Prevention forum at all time low

[The Snake Man]

As part of my job I check this forum frequently to find out whats new and good to use in my own jurisdiction but how can we expect the web team to move us up and give us a good spot on the forums if no-one ever visits or post on the fire prevention forum.

How can we increase participation for this wonderful tool of networking(fire prevention forum)?????

------------------
Yours Truly,
THE SNAKE MAN
Arguing with a fire inspector is like rolling in the mud with a pig, you soon relize the pig enjoys it. :)

[9m18]

Good question. I was hoping to be able to use this forum to exchange ideas and solutions to code/fire prevention problems, but it seems that it's not very popular.
I'll keep checking in, though.

------------------
Stay Safe.
You asked for my opinion, now you have it. It's mine and mine only. Any similarity to another opinion...living or dead...is purely coincidental.

[This message has been edited by 9m18 (edited June 08, 2000).]

[pwduffy]

Dont know if I have more fire prevention or you do but I work without a budget and no help and still manage to contact an average of 18000 people a year. Any info would be great

[The Snake Man]

Would love to help. What ya got in mind. I have a few tricks in my bag? BIke rodeos, safety fairs, how to create your own sparky dog costume etc. Lets swap some ideas. Anybody got an academy award winning idea in fire prevention?

------------------
Yours Truly,
THE SNAKE MAN
Arguing with a fire inspector is like rolling in the mud with a pig, you soon realize the pig enjoys it. :)

[Boots]

NEED HELP WITH NEW SKITS FOR LIFE SAFETY PROGRAM. KNOW OF ANY GOOD SKITS OR MAGIC THAT WILL HELP OUT PLEASE PASS ON. WE USE "FIRE EDUCATORS" CLOWNS AND PUPPETS TO HELP TEACH OTHERS. ALREADY USING DRESS UP DETECTORS, MAGIC FRIES FOR COOL THE BURN, CHANGE BAG FOR MOST IMPORTANT ETC. PASS ON ANY IDEAS-
COME ON LET'S MAKE THIS THE MOST USED FORUM-LET'S PROVE PREVENTION IS #1

------------------

[SRVFD2]

OK Snakeman, I'll bring your topic back to life cause I'd sure like to have some help on "free" materials for Senior Citizen classes!!

[newtonb]

In my neighborhood, we have about 35 or so households all on a group email. Not only do we discuss neighborhood issues, but I periodically send out information from the internet regarding fire safety/prevention. This seems to keep the topic somewhat active in people's minds rather than being forgotten.

[Neen5029]

Here's a good one for you all to think about, how do you get the young adults to listen to what you're trying to teach???

Stay Safe http://www.firehouse.com/interactive/boards/smile.gif ~~neen

[denny]

To get more activity in this form
need to get the word out to other fire prev.
personnel and other fire officals,that there
is this site/form for fireprev&safety.
How about letters to the editors in the
FireSafety Mags & Newsletters to get the word
out..
Problem also could be time..
Personnel don't have the time to check this form out.. I know i don't check it out a lot.
Just too much other things going on..
But we must keep pluging away..

[Knisely]

This forum has always been at the bottom of the Firehouse list. Prevention needs to be at or near the top, especially to be noticed.
Firehouse always seems to forget this. The recent Firehouse Expo in Baltimore did not have one topic on prevention and inspection. Only topics on what to do after prevention fails. My employer would send me to this if one topic covered prevention, instead I traveled to other programs.

I haven't visited this site for a long time due to its inactivity. I'll keep checking, the new contacts are promising...

[This message has been edited by Knisely (edited November 03, 2000).]

[The Snake Man]

Well, we should commit to each other to check this site atleast once a week. I could definetly use some of your ideas. ie what are some good courses to take or apply for at the National fire Academy. Did you know that its time to apply?

[Knisely]

I'm looking at the NFA catalog now. I've taken FIP's which was excellent. I'm not sure if I'll take structures and systems or code management next. Too tough to choose between.

FDIC-2001 has a great prevention and inspection outline, it puts Firehouse to shame. Register early if you want to find a hotel.

[9C7]

Snakeman:

I've taken FIP, Structures and Systems, and Plans Review at NFA. I recommend any of them, as I have found them extremely valuable.

I expect to next take either Fire-Arson Investigation or some of the Code Management classes.

Email me if you want details.

------------------
Stay Safe.
You asked for my opinion, now you have it. Any similarity to another opinion, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

[The Snake Man]

NC7,
I actually applied to the plans review class at NFA for the second semester in 2001. Hope I get in! Thanks for the feedback!

[Chief79]

This is my first time to post here. I am interested in prevention. I hope to learn from others here.

[9C7]

Welcome aboard.

------------------
Stay Safe.
You asked for my opinion, now you have it. Any similarity to another opinion, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

[chf jstano]

Snakeman, you are 100% right that we don't give this forum enough use.(I plead guilty!) I will try to be more active here as prevention has always been one of my priorities in the fire service. That being said, let me throw out an idea that has work well for us in these days of limited manpower. Our central school district is served by four different fire depts. A number of years ago we realized that it was getting difficult to get sufficient manpwer to do a decent fire prevention program during the day when school was in session.
We formed a fire safety committee consisting of two people from each dept who meet with school administrators and teachers two to three times a year to plan and impliment safety programs to present to the students. During fire prevention week the district buses the students in groups of 2 or 3 classes all day to one of the more central stations and we consolidate our man power to present various portion of the program. Each dept brings a different piece of equipment(one might bring an engine,another their heavy rescue,etc) so the kids are aware of each dept's contributing to the whole program. Our 911 dispatch center sends a dispatcher to man an in house 911 phone system we set up. The kids get a chance to really dail the # and talk with the real thing.(It' a hoot to see their faces when somebody answers the phone). The dispatcher appears after and reinforces the lesson. That's just one part of the program. We also still make individual visits to the elementary buildings in each village to re-inforce the message given in the overall program. Obviously it takes a co-operative school district to do this,but we have found ours quite willing.
Drop me an e-mail snake, (or anyone else), if you'd like to compare notes. My e-mail is on my profile. STAY SAFE!

[The Snake Man]

chf jstano,
Thanks for the feedback. Your idea for the school actually sounds like something we ought to try around here. I'm going to pass this on to our public information officer and see what thoughts he has entertained. I will more than likely inquire some more info from you on this subject.
Welcome back the the forums! 9C7 & I try very hard to keep this thing going cause I believe in it as one of our best tools. Check it often; occaisionally I end up learning alot from people like yourself.


------------------
For better fire safety,
THE SNAKE MAN
Arguing with a fire inspector is like rolling in the mud with a pig, you soon realize the pig enjoys it. http://www.firehouse.com/forums/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by The Snake Man (edited 12-07-2000).]

[This message has been edited by The Snake Man (edited 12-07-2000).]

[This message has been edited by The Snake Man (edited 12-07-2000).]

[Chief79]

At the beginning of the school year our department instituted what we call the L.A.F.S. (Learning About Fire Safety) program in the fourth grade classes. We have three campuses with fourth grade classes in our school district. We are given one class period a month for each fourth grade class. Our program includes a curricullum we obtained from the Texas State Fire Marshals' Office and some ideas of our own. We are reaching every fourth grade student in our district. That is only about 250 students but it is a start. We hope to expand the program as we get more full-time personnel.

[PublicEducator]

One of the more recent things that my Company has done, partially as a fundraiser, but more as a community service, was to sell reflective address markers at a cost with a little profit to the fire company. We have sold a very large volume of them and are still getting requests for them. If you would like some more info you my send me a E-mail and I will see that you get the info.

Education for Life

[eng10drvr]

I just found this forum, I have a few Idea, But I need help in developing them

[9C7]

Jump right in. If you are having trouble developing ideas, chances are pretty good someone out here has already done it.



------------------
Stay Safe.
You asked for my opinion, now you have it. Any similarity to another opinion, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

[Tom Erwin]

Great job Snakeman!
It is great to see some new life in this forum. I try to check this forum at least three times a week and have been disappointed at the lack of participation lately. I have picked up some good stuff here. I think that it would be a good idea to split this forum into two separate forums one dealing with safety education, and the other dealing with fire prevention/code enforcement. Any comments on this? We must keep in mind that until Fire Department administrators start to take fire prevention seriously (I mean REALLY seriously) than we will have an uphill battle for the recognition and resources that we deserve. In my FD it is only recently that the line firefighters have begun to realize the importance of the Fire Prevention Bureau and the difference that it makes for them. This has been a welcomed change. Most of this is due to the fact that we recently got a new Deputy Chief that goes to bat for us. His new approach is to get the word out on exactly what we do and we now devote an entire day to the subject in recruit school as well as officer school. The feed back has been great! Most of our own people didn't have an idea about what we did or how hard it is to shed the threats from the politicians.

[This message has been edited by Tom Erwin (edited 01-27-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Tom Erwin (edited 01-27-2001).]

[The Snake Man]

Tom,
Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. Things are getting busy at work. I'm sure you know what I mean. The fire service is a never ending task of safety. Yes, I agree with you, however, I have found that many of us are in code enforcement and education. I think this forum currently allows us one stop shopping ya know what I mean? What do you think about us getting a little higher on the list so that people have to go through us to get to the more p0pular forums????
The Snake Man.

[Tom Erwin]

Snake Man,
I know what you mean about busy I ve got a major mall that is expanding from 1.2 to 3.6 million square feet. And then there's the rest of my district to handle. The more I think about it I think that you are right about keeping the two topics together. And I also agree that we should be moved up the list a great deal.

[SRVFD2]

To Tom & Snake man - don't worry about the position - since this is my favorite topic, I always start at the bottom and work up!! Others who care about prevention will do the same!

------------------
God is our Fire Chief;
Jesus is our Incident Commander.

[tracyant]

Fire prevention can be fun.

Our department has firefighters accompanying pizza delivery people in order to check smoke detectors. Our local pizza places sign up with the department to participate in this program. Each month a different pizza place is picked ( the public doesn't know which one). Two firefighters make the deliveries with the pizza guy to homes apartments and condos in our community. We ask the residents if we can check their smoke detectors. If the smoke detectors are in working order they get one of the pizzas they ordered for free. The pizza place pays for it. If the detectors don't work, we replace the battery. If it still doesn't work we leave a new smoke detector. Smoke detectors are also donated. The results of our pizza run are publishished in our local paper.

This is a great way to meet the residents and provide a fire prevention service to the community .

[amfm]

Congrats Snake Man! You have piqued by interest and I am going to check this forum at least once a week. As a full time Fire Marshal just outside of Philadelphia, in a growing community, there is much to do. If just one idea like the one posted by Tracyant can be gotten from this forum then it is worth the effort.

[The Snake Man]

Sorry guys! I have not been loyal to the site. Unfortunatly I have been at an ICBO conf. and just too tired to come home and log on. I see that there are some new and interesting additions to this site. Did anyone see the article this month in the mag talking about the forums? Way to go web-team.