On September 19, 2018, the Los Angeles City Fire Department responded to a fire in a commercial structure. Within minutes of arrival, the department experienced a significant near miss event involving serious injury to one of its newest members. Rather than take the incident in stride as “part of the job,” LAFD Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas reviewed the incident and within ten days ordered a top to bottom cultural shift in the department’s response to structural fires. The cultural shift preserved the LAFD tradition of aggressive fire attack, while injecting new practices designed to improve firefighter safety and avoid a repeat event that could lead to an irreversible tragedy. This article tells the tale of how one fire chief and a major metropolitan department recognized a threat and responded by taking bold corrective action before the threat became a tragedy. The story is a model of courageous leadership.
Since Fire Hero Learning Network went live, registered users have earned over 130,000 online learning certificates of completion. The knowledge gained from the modules better positions firefighters and officers as leaders in health and safety training in their respective departments.
In this Everyone Goes Home® Speak Up, Lt. Dustin Dunn talks about the importance of attitude in everything firefighters do.
In this Everyone Goes Home® Speak Up, Chief Robert Fling urges all fire departments and their firefighters to be much more cognizant of the modifiable risks associated with firefighting.
In this Everyone Goes Home® Speak Up, Deputy Fire Chief Steve Przibowski, of the Santa Clara County Fire Department, discusses the importance of empowering all firefighters to speak up to stop unsafe operations.
Earlier this fall, the September issue of Firehouse Magazine featured the 2019 Fire Service Health &and Safety Report. This 32-page supplement contains 15 articles by some the fire service’s most respected authors and some of its rising stars.
The Symposium, the first event of its kind, will be held July 10-12, 2019, and will empower cadet programs with the tools they need to maximize their learning outcomes.
On this episode of Everyone Goes Home® Speak Up, Chief Trisha Wolford talks about the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives that are most meaningful to her and what they should translate to for company officers.
The Florida Firefighters Safety and Health Collaborative and the Denver Fire Department will receive the award at the 31st Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner on April 25, 2019, in Washington, DC.
In this episode of Everyone Goes Home® Speak Up, John Dixon reflects on an impactful moment at the National Memorial in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
