Thank you to all who made this moment possible. I do not take it lightly or for granted. Hope you enjoy this little talk.
More to follow…
Tag Archives: fire
Calling The Mayday – R.I.T. Review
I want to thank the Connecticut Fire Department Instructors Association, for allowing me to present a brief portion on Calling the Mayday and the responsibilities of the Rapid Intervention Team or Rapid Intervention Crew.
This was done during one of our monthly membership meetings. It has been difficult, this year for us to meet together, due to the COVID19 Virus.
As always, thank you for the opportunity to share.
www.fireofficertrust.org
A Discussion on Race in the Fire Service – from the MikeyG and MikeyD Radio Show
“I want to thank Mike D, Mike G and my fellow panelists, for their courage, forthrightness, and professionalism in this endeavor. They rose to the occasion out of love of country, our fellow firefighters, and our noble profession. – John Alston
Join Capt. Mike Dugan (FDNY) and Capt. Mike Gagliano (Seattle Fire) for a discussion on starting a conversation about issues related to race without getting into conflict.
In particular, we will focus on the likely conversations that will occur in the treatment of the black community in our country and the fire service. To help give insight on doing so successfully, we will be speaking to:
Fire Chief John Alston, New Haven Fire Dept.
Capt. Larry Conley, St. Louis Fire Dept.
Capt. Jon M Goins Jr., Seattle Fire Dept.
Lt. Terri Reid, Baltimore County Fire Dept.
FF Mike Washington, Seattle Fire Dept.
Any perusal of the current stream of news or social media chatter makes it very clear that having conversations about racial issues can be very challenging. Events of the past few weeks make it inevitable that these conversations will be happening amongst your team in the firehouse. While we typically try to minimize these types of discussions at work, the simple fact that we live and work together makes simply ignoring or avoiding the issues impossible.
To provide some tools and tips for firefighters/company officers in how to initiate and have productive and thoughtful dialogue is the goal of our show. The more we can speak to each other in ways that create understanding, even when we strongly disagree with what is being said, the better chance we have of maintaining team unity, operational effectiveness, and relational understanding.
We are not attempting to answer the larger questions and issues being discussed in our society today. A radio show with short segments simply does not allow for the fuller development of ideas needed. But we feel hearing from some of our finest firefighters in the nation discussing how they have had success talking about these difficult areas may provide you with strategies/tactics to use in your own firehouse.
The Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation
While attending the 2018 i-Women Conference, I had the most fortunate opportunity to sit down with Ms. Cindy Ell of the Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation.
The Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation:
Working to Extinguish Fire Fighter Cancer
Firefighters dedicate their lives to the service of others. The Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation was established in 2004 to provide international outreach, support, and resource assistance programs for firefighters and family members that are stricken by cancer.
The Foundation is creating state of the art programs for cancer education, awareness, research and prevention to ensure the quality of life and retirement of fire fighters around the world.
Cindy is a wealth of information and showed us many of the products and information packs that they have developed to help educate Fire Fighters and their families. We had the chance to talk about Cancer, as it relates to the work environment and the impact it has on first responders and our families. It was one of the most uplifting discussions I have had on this subject. Cindy is a driven advocate for healthy Fire Fighters and their families.
There was such a wide range of topics and programs that we encourage you to visit their website at: www.ffcancer.org
And then donate…
2018 CT Fire-EMS Caucus Regional Fire School Funding
Thank you to Connecticut State Representatives Pat Boyd and Brian Ohler for your Co-Leadership of the CT Fire-EMS Caucus. Your valued support for the safety, operations and well-being of First Responders in the State of Connecticut has not gone unnoticed.
We had the chance to testify at the State Capitol to solicit support for the proper funding of the Regional Fire Schools.
Special thanx and shout out to the Connecticut State Fire and EMS Caucus for granting time to hear the concerns for adequate funding of the regional fire schools. The Caucus was fully supported by the CT Career Fire Chiefs, the IAFF and our surrounding partners in Public Safety.
Training the New Firefighter
I haven’t been active on social media, blogs or podcasts, in over a year. Some may know that I retired from the Jersey City Fire Department with 31 years.
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to the Connecticut Fire Service Instructor’s Association. The topic was training the new firefighter.
It was an informal talk at their Annual Meeting. The audio is what it is, due to the fact that I did not record the talk in my usual fashion. 🙂
We talked about the classic model of training:
Prepare
Present
Apply
Test
Follow-up
And if you want further information:
Hope it works for you!
UCFA Graduation Keynote – What is past is prologue.
Union County Fire Academy 2016 Graduation Keynote Speech by Battalion Chief John Alston of the Jersey City Fire Department. Subject: “What is Past is Prologue”.
Special thanks to my Union County Academy Family for the invitation to address the graduates; my esteemed honor and privilege to do so.
Warren County Junior Firefighter Competition
One might wonder how a Jersey City fire fighter ended up participating in Junior Fire Fire Fighter Competition in Warren County, North Carolina. No wonder at all. My Dad was born 8 miles from there in Littleton, NC. I was invited to speak at the African American Heritage Festival last year, when they honored Firefighters. There I met some great folks….Fire Chief & Mayor Gardner, Chief Advisor John Franks, Chaplain Stith and J. Greene. As firefighters do, we hit it of. I told them about my years of coming back to North Carolina and about my love for our noble profession.
They shared the workings of the various departments and EMS. Our friendship was formed. Firefighters are the same, all over!
What an excellent couple of days spent with the Warren County (NC) Junior Firefighters, as they hosted the 2016 Junior Fire Fighter Competition. I want to thank Chief Advisor, John Franks for his warm invitation and welcome to share with the Juniors. We spent a great day with them and groups from West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and neighboring areas. The spirit of competition and camaraderie, among the groups and supporters, was a true inspiration. I particularly liked the fact that on several occasions faster team members completed their tasks and rather than run on to complete their “personal best time”, they stayed in the zone and helped their teammates complete their task…an example for us all.
Hoseline tug-of-war competition. This was an exhilarating battle between several young teen groups. Their perseverance and attention to details won the battle for them. Stellar examples of situational awareness!
Learned a great lesson from these young people…don’t give up and rely on your training. There were several times that it looked like the battle would go one way. These young crews dug in and moved the barrel. I over heard a few of the coaches relate these incidents to fire fighting. Telling them how hold the line, work the nozzle and how to back each other up.
Here is a unique chance to see teamwork and team-building, from the host group Warrenton.
There were several other events. I’ll post more when I’m back…
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