Blog Archives
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Stay with it My Friends
By Dr. Harry Carter - Sunday April 14, 2013
Life teaches a great many lessons to those who will pay attention. There was a time when I felt that good things should happen to me just because I was a good guy. My parents taught me to do the right things; to be honest and hardworking. Guess what? Things did not always go my way. It seemed to me that a lot of folks who were not raised like I was were getting all of the good breaks. Do not get me wrong. I had my share of success, but it bothered me that others who did not seem to work as hard as I did often came in ahead of me. Thankfully I was raised before today's 'touchy-feely' philosophy, which tells us that 'everybody wins, all are treated fairly and equally, and everybody gets a trophy', was developed. I think that this philosophy... -
Carter: We Must Take Care of our Troops on Highways
By Dr. Harry Carter - Wednesday March 27, 2013
Let me turn the focus to an operational area which is frequently overlooked by our fire service leaders. I am referring to our operations on the highways of our operational districts. Many times we are called out to combat car fires and to conduct extrication and rescue operations at motor vehicle incidents and accidents. Let me suggest that need to create operational guidelines to covers these things. Let me also suggest that training and equipment are needed to insure that our people are ready to conduct operations in these areas. Let me suggest that my comments are based upon a great deal of current experience. It seems like it is my lot to spend a lot of time driving the highways and byways of my community. It also seems as though... -
Hey Coach: Put Me In
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday March 7, 2013
Let me pose a simple question to you. How many of you can remember sitting on the sidelines during a football game and yelling out to the coach "Hey coach, put me in; I can get the job done"? I do not know about you, but it has been a long time since I suited up and ran out onto the field as a defensive tackle. As a matter of fact, I believe that Lyndon Johnson was president at the time. Maybe it wasn't football, perhaps it was some other sport, but the act was the same. We wanted the coach to pay attention, so we yelled. Sometimes this worked and sometimes it made the coach mad. What was it that made the coach so important? On the one hand he controlled any possible shot you had it playing in the game you loved so much. On the other... -
I Have the Right to Change My Mind: Don't I?
By Dr. Harry Carter - Wednesday February 6, 2013How many times have you faced a situation where the facts told you that something you had decided to do was wrong? You used the proper decision-making skills, you gathered the necessary facts, and you made the decision in the proper way; the way you had been taught to make decisions. Yet, in spite of all of that, the problem you attacked did not respond to your approach. In such as case, you would revisit the decision-making process and find another alternative. Now let's suppose that you are suddenly faced with a challenge to one of your core operational values - something that you were taught way back when. The facts indicate that your old way of doing things, your old way of thinking was now wrong or obsolete. Think about it. There... -
Carter: Saying Farewell to My Best Friend
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday December 13, 2012
Following is the eulogy that Harry Carter will be giving at the memorial service for Jack Peltier on Saturday, Dec. 15 at Immaculate Conception Church in Marlborough, MA. Carter asked that we share this on Firehouse.com so that their buddies who are unable to attend the service will have the opportunity to read it. How does any man say good bye to his best friend in the whole world? This is a question which has haunted me since late Sunday evening when I got that fateful call from (Jack's son) Jim. To that end I have decided to share some thoughts which you that have come to me based upon our many years of being together as we traveled the road of life together. Having spent nearly a month traveling across America with Jack on our... -
The View from My Front Porch: Safety
By Dr. Harry Carter - Wednesday November 7, 2012
Perhaps your first question upon reading the title of this blog is to ask why I have used the name of my blog column to serve as the title of this visit with you. The reason is simple. As I sit on my front `motor vehicle from the lowly bicycle to the roaring smoking tractor-trailers which carry the freight for our nation. I see a great deal among the passing parade which gives me pause to ponder. So it will be my job today to report to you those things which I see as I sit on my porch, puffing on a cigar and pondering the impact of what I witness upon our emergency service world. Not only do I get to see the vehicles, but I am witness to the folks who are shepherding these mobile weapons along the county road which runs past my... -
Talk is Cheap: Use Words Wisely
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday November 1, 2012
How often have you heard someone say that "…talk is cheap?" Literally scores of times would be my guess. Usually you will hear this when someone is speaking about an individual who would much rather talk than listen or work to solve a problem. They just want to go on yapping and listening to themselves speak. Let me suggest to you that I am going to go in a different direction with this piece. It seems to me that there are far too many people who tend to act emotionally rather than rationally. These people act in the absence of speaking with those people who will be most directly affected by their actions. Whether the lack of interaction comes from a sense of fear, greed, anger or some other contingent emotion, the result is the same... -
Lethal Leadership Landmines: A Primer
By Dr. Harry Carter - Monday October 22, 2012
One of the most often-quoted phrases is that, "…the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Let me also suggest that the road to leadership success in the fire service is also paved with good intentions. Unfortunately, the road is also strewn with something which I have come to call "leadership landmines." These are things which, if we ignore them and their potential impacts, stand ready to explode in our faces and upset our best efforts at being a good leader. Let me suggest that my job here today with you is to help you weave your way around these various landmines as you travel the road of fire service leadership. Let me also suggest an excellent starting point for this discussion. No one starts out to be a bad leader. Just... -
Common Responses: Electrical, Brush & Trash Fires
By Dr. Harry Carter - Monday October 8, 2012
Back in June, I wrote a few blog entries on some of the more common fire-related emergencies that you will see in The Fires You Will See Frequently . I further expanded on my many experiences with two additional blogs: Danger Overhead: Attic Fires and Cellar Fires: Up Close and Personal . Today I would like to review fires caused by electricity and trash and brush fires. Electrical Fires In any given year, you will respond to a number of incidents that will end up being classified as electrical in nature. These range from shorts in kitchen appliances, to extension cords run under carpets. There are shorts in the ballasts of florescent lights, right on up to full-fledged blazes in electrical power stations. They all have... -
Problem Solving Up Close and Personal
By Dr. Harry Carter - Thursday September 6, 2012
Many times have my columns here touched the topic of problem-solving. However, these discussions normally covered the topic at the organizational level. However this time around I have crafted this column in a different way. I am going to discuss problem solving at the personal, company or unit level, in situations where you have neither the luxury of time, distance, nor distance to shield you from the impact of your problem-solving decisions. In the work-a-day world of your fire department, you will normally be interacting continually with the small group of folks with whom you are assigned on a permanent basis. In the career world small unit leaders are normally dealing with the same folks on their shift over given period of time...
