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">
For me, every day after September 11, 2001 has become September 12th. I
hope that instead of allowing the date to diminish in importance,
dissolve through historical revisions, or depreciate in patriotic value,
that we will continue to honor those who responded and those who
perished during this attack on America and modern civilization as we
know it.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> Please view the video, and share the link with others as well.</span><br />
<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yxSlf9I9IQ">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yxSlf9I9IQ</a>Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-4135836718501975382015-02-09T09:35:00.002-06:002017-10-23T19:31:28.618-05:00"We're gonna burn the witch!" - A Halloween Memory<div class="MsoNormal">
Many years ago there was a story in my home town paper about a neighborhood Halloween celebration that a few families tried to arrange that drew fire from others as for -- lack of any sensible definition -- "politically incorrect". The celebration involved the ceremonial burning of a fabricated witch in effigy as part of the Halloween program. There were concerns of "Satanism", devil worship and all manners of religious paranoia that pressured the city to not grant permits for the event and essentially killing the idea.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story stimulated a twinge of nostalgia concerning my
father Robert A. Ornberg, who passed away in 1958, who began the tradition in our hometown in
the mid 1950’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dad was wondering aloud, I recall, just before Halloween how
the neighborhood kids needed something else to do besides soaping his windows.
Instead of planning to call the police every half hour, he contacted a few
neighborhood and business friends and got to work.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First he persuaded several local merchants and businessmen
to donate various treats such as candy, ice cream, cookies, punch and a few
toys for prizes. As an Advertising Manager for a local manufacturer, he was
able to assemble a few 16 mm cartoons, a projector, a long extension cord and a
large bed sheet. Others gathered what seemed like every empty cardboard box in
the city, old newspapers and some old wooden skids.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then, on Halloween Eve, I remember peeking down into the
basement as Dad meticulously assembled, from 2 by 2’s, bunched up newspapers, black
crepe paper, cardboard -- along with a warlock’s imagination – the biggest,
ugliest and scariest looking witch that a 7 year-old had ever seen mounted on
a long wooden pole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Flyers had been hand delivered throughout the neighborhood
for several days. On Halloween, hundreds of costumed kids with their parents
gathered at the old Community House, located at a neighborhood park. There were games to play, treats to consume and prizes to win. As
it grew dark, the sheet nailed to side of the small field house lit up with the
images of Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig. Then it was time for the
parade.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With Dad at the head of the crowd carrying the paper and
wooden witch high overhead, the entire crowd followed Dad and the witch out of
the park and marched through the neighborhood. Someone began the chant, “We’re
gonna burn the witch! We’re gonna burn the witch,” a few times which quickly
ignited the entire crowd chanting in unison as they moved from block to block.
After snaking through much of the neighborhood we all returned to the park
where the cardboard witch was propped up at the top of the large pile of
cardboard and wood. With ample ceremony, and a fire engine and crew standing by
nearby, the pile was put to the torch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The excitement that had been building all evening exploded
in cheers and hollers as flames consumed the evil make-believe witch, and seemingly
burning away all the ideas of pranks and youthful mayhem as well. Everyone
finally went home feeling like Halloween was indeed a holiday.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
I know there must be a few other “kids” out there that
remember this tradition as fondly as I do.<br />
<br />
Dad sure had a way of coming up with
the right idea at the right time. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-28793550435727505902015-01-28T08:26:00.000-06:002015-02-13T22:03:31.928-06:00Major snowstorms bog down firefighters too<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOV4vnCxvHzmCDytEH0llfrCqf3wBzSE41Yq83cxh7jiWN_bN-cyZxrp_TZNzOCzPRhJgguJ0lFAWdvhyvc4A4J2Vv27NXJ_YpjAbsUMy5vbI55tPanXr39_mEWpo9qVRSQN9s1M4CH5xA/s1600/Icey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOV4vnCxvHzmCDytEH0llfrCqf3wBzSE41Yq83cxh7jiWN_bN-cyZxrp_TZNzOCzPRhJgguJ0lFAWdvhyvc4A4J2Vv27NXJ_YpjAbsUMy5vbI55tPanXr39_mEWpo9qVRSQN9s1M4CH5xA/s1600/Icey.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> Every time there’s a major snowstorm, folks empty out food stores stocking up for a few days of possible isolation, or hardware stores of all manners of snow shovels, blowers, and scrapers. It’s just accepted -- and expected -- that calling 911 will bring help “just in case.” </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"> </span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fire departments prepare for such emergencies, but one old saying might be appropriately altered to read, “Snow happens.” No matter how much you try to prepare, a couple feet of snow, or extended periods of sub-zero temperatures are going to have an effect on how crews will be able to respond, perform and even wrap up afterwards.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In one such blizzard in the Chicago area in 1979, a quickly developed SOP called for ambulances responding to medical emergencies to be preceded in traffic by an engine literally clearing at least passable tire tracks for the ambulance to negotiate. It added time to any response -- time that can be crucial in a medical emergency -- but it at least help assure that the equipment would arrive rather than get bogged down in snow.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Another challenge with a couple feet of snow falling in a short time is finding a fire hydrant. Major snowfalls, coupled with plowing activities, quickly buried thousands of fire hydrants under massive piles of snow. Once the snow was over, a hydrant that was buried even as little as one inch was just as invisible as one buried in a 10 foot pile. In the event of a fire, searching for an available hydrant could prove devastating as a building burned with no water available.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In our ’79 blizzard, all hands were called back on duty and all were assigned on a 4 hour out, 2 hour rest schedule to any available public works or non-emergency fire vehicle to dig out literally every hydrant in town. Armed with a water system map and shovels, crews used a 6 foot long metal rod to locate hidden hydrants. Guided by the water map, which showed the “general area” where hydrants were located, we stabbed here and there until feeling a telltale metal response and started digging. It took fire crews, on overtime, 72 hours to dig out every hydrant in town. Fortunately, no actual building fires were hindered by a buried hydrant.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Sub zero temps offer still more hazards. The pumps on fire engines carrying their own water supplies would freeze up if not previously drained in severe freezing weather. If not, the pump could not...pump water. Once drained, however, it would function but may take a couple of valuable minutes to prime before the pump could actually function.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Fire streams created thick layers of ice on firefighting gear, sometimes making it near impossible to bend your legs or elbows until a fellow firefighter helped “break the ice” at your joints to allow greater movement. After the fire, fire hoses froze in place and were impossible to roll up again. They had to be folded in large spaghetti-like spindly sculptures and loaded into the back of pickup trucks to be returned to the station to be thawed out and cleaned.</span></span><br />
<div style="min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And you can be sure that NOBODY ever stuck their tongue on a hose nozzle.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-10524730622870020012014-09-14T12:37:00.002-05:002014-09-14T16:56:20.150-05:00Before Help Arrives: Simple emergency tool saves lives on the highway<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQgr7TzOAeZv55WXD3wqj_mgGzJ2sDwzn6aW1aY5VvGyZEY-CL6P-ZXCF2M430OZg2WHNZAPpbTstuXB1XOL9hWxaLfog5pSK8hyphenhyphendL9w6WGUJ9gxjxklK7k4pbO0Ru19tPzOr4hfidr9S/s1600/IMG_1445.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQgr7TzOAeZv55WXD3wqj_mgGzJ2sDwzn6aW1aY5VvGyZEY-CL6P-ZXCF2M430OZg2WHNZAPpbTstuXB1XOL9hWxaLfog5pSK8hyphenhyphendL9w6WGUJ9gxjxklK7k4pbO0Ru19tPzOr4hfidr9S/s1600/IMG_1445.JPG" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_1001680576"></span><span id="goog_1001680577"></span>One nightmare scenario involves a vehicle bursting into flames following a crash and the driver or occupant struggling to unlock a seat belt as smoke and flames quickly overcome them. Another is witnessing another driver trapped in a vehicle as you or other would-be samaritans<span id="goog_1001680571"></span><span id="goog_1001680572"></span> pound and bang unsuccessfully on the window trying to extract an occupant. These nightmares may vary, but they all involve the inability to get out of the vehicle quickly in an emergency.<br />
<br />
Properly equipped and trained first responders can often remove an entire windshield in minutes and, if need be, pry open doors or completely remove the vehicle roof with tools commonly known as the “Jaws of Life”. but for the RV'r or or other drivers on the road a simple tool can often be the difference between life or death.<br />
<br />
A seat belt cutter and emergency window punch tool sure comes in handy. Readily available at most stores like Walmart or online are a variety of combined belt cutter and window punch tools that can be mounted in plain sight in your vehicle or RV or kept handy in an easily reached compartment. Once in place, it can be quickly accessed either to assist another motorist on the highway or even to help escape your own vehicle when the worst happens.<br />
<br />
On one end is a hammer-like head with pointy metal strikers where you’d otherwise expect a flat hammer face for pounding in nails. This allows even the weakest among us to apply enough focused force on a vehicle window to instantly shatter it into thousands of small pieces and allow access to the occupant, or for the occupant to reach the outside. <br />
<br />
The tool is effective only for side windows -- those that offer the best access for either rescue or escape. Modern vehicle front windshields are essentially two safety glass panes of glass sandwiched around an inner plastic like material designed to keep the windshield intact in case it is similarly struck while driving. All modern side windows, however, will shatter with one or two strikes with the tool.<br />
<br />
Once the window is no longer an obstacle, potential rescuers may be faced with wasting precious seconds searching for a seat belt release with a variety of release options. With the belt cutter, used in a similar fashion as most letter openers, belts can be quickly sliced. This is a particularly helpful tool with child restraints.<br />
<br />
We’ve all seen the online videos of motorists coming to the aid of others on the highway, especially those that have a happy ending. What we don’t often see, but are the usual outcome too many times, are those where all efforts fail and drivers die while still seated in the vehicle. In some cases, it could have been merely the difference of a few seconds for either rescuers or occupant, where the right tool in the right place could have made a difference.<br />
<br />
Whether you can, or should, help a motorist in such a situation is a decision only you can make. (A subject for another post) If you do choose to act, or wish to give yourself an extra edge -- get one of these tools for every vehicle you drive.<br />
<br />Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-24993655870594070752014-09-11T12:01:00.004-05:002014-09-11T12:15:22.179-05:00Visiting Fireman on 9-11<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdLjCZFDeKAZxHTW2JVWH_VjVS8yTITRFuEnBcS4y-ZZDIhY0bpbT9Q2oKHh9tjCsSKPcdyKi4YhREtGRquiASNpXzhm9PUxugvkTndPkxvsLcaO2eB0If24aZuGtqkL9WK9GgyJ2EdMQ/s1600/IMG_1450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdLjCZFDeKAZxHTW2JVWH_VjVS8yTITRFuEnBcS4y-ZZDIhY0bpbT9Q2oKHh9tjCsSKPcdyKi4YhREtGRquiASNpXzhm9PUxugvkTndPkxvsLcaO2eB0If24aZuGtqkL9WK9GgyJ2EdMQ/s1600/IMG_1450.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a> Now retired from the fire department since ’96, each year at this time since 9-11 I’ve always tried to make it back to my home town of Des Plaines, IL for a city or department led observance of the day. A couple of years it was enough to stop by the station and have a cup of coffee with the crew for awhile and then move on. <br />
<br />
This year I wasn’t able to drive down for either and instead stopped by the local Oconomowoc, WI Fire Department’s Station 2 this morning to at least observe the modest ceremony they had planned. Just spending even a few moments of that particular day on Fire Department soil still remains important, even 13 years after.<br />
<br />
The local department, though small in number, had raised a flag high over the station on their elevated platform, and the Chief made a few eloquent remarks about both the tragedy of that day and the reverence reserved for the day annually by the fire service. Reading a short poem, or listing a few statistics could not cover up the occasional interruption caused as emotion made it difficult to speak. A reporter earlier asked why the department had this ceremony each year, and the Chief responded, “Well, I can give you 343 reasons right now,” and then explained further.<br />
<br />
As a retired firefighter, and one of only two or three non-department observers, I was invited to line up along with less than a dozen active firefighters who were on hand for the ceremony. The Chief began reading the names of the 343 firefighters who had lost their lives at Ground Zero, and after reading a page of names handed the list to the next person in line who continued for a page soon passing the list on to the next, and so on. <br />
<br />
I was deeply honored to have been part of the line of readers and did my part reading the names, ranks and duty assignment of a page full of firefighters I had never met, yet considered brothers. It was, perhaps, one of the most moving opportunities I’ve had on an already emotionally-charged date.<br />
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It was a small ceremony, and a relatively short one — though it seemed long due to the cold brisk wind that swept across us on the ramp — but it was a necessary one. And I was deeply grateful to be there.Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-53142454808751212652014-07-08T17:05:00.000-05:002014-07-08T17:13:24.027-05:00Here's why it took the fire department 20 minutes to get there<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomjQ_Wts06TDK8nPFBqi7OPtgvrA-tS7gn-WYJwF0ljjRn3gcZxfJW6KPXtRjN8Qj5frr9NYYMYfe5N9NNOo1rHXwED8QLG9OQkTlwiVmJnRbWZfOyRY3qXgSsaaYKAyXK9YG8Fo__EnP/s1600/redlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiomjQ_Wts06TDK8nPFBqi7OPtgvrA-tS7gn-WYJwF0ljjRn3gcZxfJW6KPXtRjN8Qj5frr9NYYMYfe5N9NNOo1rHXwED8QLG9OQkTlwiVmJnRbWZfOyRY3qXgSsaaYKAyXK9YG8Fo__EnP/s1600/redlight.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
First of all, it DID NOT take the fire department 20 minutes to get there. You may think it did, but not really.<br />
<br />
Chances are the actual response time between the time the first call was received and the first unit rolled up on the scene was somewhere around 4 to 6 minutes. It's also the national norm for all incoming emergency calls and radio traffic to be recorded, time stamped and the tapes archived for a year or more. (OK, maybe "tapes" are back in my day, now replaced with wave or mp3 files or whatever...)<br />
<br />
A recent tragic fire in Philadelphia resulted in neighbors and others charging that a late response by firefighters was the reason that several children died. In fact, it was not a delayed response to a fire that killed these unfortunate kids. It was the fire itself, which never should have started in the first place. Still, these folks decided to stage a protest outside the fire station even to to point of hindering one of the rigs responding to another emergency. <br />
<br />
One rig showed up, according to the records, in less than 3 minutes. Another from the same nearby firehouse took a bit longer because it was elsewhere in the area dealing with a vehicle fire. A report of a house fire would also automatically trigger responses from other stations further away.<br />
<br />
What happened at this call is the same thing that happens at most fires. People first become aware of the fire and from that instant their internal clocks begin ticking. Just as time flies when you're having fun, when an emergency is in progress it seems like time stands still. 5 minutes seem like 10, 10 like 20 and so on. The actual time from someone first noticing a fire and a fire engine arriving on the scene may actually be 10 or 15 minutes or even longer. The crucial time, however, is when the fire department <i>first becomes aware of the fire and learns the location</i>. It takes only 15 seconds or so to actually dispatch the equipment and if apparatus are in station should it only take 4 to 6 minutes to arrive on scene.<br />
<br />
True, all sorts of factors can affect a response including traffic jams, weather, construction and detours. Usually fire companies are aware of nearby construction or other detours and plan accordingly or other stations are dispatched. Either way, <i>they only know about the fire from the time they know about the fire.</i><br />
<br />
One of the most common comments I remember after 26 years of fire response is, "It took you guys 20 minutes to get here!"<br />
<br />
Each time it was actually under 6 minutes.<br />
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# # # </div>
<br />Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-83890520001891017452014-05-27T08:32:00.001-05:002014-05-27T08:32:13.077-05:00Watch out what’s following the emergency vehicle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRX9vHm0yZvpCFrSZdE2G7f1BhtNB3AsySa-gzhIY6DM7bM_wB7YqpfRsGmPbre3bAYEP7AHVk9lhSe7b7faAVeCxVKcsbl1df6cxIhsGhhqlJLxe8Djt8tx0LlWR6Y5SaGKfUYkTWDqKu/s1600/redlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRX9vHm0yZvpCFrSZdE2G7f1BhtNB3AsySa-gzhIY6DM7bM_wB7YqpfRsGmPbre3bAYEP7AHVk9lhSe7b7faAVeCxVKcsbl1df6cxIhsGhhqlJLxe8Djt8tx0LlWR6Y5SaGKfUYkTWDqKu/s1600/redlight.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
The first thing I learned when I moved to a rural area was that if a deer darts across the road in front of you, there could be another close behind. Oftentimes avoiding the first deer only results in a collision with the one following. It’s the same with emergency vehicles but with an added hazard you might not expect.<br />
<br />
Even with lights flashing and sirens blasting, first responders are trained to slow down – or even stop – at intersections and only proceed when they see the coast is clear. Not everyone can hear approaching sirens while enclosed in an air-conditioned and purposely soundproofed car. At times a civilian driver will proceed once the emergency vehicle has passed, never hearing or looking for a possible second responding vehicle. Knowing this, the second responder becomes more keenly aware and approaches the intersection with even more caution, but collisions still happen.<br />
<br />
Emergency medical calls pose a different challenge. Even with fully equipped and trained paramedics, some patients need to be transported to a hospital quickly with the use of emergency lights and sirens. Medics and firefighters routinely advise family members and friends NOT to follow the ambulance to the hospital, and to obey all traffic laws and signals if they wish to also go to the emergency room. It’s hard enough to safely pilot an emergency vehicle through traffic without having to worry about someone tagging along.<br />
<br />
Still, some disregard the warnings and try to keep up with the ambulance, sliding through red lights by dangerously tailgating behind. People do this either due to over-excitement and concern for a loved one and some do it because they see such behavior as acceptable on TV shows, even though the over-the-top dramatics are written in for effect. Either way, an unmarked civilian vehicle running a stoplight closely behind an emergency vehicle becomes a dangerous high speed and nearly invisible object threatening to t-bone you as you continue after the ambulance passes by.<br />
<br />
Once an ambulance or fire engine with full lights and siren passes, give an extra look before proceeding. Even if you hear the sirens diminishing in the distance, there could still be a distraught civilian driving -- as if wearing blinders – close behind.<br />
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Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-24733696486048107702014-03-04T08:22:00.000-06:002014-03-04T13:10:12.263-06:00Progress and Old School: Need the best of bothRecently I read of a growing number of fire department EMS personnel no longer using long spinal boards for patient transport. The article cited new studies revealing not only delays in transport issues but others involving patient discomfort, bruising, and other problems resulting from transport on the long, hard boards. <br />
<br />
Good points were raised and no doubt based on lot’s of input and study. In the accompanying comments, however, I noted resistance and skepticism shown by some veteran paramedics — and younger EMS folks writing them off as “old timers”. The comments revealed yet another round of old vs new attitudes in both the fire service and EMS, with some balancing the value of new technology against the foundation of experience. Nothing new here, of course.<br />
<br />
Every new trend or practice that surfaces in emergency services should balance the skills of first responders using new equipment and techniques with the years of solid in-the-field experience of active veterans. While some feel these sometimes opposite poles conflict with each other, smart responders draw from both as needed.<br />
<br />
I remember when wearing an air pack was considered a practice only for wimps. Some felt it delayed time needed for entry for search and rescue or extinguishment and there were rarely if ever enough of the devices to go around. What few air packs on scene were stored in an outside engine or truck compartment and contained within large black suitcase-like container. Today it’s rare to see a firefighter without one.<br />
<br />
Then there was the advent of Nomex hoods that were to be donned to protect ears, neck and face. Veteran firefighters resisted these because they could no longer use their ears as “radar”, turning heads from left to right to determine the direction to unseen flames based on radiant heat. Today they’re standard issue.<br />
<br />
Firefighters were once used to jumping on a tailboard and buttoning up their coats while en route, using one hand to hang on to a chrome-coated safety rail. Today firefighters are required to not only be seated in a provided jump seat before the engine moved, but to have their seat belts buckled as well. <br />
<br />
All of those past fears and skeptical attitudes have long been replaced by successful implementation and acceptance and continue to save lives and reduce injuries. Where implementation is most successful, the new practices are periodically tempered by previous experience, providing a balanced application of the latest-and-greatest new gadgets, procedures and practices along with the benefit of experience from those who have it..<br />
<br />
So consider tolerating us old timers and fuddy-duddies when you can. We know the world changes and new ideas help us evolve to better serve our fellow citizens, but once in awhile we may be able to reach into our old bag of tricks as needed to help reach the objective at hand. <br />
<br />
"That's not the way we've always done it," can be a quick road to obsolesence to be sure. But if you're willing to look, there are still a few valuable treasures left packed away in the attic.Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-87403391234802131912014-01-04T09:21:00.000-06:002014-01-04T09:22:56.267-06:00Ice Is a Challenge for Firefighters <style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Excerpt from “<a href="http://amzn.to/1hq57zw" target="_blank"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">10-24: A Firefighter Looks Back</i></a>”<br />From Chapter 11: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Running Hot & Cold</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“[Ice resulting from hose line water streams] can be a
serious impediment to firefighting operations overall.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We learned during one particularly cold winter season that
when temperatures get to a</span> certain low point, and are sustained there for a day, even
the small amount water remaining within the fire engine pumps can freeze,
rendering hydrants and the 500 gallons of water carried on the engine totally
useless and unattainable. As a result all engine pumps would need to be drained
of any water that would be susceptible to freezing and interfering with the ability
to pump any water. This meant a moment or two on a fire scene priming the dry pump
for operation, but the slight delay was better than the alternative.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In some subzero responses, many joked that the colder it
was, the more firefighters </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">wanted to be inside fighting the fire. It was the best
source of heat, and it followed that some kidded about not knocking a fire down
too fast so they could ward off the cold a bit longer.</span>
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Even if that were true, it wouldn’t let anyone escape the grueling task of
sub-zero post-fire cleanup, gathering frozen hose and equipment while slipping
on icy surfaces everywhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In warm weather, drained fire hoses could be disconnected
and rolled up for transport</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> back to the station. In sub-zero weather, the spaghetti-like
pattern of hoses surrounding a fire scene is quickly frozen. Much of the water remaining
inside freezes and hinders any</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> attempt to drain the rest, and nearly a half-inch of now
frozen mist encases the outside of the hose. What normally would be a quick job
of rolling up lengths of drained hose instead became an exercise in folding
awkward lengths of frozen stiff and heavy hose and heaving them into a
department squad or pickup truck bed or other department vehicle for transport.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
Once back at the station, they would need to be thawed first, then drained and
cleaned.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Many firefighters outside during firefighting operation are
subject to this frozen spray as well. In addition to icicles forming on helmet rims -- and
even from mustaches on those so equipped -- ice formed on the outside of bunker
coats and pants, sometimes so thick that it seriously hindered movement.</span></div>
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At one such fire, a Salvation Army truck was on hand providing hot coffee or
hot</span> chocolate along with warm cotton gloves to freezing
firefighters. When another firefighter and I stopped by to grab a cup to warm
up, I reached out and picked up a styrofoam cup full of hot coffee, only to discover that enough ice had formed on my bunker coat and sleeves to keep me
from bringing the cup to my own lips. Seeing this, the other firefighter
reached over and broke up the ice at the elbow bend of my coat, loosening it so
I could maneuver my hot coffee. After he loosened up my two elbows, I did the
same for him.</div>
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<br />
As firefighters approached the coffee van, it started to look like a scene out
of the Wizard of Oz where the Tin Man needed to have all his joints oiled
before he could move.”</span></div>
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-56430685966908289242013-11-19T11:48:00.000-06:002013-11-20T08:09:36.222-06:00Breakfast for An Aging Band of Brothers<div class="Body">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl2MTpgqx8DXYbhxXg4noTh8azyNx_QyaF9XYKRmSAH7LlfS7uG6BrI7gGKqCFZZ1PLoL2yIjOFd5ssXdD6xHCYmaHmZjUlZw_i6lFthVA82ZG2GC-fN3HoQz0xARxcXxapYMweZTkbbG/s1600/baiconandeggs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQl2MTpgqx8DXYbhxXg4noTh8azyNx_QyaF9XYKRmSAH7LlfS7uG6BrI7gGKqCFZZ1PLoL2yIjOFd5ssXdD6xHCYmaHmZjUlZw_i6lFthVA82ZG2GC-fN3HoQz0xARxcXxapYMweZTkbbG/s200/baiconandeggs.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many years since my retirement from the Fire Department in
1996, I've been fortunate to be part of a large group of retired firefighters
that gather each quarter for breakfast in Des Plaines, IL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's a family style serving, in a separate
meeting room in a local restaurant, with seating arranged in a large square
accommodating approximately 30 or so retired firefighters. One of the former
Fire Chief's took it upon himself to launch the now regularly scheduled
meeting, and continues to make arrangements with the restaurant and collect a
ten spot from each of us each meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ages predictably range from the newly retired in their early
50's in some cases, to older retirees now in their 80's, and even though
individual exteriors may have fattened and grayed in most cases, the old
pecking orders remain firmly in place. The old timers still display a penchant
for zeroing in on an individuals' most vulnerable shortcomings as a source for
ridicule and taunting but now -- years removed from the familiar gatherings
around the firehouse kitchen table -- each jab and poke is accepted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But now they are not just
tolerated but relished and valued as a warm reminder of earlier days and as a
gift from the past. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dozens of old men, now seasoned even more in either retirement or
second careers, with cellphones full of photos of grandchildren and even great
grandchildren, at times fall into a normal exchange of conversations sharing
sources of senior discounts and comparing surgical scars as would any similarly
aged retired group. For this group, however, there's a magical element of time
travel that underlies the gathering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even after decades of lives spent apart from the firehouse, with
personalities that have evolved and seasoned with age and life’s
experiences, the banter and positioning often clicks retroactively back to
another time. Back to where any weakness or personal behavior pattern is fair
game for fun and where stories and situations known only to those who shared
them at times become the focal point of laughter and the occasional joking
dog-pile on one or more individual targets. Nicknames buried years ago,
sometimes to the chagrin of the target, resurface instinctively as if only a
day or two had passed, instead of 15 or 20 years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stories, jokes and zingers are sometimes punctuated by news
of another retiree who had passed on, or details on upcoming funeral and wake
arrangements. Someone would read an email they received from a wife or relative
of a former fellow firefighter now suffering from a debilitating disease or who
would enjoy a call or card from those with which he formerly served. Once in
awhile, a somber moment of silence would punctuate the loud banter as former
comrades shared stories with those nearby or shouted across the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reality was allowed a small part of the
agenda, but not for long. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The restaurant staff had learned that patience with this group
was necessary, and were prepared for the onslaught of "Hey, we need
another plate of pancakes over here!" and "We could use some more
coffee!" as many of those who normally were now quiet and polite gentlemen
everywhere else, quickly degenerated into the firehouse-like verbal chaos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As one aging retiree would curtly demand a
refill on his coffee from a passing busboy, another would wink at the server
and balance the exchange by explaining, well within earshot, "Don't take
him seriously,” and adding with a wink. “He's just an asshole."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A well timed retort, but curiously taken in the
context of an almost affectionate firehouse jab. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="Body">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each quarter I look forward to these breakfasts. For at least a
couple of hours, I can catch up with some old comrades, share jabs with former
antagonists, and sometimes just sit back and soak in the momentary transport
back through time to younger days, when we would sit around the firehouse table
or huddle after a fire response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each
time I'd drink in the warm glow of being part of a special group unlike any other
in the world among those who, whether friendly or adversarial, I respected
over all others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And sometimes I could
even get a second helping of pancakes.</span><!--EndFragment-->
Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-68086958806174670652013-11-14T14:40:00.003-06:002013-11-14T14:40:57.579-06:00"The Superman Suit" Excerpt from "10-24: A Firefighter Looks Back"<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9A7DR1jq651jWil8V4BIIQ7wUiqgnzteB1gtihTAJMMEyAbz2UPmWGhFK-uWld0Rbx3ByU9sDCuJVwc0-fkMQ1Lpfi_BjaHBUl_VpQ9Q09_pRlu1bpAEZui1zruJyU9iEu_oqTsxkQEa/s1600/ClimbngFF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9A7DR1jq651jWil8V4BIIQ7wUiqgnzteB1gtihTAJMMEyAbz2UPmWGhFK-uWld0Rbx3ByU9sDCuJVwc0-fkMQ1Lpfi_BjaHBUl_VpQ9Q09_pRlu1bpAEZui1zruJyU9iEu_oqTsxkQEa/s200/ClimbngFF.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just before
entering a burning building, we’d usually
crouch down by the chosen entry point in our full firefighting gear. With thick
black smoke belching out of the opening we would pull the air mask over our
heads, don the helmet, strap it under our chin, and move in on hands and knees
to seek out either the seat of the fire or search for occupants. Once we were past the early years where air packs were considered "just for wimps" it was simple. No Superman suit, no entry.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /> A fully
equipped firefighter, dressed for entry into a fire, is a striking image.
Coupled with the Darth Vader breathing sounds, the image can be downright
startling. So much so that a few of us actually appeared on Chicago's Bozo the
Clown Show in a segment showing kids the gear and how a firefighter looked and
sounded at a fire. The hope was that the kids would see us as helpful friends
and not scary monsters and not hide from us as we searched their home.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /> There was one
time, however, when one woman acted as if all the gear was totally invisible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /> Working out
of our south side Station #2, we responded with an engine to a trouble alarm at
a restaurant about 7 blocks down the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) was that responders wear full
firefighting gear until investigating the cause of the alarm. We drove the 7
blocks, lights and siren, donning our coats, air tanks and helmets along the
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span> After pulling
up in front of the restaurant, and seeing no sign of smoke or problems, the
engine officer and I went in the front door to investigate -- each of us in
full gear, with air tanks on our backs and helmets on our heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inside the door and about 20 feet down the
entry way, we approached the hostess podium, manned by a middle aged woman who,
seeing us approach, grabbed two menus and asked, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> “Will that be two for lunch?”</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>(Excerpted from "10-24: A Firefighter Looks Back")</i></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-29441367698918160722013-09-06T08:38:00.003-05:002013-09-06T08:38:17.937-05:00Hug a Fire Inspector!
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fire Prevention Week is approaching and is a time when fire departments
open their doors a bit wider than usual. They host open houses, pancake breakfasts, conduct fire station tours, and
encourage the local press to publish home safety tips. Each year we all hear
about Home Escape Plans, the value of smoke detectors in the home, and plenty
of healthy doses of "Stop, Drop and Roll". All good things to
be sure, which continue to remind us all to be safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Often overlooked each year
during this week, ironically, are the men and women who spend the rest of the
year also saving lives by preventing fires and serious burn injuries as
their full-time job. These are the Fire Prevention Officers and Fire Inspectors
– including full-time, part-time and volunteer – that become the watchdogs
of safe practices and construction as well as identifying potential fire
hazards at home and at work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Business owners may
sometimes cringe at the image of the white hat and clipboard walking through
the plant or office making checkmarks here and there, but never realize that for
decades that they've already
been the beneficiary of their labors. Now well into the 21<sup>st</sup>
century, most commercial buildings are either protected by sprinklers or built
under guidelines that significantly reduce the spread of a fire from one
business to another by protecting the careful tenants from the careless
tenants. By enforcing a national Life Safety Code, occupants know where to go
to escape a fire, where to find an extinguisher, or are assured that there are
enough exits to handle everybody. Storage of volatile materials is restricted
and exposure to others safely limited or prevented through the enforcement of
established fire codes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Many school districts,
rather than merely accommodating what used to be an intrusive invasion into
lesson plans once a year, now incorporate fire and burn prevention lessons and
activities into the curriculum for the year, partnering especially during this
week with local Fire Departments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Fire inspectors seek out
and identify hazards to people and property, and by occasionally issuing those
irritating notices of items that need to be corrected such as exposed wiring,
openings that can allow fire to travel to other parts of the building, or merely
blocked emergency exits, have saved countless civilian and firefighter lives by
making sure most fires don't happen in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> They're overlooked most
of the time during Fire Prevention Week as visitors tour the fire stations
ringing the engine bell and watching demonstrations, all of which are both fun
and educational of course, but rarely are acknowledged as the life savers they
really are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Next time you see a Fire
Inspector doing his or her job, give them a hug, or even just a big smile, and
say thanks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> They deserve it throughout the entire year.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6290323610704008677.post-79027951356100080502013-07-18T08:23:00.000-05:002013-07-18T08:23:46.208-05:00Are You a Fire Education Partner, or Just Another Commercial?
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When
your department wants to reach out to youngsters concerning fire and burn
prevention messages, do you partner with local schools or merely ask for a
small time slot?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each
year fire departments across the nation reach out to local schools for an
opportunity to accomplish some of their public education goals. Often this effort
involves visits by shift personnel and equipment, or school classroom visits by
firefighters with messages on fire safety.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Stop,
Drop and Roll” is an old standby and along with other common and equally
important and valuable messages, bur often are offered through a slot of time
opened up by the school. Though
important, these visits are sometimes even an interruption of previously
planned curriculum and schedules already strained by days missed due to weather
or other unforeseen scheduling challenges. Once you leave the school, sometimes
the message goes with you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Many
years ago, assigned the responsibility of public education in my department, I
was tasked with scheduling some of these visits to schools. Instead of merely
looking for potential openings or educators willing to adjust schedules to “fit
us in”, I chose to meet with the curriculum committee first. At that first meeting,
I explained our messaging priorities – specifically for grades K through 3<sup>rd</sup> -- and asked them as professional educators
what would be the best ways to share these messages with their students. The
response was both enthusiastic and impressive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Partnering
with those actually planning the curriculum for the following year resulted in
not only in more time with students than I had expected, but several teachers
had taken the NFPA recommended public education themes and suggestions and
built fun and hands on lesson plans and projects that each grade could embrace
and absorb. Fire Prevention Week in October became much more than a week of
school fire drills and school kids outside the school ringing the bell on a
fire engine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Plan
your annual fire and burn prevention education priorities a year ahead of time,
and with the help and advice of your local educators. NFPA continues to provide excellent resources
and <a href="http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-public-educators" target="_blank">Safety Information for Public Educators</a> along with an outstanding overview
of the Impact of <a href="http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/for-public-educators/educational-messaging/the-impact-of-safety-messages-on-children" target="_blank">Safety Messages on Children</a>. The latter offers both a detailed
report and a shorter executive summary in PDF form. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Be
a partner in fire and burn prevention education, instead of just an occasional
commercial.</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Rick Ornberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11640640019287174187noreply@blogger.com1