We received dozens of submissions featuring photographs from all over the country.  In the end the photo we choose came from Alex Capece who is a firefighter in nearby Washington, DC and a talented photographer to boot. While his photo didn’t show a raging inferno or a dramatic conflagration I liked how it showed firefighters moving a hose line.  A simple task that we all need to be proficient performing, and perhaps most importantly, something that speaks to Andy’s legacy — mastery of the basics.

A few weeks ago, a fellow blogger alerted me to a photo contest, the winner of which would have their photo utilized as the promotional poster for the three-day conference in Alexandria, VA. I sent a few of my best their way, and I received the good news this morning.

Thanks to Bill Carey over at BackstepFirefighter for the heads-up… the May 2011 conference has some great speakers (no, seriously… read this list) and is shaping up to be quite the event. Register to attend here! There’s deals on lodging, and the registration fee is a steal in itself for everything that you get.

It looks like a wonderful legacy from a great man—more info on Andy Fredericks is available on the homepage. Three days of learning more about the greatest job in the world? Plus helping out a heartfelt charity organization to boot? Sign me up, buddy.

Unfortunately, it commands such a presence within my demographic (not only by age, but also by profession—I’d be hard pressed to find coworkers who don’t have a FB acount) that I feel unable to get rid of it. Some of my associates who I contact regularly either a) are so ingrained in Big Blue that it’s pretty much their only form of communication or b) I have no other means of contacting them—either it was lost to time or never provided to me in the first place.

It is this chronic presence of social media, Twitter pictures, mobile updates, etc. within the fire service that I’m concerned about. It’s already bad enough that the citizens we protect can be all too litigious without warning; but if you spread something stupid around the internet, it’s certainly lights out for your career. Both the higher-ups and the general public can get you into more hot water than you thought possible.

Here’s a quick timeline of Internet-based screwups, just from 2010:

February 11th, 2010: South Carolina firefighter/paramedic Jason Brown posts an animated short film which he created using xtranormal.com (a site where you can make various characters interact with dialogue and actions of your choosing)—the video in question depicted a conversation between a firefighter and a doctor. The Colleton County Fire/Rescue Director ruled that “[Brown] displayed poor judgment in producing a derogatory video depicting a member of this department with a physician which is implied to be at Colleton Medical Center.” Amidst several allegations—not the least of which was outright racism—Brown was dismissed. His appeal process was unsuccessful, and he was escorted to his station to empty his locker while his officers watched over him.

“I felt like a criminal,” he said.

Source: WCSC News / Charleston

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July 17th: A 23-year-old female is involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident in Spalding County, Georgia. Responding firefighter Terrence Reid filmed the accident scene and the victim’s body with his cell phone, then passed it around to friends at a bar. After the video hit the internet, it didn’t take long for the victim’s father to learn of the video that contained graphic footage and firefighters’ conversations describing his daughter’s mangled body.

Reid has since been dismissed, for various charges including lying to his supervisors about the incident and conduct unbecoming a public officer.

Sources: Statter911; Blippit

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October 1st: A Florida firefighter awakens from a nap to find an unusual picture on his laptop computer. While he slept, a coworker had exposed himself and stood… unnecessarily close to the sleeping man, then uploaded the picture where the napper would certainly find it. FireGeezer reported more back in late October.

(Note: while I see that the issue is more about complaints of repetitive hazing amongst the High Springs Fire Department, it’s just an example of the kind of stupid uploaded photo that can get you in some serious trouble. )

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October 27th: Austin, TX firefighter Alejandro Garza is placed on indefinite suspension without pay due to the discovery of nude photos he had posted online earlier this year. In the “profile” area of his account, he had included information that revealed him to be an Austin firefighter. Despite arguments that he had posted the photos in 2006 and had since “taken them off the internet,” a second complaint indicated that he had posted additional photos as recently as August.

Source: El Paso Times / El Paso

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November 4th: A Canadian paramedic has been fired over a Facebook photo that showed people “having fun,” said an anonymous source. Spokesmen for various agencies (including unions representatives and county officials) refused to give details, as it may compromise investigations. However, Brian Gregg, the chief administrative officer for Essex County, said that “an employee would not be fired simply over a photo posted on the Internet, though a picture could lead to an investigation.”

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Now, I’m not advocating that everyone trash their social media accounts and hermit themselves up with no virtual communication—far from it. I will continue to use Facebook and Twitter, and all of you will to. My only suggestion is that everyone be careful with what gets posted. The second you hit “post” or “send,” it’s all out of your hands.Go back and delete it all you want, but remember: a bad decision on the internet is like herpes.

That shit never goes away.

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P.S. – BusinessInsider put up two great features regarding everyone’s Facebook use; take the information for what you will.

10 Reasons to Delete Your Facebook Account

10 Reasons You’ll Never Quit Facebook (Even If You Think You Want To)

Edit: TheHappyMedic posted his own take on the matter today, venturing more in-depth into an interesting double-standard out in his neck of the woods. Head on over if you haven’t seen it—take it all together and let us know what you think!

For anyone who is unable to physically attend the memorial ceremonies in Emmitsburg, MD this weekend, Firehouse.com is offering live streaming coverage of both the candlelit vigil Saturday night and the ceremony on Sunday. 

More information is available at the link above, or at STATter911.

As opposed to standing, sometimes an opportunity comes along that's just so well-placed in front of you that you can't help but rocket out the door, grabbing your camera and an extra lens on the way out. 

"What in the hell…?"

For what seemed like the hundredth time, an MPD cruiser went screaming past our classroom window, making as much racket as possible with the siren. 

"So, is there something going on that we should know about?" we wondered out loud. 

As if on cue, Sgt. Paulson threw open the door and announced that because of what had just happened at the Holocaust Museum, the Department was now on a special alert in which nobody who is currently on duty can leave their respective posts (at this time, very little was known about the situation or the perpetrator, and the ever-present possibility of "terrorist incident" loomed eerily overhead). 

He left in a rush, leaving us with more questions than answers.

Oh, well—stuck here again. We turned back to our cardiac rhythm workbooks, the news of the shooting quickly fading from our minds. Suddenly, Sgt. Woodward's voice echoed down the hallway, his quick-stepping self not far behind.

"Three-five-nine! Three-sixty! Go home. All the medics in three-five-eight, get your gear and bring it to the apparatus bay."

We looked at one another, momentarily surprised.

"Engine 34, Engine 35, and Truck 41 are to be placed in service, stand
ing by for the city."

—————

Sure, there were enough instructors and officers at the Training Academy today to fill three pieces of apparatus with seasoned firefighters. But what in the hell did they want with us newbies, and where were they planning on stuffing eight probationers with full gear? 

It was a neat idea, but I had the same thought as when I saw the latest Star Trek movie, and Kirk is appointed Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise at the end of the movie:

"Uh… wasn't he a cadet in Starfleet Academy, like, a week ago?"

Nevertheless, we ran around for about twenty minutes, scraping together SCBAs, axes, saws, radios, and anything else that would bring our three beloved pieces up to par for a box alarm. PAT tags clipped onto the UDCs, gear laid out beside our respective apparatus, and radios holstered, we were ready to go—I won't even begin to describe how crazy the staffing was on each piece. 

And then… we waited. Always listening to the murmurs from the dispatch channel, we hoped in vain for the call that would never come. Nevertheless, I thought it was cool that we were officially in service, so I grabbed a quick picture in the downtime. This was the first time since I've been at the Academy that E-34, E-35, and T-41 have been ready to respond to an actual box alarm, if need be. 

Hours passed. Four grilled cheese sandwiches and hundreds of bullshit conversations later, we were finally allowed pack up and go home; the alert was lifted, and the Training Academy staff was freed. 

—————

What's that, you say? It's a crap story, because nothing really happened? Well, you're right. However, I relay it simply to drive home the point that this job is completely unpredictable, and any given day might bring something really intense. It's the uncertainty that draws me to the profession, you see—there's not a single day that's the same as any other. 

Regardless of what happens, the paramedics of 358 will continue our time at the Academy, refreshing ourselves on EMS things so that we can eventually be mentored out in the street. We've got a few weeks to go, for sure—but that's certainly no reason why we can't have any fun. 

Most-excellent-yet-unrealistic daydream #2,961: Let's keep the engines and the truck staffed by Academy personnel every day, and we'll do our Fire & EMS mentoring the old-school way.

Image source: http://www.startrekmovie.com

I'm pleased to announce that a fledgling gallery of the photography you've seen here is now available online at www.raisingladders.smugmug.com! (There's a link on the sidebar to make everything easier.) All images are available for sale through a variety of mediums; all sizes of photo prints, as well as t-shirts, coffee mugs, and many other things (yes, I know—some of them are kind of chintzy). Please let friends, family, fellow volunteer/career firefighters know about it, because right now a large percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Burn Foundation in the name of our recruit class!