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INTERNATIONAL NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 2009 IAFF John P. Redmond Symposium — Page 30 contents NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS / VOL 92. NO. 6 FEATURES Proud to Wear Pink Fire fighters campaign for breast cancer awareness .......... 14 Springfield Fire Fighters Pass Pension Sales Tax Voters say yes to fund pension plan .................................. 16 Massachusetts Fire Fighters Receive Stimulus Money Affiliate Leadership Training Summit offers Governor commits money to public safety ........................ 19 P. 33 education and networking for IAFF leaders Colorado Local President Back on the Job Snowmass president was wrongfully fired .......................... 20 General President’s Message Staying Alive ...................................................................... 3 ON THE COVER: General Secretary-Treasurer’s Message Redmond Symposium Includes Fire Ground 2009-2010 Budget ............................................................ 5 Survival Program .......................................................... 30 Letters to the Editor .................................................... 6 Local Scene .................................................................. 8 Always On the Frontline .......................................... 21 Across the IAFF .......................................................... 26 Fully Involved .............................................................. 30 On the Road ................................................................ 34 Retirees .......................................................................... 35 Fiire Ops 101 can change attiitudes about In Memoriam/Last Alarm P. 12 fiire serviice safety and resources .......................................... 38 Give a gift P. 32 to improve the quality of life for On The Cover burn survivors Fire Ground Survival program teaches fire fighters life-saving skills —page 31 —PHOTOS BY DOUGLAS MORRISON, LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT PHOTO UNIT November/December 2009 2 From the General President Staying Alive n the world of every county executive/mayor/city Fire Ground Survival’s goal is to bring you Typically in manager/county or city council member and fire cutting-edge training from a program we developed Idistrict board across Canada and the United using more than 30 of our affiliates and their fire the fire service States, money drives every decision. They’re the departments across the continent. ones who control your fire department’s budget, set Typically in the fire service we train for success. we train for priorities, raise or cut staffing levels, say yes or no to We drill by dragging in the hose, putting out the success. We major equipment acquisitions and approve and fire and planning for everyone to go home. That’s negotiate your contracts. not reality. drill by dragging Simply put, those people have a major role in your Fire ground operations go wrong and our health and safety and they definitely do not wake members lose their lives. We owe it to ourselves to in the hose, up every day and say, “What can we develop training that prepares you do for our fire fighters and for when things do go wrong. putting out the paramedics today?” The sole objective of the training is fire and That’s where this union comes in. to literally train you how to survive Everyone knows their local fights WHEN you get into trouble in a fire; planning for for better wages, benefits, a secure to teach when and how to call a retirement and to defend members Mayday and to reaffirm that it isn’t a everyone to go against unjust discipline. weakness to call for help quickly, home. That’s But what many members never while help can still get you out alive; realize is the incredible work this and to give you the needed skills to not reality. union does at every level to make survive when you are trapped, sure you have the best equipment, disoriented, entangled or when the training and staffing every time you only way out is through a window a respond to a call. number of stories up. Over the years, the IAFF has led We are now working on the system the fight to develop the national Harold A. to enable us to deliver this IAFF standards that govern your Schaitberger program to all our members and turnouts, SCBA, communication their departments. As I have equipment, apparatus, operations, watched the development of this training and staffing levels — leading to too many initiative, I am convinced that not only will this NFPA, CGSB and federal/state/provincial standards training make our members better and safer fire to list here . fighters, it will save lives. We’ve worked with a number of partners along Also, in January 2010, the final report from the the way to spearhead the development and field experiments associated with the Department implementation of our Wellness-Fitness Initiative, of Homeland Security funded Fire Fighter Safety Fit to Survive, Stop-Drop-Control High Blood and Deployment Study will be released. Pressure Awareness Program, Campaign for a This critical, multiphase study was conducted by a Smoke Free Union, and to develop and maintain coalition of partners, including the National the Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting database. Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), We are the lead organization fighting to make sure Worchester Polytechnic Institute, CFAI, IAFF and you have the proper precautions, respirators and IAFC. And it will finally provide the empirical immunizations in the current H1N1 pandemic and evidence to measure how crew size affects fire for all other infectious diseases. fighter safety and your ability to rescue occupants Today, we ’re leading the development of the next in a structure fire. generation of turnouts through our Project That means we will now be able to arm you with HEROES program and the revolutionary SCBA the decisive statistics and clear evidence you need pressure vessel technology that will have you when explaining to politicians across Canada and wearing a two-inch thick backpack in the very near the United States the importance of adequate future instead of the bulky and heavy cylinder that’s staffing levels and the objectives in NFPA 1710. on your back today. That’s just some of the critical work we’re doing. And if you become ill, it’s your union that has So while those elected officials and their appointees fought for and won heart, lung, cancer and may not wake up every day wondering what they infectious disease presumption legislation to further can do for fire fighters, this union sure as hell does. provide for you and your family. And I’m proud to say that we will continue to We’re very proud of the work that has led us to be work every day to make sure we help you stay alive considered the most powerful force working to and well. enhance fire fighter safety and health in the world . And you need to know that we’re not stopping there. On the cover of this edition of the magazine is a photo from what I believe is an incredibly important and innovative new program we’ve launched , called our Fire Ground Survival training program . International Fire Fighter 3 INTERNATIONAL Harold A. Schaitberger General President Vincent J. Bollon Harold A. Schaitberger Jeff Zack Editor General Secretary-Treasurer Supervising Editor IAFF EXECUTIVE BOARD 10th District Jane Blume James T. Ferguson Managing Editor 1st District Kristin Craine 3029 Buchanan Street Staff Writer Kevin Gallagher Bill Glanz San Francisco, CA 94123-4201 Staff Writer (415) 760-8063 (Cell) Kristin Davis 2004 E. 29th Street Graphic Artist Brooklyn, NY 11229 (415) 474-4121 (Fax) Katie Shelton 11th District (718) 934-4933 (Office) Administrative Assistant Sandy McGhee Craig Renfro (917) 767-9639 (Cell) Advertising Director • (972) 416-9782 • [email protected] (718) 332-0001 (Fax) 1283 S. Detroit Avenue Periodical postage paid at Postmasters send changes 2nd District Tulsa, OK 74120 Washington DC of address to Mark Woolbright (918) 599-8176 (Office) Published bi-monthly. 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