April brings a flurry of activities mostly centered around Tallahassee. As of this writing, there are several fire service bills that are making their way through the process, but it is clear that no bills with any fiscal impact are going anywhere. Items of interest include a firefighter safety bill regarding marking buildings with light-weight truss construction and a complete revisit of FS 633. There is finally sponsorship for fire safe cigarette legislation and we continue to monitor any activity related to condominium associations and fireworks. We will honor all of the fire service of the year award recipients for 2007 on April 14-15. Please join us if you can and remember, now is the time to start looking for that shining star in your area to represent us next year as we will announce our of the year award recipients at our annual Fire and Life Safety Educator conference in Broward County in June and our 60^th Annual Fire Prevention Conference in Ft. Myers in November.

We were privileged in February to host two sites for the Vision 20/20 planning initiative. We were the only state in the country to have two sites. Thanks to John Gatlin, Tallahassee Fire Marshal and Chief Jim Goodloe for facilitating the Tallahassee site while I hosted the Stuart location. A planning meeting is being held in Washington March 31 and April 1 and FFMIA will be represented. 

Please visit the website for updated information on training and educational opportunities. We are currently planning for our annual South Florida Educational programs in May along with the Life Safety and Educators conference in June. We are also in discussions with the Florida Arson Seminar, an annual event held in Orlando each September about a joint initiative. There is plenty to do and membership advantages are flowing. Remember in these tight budget times that one FFMIA membership advantage is the free training opportunities offering continuing education units required for you to maintain your certification.

I would like to extend a special thank you to West Central Director Foster Gover who worked with his Chief Tom Hennessy in the donation of a new vehicle for use by our executive director. Chief Hennessey and the Southern Manatee Fire & Rescue District are donating a 2000 Ford Expedition to FFMIA. Look for photos in future editions.

Finally, I know we are all going through trying times and we must stay focused on what impacts us the most. Please continue to support your local departments, associations, professional trade and other partnerships. We will get through this and will stay on the cutting edge with Florida as a leader in the field of fire prevention and life safety education.

Until next month.

Jon W. Pasqualone,  President

Friends of "A Safe Haven for Newborns",

SAE encourages Integrators to install this item first, on all Projects. Then items such as, permits, operation manuals, shut down procedures, maintenance / testing / inspection records, are all in one designated space.

The weather stripping inside the door maintains the integrity on the RDB's contents in open space environments.

A standard cat-30 lock and three sets of keys come standard. 1 set for the Installer, 1 set for the Customer and 1 set for the AHJ.

An inside pocket prevents wind from disturbing essential documents, when the door is opened. The pocket may be removed to allow for a 3 ring binder storage, if preferred.

When utilized, the RDB eliminates instances where required documentation and or access to such materials, is an issue.

For a view of many more of SAE's logical Product Solutions, visit the site below and use 'noexcuses' as a password.

Numerous custom designs for typical challenges in accomplishing code compliance for Fire and Life Safety Systems are found there.

In addition, SAE has a Florida based office, where you may contact Curtis Nance, directly for a Product demonstration or to respond to any requests you may have in the area of new product development. He welcomes your call or email. 727-492-6020, curtis.nance@1sae.com

The cornerstone of fire and EMS response has always been time. This of course makes sense because it really is all about time. We know that a free burning fire in a room will lead to flashover in about four minutes; that without circulation a person will begin developing brain damage. We also know that survivability fades with each additional minute. Our industry has invested countless dollars on faster and more reliable computer aided dispatch and unit location devices, traffic signal preemption controls, and fought things like traffic control measures such as circles and road closures. Yet, all of these measures improve only that portion of our response time that comes after the emergency system activation. No matter how fast the dispatcher sends the signal, no matter how fast the rig gets out of the barn and no matter how fast the driver gets the truck to the scene and, despite the truly heroic and valiant effort that firefighters will make attempting to save these soles, they just will not be able to get there in time. Unless the emergency was detected and reported before our window of opportunity to save the life closed - then the party was over before we even got our invitation.

The only tool that will stop these events and save those lives is education of the public awareness and code enforcement. Assuring rapid detection and alerting of the occupant who is prepared with an escape plan presents the very best chance of survival. But, if you look at the entire fire service industry, fire prevention and education has always played the proverbial "redheaded stepchild" when it comes to funding, resource allocation or even enough space to lay out a set of plans for review. Even today as our advocates champion for our cause to the tax payer and legislature with cries of "save our firefighters and paramedics" No one shouts "save the fire inspector or public safety educator".

True, fire prevention work doesn't usually bring all the romance nor excitement one envisions when they set out on this career path. There is generally no hero to herald or exciting story to be told at retirement parties. It is in fact very hard to measure even minor success of our efforts since you truly cannot observe a non-event. How many overloaded plugs, or other ignition sources were corrected preventing the loss of a business or lives? How many kids did not get burned because prevention efforts lead to child resistant lighters? How many kids did not play with matches after spending the day at a safety fair? The world will never know.

But from time to time we do see the result of inspection or education initiatives. When a child knowing how to call 911 is credited for saving life, is the fire department person responsible for teaching the child also a hero? When a mom using a fire extinguisher saves the family home by stopping the stove fire in seconds - is that fire extinguisher training program not a part of the "great story"? When the Fire Prevention Bureau using enforcement powers, mandates repairs to simultaneous non-working fire alarm and fire suppression systems in a high-rise residential building housing seniors, it may seem "boring stuff". That changes when watching the same building suffering a significant fire only months later. Realizing later that everyone made it out and all firefighters went home alive is pretty exciting stuff.

So, is the priority education and inspection? I can't speak for the rest of the fire service but I sure hope so.

Article Provided By:
Captain Robert W. Lowman, Fire Marshal
Coral Gables Fire Rescue

With the current budget cuts we are all experiencing, it is more important than ever to maintain your membership. With travel being put on hold, those 16 hours of FREE CEU's will now become very important to you maintaining your license. Remember, your dues were due by March 1st and you now run the risk of being removed from our A-List, FFMIA Chat Group, Members Only Section and Database. If you plan to remain a member, you need to notify the association office via e-mail or phone and get your dues paid immediately.

Article Provided By:
Chuck Akers, FFMIA Executive Director
chuckexdirffmia@hotmail.com

Article Provided by:
Chuck Akers, FFMIA Executive Director
chuckexdirffmia@hotmail.com

The immediate past chair handles getting the nominations to the floor.  That's Bob Smallacombe.  Please contact Bob and let him know you are interested in serving this organization.  His email is often filtered by a fire wall, so it's suggested that you contact him by fax, or, if you email, follow-up with a phone call.  Listed below is all that contact information. 

You may nominate yourself or someone else.  Be sure to confirm with anyone you might nominate that they have an interest serving on the board.  Positions are chair, vice-chair, secretary and public relations.  We're looking forward to having some new faces step up in those leadership positions.

Deadline:  April 20, 2008

Contact, Bob Smallacombe
Fax: 561-616-7084
Phone: 561-616-7074
Email: bsmallac@co.palm-beach.fl.us

Applications can be found on the website at www.ffmia.org.  Then click on "Scholarships."  The application needs to be filled out and sent to Vice Chair, Puddin Race.  Fax:  772-621-3597.  Or, mail:  5160 NW Milner Drive, Port St. Lucie, FL 34983.

Deadline is April 15, 2008.  The Board will be meeting later in April to make decisions regarding scholarship recipients. 

Article Provided by:
Puddin Race
puddin@slcfd.org

To sign up for the Safety Smarts E-Newsletter that will tell you the hottest information related to Public Education see the following link:

http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1421&itemID=33586

then select RSS Public Education. You can also access it when you go under the Learning heading and select Safety Smarts. Also on the www.riskwatch.org site there is a link off the front page that has sign up for Safety Smarts. You can enter your information and receive this newsletter that will replace the Apple Corps(Risk Watch) and Our Times (Remembering When) newsletter. This is the one stop shop for all the latest Public Education information from NFPA.

Cooking was involved in 146,400 home structure fires in 2005, causing 480 deaths and $876 million in property damage. It is located at the top of the main NFPA website: www.nfpa.org . It includes a press release, report and safety tips. Here are a few points of interest from the release:

Home cooking fires peak between 5 and 7 p.m. Extra cooking, as on major U.S. holidays, often means extra home cooking fires. Typically, more cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than on any other day of the year.

NFPA offers the following safety tips.

Stay in the kitchen when you are frying, grilling, or broiling food. If you leave the kitchen for even a short period of time, turn off the stove.

If you are simmering, baking, roasting, or boiling food, check it regularly, remain in the home while food is cooking, and use a timer to remind you that you're cooking.

To prevent cooking fires, you have to be alert. You won't be if you are sleepy, have been drinking alcohol, or have taken medicine that makes you drowsy.

Keep anything that can catch fire - potholders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, boxes, food packaging, towels or curtains - away from your stovetop.

Keep the stovetop, burners and oven clean.

Keep pets off cooking surfaces and nearby countertops to prevent them from knocking things onto the burner.

Wear short, close fitting or tightly rolled sleeves when cooking. Loose clothing can dangle onto stove burners and can catch fire if it comes in contact with a gas flame or electric burner.

The latest information on Fire Safe Cigarette legislation and momentum can be found at: www.firesafecigarettes.org

The southeast has taken some great steps to introduce legislation on this issue. Learn more about what a fire safe cigarette is and other hot topics.

Article Provided By:
Kelly Ransdell
Southeastern Public Education Advisor
NFPA, kransdell@embarqmail.com