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  • December 2024

    • December 2024

    The December issue of Firehouse includes feature articles on fire instruction, outfitting your truck company, our 2024 product showcase, a report from Firehouse Labs and a special Cancer Awareness & Prevention supplement.

    More content from December 2024

    Maggie Coen-Murphy
    The focus on the use of BWCs by EMS prehospital providers is on how video footage is stored and safeguarded.
    Maggie Coen-Murphy points out how benefits of EMS providers wearing body cameras conflict with HIPAA's mandate to protect individual's health information.
    Dec. 20, 2024
    Firehouse
    The TG-6H heated bunker gear dryer holds as many as 12 pieces of gear, 6 helmets and 18 accessories.
    The design of the TG-6H PPE dryer from Ram Air Gear combines impressive airflow volume and consistency, specifically engineered with firefighters’ needs in mind.
    Dec. 19, 2024
    Photo by Jamie Little
    Testing in Fairfax County, VA, provided valuable insights into best practices for preliminary exposure reductions. Using a contamination surrogate, the study determined optimal brush styles and usage timing for effective decon. Note the contamination that still is on the mask and neck area.
    Jamie Little firmly believes in maintaining an aggressive nature on the fireground. That doesn't mean that he believes that members must accept the risks that result from exposure...
    Dec. 19, 2024
    John J. Salka Jr
    The fact that one department differs from another as far as managing operations isn’t a concern. It’s mastery of every tactic, procedure and method that’s the vital element.
    John J. Salka Jr. has no issue with departments—and even chiefs within a department—having different approaches to managing operations compared with their counterparts. It's mastery...
    Dec. 19, 2024
    Justin Bailey
    Alternative scheduling and alternative methods of delivery help volunteer fire departments to help their members increase and maintain their proficiency.
    Justin Bailey challenges fire chiefs and training officers of volunteer departments to explore alternative scheduling and alternative methods of providing training.
    Dec. 18, 2024
    Photos by Frank Leeb
    It can be challenging to reapply sunscreen regularly during a day of outdoor training, with so much going on and the least thing that’s thought about being sun protection. Wearing SPF clothing takes sunscreen out of the equation for the parts of the body that the clothing covers.
    Frank Leeb taps his inner tailor to provide everything that members must know about clothing that protects against the sun's harmful rays to minimize cancer risks.
    Dec. 18, 2024
    dec_24_product_showcase_header
    Suppliers of products, software and other technology for the fire service display their latest offerings.
    Dec. 18, 2024
    Lee Coker
    By doing the work that’s associated with running a station, firefighters are exposed to what might never have occurred to them.
    Lee Coker explains a concept to better prepare firefighters for next-level responsibilities that springs from an exercise that's included in the promotional process.
    Dec. 17, 2024
    Adobe Stock I ID 158382523
    Firefighters are 1.31 times more likely to develop brain cancer than the general population is. Complacency is members' worst enemy.
    John Haseney shares data from firefighter-focused brain cancer studies and symptoms that members who have brain cancer experience, all in effort to turn complacency into awareness...
    Dec. 17, 2024
    Photos by Tom W. Shand
    The Citizens Fire Company in Charlestown, WV, operates this well-equipped 2017 Spartan Smeal 105-foot, rear-mount aerial ladder that carries 202 feet of ground ladders on a 238-inch wheelbase. Note the floor mounted and adjustable slide trays that provide space for saws, portable lighting and forcible entry tools.
    Tom Shand and Michael Wilbur explain why studying a department's history and the future needs of its response district are key to specifying a new rig's ladder complement.
    Dec. 17, 2024
    Photo by Courtney Hull
    Don’t assume that students or recruits come in with basic skills. Take time to learn where they are at and to ask them to show you what they know. Then teach them and give them opportunities to demonstrate understanding.
    Courtney Hull reminds instructors, officers and senior members that they must not yield to the cliches that generically paint cadets, recruits and probies as substandard.
    Dec. 16, 2024
    Photo by Curt Isakson
    This command post, which was for a four-alarm wildland urban interface fire that involved numerous neighborhoods and damaged nearly two dozen houses, includes a mobile radio, portable radios, numerous cellphones with chargers, and a computer and an iPad with cellular service. The incident involved more than a half-dozen entities and was managed under the Unified Command model. Numerous company officers were assigned to the command post to help to facilitate communications through the use of five channels, numerous cellphones and a computer with CAD to allow the tracking of resources. One channel was assigned strictly for the command staff to communicate nonemergency information regarding coverage, logistics and future potential needs.
    Curt Isakson digs into the details of fireground communication, best practices and the tools to optimize the effort.
    Dec. 12, 2024
    Brian Wilkinson
    Although well-intentioned, an open door policy inadvertently can undermine the very structure that it seeks to support, particularly when it becomes the default channel for every grievance, concern and suggestion.
    Brian Wilkinson supports firefighter access to the chief but warns of four issues that can arise that can affect the department negatively.
    Dec. 11, 2024
    Peter Matthews
    Three pieces of fire service news from around the globe serve as a reminder that, although policies might be up to speed, it always is beneficial to look for areas to improve.
    Peter Matthews points out how three pieces of fire service news from around the globe serve as a reminder that, although policies might be up to speed, it always is beneficial...
    Dec. 9, 2024