Chris Mc Loone

If I had known about fire service trade shows when I was a kid, I would have gone out of my mind.

As it was, my parents couldn’t separate me from my “Emergency!” plastic fire helmet with a picture of Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto as its frontice piece. To have been brought to an event like FDIC International as a kid, I would have been in paradise.

After I joined my fire company and attended some of the regional trade shows I had access to, I began to look forward to the trade show season each year, without knowing that there is a bona fide season for them. These days, of course, I am always anxious to hit the show floor at FDIC International as the annual trade show season officially opens. 2016 is no different.

FDIC International is a unique conference and exhibition in that many of the exhibit hall attendees get a chance to use a few of the products on display during the conference component of the show. Participants in the event’s hands-on training evolutions get to use SCBA, two-way radios, extrication equipment, technical rescue equipment, fire apparatus, and more from leading fire service vendors. After recovering from the intense training experience, they get to take a closer look at everything they used in the field while walking the aisles of the exhibition.

Additionally, FDIC International is the launchpad for countless new products. Under development sometimes for several years and sometimes only since the previous show, vendors wait for FDIC International to introduce their products.

As much as I look forward to seeing new products, I find it even more valuable to see how other departments from across the nation have chosen to locate each piece of equipment and each tool on their rigs.

To that end, I expect to see some interesting front bumper configurations at this year’s show. Our March issue included an article covering front bumper extensions and the different ways manufacturers and fire departments have chosen to design them. There are many commonalities across the country for what departments carry and how they carry it on or in front bumpers, as well as countless unique configurations. Along with the article, the digital edition of the magazine included a survey on how fire departments view front bumper extensions. Eighty percent of survey respondents stated that they prefer an extended front bumper with storage for equipment vs. a short bumper with no storage.

I found that result interesting. My fire company recently started using a loaner rescue truck that does not feature an extended front bumper. Every truck I’ve been qualified to drive has always had some storage on the front bumper. I’m used to driving with them, but I had a chance to operate the loaner rescue en route to a call that involved a turn caused by a fork in the road; I was not traveling in the direction of the fork. To make the turn, I was practically making a U turn with cars on each side. The shorter wheelbase of the truck and normal front bumper made making this turn a cinch. It was kind of a nice change. That said, for our purposes, our next rescue truck will feature an extended front bumper with different pieces of equipment in it. We’ve found it works for us, and we’ll readjust easily to having the larger bumper.

But, 80 percent is a pretty high percentage. Given that sort of market demand, I’m looking forward to seeing what some of the apparatus manufacturers are coming up with to maximize the fr

Chris Mc Loone

If I had known about fire service trade shows when I was a kid, I would have gone out of my mind.

As it was, my parents couldn’t separate me from my “Emergency!” plastic fire helmet with a picture of Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto as its frontice piece. To have been brought to an event like FDIC International as a kid, I would have been in paradise.

After I joined my fire company and attended some of the regional trade shows I had access to, I began to look forward to the trade show season each year, without knowing that there is a bona fide season for them. These days, of course, I am always anxious to hit the show floor at FDIC International as the annual trade show season officially opens. 2016 is no different.

FDIC International is a unique conference and exhibition in that many of the exhibit hall attendees get a chance to use a few of the products on display during the conference component of the show. Participants in the event’s hands-on training evolutions get to use SCBA, two-way radios, extrication equipment, technical rescue equipment, fire apparatus, and more from leading fire service vendors. After recovering from the intense training experience, they get to take a closer look at everything they used in the field while walking the aisles of the exhibition.

Additionally, FDIC International is the launchpad for countless new products. Under development sometimes for several years and sometimes only since the previous show, vendors wait for FDIC International to introduce their products.

As much as I look forward to seeing new products, I find it even more valuable to see how other departments from across the nation have chosen to locate each piece of equipment and each tool on their rigs.

To that end, I expect to see some interesting front bumper configurations at this year’s show. Our March issue included an article covering front bumper extensions and the different ways manufacturers and fire departments have chosen to design them. There are many commonalities across the country for what departments carry and how they carry it on or in front bumpers, as well as countless unique configurations. Along with the article, the digital edition of the magazine included a survey on how fire departments view front bumper extensions. Eighty percent of survey respondents stated that they prefer an extended front bumper with storage for equipment vs. a short bumper with no storage.

I found that result interesting. My fire company recently started using a loaner rescue truck that does not feature an extended front bumper. Every truck I’ve been qualified to drive has always had some storage on the front bumper. I’m used to driving with them, but I had a chance to operate the loaner rescue en route to a call that involved a turn caused by a fork in the road; I was not traveling in the direction of the fork. To make the turn, I was practically making a U turn with cars on each side. The shorter wheelbase of the truck and normal front bumper made making this turn a cinch. It was kind of a nice change. That said, for our purposes, our next rescue truck will feature an extended front bumper with different pieces of equipment in it. We’ve found it works for us, and we’ll readjust easily to having the larger bumper.

But, 80 percent is a pretty high percentage. Given that sort of market demand, I’m looking forward to seeing what some of the apparatus manufacturers are coming up with to maximize the fr

Chris Mc Loone

If I had known about fire service trade shows when I was a kid, I would have gone out of my mind.

As it was, my parents couldn’t separate me from my “Emergency!” plastic fire helmet with a picture of Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto as its frontice piece. To have been brought to an event like FDIC International as a kid, I would have been in paradise.

After I joined my fire company and attended some of the regional trade shows I had access to, I began to look forward to the trade show season each year, without knowing that there is a bona fide season for them. These days, of course, I am always anxious to hit the show floor at FDIC International as the annual trade show season officially opens. 2016 is no different.

FDIC International is a unique conference and exhibition in that many of the exhibit hall attendees get a chance to use a few of the products on display during the conference component of the show. Participants in the event’s hands-on training evolutions get to use SCBA, two-way radios, extrication equipment, technical rescue equipment, fire apparatus, and more from leading fire service vendors. After recovering from the intense training experience, they get to take a closer look at everything they used in the field while walking the aisles of the exhibition.

Additionally, FDIC International is the launchpad for countless new products. Under development sometimes for several years and sometimes only since the previous show, vendors wait for FDIC International to introduce their products.

As much as I look forward to seeing new products, I find it even more valuable to see how other departments from across the nation have chosen to locate each piece of equipment and each tool on their rigs.

To that end, I expect to see some interesting front bumper configurations at this year’s show. Our March issue included an article covering front bumper extensions and the different ways manufacturers and fire departments have chosen to design them. There are many commonalities across the country for what departments carry and how they carry it on or in front bumpers, as well as countless unique configurations. Along with the article, the digital edition of the magazine included a survey on how fire departments view front bumper extensions. Eighty percent of survey respondents stated that they prefer an extended front bumper with storage for equipment vs. a short bumper with no storage.

I found that result interesting. My fire company recently started using a loaner rescue truck that does not feature an extended front bumper. Every truck I’ve been qualified to drive has always had some storage on the front bumper. I’m used to driving with them, but I had a chance to operate the loaner rescue en route to a call that involved a turn caused by a fork in the road; I was not traveling in the direction of the fork. To make the turn, I was practically making a U turn with cars on each side. The shorter wheelbase of the truck and normal front bumper made making this turn a cinch. It was kind of a nice change. That said, for our purposes, our next rescue truck will feature an extended front bumper with different pieces of equipment in it. We’ve found it works for us, and we’ll readjust easily to having the larger bumper.

But, 80 percent is a pretty high percentage. Given that sort of market demand, I’m looking forward to seeing what some of the apparatus manufacturers are coming up with to maximize the fr

In this series, Fire Engineering Senior Editor Mary Jane Dittmar looks at the things that motivated and inspired instructors to present on their topics at FDIC International 2016. Segments will be posted on a regular basis up to and through the conference, April 18-23.

Ric Jorge

Firefighter

Palm Beach County, Florida

The Courage Within (Tactical Resiliency Training)

SEE VIDEO

Monday, April 18, 1:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.

I almost lost my life to something I was never warned about, I was never prepared for, and I could not identify. I was warned about hazardous materials and the poison in smoke, cancer exposure, how flashover can occur, collapse zones, the death rate at traffic accidents caused by impatient motorists, that heart attacks ravage the fire service, not wearing seat belts kills firefighters, and how fire will make jumping from a window to certain death look like a good idea.

But, I was never warned about the psychological effects of tragedy, death, and the sights of horrific events over a career compounded by personal life injuries and struggles (the murder of a close friend and the suicides of two other friends while I was going through a divorce.)

Although my life was upside down, I couldn’t tell you what was wrong. I had always thought of myself as mentally and physically tough. I successfully completed some very daunting tasks in my life, but now I was left wondering if I ever was good at this job. Maybe I was a fraud. I struggled not to rip off my mask; the thoughts of suffocating permeated my every thought, and tight spaces made me cringe in fear. The thought of impending doom was occasionally interrupted by homicidal thoughts; in the end, it was dominated with suicidal thoughts. Certain sounds, thought, smells, and sights left me in tears. I could not control my emotions. I could not sleep through the night; my anxiety attacks were becoming more and more frequent, and the hyper-vigilance was continuous. I was broken and felt hopeless and desperate. I was utterly defeated and ashamed of my new-found weakness.                    -

After being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I sought out ways to get “better.” I was on a mission to be whole again.

Quite by accident, I discovered techniques that worked extremely well to keep my anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and sleeplessness in check. I developed these new techniques and refined them to benefit me further. I was now on a mission. I shamelessly stalked sports and military psychologists about these techniques. I hounded researchers about specific work they had done and even went so far as to visit neurologists just to talk to them about the way the brain works.

I began to make a slow, methodical recovery. My confidence returned, my training ramped up, and I surpassed old benchmarks to ‘prove myself to myself.’

This final process in my recovery led me to develop the training model for Tactical Resiliency Train