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Best of the Rest – Fires, Stair Climbs, Training, Best of 2011, a Huge FAIL and Much More

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Welcome to a new column here on FireCritic.com. I am shooting for having this column run on Tuesdays each week. If you have something you want to share whether you are a reader or blogger, have a video or photo, or anything else just let me know.

The Best of the Rest is a column featuring other bloggers, videos, news, and information you might have missed over the past week or so. Enjoy!

You can also follow along and connect with The Fire Critic via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Youtube.

As seen on FailBlog.com

Addison Fire Protection District – Can this be real? FailBlog.com has this photo of the message board at Addison Fire Protection District Station #3. The message “Better to arrive late than never”..WTF? Who approved this? Maybe the Chief’s message was directed to firefighters and should have read “Better to arrive safe than never”…or maybe it is meant as a message to the citizens and should have been “Call 911 and we will get there whenever we can”.

Daily911Deals.com - 40% OFF MN8 Foxfire Illuminating and Reflective Helmet Tetrahedrons. EXCLUSIVE NEW PRODUCT! I think they are pretty decent tetrahedrons. Read my review here.

Firehouse Zen- Chief Mick Mayers continues to lay it down in his writings that occasionally have me seeking dictionary.com for a definition. Don’t let that dissuade you from reading though. He offers some great insight to the fire service. Check out: OKAY, IT’S 2012: NOW WHAT? and 2012: “WHAT IF?”.

Statter911.com – Dave offers a video of a house fire in Maryland. This is video posted yesterday of a December 23 fire in Upper Marlboro, Maryland (Prince George’s County) Raw Video: PGFD House Fire in Upper Marlboro. Switch to Defensive Operations

911 Memorial Stairclimbs – The majority of the stair climb events are now affiliated with the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. One of the original climbs is a bit smaller scale and has a local feel. The Albequrque Stair Climb started in 2003. Read more about it here. If you are looking for a stair climb event check out http://www.9-11stairclimb.com/

Here is a lost photo I just found. This is a picture of Willie and I immediately after climbing 110 floors in Atlanta at FRI for the 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb.

FireGeezer.com - A FIRE LATE SUNDAY NIGHT in a downtown brothel in Mitchell, Australia, is still deemed suspicious by the fire investigators.  The Canberra area business was closed for New Year’s Day, as all the city’s brothels were when smoke was discovered coming from The Gentlemen’s Club on Grimwade Street around 11 pm. http://firegeezer.com/2012/01/02/brothel-fire-suspicious/

The Colorado Firefighter Facebook Page - This page continues to impress me on the sharing of links and information. Check them out here and click “like”!

ELAFFHQ.com – Their latest post “Raise money for a good cause, and get a chance to win a leather helmet” is just that…a chance to win a Phenix Leather Helmet. The chances are $1 a piece and the helmet will be given away once they reach $1000 for the National Firefighters Endowment. Click here to go directly to the donation page. They are currently 1/4 of the way to their goal! The Fire Critic gave $50…If I win the helmet I will give it away to pay it forward!

Fire Service Warrior – This site continues to impress me. The latest post “Brotherhood Insurance: A Pay for What You Get Policy” by Brother Brian Brush is a great post on the Brotherhood of the Fire Service and a must read!

IronFiremen.com – America’s Fire Captain Willie Wines Jr. outdoes everyone on his End of Year Review for 2011. Even though this post probably took three weeks for his little fingers to type, it is well worth a read. See what he has accomplished this past year!

Firefighter Nation – They have the story and the video of a huge fire at a former Illinois factory here.

Happy Medic – The Happy Medic is handing out his “Best of 2011″ awards. Check them out here!

IronsandLadders.com – This blog is great on content. Their latest post “Thru-The-Lock Time Trial (storefront doors)” is just one of many great training videos available.

Brotherhood Instructors – One of the leading privately owned and operated by firefighters instructing team offers “Forcing Doors in Zero Visibility – By Andrew Brassard” Check it out and continue your learning!

FireRescue1.com – They offer this story: Authorities probe fire attacks on 4 NYC sites “Blog post that may be linked to attacks: ‘Throw 10 Molotov cocktails into these mosques and burn them down’” Read it here

I love sushi and I love wasabi. I understand the use of wasabi and how it enhances the flavor with a little spice. I would never eat a spoonful of wasabi. I don’t think this next firefighter ever will…again! He might say this is a near death experience! Maybe this is the new cinnamon dragon challenge!

Crews battle flames and smoke at Westport Presbyterian Church

KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) -

As dozens of onlookers packed Westport Road Thursday evening, all they could do is watch as Westport Presbyterian Church burned.

“We were out in Westport and my wife got a message on Facebook saying ‘Westport’s burning,’” Luke Rocha said.

Rocha, like many others, went down to see the flames shooting from the roof of the historic church that stood at Westport and 40th street for more than 100 years.

Video of the fire is here

Posted by on January 2, 2012 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Best of the Rest, Command & Leadership, EMS Health & Safety, EMS Topics, Fire Dispatch, Fire Rescue Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Fires, Humor, News, Training, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A Friend in Need…A Message from Just My Blog

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Not a message from MY blog, a message from the blog “Just My Blog“.

Justin Schorr of The Happy Medic and much else has a daughter in the hospital. The author of Just My Blog is asking for your help in sending a card to The Happy Medic Family and more importantly Happy’s daughter.

Email her at justmyblog@hotmail.ca for the address or direct message her on twitter @justmyblog.

Send a card, a gift, a stuffed animal, coloring books, I didn’t know what to send so I settled on a dress up kit for Happy’s daughter that both her and her sister could enjoy.

I don’t know any details, but I believe the youngest of the Schorr family is in the ICU. To the point that Justin might not be able to make it to Baltimore for EMS Today next week. Don’t worry Justin, I can sit in for you if you need. I may not know what I am talking about when it comes to Paramedicine but I can come across like I do…unless the person I am talking to does have a clue….then I get wierd looks…but I can identify tombstones on a monitor….and intubate if needed…oh and IV’s are no problem either!

For all the infromation behind this idea by Just My Blog read here

Posted by on February 17, 2011 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Voting ends Tonight at 23:59 hours…Keep Voting

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Voting continues for the Black Diamond Boot Fire & EMS Blog of the Year. However, voting will end tonight.

The winners will be announce Wednesday, February 2, 2011at 9pm EST on Firefighter Netcast (more information here)

More later.

Posted by on February 1, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Voting Continues and heats up for the Blog of the Year!

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Voting continues for the Black Diamond Boot Fire & EMS Blog of the Year.

While Iron Firemen has continued leading the Fire blogs with more than a 350 vote lead, the EMS blogs have a little competition going.

I have been watching the votes carefully since the voting began. I do this because I enjoy seeing the competition and to make sure there isn’t anything fishy going on.

I assure you that everything has been fair!

What has been interesting is how on Sunday, Rescuing Providence has narrowed the almost 150 vote lead by A Day in the Life of An Ambulance Driver to less than 90 votes. Last year, we saw the majority of the votes in the last two days. Anything can happen. It all depends on who is pulling for who and how many votes you can get (obviously).

Even the lead that Iron Firemen is enjoying should not be taken for granted. You just never know.

I have enjoyed seeing the various posts by these bloggers and others drumming up support. I would love to share them, but I want to be sure not to show bias. If I showcase 1, I would have to share all of them and more than likely I would accidentally leave a couple out.

Voting continues until Midnight Tuesday February 1, 2010!

Posted by on January 31, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Voting Continues and Listen to the Finalists Tonight on Firefighter Netcast LIVE!

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The Voting Continues for the Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year Contest.

Don’t let any early leads make you complacent. Last year we saw some early leads and strong comebacks. Just today we have seen several blogs getting a lot of votes!

Tonight (Wed. Jan. 26th), the finalists have been invited to be on Firefighter Netcast. The direct show link is here and it starts at 9pm EST!

Vote here every 6 hours

Voting ends on February 1st. The current tally as of 3:15 pm EST is:

Fire Blog of the Year:

Iron Firemen 319
The Happy Medic 170
FireGeezer 118
Fire Law by Curt Varone 108
Wildfire Today 100
Statter 911 65
Firefighters Own Worst Enemy 55

EMS Blog of the Year:

A Day in the Life of An Ambulance Driver 243
Rescuing Providence 121
The Happy Medic 99
EMS Office Hours 83
Life Under the Lights 77
EMS 12 Lead 36
The EMT Spot 29
Everyday EMS Tips 13

Total votes: 1634 (may be off from totals of numbers above due to time it took to compile the stats)

Posted by on January 26, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Keep Voting for the Blog of the Year

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Continue voting for the Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011 Contest!!

On Monday there were around 700 votes. You can vote every 6 hours.

Voting is here

Spread the word. That is all!

Posted by on January 25, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

VOTE NOW For The Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year

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The time is officially 00:01 am EST on January 24th and voting has begun for the Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011.

You can vote once every 6 hours. The voting frequency was changed to 6 hours (the same as last year).

The link to voting is here

Bookmark the page, or you can find it under the menu bar contests>Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011>Finalists and Voting.

Email it, share it, tweet it, facebook share it, blog about it, and tell your friends!

The 42 nominated blogs were ranked by our judges. The top ranked 7 Fire blogs and 8 EMS blogs made the cut. There were 8 EMS blogs because of a tie.

Full rules and details are available here

Black Diamond Boots is sponsoring the event and the winners will receive a brand new pair of their newest boots!

Posted by on January 24, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Wildland • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Finalists are Announced for the Blog of the Year Contest… Voting begins Monday!

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I am happy to announce the finalists for the Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011 contest.

The voting will begin at 00:01 EST Monday, January 24, 2011.

Black Diamond Boots Fire & EMS Blog of the Year 2010-2011 Contest Finalists

Voting will end at Midnight February 1st, 2011.
You can vote for 1 Fire blog and 1 EMS blog every 12 hours.
The winners will receive a pair of the X2 boots from Black Diamond Footwear.

THE JUDGES have done their job and ranked each of the blogs. Those scores have been compiled and the finalists have been named!

The Finalists:

in no particular order

Visit the Fire Blog Finalists sites here:

Visit the EMS Blog Finalists sites here:

*there was a tie for 6,7, and 8th finalists so we ended up with 8

The voting page is here (voting is not open until 00:01 EST January 24th)

Congratulations to all the nominated blogs and all of the finalists!

Posted by on January 23, 2011 • Filed under: Blog of the Year, Contests, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting your Blog To Work For You, Making the Most of it, Creating a Network, and Gaining Readers

6 comments

It has been a while since I have posted a “Blog Tip” (previous ones on monetizing your blog) on Fire Critic. After speaking with other bloggers and hearing that some of them are reaching for readers and trying to comprehend the best ways of increasing readership I felt I would offer some tips.

These tips can be useful for any bloggers, although some of the tips might be catered to the crowd on the FireEMSBlogs.com network. I have been blogging in some form or another for the past 6 years. I have not learned it all, and I realize that best practices can be altered, discovered, or modified daily.

I will follow up with many more “blog tips” in the future. This is a beginner “blog tip” to get new bloggers rolling and some extra tips for others who are looking for that extra boost.

This article will focus on spreading the word to a larger audience and when, how, and why to write articles.

Writing articles

Be original!

  • Focus on your audience. Hopefully you have defined your audience. Obviously I have not!
  • Write at the frequency of your choice. Don’t make it a chore. The Happy Medic has said before that if he sits down and has to think real hard about what to write about he gets up and does something else. This is a good practice. Don’t force it.
  • Write about your readers…not yourself. Unless you blog in the format like IronFiremen.com, you should write about your readers. Most of them don’t want to hear about you. You can add your thoughts, but don’t make your blog all about you…nobody cares.
  • Create conversation. You want comments? Ask a question.
  • Write about controversial subjects. Not everyone is a STATter911.com or FireGeezer. However, you can still write about controversial subjects. Be sure to be clear if you are offering your opinion. Even if you merely write about a subject, whatever you write will be read as your opinion. I often write about stuff without offering my opinion until after the comments begin.
  • Follow up with your articles. If the commentary leads to more conversation you can write another post about the new information. Likewise, if you are writing about a news story be sure to follow up on any future news on that story.
  • Pictures and Videos - readers love watching videos and seeing pictures.
  • Limit your words – Many blog gurus have put a limit of words in a single post. I am not quite that strict on this. However, use as few words as you need to get your point across. Most readers scan the content, they go back and read verbatim if they see something that captures their attention.
  • Give Credit - if you use a photo or quote another blog be sure to give them credit and link to their content.
  • Share what you read after you write it….read on!

Sharing, Networking, and Social Media

There are numerous social mediums out there. Facebook and twitter are probably the most worthwhile.

Facebook – Fire Critic Facebook Fan Page

  • Facebook Fan Page - Create a facebook fan page for your blog! Utilize this fan page to connect with your fans. Facebook is the busiest site on the internet. People spend hours on facebook every day.
  • Networked Blogs – Networked blogs is an application on facebook that parses your rss feed from your blog to your facebook fan page. You can also post your articles directly from networked blogs to twitter. I don’t recommend this though, you are better off with twitterfeed…read on.
  • Follow the comments on Facebook. Be sure to follow your blog posts as they appear on facebook. The comments can take off before you know it and they don’t translate to comments on your blog (yet).
  • Make your Fan Page Known. Be sure everyone knows about your facebook fan page! Make the link easy to find and blog about your fan page!
  • Facebook Share and Facebook Like – install these plugins on your blog to make it easy for readers to share/like your articles on facebook.

Twitter - Follow @FireCritic

  • Twitter Username – Make your twitter username easy to remember for others and short! Twitter constrains you to 140 characters. You don’t want half of that to be your blog name if your blog has a long title. Chris Kaiser (Life Under the Lights) uses CKEMTP for everything. The branding of his username makes certain cohesion for people seeing his username on social media sites. He has created a brand others remember.
  • Syndicate on Twitter – Use TwitterFeed.com to syndicate your content from your blog to your twitter account. That way everyone gets your content as soon as you post it. Twitterfeed can also be used to send your content to facebook, but  I recommend using networked blogs for that.
  • Tweetmeme – install the tweetmeme plugin on your blog. This plugin offers your readers the ability to share your article on twitter easily.
  • Start Conversation – use twitter to create conversation about topics. Engage other users.
  • Follow other Twitter users – Follow other twitter users you are interested in. Don’t autofollow. I don’t do it and I think it is cheap. I follow the people I want to follow.
  • Retweet - Retweet others tweets that interest you. If you do it, they might return the favor. It is a cycle that people create by sharing others thoughts, and links.
  • Use hashtags – If you are a Fire Service blogger, use hashtags like #Fire and #Firefighter and #Firefighting. If you are EMS, use #EMS, #EMT, #Medic, and #Paramedic. They help! Some people follow hashtags to see what the latest news is on that topic!

Tricking out your blog

Ah, the age old question of what plugins, widgets, and other stuff you should add to your blog.

  • Social Media links - Be sure to have icons with links to your facebook fan page, twitter account, email, rss feed, and maybe more like firefighter nation account and jems connect account.
  • Tweetmeme, facebook share, and facebook like - make it easy for others to spread the word about your articles.
  • Related posts – using a related posts plugin in the bottom of all of your articles can provide more clicks to stories you have written in the past.
  • Copy other blogs - Don’t copy the content. If you see something you like, ask the blogger what it is and where you can get it!
  • Statistics – I recommend the very easy and free statcounter along with google analytics for following your stats!
  • All in One SEO – Search for this on WordPress Plugins and maximize the Search Engine Optimization of your blog easily.

Increasing Traffic

  • Link to other blogs – If you see an article that someone else wrote link to it. Write a small paragraph about it and offer the link. They will appreciate it and might do the same for you if they see something they like on your blog.
  • Syndication - Syndicate your blog on twitter, rss through feedburner, facebook, Firefighter Nation, Jems Connect, and other sites that will provide trackbacks and clicks to your content.
  • Tags and Categories – Especially on FireEMSBlogs.com, but also very useful elsewhere. Take the extra minute to tag your articles appropriately (look at all the tags on this article). Likewise, utilize categories to properly place your articles in respective groupings. You would be amazed at how much traffic you can get from tags/categories being properly used.

Again, this is a list of things to do for the beginner blogger as well as some extras for those who are looking for an extra boost.

Check back in the future for more tips!

What do you have to add?

What works for you?

What doesn’t work?

Posted by on October 29, 2010 • Filed under: Blog Tips, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News, Technology & Communications, technology-communications-ems-topics, Training & Development, training-fire-rescue-topics • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My view of the “Definition of a Professional Fire Fighter” For The Happy Medics Musings

6 comments

I originally posted the “Definition of a Professional Fire Fighter” yesterday. You can read it here.

Then, The Happy Medic responded and thought that the simplistic statement was far from the truth.

I didn’t really go into depth as to my take on it because I thought that the message was received. However, Happy was Unhappy with the statement and I will take this opportunity to expound on my thoughts of what the statement says to me. I do appreciate the challenge, and I think that this explanation will be more worthwhile for the younger firefighters who might viewed the statement as Happy has pointed out.

I still maintain that for those of us who read the simple statement should be able to understand the message and not require such an explanation. In addition, the statement was published in a book in 1986, there is no telling how long ago it was said, although I do not think that it needs further dissection or explanation.

On the other hand, I will oblige….Thanks for asking my opinion Happy. Most of the time, my stories simply offer a thought process and I ask a question. Few people realize that I only offer my opinion after being asked or challenged.

Those who possess “Professionalism” don’t need a statement to remind us. We have created a subconscious thought process that enables us to ensure our professionalism without having to think about it.

I am also certain that The Happy Medic exudes professionalism and understands that it is worth its effort for those who don’t get it yet!

The original appears in regular type. My inference is explained in the bold.

The fact that you are a paid fire fighter in no way makes you a professional. The fact that you are a volunteer fire fighter in no way makes you a professional. I think this is self explanatory and puts the debate at an even keel. Its words speak volumes for those who think they are better than the other just because one does it as a voluntary measure and others who make a living doing it. This day in age, the “fire fighter” should probably also include those who are single role EMS or dual role Fire/EMS.
You become a professional only when you exhibit on the fire ground those professional skills that you have acquired over the years… Fire ground = on scene of any call that you respond to. This might also include any other events you are a part of while in the public view as a fire fighter. Exhibiting professional skills = training, experience, knowledge, and everything else you put in that little toolbox between your ears that you effectively use while operating in the day to day operations of your job.
Your conduct on the fire ground is and will be the only yardstick by which your superiors and the public can judge you and the organization you represent… Again, Fire ground = on scene of any call that you respond to. This might also include any other events you are a part of while in the public view as a fire fighter. Your conduct = the view of your actions by others (coworkers, superiors, public); what, when, and how you do it; whether or not you are a team player; this also includes your attitude and appearance. Yardstick by which your superiors and the public can judge you = Chiefs don’t care about what you had for breakfast, that you cooked the best spaghetti of your life for dinner, or that you studied your run territory after lunch. They care about you being capable of doing the tasks put in front of you while on calls. The public doesn’t care about that stuff either, they care about when they need you or see you out in public you look like you know what you are doing!  Judge you and the organization you represent = While in public you are always under the microscope. You are constantly being sized up by the public. If you give the appearance that you do not know what you are doing the public will think that. Hell, even if you are doing what you are supposed to do, the public might still not understand it.

Happy also wrote:

Not long ago it was an offense to be out of quarters without cover on.  That means wearing a hat for you younger folk.  Now there are departments wearing shorts.  SHORTS!  I’ll admit, I tried it once during a hot summer in the southwest and I felt like a teenager, not a Professional.

Not all departments share the uniform policies, uniform requirements, or traditions. I do understand where Happy is coming from, but my department uniform is BDU’s and a t-shirt. I admit it doesn’t exude the professional image that I would like, but I am not the one making the policies. All I can say is that it is what you make of it. We do a pretty decent job of creating a professional appearance even with our cost-saving irregular BDU’s and shirts that both easily fade. This is out of our hands and unfortunate at best.

Posted by on October 16, 2010 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

In Retrospect…The FireEMSBlogs.com Meetup

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The FireEMSBlogs.com meetup was a huge success. The event was hosted by Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com. The event was also sponsored by Black Helmet and Black Diamond Boots.

My time at FDIC was a blast. We managed to pack the week full of friends, fun, and work (Firefighter Netcast). The people I have met through this blog, twitter, facebook, etc. will stay with me for a long time. Our occasional chance to meet is always fun!

L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Tiger Schmittendorf, John Mitchell, Justin Schorr, Chris Hebert, Mike Ward (if you look close between Chris and Dave in the back), Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

Whether it be through commenting on each others blogs, following each other on twitter, being friends on facebook, or any other of the many social mediums we stay connected. We know when each other are having a bad day, working, having a birthday, or whatever.

There may not be an exact core of the fire/EMS interwebs, but it grows daily. Mostly it is championed by several leaders. And yes, the Fire and the EMS interwebs are connected. The leaders are not self proclaimed or “formal” leaders. They might not even realize they are leaders. However, they have a following and stay connected to others through social media. These leaders have “tribes” or followers and the various tribes are interconnected as well. I would name a few but I would probably leave out many. The point isn’t the leaders, but the followers. Most of the leaders are followers in other tribes and so on… You get the point.

We all have a stake in this and we are all working towards the same goal…connecting.

One way of connecting is by meeting up. One of those meetups was held this past weekend at FDIC.

The night began with a get together for several of the bloggers. Consider it some down time for the guys/gals to network before the crowd arrived.

I had a great time meeting and talking to everyone!

I was honored to be asked to announce the winners of the raffle items. There were Black Helmet Hats, $100 gift certificates to Black Helmet Apparel, Firefighter Monopoly, and a pair of Black Diamond Boots given away.

A lot of thanks from John and myself to Chris, Dave, Bill, Paul, Jeff, Tim, Shannon, Olga, and everyone else!

All in all it was a huge success… I will give the rest via photos of the night!

Here is an overhead shot of the crowd! It was a great time!
Here is an overhead shot of the crowd! It was a great time!
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey
L-R Chris Kaiser, Art Goodrich, Rhett Fleitz, Justin Schorr, John Mitchell, Tiger Schmittendorf, Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, Chris Naum, Bill Carey

Some guys I met...I told them I wouldn't remember their names but that I would post the picture!!! I am a man of my word!
Some guys I met...I told them I wouldn't remember their names but that I would post the picture!!! I am a man of my word!
The same booth babes from Black Diamond Boots who were hounding me apparently were also into the owner of BD! I knew it was too good to be true!
The same booth babes from Black Diamond Boots who were hounding me apparently were also into the owner of BD! I knew it was too good to be true!

James from Black Helmet Apparel and firefighter Carrie McAtee (not one of Black Helmet's models as we previously posted...but she could be!!!)
James from Black Helmet Apparel and firefighter Carrie McAtee (not one of Black Helmet's models as we previously posted...but she could be!!!)
An anonymous blogger behind Justin Schorr, Chris Kaiser, April Saling, and ?
An anonymous blogger behind Justin Schorr, Chris Kaiser, April Saling, and ?

Rhett Fleitz, Susan (@SusanABI), and Peter Kirk from SaintGobainOneSuit
Rhett Fleitz, Susan (@SusanABI), and Peter Kirk from SaintGobainOneSuit
Mike Ward, John Mitchell, Chris Kaiser, Tiger Schmittendorf, Justin Schorr, and Dave Iannone (in the back)
Mike Ward, John Mitchell, Chris Kaiser, Tiger Schmittendorf, Justin Schorr, and Dave Iannone (in the back)

Here is the fun pic...I was never in drama in high school. Actually I was taking the photo.
Here is the fun pic...I was never in drama in high school. Actually I was taking the photo.
This is the entire crew of bloggers, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, and more! I will not even attempt to identify everyone.
This is the entire crew of bloggers, Fire Rescue Magazine, FireEMSBlogs.com, and more! I will not even attempt to identify everyone.

Chris Hebert, Tiger Schmittendorf, Art Goodrich, John Mitchell, Bill Carey
Chris Hebert, Tiger Schmittendorf, Art Goodrich, John Mitchell, Bill Carey
Tiger Schmittendorf, Rhett Fleitz (in the back), Shelly Wilcoxon, John Mitchell. Tiger and John are sporting the Black Helmet hats they won!
Tiger Schmittendorf, Rhett Fleitz (in the back), Shelly Wilcoxon, John Mitchell. Tiger and John are sporting the Black Helmet hats they won!


Posted by on April 30, 2010 • Filed under: Must Read, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FDIC in Retrospect…Great Time, Great People, Great Netcasts

6 comments

I managed to attend FDIC this year for the first time. I was there in the official capacity as co-host of Firefighter Netcast along with John Mitchell (FireDaily.com). I was also there representing The Fire Critic and many other projects I am in.

I must state first and foremost…

Tim Sendelbach, Shannon Pieper, and Paul Andrews at the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth

Tim Sendelbach, Shannon Pieper, and Paul Andrews at the Fire Rescue Magazine Booth

A sincere thanks to Fire Rescue Magazine, Firefighter Nation, and FireEMSBlogs.com for sharing their booth with Firefighter Netcast. Special thanks to Dave Iannone, Chris Hebert, Tim Sendelbach, and Jeff Berend as well as the rest of the crews of the aforementioned companies. The hospitality, networking, assistance, and conversation was very much appreciated!

Firefighter Netcast made its debut at FDIC pulling off 2 live netcasts from the show floor as well as around 10 hours of total audio. The first live netcast featured Ray Gayk and Billy Goldfeder and the second with Tiger Schmittendorf and Tom Merrill. We had to scratch on the live netcast with Ron Siarnicki and Cathy Hedrick on Friday, although we did tape the podcast. The netcasts are online and the other audio will be presented as podcasts and should be published on FirefighterNetcast.com once we complete editing this week.

The rundown of the week…

Rhett Fleitz, @Fire_Captain (twitter), Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, and John Mitchell

Rhett Fleitz, Jason Quimbly aka @Fire_Captain (twitter), Chris Kaiser, Justin Schorr, and John Mitchell

The hijinx began with John picking me up at the airport…. This guy is like my wife (not always right, but never wrong). We get a long well and it only took a little while for me to piss him off! Then again, and again, and again!

We had lunch with Chris Hebert, Dave Iannone, and Bill Carey and enjoyed the company. These guys are a riot to hang out with unless you get Bill riled up and he starts yelling!

John and I picked Tiger up at the airport where the real fun began. John and I were both meeting him for the first time. If you were in the truck with us, you would think we had known each other for years (years I will continue to try to get back).

Tiger’s wife couldn’t understand how he would just get off a plane and into a vehicle with people he has never met. That is how we are. We wondered the same thing… especially with us! We were going to take him to dinner at Chucky Cheese! That would have sealed the deal!

Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, and John Mitchell

Rhett Fleitz, Ron Siarnicki, Cathy Hedrick, and John Mitchell

We also met up with Fred Simon (FirstResponderLiablility.com). He is a lawyer and a firefighter! Our first show on Thursday was with him and we plan on having more commentary with Fred in the future!

Just to show how well we get along with others… I ended up sharing my room with Fred for two nights. He had intentions of commuting back and forth to Louisville, but I wouldn’t have it. Fred is a great guy and we had a great time hanging out with him!

John and I had a very busy show. As a matter of fact, we were so busy that we only had a little bit of time to get around to many other exhibitors at the show. I never did make it over to the Lucas Oil Stadium to see all of the apparatus. That was a bummer.

Rhett Fleitz (The Fire Critic) poses with the booth babes at Black Diamond Boots!

Rhett Fleitz (The Fire Critic) poses with the booth babes at Black Diamond Boots!

As I said before, I did make it to one spot and these booth babes hounded me to have their picture taken with me! What can I say… The Fire Critic is on the up and up!

Sorry I wasn’t able to get around to taking a ton of photos with the babes…work had to be done.

However, you can check out the following links for more pictures and information on our time at FDIC!

Justin Schorr (The Happy Medic) and Chris Kaiser (Life Under The Lights) met up with us and became part of the entourage that is many of the bloggers, followers, and twitter friends of FireEMSBlogs.com blogs.

Chris McCorkle (BlackJack Holder) and Rhett Fleitz

Chris McCorkle (BlackJack Holder) and Rhett Fleitz

I also got to meet and hang out with Chief Reason Art Goodrich (ChiefReasonArt.com). To me, this guy is somewhat of a Fire Service Legend. He is one of those guys who emboddied the great things about Firehouse.com forums, then a creator (If I am not mistaken) of IACOJ, then on to Firefighter Nation, and finally culminating with his own blog. Art is a GREAT guy! He is opinionated and sticks to his guns. He is very articulate with his comments and his depth of knowledge shines through when he talks. You would think this guy has an entire research team that provides him with a thesis before he opens his mouth… It is that good! Many thanks to Art for snapping a lot of the photos we got at our booth!

The team at Fire Rescue Magazine was very helpful with Firefighter Netcast. I am not sure they understood what it is we were planning on doing, but they seemed to be impressed with our delivery!

Brandon Roark and Rhett Fleitz

Brandon Roark and Rhett Fleitz

I got to meet up with a ton of guys who stopped by to see me and what we were doing as well. Some of these guys I have known through the internet for years. Guys like Brandon Roark (South Bend Indiana), Jason Quimbly (@Fire_Captain on twitter), Robbie and Danny Owens (Henrico Division of Fire, VA), Some guys who know me via VAFireNews.com from Portsmouth, Chris McCorkle of BlackJack Holder, Martin Grube (FireRescueTV.com), David Furtado (The Battalion), and many others.

I was able meet up with Jason Hoevelmann (FirefightersEnemy.com), who presented his class and actually had to turn people away it was so packed. Jason will be a future guest on our show!

Tiger Schmittendorf took John and I to the ISFSI party and I got to meet Dan Shaw and Nick Martin (Traditions Training). We recently had them on Firefighter Netcast and enjoyed meeting them in person!

At the ISFSI party, I got to meet Billy Goldfeder for the first time as well as Christopher Naum (CommandSafety.com and TheCompanyOfficer.com). Chris was a guest of our show on Friday and has been on our show as a caller in the past. I spoke with Doug Cline who will be presenting in my area in September.

The Wild Beaver...Our office in the late night!

The Wild Beaver...Our office in the late night!

Our late evenings were spent at the Wild Beaver. The Wild Beaver is kinda like a Coyote Ugly and was packed with firefighters! Plenty of networking and drinking went on there!

If you are in Indianapolis, the best steaks we had were at St. Elmo’s and Harry and Izzy’s.

Not to worry, if your name doesn’t appear in this post it will in the future. I still have to do a post on the FireEMSBlogs.com meetup! That will be coming soon!

Then we will have several posts up here and at Firefighter Netcast on the netcasting and podcasting that was done! Come back often to check it out! There are also a ton of other photos to share!

Posted by on April 26, 2010 • Filed under: NetCast, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Blogger Meetup, Chronicles of EMS, and more at EMS Today

10 comments

There will be a blogger meetup at the EMS Today Expo in Baltimore next Friday (March 5th). The meetup will include many big names in EMS and Fire blogs. The crew from Chronicles of EMS will be there as well. Fans, readers, friends, and many more will be there!

The Fire Critic will be there! As a matter of fact, I am riding the medic truck tomorrow just to get in the right mind set to hang out with so many needle throwers!

The Happy Medic is boasting this as the largest Fire/EMS blogger meetup of all-time.

Let me know if you will be there in the comments section. I am looking forward to rubbing shoulders with many whom I have never met and would love to know who to look for!

Some of the greats from FireEMSBlogs.com and many other bloggers will be in attendance including the bloggers from The Happy Medic, 999 Medic,  Life Under the Lights, EMS Garage, MedicCast, Fossil Medic of FireGeezer.com, and Fire Daily and Fire Critic (also known as the team of Firefighter Netcast). Please let me know if I need to add a name to the list!

Dave Iannone and Chris Hebert will also be there. They are the team who originally brought you Firehouse.com and now bring you FirefighterNation.com, JEMSConnect.com and FireEMSBlogs.com!

The event will be held at:

Uno Pizzeria Harborplace- Pratt Street Pavilion, 2nd Floor
201 East Pratt Street
Harborplace
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-625-5900

Sponsored by George Washington University, JEMS and FireEMSBlogs.com

Posted by on February 25, 2010 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

#CoEMS Being a Part of Something New and Refreshing

4 comments

CoEMS-logo1-small23I remember when I began this blog, one of my first new acquaintances was The Happy Medic. At the time, he was living under the pseudonym Steph Frolin. We exchanged some ideas and we were both running anonymous blogs (his more so than mine). It didn’t take me long to figure out who HE was though and he totally busted my over-the-top investigative skills by saying yeah that is me and it is no big deal…although he was still anonymous. I considered it OUR little secret at the time.

Justin, as we all call him now that he has “come out of the closet” with his anonymity, was very excited about this project with Mark Glencorse (999 Medic).

I apologize, but I am sure I am paraphrasing stuff I have already written.

Fast forward to this last weekend, enter in many other key players like Ted Setla and Chris Eldridge, mix up hundreds of giddy followers of #CoEMS on twitter, throw in over 3,000 fans on facebook, showcase the writing of dozens of great bloggers, and don’t forget about the social media inept following whose numbers are unobtainable and you have the Chronicles of EMS.

I was there to watch the premiere online and was able to chat with other viewers. The buzz was great!

What is even more amazing is watching, reading, and imagining this grassroots effort take hold.

These guys are not missing a beat. They are pounding the pavement to spread the word about their project, our project, your project.

For EMS professionals not to be in tune with what these guys are doing is like ignoring the next big thing. This is not a fad though. This is a realization of change, a necissary step in making our service better, and a bandwagon that has room for all of us.

For EMS industry leaders, the time has come to embrace the cutting edge of a movement and involve yourself with the professionals who make this industry work.

I must say that episode 1 was excellent. I watched it today with the guys at the station and I heard many comments. One comment that really stuck out was when Justin was helping a patient step into the back of the ambulance…a medic/firefighter watching with me said he applauded Justin for having the guy walk on his own knowing that he was being filmed. Whether it is or isn’t protocol, it spoke volumes on Justin’s behalf (as viewed by us) that Justin was willing to do business as usual and NOT cater to the depths of worrying about what others might say by his performance at work.

After all, that is what it is all about….how we/they/you DO EMS. There were many other examples as seen in the show. The introspect that Mark and Justin were able to give about how San Fransisco/United States does stuff versus how it would be done in the UK was a breath of fresh air.

Keep up the great work guys, we are watching, we are learning, we are INTERESTED!

Posted by on February 16, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , ,

Announcing Medic 999 as Fire/EMS Blog of the Year 2009 #FCBLOG09

7 comments

fcems094It is my honor (or honour) to announce Medic 999 as the Fire/EMS Blog of the Year for 2009. Medic 999 is run by Mark Glencorse who is a Paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service in England.

Mark has run Medic 999 since December 2008 and discusses the times and tribulations of being a medic in England as well as hot button topics of paramedicine and prehospital care.

Mark has recently enjoyed the spoils of being featured in the Chronicles of EMS. Chronicles of EMS was born from the efforts by Mark and Justin of The Happy Medic (San Francisco) to dissect the differences and similarities in EMS services at their respective departments.

I have a lot to say about the contest…what I learned, what I didn’t learn, what I will do differently, and how this contest will be over the top next year!

Unfortunately for Mark, the only prize this year is BRAGGING RIGHTS. However, I predict there will be more in the future!

Thank you for competing, thanks to those who nominated and voted for Medic 999, and thanks to everyone for publicizing the event!

I would also like to thank the judges who narrowed down the 23 nominated blogs down to 10 by judging on certain criteria…

2009 Fire/EMS Blog of the Year Judges

n503421450_255292_1345Marty Martin

Search Engine Optimization Consultant
Marty Martin is an Internet marketer and search engine consultant with over 12 years experience in the web industry. He has consulted for companies and government organizations across the USA and Europe and has been a guest speaker at business organizations, colleges and universities.
http://mear.is/me
http://twitter.com/mosquitohawk

judge1Kirke Phillips

Kirke Phillips, known as ‘Mookie’, is a Firefighter/Paramedic/Web Designer in Texas. Mookie has been a firefighter since 1991 and is currently employed by the City of Leander. In 1997, he founded a personal website that has grown into what is today known as Texas-Fire.com, which provides news and community to Texas emergency services professionals. In 2001, along with his brother (also a firefighter) he founded CenTexFIRE Web Designs which hosts and designs websites. As of December 2009, Texas-Fire received over 3 hits a day, which includes Mookie, his brother, and their mother. On FaceBook

bioAndrew Catron

Andrew Catron is a career firefighter for the city of Kingsport in Kingsport, Tennessee. He entered into the fire service in 2005, and has been fulltime with KFD for two years. He is a member of the Town of Chilhowie Fire Department as well and maintains their website – www.chilhowiefire.org. Once he realized he enjoyed managing a web site he decided to start one of his own. Recently he began a web site for Tennessee Fire News. The web site is growing and he realizes nothing is built overnight. Check out TNFireNews.com – www.TNFireNews.com.

Medic 22

Blue_star_of_lifeMEDIC 22 is a Radio DJ turned Paramedic Student in the Pacific Northwest. After over twenty years of working in the broadcast industry, M22 decided to quit his full time job, return to school full time, switch careers and write about it. His website, strangely enough called www.medic22.com details the trials and tribulations of a middle aged guy going through paramedic school. His website is full of polysyllabic words and sometimes people actually even read it. Oh, and he doesn’t like biscuits. Be warned.

More information on the contest to follow….

Posted by on January 13, 2010 • Filed under: Contests, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Fire/EMS Blog of the Year 2009 Finalists and Voting

4 comments

fcems09_300x250_3finalistThe Fire/EMS Blog of the Year 2009 contest finalists have been announced and voting has begun. Our judges narrowed down the nominated blogs to ten. Now it is time to vote.

Click here to go straight to the listing of finalists and voting area. You may vote once every 8 hours.

Click Here to Vote

Our Finalists are (in alphabetical order):

Vote here, vote often, spread the word.

The winner will be announced on January 12, 2010 at 8pm EST on the FirefighterNetcast.com first “official” live netcast! Tune in to follow along and listen in for the winner!

Posted by on January 6, 2010 • Filed under: Contests, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is History Being Made?

7 comments

I don’t know about you guys but I cannot stop checking in on “The Project”. For the couple of you who just crawled out of underneath a rock, “The Project” is a meetup between a UK Medic (Medic 999) and a San Fran Medic (Happy Medic).

I will assume that most of you know what I am talking about.

I just can’t get enough of this whole project. It has actually taken a life of its own. While Justin (HM) and Mark (M999) enjoy their time together in California, the twitter and facebook EMS Nation is hard at work making it better. However, that EMS Nation might not be working as hard as Ted Setla and Chris Eldridge who are filming “The Project” to turn it into a pilot episode of an EMS documentary titled “Chronicles of EMS”.

To many readers it seems as though everything has melded into “Chronicles of EMS”. To me there is still a very defined boundary between “The Project” and “Chronicles of EMS”. However, I have no problem with many transposing the events into one and spreading the word. However, I could be totally off base on this whole thing…that is just the way I see it.

So we are clear (in my mind)…

“The Project”: Meetup between Happy Medic and Medic 999 that was dreamed up after the two bloggers met and began discussing differences between the US and England. We soon found out it was more than a language barrier.

“Chronicles of EMS”: The filming of and eventual editing, producing, and releasing of a pilot episode showcasing “The Project”. At this point we will only be seeing the US side. Apparently no roads lead to the UK leading many of us to wonder how we got here in the first place.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Some of you might be sick and tired of the whole deal…I don’t care.

What is really interesting me is how this whole event has grown via some movers and shakers in the EMS Nation of Social Media (I deliberately leave out the word fire even though I know that some of us are involved…remember I am an EMT too). Guys and gals who are currently leading the social media movement for EMS have been utilizing blogs, twitter, facebook, video, and other social mediums.

If you would like to know who those movers and shakers are:

Now I hope you don’t think I am trying to take away from either project by trying separate the two. In all actuality, it seems as though Justin and Mark are realizing how hard it is to keep everyone not in San Fran up to date. That comes with the territory. Luckily for us, Setla and Eldridge are there to post to facebook and twitter what is going on along with Mark and Justin.

It is hard to understand what effect “The Project” and “Chronicles of EMS” will have on EMS. One thing is for sure, it is getting people involved with social media. The real effects that all of this will have on EMS might not be realized for a long time.

I think that in the wake of the awesome work done at the EMS Expo and now this, we will be seeing a lot more of this social networking becoming a part of mainstream EMS.

  • What do you think will be the impact of these projects?
  • How have you changed your social media usage since witnessing this project?
  • How do you plan on making differences to use social media better?

You just have to wonder how much impact this whole event will have on EMS!!!

Check out the latest update from all four of the guys!!

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: News, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Your Unofficial Guide to “The Project”

8 comments

If you haven’t heard, The Happy Medic and Medic 999 are embarking on an educational on-the-job meet up. Justin Schorr, whose name I knew before it was cool to know his name, will be having Mark Glencorse over for eight days in San Francisco. The San Francisco Fire Department being the place of Justin (The Happy Medic) Schorr’s employment. Following those eight days, Mark will go swim home and  Justin will head to England a couple of days later to have tea and crumpets and a ride along with Mark. The North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust being the place of Mark’s employment.

USA-UK-BADGE-300x189Follow down to the bottom of the post for important terms, how to follow, and where to follow regarding the project!

This whole “Project” came about after a “courting” period between the two bloggers. They often discussed clinical applications of pre-hospital emergency care. Justin being a Firefighter/Paramedic on an engine and Mark a Medic in a car for the North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

Through comments on each others blogs, email, and phone calls they hatched The Project. Originally, the BBC was going to follow along and film The Project but they pulled the plug in negotiations with Mark’s employer.

Now, Ted Setla (@Setla)is working on filming of The Project (at least State-side).Link

The Project is a unique endeavor planned and executed by the two. The promoting,discussing, and marketing has been a free for all by many top names in the EMS industry! The Project has been dissected, boasted, envied, and examined by many through twitter, facebook, and blogs.

Justin and Mark promise blogging, tweeting, videos, emails, carrier pigeons, smoke signals, and messages in bottles to get their project out to the masses as it happens!

Many industry professionals (EMS, Medics, PIO’s, Social Marketers, Fire, etc.) are watching and maybe even holding their breathe a little to see what will become of this.

On the heels of a very successful twitter/blogging/video social media marketed EMS Expo, many are wondering what is next…We will just have to wait and see.

If you would like to follow along, keep an eye on the links below throughout the next 3 weeks and beyond!

Important terms

  • Justin Schorr = The Happy Medic, Happy Medic, HM. Located in San Francisco.
  • HMHQ = Happy Medic HeadQuarters aka Justin’s house.
  • Mark Glencorse = 999 Medic, Medic 999, That English Guy. Located in NewCastle. (I always wanted to live in a brewery!)
  • The hashtags for The Project on Twitter are #911999 (the project) and #CoEMS (chronicles of EMS)

Follow along with The Happy Medic and Medic 999

In the news and about The Project

Follow the Chronicles of EMS

Can someone please translate this into English for Mark?

Justin…enjoy the boo-doo siren and blue lights! I hope your tall lanky A@# fits in that little car!

Posted by on November 7, 2009 • Filed under: Must Read, News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

Have you Seen This?

3 comments

Ok, this is a link to other stories on other websites. The title is actually inspired by my first little ditty….

TheHouseWatch.com offers a great video of the Buffalo Fire Department. If this video and audio track doesn’t grab your attention go slam your $%# in the door! The video is expertly done! The House Watch also has some of the greatest tactic/strategy posts on the web today!

The FireGeezer is doing what he does best….showing everyone else how branding is paramount. He offers the latest mug shot of Bobby Halton showing off his Geezer Mug! Plenty more news abounds including this post by Mike Ward!

Don’t we all wish we had the connections that Dave Statter has! Dave serves up the latest on the snafu in DC with comments from Dennis Rubin here. Dave is great at what he does…a reporter! His following on his blog is top notch with lovers and haters!!! You gotta take the good with the bad…check the comments on most posts you will see what I mean!

Ok, The Happy Medic pointed to it and so did another blog (I lost which one though). This is the original post on Rogue Medic and this is the follow up by A Day in the Life of an Ambulance Driver. Read it and understand what the Rogue Medic is trying to say….according to the Happy Medic and all that we need Reform in the EMS Profession!

FireDaily.com is a new site, but in a recent post he promises that he has something new on the horizon. Keep up with his blog he has a lot to offer!

The Fire Critic is a little sad because FireFighterHourly.com has more facebook fans than him! Try to keep in touch on Facebook with FireFighterHourly.com’s Facebook Page and FireCritic.com’s Facebook Page. Although in my defense, I am a little newer to this thing than Jay is.

Finally, I have great news! The Fire Critic is working on a collaboration with two other individuals. I will have more news in just a couple of days. To be honest, I am working on it with the business I run and not actually the Fire Critic. However it still counts. Look for more information soon!

Posted by on October 12, 2009 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Funniest EMS Calls Ever

10 comments

Over at Life Under the Lights, they are having a carnival. Unfortunately it isn’t the kind with hot cousins, toothless women, and midgets throwing knives at a large three breasted woman with a beard. That would be cool though wouldn’t it.

Actually, the carnival is called the Handover Blog Carnival. I have tried to understand it but I haven’t really grasped it. As best as I can tell, it is a traveling post theme where one blogger posts the stories from other bloggers about a similar topic. Please correct me if I am wrong. It does seem to be heavily leaning to the PAIR OF MEDICS side of things. The banner actually says EMS, ER, and A&E Staff. I get the EMS and ER, but why in the hell did they include Arts and Entertainment staff?

Anyways, this months (I think that is the frequency) Handover Blog Carnival is being hosted by Life Under the Lights and has some pretty funny “Funniest EMS Calls Ever”.

If you want more on the Handover Blog Carnival click here.

Posted by on September 25, 2009 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , ,

So You Want to Start Your Own Fire and/or EMS Blog?

8 comments

Before you read the entire post let me preempt anything I write by this next sentence. If you are not dedicated to updating your blog regularly DO NOT waste YOUR time. Don’t worry about wasting other people’s time, let them make that judgment for themselves. You will see in your traffic whether your blog is being read. You will see in the comments, or lack there of, if they are enjoying what you write enough to leave feedback or join the discussion.

Once you begin (after reading this post) then check out the top ten marketing tools for fire/ems blogs. This will give you insight into getting your blog read, getting others to link to it, and getting it into the blogosphere.

That being said, blogs are a lot of fun. They are also time consuming.

In the beginning, sit down with a good OLD pen and piece of paper and brainstorm.

Your Blog will be about? Examples: firefighting, EMS, firefighting and EMS, being a paramedic, training, news, humor, videos, the calls you run, etc.

The Happy Medic

The Happy Medic

The first thing you need to think about is what you are going to write about. You don’t have to narrow it down to “The effects of red kneed soapsuckers on wildland firefighting in the small northeast region of Libya” Why not just start a wildland firefighting blog? Don’t narrow your writing so that when you continue down this list you narrow your entire identity. I don’t care about “The effects of red kneed soapsuckers on wildland firefighting in the small northeast region of Libya” however, I would probably check out a blog about wildland firefighting!

A great example of a website that might keep some readers away is The Happy Medic. Some firefighters don’t give a hoot about paramedic stuff. However, you will soon find out if you follow HM that he is a great firefighter too. He writes about firefighting, Paramedical stuff, and everything in between.

What is your Audience? Example: Local, Regional, Statewide, National, Worldwide, medical, firefighting, etc.

The Fire Critic is read Worldwide

The Fire Critic is read Worldwide. Even for a blog that is only a couple of months old!

This is a lesson I have learned. It is not easy to get over. I started a blog local to my department/city. Then I started a website on my State. I wish I had just started out a fire service website and watched it grow. I would be a lot better off 5 years down the road. Figure out how big you want to get and keep your eyes set on the prize. Case and point, FireCritic.com has no boundaries. If we send a firefighter to the moon, I will be there writing about it. If there is something going on in Fiji, I will write about it.

Just make sure that you are planning a blog for the audience you want to capture, whether it is local or Worldwide.

Your Image? You need a name and a logo.

The Fire Critic. This image was purchased at an image shack online for a couple of bucks.

The Fire Critic. This image was purchased at an image shack online for a couple of bucks.

A name says it all. Firehouse.com, FireEngineering.com, FireGeezer.com, FireCritic.com, FirefighterNation.com. All of these names are easily understood in the fire service. Things like “My future life” might not be the best bet when talking about a blog for a Paramedic in Medic school. Make it relevant! Plus, that future paramedic probably will not be in school forever. If they plan on continuing blogging once they graduate, the name is lost in translation. Think down the road! FC Note: “my future life” is an example and I do not know if there is a Medic blog by that name.

Your URL? You can get your own (I recommend doing this). Or you can get one for free.

I would recommend spending the $10 a month getting a url of your own. This will help you out in many ways. First of all, it will be easier for people to remember firecritic.com than it would be if you had firecritic.wordpress.com or firecritic.blogspot.com.

Secondly, your url will show up higher in google searches. This is very important in the land of traffic from search engines! Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) basics will teach you this. SEO is where WordPress makes it easy. Without any plugins you can make the title of your individual posts payout in searches. With some added plugins, you can take your content to the top of search engine traffic for specific terms.

A perfect example is the search for “formosaproduct brick”. You don’t have a clue what that is do you? Well it just happens to be the name of a ship I ran a story about. Click on that link and you will see I came up 2nd in a search on AltaVista. FC Note: that search could change, but that was the first one I came up with for an example.

Trust me though, having your own URL gives you a specific identity and it well worth the $10.

What Blogging software are you going to use? Blogger.com and WordPress.com are the most popular. I recommend starting with one of these!

I run about 7 different blogs. Some are offered more as websites, but the basic interface is that of a blog. Actually, what I am taking advantage of is the Content Management System (CMS) that WordPress has to offer. I began my fruitful enterprise with dreamweaver. I created the websites from scratch. Once I was turned on to what WordPress could do I was hooked and have made the change and have never looked back.

If I knew then what I know now, I would have started with WordPress and I would have saved myself a lot of hard work. WordPress is great because of the vast catalog of plugins and widgets built by users.

My first blog was using Blogger though. I still run one blog with Blogger and I am fine with it. I will probably move it over to my server using WordPress soon. Blogger is very basic and understandable for most. If you have no clue about blogging, I would use Blogger or WordPress.

The great thing about wordpress is that you can import your blog from blogger in its entirety. It only takes a couple of minutes.

Now you have to start writing. Feel free to check out the Top Ten Marketing Tools for the Fire Service. It will give you more insight to starting on your way.

Most of all, please leave some feedback if this helped, if you have any questions, or if you want to add anything!

Posted by on August 24, 2009 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday Morning Shoutout – Your Happy Medic

2 comments

Our Monday morning shoutout goes to Your Happy Medic this morning! The Happy Medic is a FF/PM and offers a wide variety of posts on fire and EMS so don’t let the name fool you. Plus, he is one of those guys (although I don’t know his name I am pretty sure he is a guy) who is a Paramedic on the Engine Company. Pretty sweet if you ask me…and so are those wooden ladders!

Posted by on July 6, 2009 • Filed under: Monday Morning Shoutout, News • Tagged: , , ,

Making the most of blogging

4 comments

How’s about another Shrimp on the Barbie?

In a couple of months, two bloggers will be working together at each others jobs. One is a Firefighter and Paramedic on an Engine company  in San Fransisco (The Happy Medic) and the other is a Paramedic for the North East Ambulance Service (Medic999). You might ask Northeast what? Well I assure you it is not Northeast San Fransisco. It is actually in England somewhere…I am guessing in the Northeast but I wasn’t able to pinpoint the location.

After almost a year of hounding each other with questions, they have come up with this ingenious idea that brings blogging to a new level. I have been blogging a while with other sites but never talked anyone into doing a tv show about me.

Exactly how far away are these two bloggers? Something like 5400 miles…so far that google maps cannot give you driving or walking directions.

These two bloggers have somehow curtailed the BBC into doing a television show on their journey. Medic999 will travel with BBC crews to San Fran and ride with The Happy Medic, then once Medic999 gets sick of riding the medic truck like all of the other Medics in our Country he will take The Happy Medic back to England to ride the ambulance there. Medic999 is apparently interested in how The Happy Medic can multitask on the Engine as a Firefighter and Paramedic as well.

Apparently The Happy Medic doesn’t know how good he has it being a FF/PM on the engine (“fire lorry” for those across the pond) that he really wants to see what socialized health care looks like it prior to President Obama making it reality here in the States.

Ok, so I added a little sarcasm in there for effect.

I am actually looking forward to watching this on the television (for you guys across the pond that is tele). There is even a chance of a continued series if the first one is a hit.

Read about the “project” on The Happy Medic here and Medic999 here.

Now if I can just figure out how to translate this into english for my friends across the pond…

Posted by on June 19, 2009 • Filed under: News • Tagged: , , , , , , , ,