South of San Francisco, as the funeral procession for Vince Perez and Tony Valerio weaved along, countless thousands of people took time out of their day to say goodbye.

I recently posted a video of the procession, but a video making the rounds on facebook stopped me dead in my tracks and made me cry like a…well…six year old.

It is another video of the funeral procession, but has a very important story to tell all it’s own.

I’m sure this young man’s parents had no idea they would be inspiring those who had lost a lot of momentum in life, just shooting some video to remember how their son reacted to a firefighter’s funeral. How did he react?

Well, he got his coat and helmet and stood at attention and saluted the engines as they passed by.

My brother from another mother, MotorCop, messaged me soon after sharing it and told me we needed to reach out to whoever posted the video and let them know what an impact it was having. So we did. And we heard back today:

Hello MC & Justin,

Thank you so much for your comments on my Youtube video of the SFFD funeral procession with the little boy & for reaching out to us. That is such a thoughtful and generous thing you would like to do but I have to tell you, his father (my husband) is a firefighter who was on a post that day and I am a police officer and the little boy is our son. We felt it would be a learning experience for him to be a part of the funeral and to understand what those men sacrificed for people they didn’t even know. We wanted him to pay his respects, to experience the brotherhood, love and support for those real life heroes and their families. He is six years old and aspires to be a firefighter, then he wants to be on “mom’s team”and aspires to be a police officer then a medic on the ambulance so he can save and help people. Of course, we would be thrilled and honored with either.

We were equally moved by the overwhelming number of firefighters who saluted and waved at our son as well as the family members of the fallen firefighters who opened their windows to smile and take a photo. To know for that moment they were able to divert their thoughts away from their grief and feel the love, support and admiration we all have for their loved ones, is why we were there. To honor and support the fallen firefighters, their families and extended families of first responders.

We thank you all for your dedicated service and for reaching out to us. Words cannot express our sympathies and sadness for the San Francisco Fire Department and the families of the fallen firefighters. Thank you ALL!!!!!

No. No, thank you. I was having a hell of a time coming to terms with what has happened recently. Suddenly my thoughts would shift to how Vince and Tony died and I’d be frozen, unable to speak, unable to feel, unable to express myself.
The video of the procession gave me some closure, but then I saw this.

And I felt better.

I saw the honor you have taught your son, and at a young age to understand it and stay waving that flag, salute never wavering…
I saw myself to be honest, and I’d imagine MC did too. Both our fathers were firemen and I’m sure he felt the same connection to this young man that I did.

They say some children have a wisdom beyond their years and it is seldom by accident or by chance. No, this child is an inspiration because he is more respectful than half the adults I know and that is a direct reflection on the quality parenting he is receiving.

I, like MC, wish more people took the time to share with their children the importance of family, honor and tradition.

I was ready to make this young man an honorary San Francisco FireFighter, but there is no need. Not only because of his family being already in the business, but because he already is. I’m sure that was handled by Vince and Tony on Friday.

From our friends at Gasda Software, creators of the BlackBerry Shift Calendar, a link to what real firefighter olympics look like.  Last ones I went to had darts and bowling.  Thanks D!

A year ago we were gathered in the ballroom at the Hotel Frank in San Francisco waiting for Thaddeus Setla to press the play button.

The time finally came to show the audience what we had filmed the previous November in the engines and ambulances of an American EMS system while UK Paramedic Mark Glencorse followed along.  A hush fell over the crowd of EMTs, Paramedics, friend, industry leaders and family when Thaddeus raised his hands and said, “Our online audience is watching it right now, can we dim the lights please?”

Chronicles of EMS – The Reality Series (Season 1 Episode 1) from Thaddeus Setla on Vimeo.

25 minutes later, after a few good laughs and plenty of smiles the show finished and I found Mark in the crowd.  We were near tears seeing what Setla had done to capture the emotion we had experienced months before.  It was like reliving all we had learned in our trans-Atlantic exchange.

The evening was a great success and the following morning found us in Setla’s studio filming the first 3 episodes of A Seat at the Table.

1 year later we’ve released 23 episodes and have plenty more planned as well as in post production.

The reality series got a new name, thanks to our audience and network TV executives are curious to see what else we have in mind.

If they only knew.

In recent weeks you’ve seen A LOT of activity at the Chronicles site because we are gaining partners and growing rapidly.  No longer is “Chronicles” (#CoEMS on the twitter) simply about Justin Mark and Ted in San Francisco.  Chronicles of EMS is now only part of the content planned for he new First Responders Network TV.  We’ve partnered with fire centered production houses to create new original training and entertaining content similar to the EMS side.

And we’re not stopping there.

If Tak Response taught us anything, it’s that cross training outside your discipline is exciting, new and long over due.  For that reason law enforcement will also be included in FRN.TV, focusing on how we can all learn from each other before the incident instead of during it.

We never landed in prime time on Discovery Health traveling the world exploring EMS systems, but we have time to do better.

Keep an eye on the Chronicles of EMS site for details about our new partnership with the SFPA and Brady and how EMTs all over the country will soon be familiar with what we’re doing.

In addition, Seat at the Table has expanded into new territory, sitting down with the International Association of EMS Chiefs as well as sign language expert Louise Sattler to discuss communicating with unique patients.

We’re charging forward in every direction, working on both reality shows, training series, CE content (coming soon) and a host of scripted dramas, comedies and features that will bring EMS into the home of Americans in a way they have never seen before: Accurate and entertaining.

Thanks for all your support over the last 365 days, and I hope we can count on it in the future.

-Justin

An excellent warning and recap of social media blunders is up at fellow blogger Raising Ladders site.  Please take the time to read it and come back.

With all those situations fresh in your mind I would like to offer the following situation:

An EMT crew posts videos on facebook of them flirting with women while on post, asking for phone numbers and for them to expose themselves.  Your company logo and location are clearly visible and they even delay a response to take pictures with some of the young ladies.  Later video shows half a dozen in the back of the ambulance.

How quickly would this crew be fired and a ban on social media placed?  I would guess faster than immediately. Just like the stories listed by Raising Ladders, administrations would seek to punish the sharing of inappropriate behavior and I would, in this situation, have to agree.

But what if the story shows up on the local news as a result of a nasty divorce proceeding?

You guessed it, no terminations.  Even though the person who filmed the video now works for another agency, he is not being reprimanded by his current agency.  Surely there is a difference since they have moved on in employers and it was 5 years ago, but images posted 6 years ago got one fellow in trouble.

In this report from Channel 7 ABC News you can get the details on what the videos show.

So I’ll ask again, if this video had surfaced on facebook, myspace or twitter would it be used to ban the use of social media?
If so, will we now ban all recording devices/cameras/phones from our responders? Not a bad idea in some respects, as the round up showed us, but the plan needs to address the need for responders to communicate with company and family when on the job.

It seems like a no-brainer to me. If you are going to post, don’t flirt, and for goodness sakes don’t video tape it. And when a call comes in, ANSWER IT.
This could spin an entirely different post about the false benefits of system status management, but I’ll save that for another day.

If you can take anything away from this post it is that whatever you do, the public is watching you. Had this video been shot by a bystander it would be just as damning and inappropriate.
It is not the manner in which the media is shared that is the problem, but that it is recorded and shared at all.

Does your Department or Company have a policy in place for recording non-patient images when on duty? Can you photograph the station, rigs or friends when on post?

Thanks again to Raising Ladders for the recap and chance to share this video in context with those stories.

Quick! Is this a good day to be on the engine?

This…is…20 seconds of insight into my life.

Courtesy of my friend Sabine (Who was my partner on a great many runs on this blog) and the folks at Huffington post.com (Who have yet to work a shift on the medic van.)

EDIT – This video drew some almost negative comments on facebook.  Upset a certain news source posted what we deal with day in and day out?  God forbid people see the toll mental health, substance abuse and the desire to be on camera have on our responders on a daily basis.  If you can’t laugh at this because it is offensive, you may want to go hide in a corner the rest of your life. – HM

Amazing how fast information moves these days.

We were at this fire yesterday afternoon, and while it wasn’t a “worker” or like many of the other fires recently posted about the SFFD, it brings up a good training topic:

Fires between floors.

Initial report was light smoke or steam from above a laundromat.  How many times have you been on that run?

This was one of the 1 in 100 where something is actually happening.  Light smoke is seen seeping from the paneling above one business, but more smoke is found above the nail salon, but the salon has no smoke.

This is a 4 story type 5 unprotected (3 res over 1 com).  Some notes:

The folks in the helmets with black and white checkerboards are members of the Heavy Rescue Squad, the red and white belong to the truck companies.

The sign we pulled down had another sign behind it, then wood paneling which covered some old windows.

The fellow on the nozzle out front, also helping to foot the ladder, later to turn off a pass alarm, and then finding a lost axe in the rubble, well, that’s yours truly.  Still wearing the “16″ on my shield.

The engine you see at the very beginning is our temporary rig, we were third due and were supplying the first in engine.

If you are wondering where everyone else is, the first 2 engines and truck were inside the building looking for extension.  With the voids in a type 5, we have to go farther than simply finding unburnt wood.

The quick bursts with the line were two fold.  Firstly, we had a team just on the other side of that space who had not found fire yet and my intent was to cool what was thought to be the source of the fire and directly above it the floor of the unit above.

It was a quick job and did not spread any farther than where we found it, the cause is under investigation.

Before you get too excited to hear what I think about the politician and the ambulance company at the shooting scene, close the door and take a seat.
Before you go ripping into scene safety and how this guy has no idea what it is we do, take a deep breath.

Because half of you are hypocrites.

How many of you race lights and sirens without wearing your seat belts? According to NIOSH studies and reviews of fatal and non fatal ambulance accidents…HALF. Yes, half.
Half of you are not wearing your seat belts in your ambulance.

So when you complain that some politician thinks you are invincible and should go racing into an unsafe scene, I almost gag knowing full well HALF of you already do that on a daily basis. And for even more minor incidents than the one in the press.

Yes, this is a letter in YOUR file. Those of you not wearing your seat belts in the cab of the ambulance. Patient care in the back does not even enter into this or the data I’m finding, this is only about in the cab.

So many were so fast to jump on the politician, yet how many of you really pay attention to yourselves on a daily basis?
Worried about a wrinkled shirt? Can’t reach the radio? Go ahead, try to give an excuse for not wearing your seat belt, the same thing you preach about to unrestrained drivers at wreck scenes. You can’t. There is no excuse for not wearing your seat belt in the cab of the ambulance. None.

Then why is not wearing one killing so many EMS responders?

We’re not a stupid group, stubborn perhaps, but we seem to understand kinematics and mechanism of injury, at least to the point it guides our treatment, but to not apply those standards to our own flesh and blood is insane.

Stop shaking your head and muttering that you already do wear it. Half of you are lying. Lying to yourselves.

I’ve had enough. You have made me unHappy.

Buckle up. I’m getting annoyed reading these studies about line of duty deaths and the lack of a simple click that could have made a difference. And if you are a LODD from not wearing a seat belt, should it really be a Line of Duty Death or should it be renamed Lack of Due Diligence?

Over the next few weeks you’ll be hearing from me about the Tak Response Conference in San Jose coming up September 14th-16th.

Chronicles of EMS was invited to be a part of this collaborative training opportunity that will bring the best of all fields together to network and learn from each other.

This conference combines nursing, Fire, Haz-Mat, law enforcement, SWAT, EMS, public works and a number of other disciplines together, since when we all arrive on scene we have to work together.

Let’s start to train together.

Tak Response is not only a chance to learn from other disciplines where you fit in at “their” scene, but to network socially with your fellow providers before the you know what hits you know where.

Imagine a scene where the Battalion Chief, Patrol Officer and EMT all already know each other and what each agency expects from the others.  That’s a smooth running scene.

Here’s the episode of Seat at the Table where we meet the organizers of the Tak Response Conference and run the concept by paramedics, firefighters and even a cop.

The competition to rename the Chronicles of EMS reality series is coming to a close, but you still have time to enter!  No purchase is necessary, just follow THIS LINK and register to be part of the Chronicles of EMS community and choose 2 names for the show.

And incase you forgot what the show is, here is the pilot episode of the Chronicles of EMS.

Chronicles of EMS – The Reality Series (Season 1 Episode 1) from Thaddeus Setla on Vimeo.

The winner will get full airfare and accommodations on a future episode of their choosing anywhere in the world!  And get to bring along their brand new ipad AND be a part of the show.

The contest closes July 10th, Saturday, so get over to Chroniclesofems.com and enter the name you want to see on TV when we finally start to share what we do with an unknowing world.

Davig Konig got me fired up.  Thank you, Sir.

Once a week a person is shot, stabbed, raped, dumped and discarded.  This is the basis behind the #1 show on television, CSI.

In the first 45 minutes of the hit series LOST, over 10 people are sucked out of an airplane traveling at 30,000 feet.  Dozens more plummeted to the ocean where they likely died horrible deaths, if they were still conscious.

Every few weeks folks gather around the TV to watch two men beat each other as hard as they can until one is knocked out or gives up.

So why is this compilation of realistic deaths and injuries, some of them real, such a “shocker” or “Warning! Not Safe for Work?”

I have concluded it is because the yellow tape is missing.

When we settle down on the couch for another hour of solving crimes and beating other people, we expect it.  We set time aside.  If, on the off chance, we catch a story on the news, the camera crew has arrived, the scene has been sterilized (sheet over the body, cameras moved back) and the yellow tape is up.

That yellow tape seems to be the “be warned” “not safe for work” disclaimer, since so few people get to see what happens before the tape goes up.

As someone who specializes in crisis management prior to the magic tape’s arrival, watching videos of persons getting into the situations that require my attention still gives me the shivers.  And I know what to expect.

But this series of images should shock us no more than the folks raped and murdered every night on TV should.  The clips should not ruin our day or make us cry any more than the folks sucked out of the airplane on LOST, beaten in a ring or dramatized in some other fashion.

No, I think the reason these images bother so many people is because Hollywood has gone out of their way to make death, murder, rape and a host of other horrible things romantic and exciting.

This clip reel shows death is cold, hard and sudden.  It isn’t always dramatic, or fantastic, but sometimes just happens when you least expect it.

“It’ll never happen to me,” some will say and I’ll believe you, until you’re in my ambulance, or worse, I have to write your chart waiting for the medical examiner.  So many people are used as examples of “I shouldn’t be alive” or “I was one of the lucky ones” which only reinforces the belief in others that they can be the lucky ones too.

These clips should be shown on national television during the shows that show worse things.  In between murders on Law and Order, perhaps a message about the real dangers of not being buckled in.  Those crash test dummies we had a few years back didn’t do a thing as far as I can tell.

Perhaps we need our day “ruined” by images like this from time to time and maybe we’ll start to wear our seat belts, slow down and learn to take precautions to be safe.

Or it will backfire and people will become desensitized to collisions the same way they have to shootings, rape and assault.

I think it’s a chance that needs to be taken.

And don’t try to blame a political philosophy for being too “touchy feely” or PC, like I said, these images are all over TV as it is, have been for decades, I just want some real public service announcements.  Less about staying in school and more about staying in your seat belt could go a long way.