Blog of Aaron J.: April 2013

Fire Service Instructor Certification Class [TRAINING]

Need the class for Fire Instructor certification? I will be teaching Fire Service Course Delivery in May. This is the required course for certification in the State of Florida as a Fire Service Instructor 1 and Pro Board Instructor 1.

Class Dates:
May 12, 16,19,21

Class Time:
8am-7pm

Location:
2680 SE Willoughby Blvd., Stuart, FL 34994

Required Textbook:
Fire Service Instructor, Jeff Lindsey (ISBN 0131245570)

Cost:
$175

To register, or for more information visit, Essential Medical Training, or e-mail, treasurecoastcpr@gmail.com.

View the course flyer: http://essentialmedicaltraining.com/uploads/5-2013_Course_Delivery_2.pdf

Watch the ICC Live!

View the hearings on your desktop computer or your Blackberry, iPhone, iPad or Android pad via webcast from the ICC.

Move America's Healthcare Fire Safety Forward

Speak out for Healthcare Fire Safety!

Are you attending the ICC Committee Action hearings in Dallas?

Download important information about proposed changes to the International Fire Code that seek to reduce safety in hospitals.

The International Firestop Council has published a brochure, Move America's Healthcare Fire Safety Forward, to bring attention to the potentially harmful code change proposals to be presented by the healthcare industry. At the International Code Council Fire Code Action Hearings, the hospital industry, through the ICC AHC, will introduce code change proposals to the IFC designed to simplify and streamline the constraints under which healthcare facilities operate. We believe that most of them are very good and will assist code enforcement in healthcare facilities. Unfortunately, among those other worthwhile proposals, there are a few that would be quite contrary to the goals of a fire safe hospital environment. Download, MOVE AMERICA'S HEALTHCARE FIRE SAFETY FORWARD, brochure now. The International Firestop Council is confident that the various stakeholders can better work together to provide optimized solutions that balance healthcare operational considerations with patient and worker fire safety. Code change proposals F212-13, F218-13, and F239-13 are flawed ideas which concerned individuals need to speak out against at the Committee Action hearing. The International Firestop Council, along with the Patient Fire Safety Coalition, is calling all code officials dedicated to public safety to step up to the mic and let your voice be heard in Dallas, on April 23-25.

How To Be a Weak Leader

Throughout my fire service career, I have worked for a lot of managers, a lot of educated people, a lot of people that have worked their way up through the ranks, but I have worked for very few true leaders. In this podcast, Michael Hyatt, outlines the five characteristics of a weak leader.

Hyatt takes these 5 characteristics from the poor Civil War leadership of General McClellan, first general-in-chief of the Union Army. Eventually, these flaws cost him in a big way (fired from his post, lost confidence of the people, negative future effects on his career).

As you listen to the podcast think of how these flaws are evident in your workplace. What negative effects do they have? As you listen, identify which flaws you may have, and purpose to correct those flaws in your own leadership.

Flaw #1: Weak leaders hesitate to take definitive action.
Flaw #2: Weak leaders complain about a lack of resources.
Flaw #3: Weak leaders refuse to take responsibility.
Flaw #4: Weak leaders abuse the privileges of leadership.
Flaw #5: Weak leaders engage in acts of insubordination.

Listen here:

For more information and show notes visit, #048: The 5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders [Podcast].

More Posts on Leadership:

Don't Be Afraid - Life Saving Education for Children

This post is provided by Joe Galizio, author of , "Don't Be Afraid - The Fireman and EMT"

The first time you set eyes on your child, you fall in love. Immediately you are the protector. This is your child, and you will do anything you can to protect them from everything. The one thing any parent dreads is the thought of losing their child. It’s a thought that you hate to have, and we hate to see other parents go through it. As an EMT, there is nothing worse than seeing a worried parent cry
over their sick child.

While researching child deaths in fires I came across a story unlike any other. It was about a little boy who was upstairs in his room when a fire broke out in the kitchen downstairs. His parents heard footsteps go downstairs and assumed it was their son exiting the house to go meet them at their designated meeting place. When his parents arrived at the meeting spot, they quickly realized their son was not there. They weren’t sure what those footsteps were. Maybe the dog? Panic set in. When they turned to look at the house, the fire had already gotten out of control. The fire department got there quickly as they were right down the street, and when they searched for the boy, they could not find him. The boy’s parents watched as he perished in the fire.

After the fire was extinguished, the boy’s remains were found in his hamper, in his closet buried under his clothes. Yes – he was hiding.

I can’t begin to imagine the pain those poor parents were feeling. To experience such a loss in such a way cannot even be describable. Why didn’t he get out? Why was he hiding? I asked myself these questions over and over for the next few days. Then I decided to try and find out.

They call it “Darth Vader effect.” It’s very simple. Without proper education a child will fear firefighters. It’s very common. Imagine being in a building that is on fire. Now imagine being a child, barely being able to see due to the smoke, and hearing a Darth Vader like creature come into your room. Add the mask, bunker gear and an axe – anyone would hide.

Although, firefighters are trained to look under beds and other hiding places, under fire and emergency conditions it may be hard to find a hiding child.

The solution to the problem is education. Fire prevention week only happens once a year. EMS week only happens once a year. Many Fire Departments and EMS agencies, only visit schools once or twice a year (and some don’t even get a visit yearly). This is at no fault to the fire departments. They do the best they can. They have open houses for kids to visit. They also have budget cuts to contend with. Not to mention a lack of personnel. Especially personnel dedicated to public education.

To respond to this problem within a problem I began to think of different ways to get the message to kids. I thought a book would probably be the best way to go. My goal was to write and illustrate and easy to read children’s book about firefighters and EMTs. The book would include illustrations and real photos to depict the gear and tools, as well as, simple stories the kids could easily identify with.

However, I faced a few roadblocks. I had no money to fund this, I was not an author or illustrator, and I had limited time.

What I did have was a passion to make sure a child never died like this again. Within a day I had the baseline for both short stories, and I had all the illustrations in my head. Now all I had to do was put it on paper. Utilizing my own family as test subjects I found success with the storyline and set to work on the illustrations. After multiple changes to the drawings I finally got the family seal of approval. The books content was ready. Funding the project was the next hurdle.

I knew I was going to be self publishing this project, so I began looking at printing companies to obtain pricing. My goal was to get 2000 books printed, and cover the costs of obtaining the ISBN number and initial advertising. Utilizing a crowd funding site I was able to raise $1700.
I found a printer willing to work in the price range I was looking for. By using this printer, I could donate 1 book for every 2 sold at full retail price. This would cover all my costs. So I ordered 75 books, registered the ISBN and went to the printing press.

The support from parents and educators has been so overwhelming and to see the book in these classrooms is a dream come true. Because I know the kids will take them home, read them to their friends, parents, and siblings. With that, the knowledge will grow, the word will spread… Firefighters and EMTs are your friends. And potentially many lives will be saved as a result.

My goal is to get this book into as many little hands as possible. By purchasing a copy you will be helping to put a copy in a classroom. To get a copy of the book please go to one of the following links and help me help our children. Be safe!

Website: http://dont-be-afraid.org
E-mail Joe: joegalizio@emergencysafetyacademy.org
Call Joe: 631-905-1730

Using Google Chromebook - A Review

I have had the opportunity to use the Acer Chromebook for over a week now, and I am very satisfied with its construction, performance, and functionality (online and offline).

For a $199 laptop, the Acer is very well constructed. It does not feel breakable, “plasticy”, or cheap. It is very lightweight, yet sturdy. Acer combines the best of Mac and PC controls and keyboard shortcuts. For example, the mouse pad operation is the same as that of a Macbook, and the keyboard shortcuts match those of a PC, without the annoying ‘command’ key found on Macs. The screen is brilliant, vivid, and clear. The screen size is very comfortable for viewing.

On-line functionality is quick and seamless, with no lag time, error messages, or other glitches. The ChromeOS does a great job of further blurring the lines between offline/online. Most applications that a person would need are available offline. However, offline functionality for entertainment/gaming purposes is lacking, but it will probably be just a matter of time before more gamine apps are made to fully function offline. The one thing that I miss is a dvd/cd player, but music/movies can be purchased for offline viewing.

If you are contemplating a new computer purchase, if your not an Apple fan, or your fed up with Windows error messages, the Chromebook is the way to go. The low price of, $199 is unbeatable. The price to product performance makes this machine and operating system a great value!