LION has introduced the American Legend™ helmet series, which combines outstanding protection, additional head room, and a lighter weight.

Keeping a traditional look, both the American Legend™, and American Legend X™ are created with a modern molding technology, producing a lighter weight helmet between 50 - 56 oz. depending on configuration. This ranks them among the lightest helmets in the industry.

“Continued innovation in our product lines is at the top of LION’s priority. These two new helmets have been directly developed from firefighter research on issues of temporal pressure, and heavy helmets causing added strain while on the job,” said Mark Smith, senior vice president at LION.

Special features for each helmet include added temporal head room in the American Legend X™; and an NFPA-compliant, integrated face shield with snap in and out assembly in the American Legend™. B oth helmets have a low-profi le SMC shell with a powder coat, impact-resistant finish along with LION’s patented Center of Gravity™ adjustment system for a custom fit to each firefighter.

For pricing and availability, customers can contact their local LION distributor, or visit www.lionprotects.com/american_legend_helmet for more information and wear test options.

SAN DIEGO – TargetSolutions, the leading provider of computer-based training management applications for fire departments, and the International Association of Fire Chief's (IAFC) Volunteer & Combination Officers Section (VCOS) announced today that Michael Accardo III of the Tammany Fire District 9 (STFD9) has been selected as the winner of the 2017 VCOS Training Officer Recognition Award.

Accardo, a chief of training and safety for the combination department located in Bush, La., never expected to receive this type of recognition for his work. After years of dedicating himself to the betterment of his department, he reacted with the sort of humility you would expect from a 20-year veteran of the fire service. 

“I don’t think I do more than anyone else does. I enjoy what I do. I enjoy helping people,” said Accardo, who is scheduled to accept the honor July 27 during the annual VCOS meeting at Fire-Rescue International in Charlotte, N.C.

Accardo was surprised to learn he would be receiving this prestigious recognition. But for Fire Chief Scott Brewer, the selection made perfect sense. Brewer lauded Accardo for his dedication and innovation after leading the charge to transform his department’s training facility from run-of-the-mill into first-class. 

“He got the training building donated, moved it here, plumbed and powered it and then filled it with training aids from grants, donations or by buying it himself,” Brewer wrote when nominating Accardo. “He went out every night for a year and learned how to be an EMT instructor. He had STFD9 certified as an ‘institute of higher learning’ so we could teach EMT and EMR to our members and those of local departments at no charge.

“(Accardo) has worked harder than anyone I’ve ever known to give our small rural combination department the very best training opportunity for its members (and those of our neighbors) at no charge – ever!”

The VCOS Training Officer Recognition Award aims to honor exemplary conduct befitting of a training officer, which Accardo has demonstrated in spades. Nonetheless, he’s quick to return whatever praise he receives back to his crew members. 

“I could not have completed the project without help from everyone at our department,” said Accardo, who started as a volunteer firefighter in the 1990s, when firefighter training requirements were far different than they are today. 

“I try to make (training) educational and also entertaining,” he said. “Every Tuesday we have a training class and average 20 to 25 volunteers who show up. We just keep adding to it and I try to work around everybody’s schedule. Nights, weekends, whenever.” 

Always trying to think of new ways to help his fellow firefighters, it seems the criterion for the VCOS Training Officer Recognition Award was written with Accardo in mind. 

“You do what you can with what you got, and if you don’t have it, you try to build it,” said Accardo, who also serves as coordinator for the St. Tammany’s Youth Fire Corps (YFC) program.

This marks the fourth year in a row TargetSolutions and the VCOS teamed up to present the prestigious honor, which is designated each year for an individual who goes above and beyond to demonstrate innovation in firefighter training. Capt. Chip Everett of Oshtemo Township Fire Department (Mich.), Asst. Chief Brad Pinsky of Manlius Fire Department (N.Y.) and Deputy Chief Steve Malone of the Manhattan Fire Protection District (Ill.) won the award in previous years.

Accardo will receive a trip to Charlotte for FRI, which is scheduled July 26-29, including round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations, as well as a plaque commemorating the award.

About TargetSolutions

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Emergency Reporting (ER), a leading provider of Fire & EMS records management software headquartered in Bellingham, Washington, recently announced a new partnership with Halligan, the innovative solution for mobile truck checks and work order management. The integration will save fire departments money and time with apparatus checks, real-time notifications, budget-balancing analytics, configurable checklists and secure check histories for every piece of YYOuin the fleet.

“We’re excited about our partnership with Halligan. The integration with their mobile app allows us to offer customers a new technology that complements and extends our existing capabilities,” says David Nokes, Sr. Director, Strategic Alliances, Emergency Reporting. “This seamless interface is a great example of how the ER platform provides agencies with complete solutions for reliable, secure records management.”

Officers now have better command of their stations with the tools to stay more informed and maintain better control. Firefighters are more efficient and trucks are always ready to roll.

"Halligan brings the first native mobile application for truck checks to the first responder community,” says Alex Montgomery, Co-Founder and CEO, Halligan. “Halligan is quickly becoming a leading truck check solution for both paid and volunteer departments.

Firefighters love it because it’s easier to do their checks holding a phone or tablet than a piece of paper, pen and clipboard. Officers gain visibility into their fleet and equipment. Halligan solves the entire workflow from identifying issues to the resolution. Partnering with Emergency Reporting means departments can leverage Halligan's powerful truck checks and work orders while still having all their data live in their primary record management system."

With the integration, fire departments can digitally maintain inventory and generate professional reports with the push of a button. Fire personnel can send and receive work order repair messages right from the app. Critical equipment service information can easily be shared with mechanics, dispatch, chiefs, captains and others.

As ER customer Chris Patti, a Lieutenant with the McLane/Black Lake Fire Department in Olympia, Washington, states, “I like having the ability to bring over our tracked equipment from ER and see that data in our apparatus checks, complete our checks via web browser or the mobile app, and create a maintenance request automatically in ER based on our settings in Halligan. This not only fills a long-time gap in our maintenance tracking process, it provides us the means to fulfill the requirement of our ISO rating by tracking any issues more in-depth at our sub-stations.”

The app is native iOS/Android. For additional information including pricing, a demo, or a free trial, visit: http://info.emergencyreporting.com/halligan

For a Halligan "Product Tour," watch the one-minute video below.

Emergency Reporting is a privately held Washington State corporation specializing in Cloud-based records management software solutions for Fire/Rescue and EMS agencies of all sizes, DoD/military branches worldwide, and large entities with self-contained Fire & EMS services like NASA, nuclear power plants, hospitals, and oil refineries. For more inf