Where firefighters come to talk training
Mike Walker's Groups
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Pandora's Box
55 members
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1403 Compliant Training
89 members
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Common Sense Firefighting
170 members
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Becoming a Better Instru…
128 members
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Props and Training Aids
123 members
Mike Walker's Discussions
Mike Walker: Oklahoma City Fire Department/Battalion Chief
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This group exists to allow firefighters discuss all of the wonders of today's technological gems. The good and the bad of radio and computer communications in today's fire service.
A group that discusses, questions, challenges common practices within the fire service such as staffing, tactics, unions, attitudes, government, etc.
So many cities have High-Rise structures and the tactics used by various departments varies as much as the cities themselves. The group is designed to allow Metro-City and Big-City firefighters discuss this challenging aspect of our jobs.
Profile Information
- Residence.
- Oklahoma
- Department:
- Oklahoma City Fire Department
- Title/rank:
- Battalion Chief
- Years of public service:
- 19
- Agency structure:
- Paid fire department
- Top issues in your department:
- My biggest issue for our department is to increase the minimum staffing on Ladder Companies to 4 personnel.
- Professional Qualifications:
- EMT-I, Structural Collapse Tech-2, Haz-Mat Tech, Swiftwater Tech.-1, Confined Space Tech-2, bla bla bla
- Topics you provide training for:
- Structural Collapse, Confined Space, High-Angle, RIT, Saving your Own, High-Rise Tactics, Vehicle Extrication, Trench Collapse
- Bio:
- I've been on the job for 19 years. I'm a Task-Force Leader for OKTF-1. I've been teaching for 13 years. I teach because I love the job so much and teaching about fire gives me something to do until I can get back to the station.
Mike Walker's Photos
Mike Walker's Videos
Mike Walker's Blog
Somewhere In the Middle or Just On the Fence
Over the last couple of weeks a tremendous amount of blogs have been posted and comments given about a recent speech given at the 2009 FDIC conference. Lt. Ray McCormack from FDNY stood in front of thousands and spoke to the culture war that is raging in our midst. He spoke about a culture of fear vs. a culture of extinguishment. What I gained from his dialogue was the fire service must remember our reason for existence, the people we serve. If the organization whose purpose it is to perform res… Continue
Posted on May 3, 2009 at 7:19pm — 22 Comments
The Best Example of Why We Must Be Prepared...
I sent this out to all of the people in my Battalion today and thought I'd share with you all. Hope you enjoy it.
Below are three links that will let you see the recent interview on "60-Minutes" with the crew of U.S Airway Flight 1429. I want you to watch all three portions. Make sure when you watch them, you can give them your full attention. Though these videos are obviously about the flight and subsequent successful rescue of all 155 passengers, a subtle comparison can be made to our job.… Continue
Below are three links that will let you see the recent interview on "60-Minutes" with the crew of U.S Airway Flight 1429. I want you to watch all three portions. Make sure when you watch them, you can give them your full attention. Though these videos are obviously about the flight and subsequent successful rescue of all 155 passengers, a subtle comparison can be made to our job.… Continue
Posted on February 11, 2009 at 5:56pm — 7 Comments
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Fire Engineering Features
NFPA 1403 Live-Fire Evolutions at Fire Service Training Centers
Live fire training is an essential part of a firefighter's education, but there are significant differences between training at gas-fired versus non-gas-fired structures. Mike Gurr takes a closer look.Fire Engineering University: Online Continuing Education for Firefighters
Fire Engineering University is changing the way fire service professionals approach continuing education. Our goal is to provide you with relevant, topical educational content that is easily accessible. For a full listing of courses with descriptions, credits, and fees, go to www.fireengineeringuniversity.com.New Vehicle Extrication: 2010 Lexus HS250h
The first compact hybrid luxury sedan, this hybrid only model contains several unique features, including numerous air bags. Jason Emery reviews considerations for vehicle rescue operations.© 2009 Created by fireeng
Comment Wall (42 comments)
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I'll check it out often.
Stay Safe,
Dave
Go for it! I appreciate your efforts to pass on the info. Reading smoke should be as common as a motor vehicle size-up: Evalute traffic, number of cars involved, damage/stability, hazardous energy involvement, visible victim status, etc.
-Dave
What we've notice in many cases is that there are two things which can be great for progress but also great for "doing nothing", depending on the way you use it. These two things are the concept of "brother" and the documentation.
A brother is a man to who you can say "You're wrong" and who can say you the same. If you do "wrong", and you are not my "brother", I'll not tell you you're wrong, because it doesnt matter to me. When I tell my student that they must work a lot, because they are not "good", that's because I love them.
The bad use of "brother" is to say "you can't make criticism to a brother". because in that case, the brother can do bad things for years. And one day, you will be in front of his grave. The grave of a brother? No. Because when my brother do bad things, I'll tell him immediatly. I don't wait him to get an accident.
Documentation can also be used in a positive or negative way. You can use doc as a start point, to increase knowledge. This is a right way. But when the guys don't want things to change, they use the docs, to say "You can't do that, it's not in the doc!". This is the bad way.
Same tools. Two results. Not easy to use. :-)
Very best regards
Pierre-Louis
Thank you, you're the best...
Dave Mc.
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