It’s Veterans Day and I have a day off from my county job. (I thank Veterans for both of those freedoms: to work in a job I love and to have time off to spend with my family). The kids are still sleeping and I have some free time to sit at the computer.
I’ve been thinking of my Dad a lot lately. Maybe because a friend recently lost hers; maybe because I spent the last week with a few thousand National Guardsmen; or maybe because recent events in our lives have reinforced the importance of famil…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on November 11, 2009 at 6:57pm —
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I recently attended a seminar on preparation for line-of-duty deaths and firefighter funerals. If you’ve ever read one of my blogs on
FirefighterNation.com, you know that I have very strong feelings about firefighter dea…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 10, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Calcium Anthropologists Warn of Effects of Summer Acceleration
Unconfirmed fiction by: Tige R. Schmittendorf
Editor's Note: I know it's Labor Day. I should have warned you sooner...
One day while taking a requisite course towards my doctorate in calcium anthropology — the study of milkmen and their connection to mad cow disease — I had cause to stop, doze, and ponder the season ahead.
In the midst of my heavy R.E.M. sleep, I drooled upon an undiscovered hypothesis that v…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 7, 2009 at 11:00pm —
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As I travel around the country talking with other firefighters, a commonly recurring theme of our chat is the future of the volunteer fire service.
The conversation always comes around to the topic of today’s firefighters and the next generation of firefighters. Some “more experienced” firefighters (notice I didn’t use the term older) share that they don’t understand the “kids” coming into the fire service today.
The veterans don’t think today’s recruits share the same values as those who are…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 11:00pm —
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In my last blog titled “Dig In.” I talked about the importance of story telling in the fire service and how it serves as a means of sharing experiences, traditions and values from generation to generation. In this article I try to tell a story, and in that story, I hope you can find a lesson to share for generations to come.
Almost every firefighter I meet speaks of how they always knew, from the time they were a…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:22pm —
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A lot of people look to me for solutions to their recruitment and retention challenges. The fact is, we know what the answers are.
Join me for a conversation about the future of the volunteer fire service as I've signed on with
Fire-Rescue…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 6, 2009 at 10:00pm —
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Dig in.
“Early on in my fire service career, we responded to a report of a tractor-trailer rolled over on a nearby state highway. We arrived on scene and found a truck lying on its passenger side. The wheels were facing the roadway and the top of the cab was on the shoulder of the road. The truck driver was being treated as walking wounded. It seemed like a relatively benign accident.
As we approached the curb side we realized that this was no ordinary call. It turned out that the truck driver…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on September 2, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Earlier today I had the pleasure of joining lots of other folks who participating in the dedication of a new fire station for the North Boston Volunteer Fire Company in the Town of Boston, NY.
As I was sitting here remembering the ground breaking ceremony they held las…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on July 22, 2009 at 9:31am —
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My family is inspiration and motivation for much of what I do in the fire service. Alex, Laurie and Kathleen (l-r).
This blog is a companion piece to my article titled “Make it Personal” featured in the June 2009 edition of …
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on June 15, 2009 at 12:11am —
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From: www.tigerschmittendorf.com
Last fall I wrote about doing the right thing by getting involved in an organization of firefighters known as Hancock Hope, formed for the sole purpose of helping other firefighter…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on April 21, 2009 at 7:54am —
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From www.tigerschmittendorf.com:
Continental Flight 3407 crashed into a home in Clarence Center, NY around 10:20pm on Thursday-February 12, 2009 - killing 50 people and changing the lives of thousands more, including mine.
I responded in the first wave of emergency services personnel sent to help restore order to the chaos that the crash created.
Frankly, I’m not ready to write about this experience at length. Not because I'm deepl…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on February 25, 2009 at 2:30pm —
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Christina, Kyle, Tiger and Dennis on
their most excellent adventure at the
Buffalo Fire Historical Museum
PHOTO BY: MARGARET COGHLAN
OK. I admit it.
It was a day at the museum but hey, nobody ever made a movie with the catchy title: "Day at the Museum."
Regardle…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 30, 2009 at 11:31am —
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FRIENDSHIP NY FIREFIGHTER TOM TORPEY FLANKED BY HIS MOTHER SISSY AND HIS WIFE JESSICA.
From:
www.tigerschmittendorf.com
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I recently responded to a post on…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 15, 2009 at 8:51am —
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FROM:
www.tigerschmittendorf.com
I consider myself a student of effective public and media relations. One of the most difficult messages a fire chief or public information officer must convey is that of a tragedy where, despite our best efforts, the results are fatal.
I often coach fire officers and public officials at incident scenes as how to best deliver difficult news. While I encourage them to focus on the role of the rescuers - not the vict…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 3, 2009 at 6:00pm —
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Download "Fix it. Now." from www.tigerschmittendorf.com
Fix it. Now. A New Years Resolution
…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on January 1, 2009 at 11:23pm —
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I’m sure we’ve all heard, and maybe even experienced, how the world is “getting smaller every day.” There’s probably no other place that this phrase is truer than in the fire service.
The more we dare to explore outside of our engine room doors, the more we find that there’s a br…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on December 18, 2008 at 10:25pm —
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This article is one in a series of toolkits focusing on recruitment, retention, fire service marketing and leadership. It appeared in the August edition of FASNY's The Volunteer Firefighter magazine.
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on August 22, 2008 at 1:28am —
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I am happy to report that my best friend and brother firefighter, Denny Allen received a life-saving double-lung transplant on Wednesday-July 2nd at the Cleveland Clinic.
He was admitted to the clinic on Thursday-June 26th due to complications from the pulmonary fibrosis he…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on July 6, 2008 at 11:27pm —
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PLEASE DOWNLOAD, PRINT AND DISTRIBUTE IMMEDIATELY:
Hair We Are Poster.pdf
TOWN OF EVANS --- St…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on June 17, 2008 at 11:00pm —
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Did you know that it is CPR/AED Awareness Week? I didn't.
I don't care if your title is PIO, EMT, CFR or PEON - take advantage of this opportunity to bring the importance of CPR training and public access AEDs to the forefront of your community. It's not too late.
Right on the heels of EMS Week, ride the coat tails and write something up that starts with: "This culminates CPR/AED Week..."
Here's a quick article from EMSresponder.com that will help you fill in the blanks for the rest of the st…
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Added by Tiger Schmittendorf on June 3, 2008 at 11:15pm —
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