The executive board will be looking at needed changes to the association's By-Laws at our meeting in June and you should look for these proposed changes in the October newsletter. If you have ideas, please send them to me so they may by included for membership consideration. We will be voting on these proposed changes at the business meeting at the January conference.

If your are looking for new ideas to aid in training, take a look at the magazines that come to the department. A good example is the March issue of Fire Chief magazine. I found articles on the two in, two out OSHA standard, using company officers trainers and how to prepare them for that role, how one department gained from the training in context process and how to write better reports. I found this to be very helpful and thought I would share this with you. If you have ideas to share, please sent Pat Clinton an article for the next newsletter.

Keep yourselves safe and cool and plan on attending the conference in January.

1. Do you have any pictures from previous conferences you would be willing to share?
2. Do you have copies of previous Conference announcement mail-outs?

Articles should be submitted to Pat Clinton, Secretary, 1763 Cricket Hollow, Austin, TX 78758.

The fire tetrahedron tells us that if we eliminate heat, fuel, oxygen or interrupt the chemical reaction, the fire will go out. As fire fighters, that is what we try and do when we are called to a fire emergency. We try to cool the heat, remove the fuel or smother the fire. How fire departments accomplish this fire extinguishment can be planned and practiced. And it certainly is not "rocket science." Captain Charlie Proctor of the St. Louis Fire Academy puts it this way, "Fighting fires is easy. First you chop a hole in the roof, next you break out all the windows, then you kick in the front door, and finally you drag a fire hose through the house until the fire goes out." This might be an over simplification but many fires have been successfully fought just this way.

The study of fire behavior reveals that certain activities must be performed if a fire is to be successfully brought under control. These fire suppression tactics and strategies can be reduced to what the St. Louis Fire Department's Standard Operating Procedures refer to as the "Ten Commandments of Fire Fighting." In a continuing series of articles, these fire fighting commandments will be explained and explored. We will cover such topics as ventilation, rescue, exposures, salvage and overhaul.

The Emergency Radio Data System (ERDS) takes this new warning system one step further. ERDS is unique in that the transmissions are carried only over short distances (5,000 feet or less) using a small, low-power transmitter.

The benefit is that the warnings are always pertinent and non-disruptive as opposed to conventional commercial FM radio warnings issued over a very wide listening area. ERDS warnings only interrupt receivers that are within the affected area so broadcasters need not worry about interrupting their commercial broadcasts.

Applications of the ERDS include transmitters in emergency vehicles, road construction sites, travel information systems, and residential neighborhoods.

When activated, the ERDS momentarily takes control of the radio receiver by:

turning it on if the power is off or pausing a CD or cassette
raising the volume to a preset level
displaying test identifying the hazard and direction of travel
broadcasting recorded or live spoken messages
returning the radio to the original settings

The FCC needs to set aside a band-width. Airways are public property, and the ERDS Initiative Committee is asking that an unused frequency, 87.9 FM, be reserved for public safety use.

Car manufacturers need to upgrade the radio of additional car models. Delco Electronics, the largest producer of automotive radios, includes RDS on high-end models and will be including ERDS without any increase in cost. Non-RDS radios will require additional components increasing cost approximately $1.25 to $5.00 depending on text display capability.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Write a letter of support and sent it to the ERDS Initiative Committee. Be sure to use your agency letterhead, title, and signature. The Committee, sponsored by Federal Signal, will collect, coordinate, and forward all letters to the FCC and car manufacturers. We will also keep you will informed of the results.

Please send your letter to:

At work, Bob constantly complained about his work. For years, he felt plateaued and pigeon-holed in his position-even though he was marketable and highly regarded where he worked. Bob called others often (mostly to complain but sometime for job advice), but he never acted on their suggestions.

Bob seemed unwilling to dust off his resume and mobilize himself to network or approach his boss about how to make his job more meaningful-advice he has heard other recommend numerous times. This attitude, like waves lapping on a beach, sweeps into his work based teams, personal relationships and professional organizations to which he belongs (and often takes up space and time).

And yet, Bob's phone calls and visits continued, the severity of his complaints increased. "I Can't go on here," Bob intoned on more than one occasion. "My boss is an idiot. And this organization is so toxic. God, why would anyone work here?" "The leadership of this organization doesn't have a clue where its going," and "why do we have to change, I like it the way it is now."

Why share Bob's story? Because most of us know someone like Bob (or Helen). And sometimes that somebody is us!

Many of us have acted like martyrs at times in our personal and professional lives, when stuck in a "rut", or when we're working in a particularly "toxic" environment. This attitude is created because we use our energy to resist making things better. We become part of the problem (or the problem itself) instead of becoming part of the solution.

Martyrs like Bob are articulate about why they have no options but to work for slave drivers or involve themselves in organizations that are filled with "dummies." They wax eloquently about their disempowerment and the dysfunctional organization where they work or belong. But they never take steps to change.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. I certainly don't advocate being stoic or keeping my mouth closed if involved in an undesirable or negative situation. Sometimes its necessary and healthy to vent. Once we do, then its time to get off our duffs, take action and move ahead. We're entitled to wallow only for so long (not bathe in it daily). Then we must take steps, even hesitant ones to make thing better.

1999 Conference Planning Committee Meeting - June 26, 1999 @ 8:30 a.m.
Omni Hotel-Southpark, Austin, Texas

TAFE Board Meeting - June 26, 1998 (following Planning Meeting
Omni Hotel-Southpark, Austin, Texas

Final 1999 Conference Planning Committee Meeting - November 6, 1998 @ 1:00 p.m.
New Braunfels, Texas

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.