Through the Smoke: Fire Officer Education from Those Who Know!

Hosted by Billy Goldfeder

Fire officers and those who "wannabe"...what does it take? What are the challenges? After all, if we need staffing, training, leadership, water and tools to attack a fire, what does todays fire officer need to lead that charge? What do we need to know now? What should we be studying for the future? When does the training and education for fire officers end?

And we have a question for all of the Through the Smoke listners, whether volunteer, call or off-duty firefighters: Have you ever sat at the firehouse when a run comes in, waiting for a crew, not knowing who is responding and who is showing up when the tones go off?

We are also going to tell you about a very cool new product that is not sponsoring this show (in other words, this is not an ad and we have no tie-in to these folks) but this is a product that we feel can change the fire service, when firefighters are not in quarters, such as volunteer, call or off-duty career firefighter's who are recalled in a very positive manner. And when we see something that we think will help firefighters - we tell you about it! We will spend a few minutes talking with Brad Pinsky, firefighter and vice president of www.IamResponding.com about a system that allows you to press button on virtually any phone, and your station and dispatcher will immediately know that you are responding to a call. It's that simple! The simple and fast information provided by the Emergency Responder Reply System ("ERRS") saves critical time in responding to emergencies.

In this edition of Through the Smoke, we have a great "live" audience along with our guests Dr. Denis Oniel, retired Washington D.C. Deputy Chief Mike Smith and FDNY Battalion Chief Richard Blatus. These experts will provide the answers to the fire office training and education questions and so much more. This podcast was taped during Firehouse Expo.

Dr. Denis Onieal has been the superintendent of the National Fire Academy (NFA) since 1995. He was the first non-political appointee to the position and was selected after a competitive, nationwide search. In 2006, the NFA trained 78,000 firefighters and officers from all 50 states with a cadre of more than 500 instructors.

Chief Mike Smith served as a Deputy Fire Chief with the District of Columbia Fire Department and performed duties as a City-wide tour Commander, Risk Manager, and Training Director. Chief Smith has over 35 years experience in the fire Service and has recently retired. Chief Smith holds Degrees in Fire Science, Construction Management, and Fire and Public Administration and is the author of "Building Construction-Methods and Material for the Fire Service" available from Brady Publishing.

Chief Richard Blatus is a 24-year veteran of the fire service currently assigned to Battalion 15 in the Bronx. A strong proponent of training, Chief Blatus has served as both a regional and national instructor/lecturer for many of the fire service trade publications and is currently enrolled in the Naval Post

Please send any suggestions, questions or comments, to: [email protected].

Related links:

• National Fire Academy

• I Am Responding System

• Chief Mike Smith's Book: Building Construction: Methods and Materials for the Fire Service

• And the Beat Goes On (a Firefighter Safety & Survival DVD)

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