Veteran’s Day Reminds us That There are Still Veterans That Need US.

While we are showing gratitude and honoring our veterans today, I wanted to share this video to remind us all that many of our brothers and sisters are out there and need our help. The music may not be your style but please listen to the words and watch the messages in the video to get a sense of how bad it is and how badly the system needs to be fixed. Even if you are not a veteran but are showing your appreciation, you can definitely show appreciation this way and help too. I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty. I am also not asking anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. I contribute financially and participate in other ways. There are many struggles being faced and sometimes without anyone knowing because we are trained to be self-reliant and get through adversity with our team. That is harder to do when you are all alone with no support network and many are facing that struggle. If you need help-seek it out. There is no shame in asking for backup. If you can in any way, get involved and help fix the system that is letting many fall through the cracks that could be helped. Even if you can’t give financially, you can pick up the phone or e-mail your representation in congress about fixing the VA or you can volunteer. These men and women put it all on the line for this nation and all they need is a lifeline to get them where they need to be. I don’t normally post things like this or get on a soapbox unless it’s important so you know I must take this seriously. It cuts to the heart of me. We don’t leave anyone behind down range so we need to remember that here at home and work to leave no one behind. Feel free to share this post and spread the message.

‪#‎uscg‬ ‪#‎cgtle‬‪#‎veterans‬ ‪#‎honor‬ ‪#‎respect‬ ‪#‎devotiontoduty‬ #leadership

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Safety Leadership: Technology is changing safety: 4 areas to watch | 2015-09-27 | Safety+Health Magazine

Editor’s Note: Achieving and sustaining an injury-free workplace demands strong leadership. In this monthly column, experts from global consulting firm DEKRA Insight share their point of view on what leaders need to know to guide their organizations to safety excellence.

At an industrial conference in 2014, GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt summed up the current state of business this way: “If you went to bed last night as an industrial company, you’re going to wake up today as a software and analytics company.”

While most of us are not literally going into the software business, Immelt’s point is well taken. The consensus among industry leaders and analysts today is that networked technology – from personal wearable devices and mobile phones to equipment sensors and “smart” machines – is rapidly changing the nature of our organizations and how we run them.

Sensors that monitor sensitive equipment and people are not new. What is new is our ability to connect those data sources and create completely new streams of information in real time. Often referred to as the “Internet of Things,” the ability of “things to talk to things” introduces the potential for new insight and action across a range of performance areas, including safety. This shift also introduces new risks, as leaders must determine how to responsibly and effectively use this new information.

Source: Safety Leadership: Technology is changing safety: 4 areas to watch | 2015-09-27 | Safety+Health Magazine

#safety #leadership #PPE #technology #training

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An earthquake is going to hit L.A. Then what? – CNNPolitics.com

Los Angeles (CNN)-Ten years ago, Hurricane Katrina reminded us that when it comes to natural disasters, you can prepare for the worst, but it’s also crucial to plan for the chaos that comes afterward.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took that lesson to heart. He is haunted by the memory of flying over New Orleans in a helicopter a full year after the storm and seeing whole sections of the city that hadn’t come back to life — and probably never would.

In Los Angeles, the looming disaster is not a hurricane, but a long-overdue eruption of the massive San Andreas Fault, which seismologists say is the most likely source of a large earthquake in heavily populated Southern California.

Source: An earthquake is going to hit L.A. Then what? – CNNPolitics.com

#publicsafety #preparedness #emergencymanagement #community #fire #rescue #police

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Over the Edge for HumanKind 2015: Mr. Giles Hoback – HumanKind

This was me years ago in training. Now I want to rappel for charity.

Teamraiser Event Special Request

Hello public safety partners, peers, and education/training community! I have an opportunity to do something awesome for charity but in order to participate, I need to raise $1,000 (currently need $875 more to meet the base goal). I have set up a information and donation page at:http://ift.tt/1Od64N3. This will give you information for the event and an area to donate.

Basically, I am going to rappel down a tall building to raise awareness and funds for HumanKind. For those of you in the Central/Southwest Virginia area, these are the same folks that put on the Turkey Trot each year. I was just made aware of this and the event is September 19. I know it is a short turnaround but I am confident that I can raise the donations needed through small donations (a thousand people giving a dollar would be awesome). Thank you for considering me and I look forward to going over the edge for charity!

Source: Over the Edge for HumanKind 2015: Mr. Giles Hoback – HumanKind

#community #charity #HumanKind #OverTheEdge #publicsafety #awareness #leadership

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Safety Leadership: Seizing moments of transformation in safety: Changing the culture by changing the experience | 2015-08-24 | Safety+Health Magazine

Editor’s Note: Achieving and sustaining an injury-free workplace demands strong leadership. In this monthly column, experts from global consulting firm DEKRA Insight share their point of view on what leaders need to know to guide their organizations to safety excellence.

If you want to change the culture, you have to change the experience. Distilled to its essence, culture is the outcome of collective experience. Dozens of everyday actions reinforce beliefs about what is “right” and what is expected – even when what is “right” or expected means that people are placed at risk of injury.

Every time leaders engage employees, they create experience. Often, their actions reinforce existing beliefs. But what if leaders could create interactions in which the employee engages in the same activities and actions as before, but leaves the situation with insight that challenges their beliefs about what is “right” or expected? This is what we call a moment of transformation.

Source: Safety Leadership: Seizing moments of transformation in safety: Changing the culture by changing the experience | 2015-08-24 | Safety+Health Magazine

#safety #leadership #preparedness #training #education

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Policing with Embrace: How Officer Norman Loves His Community | Christ and Pop Culture

A teddy bear probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of police gear. But for Officer Tommy Norman of the North Little Rock Police Department, teddy bears are essential equipment. You can find them in the trunk of his squad car, nestled right next to a cooler full of cold drinks and packages of chips. When Officer Norman patrols the inner city neighborhoods of downtown North Little Rock, kids run up to his police car while others rush to tell their friends and family members that “Officer Norman has arrived!” These are not cries of fear but cries of pure joy as they sprint up to the rolled down window of Norman’s car (sometimes even forgetting to stop!) to greet the officer who always addresses them by name and reminds them that they’re his “buddies.”

Norman’s famous trunk is a treasure trove of goodies for the kids he sees on a daily basis. And he makes an extra effort to visit these same children every day, even if his day is extremely busy. He believes that “just two minutes” can have a powerful impact on a child’s life, and that the contact, care, and showing of love must all be consistent in order to build an actual relationship. He also knows that the small gifts he gives to the children he serves — e.g., cold drinks, candy, stickers, his own business card, blue bracelets that say “Be Kind” on them — are “like pots of gold when they come from the hand of a police officer.” (Norman recently learned that the business card he gave to an eight-year-old boy was placed on his nightstand; it’s the first thing he sees in the morning and the last thing he sees at night. Such a small thing became a precious reminder of the security and love provided by his friend, Officer Norman.)

Source: Policing with Embrace: How Officer Norman Loves His Community | Christ and Pop Culture

#leadership #realheroes #publicsafety #police #lawenforcement #community

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Public Safety Dispatch Daily-01 SEP 2015

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The Public Safety Dispatch Daily-27AUG2015

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#education #training #tragedy #realheroes #fire #rescue #police

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Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Double Homicide at Smith Mountain Lake- Virginia State Police

Since this happened today in my county, I thought it would be best to post the official Virginia State Police statement and let the facts of the story come out as the investigation unfolds. I tried to post very little on social media today because there was a lot of mistaken information. It also didn’t seem appropriate to flood timelines and feeds with images and information already being multi-posted. It was a busy day for public safety officials throughout the state and everyone provided a professional, coordinated response to this tragic incident. This was senseless violence and the outcry over this loss of life should be just as loud as any other…All lives matter.

Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigates Double Homicide at Smith Mountain Lake

MONETA, Va. — At 6:43 a.m., Wednesday (Aug. 26, 2015), the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call concerning shots fired at the Bridgewater Plaza near Smith Mountain Lake. A WDBJ-TV news crew was conducting a live interview at the Plaza with Ms. Gardner when Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, of Roanoke, Va., suddenly approached them and started shooting.

Two WDBJ-TV employees, Alison Parker, 24, of Roanoke, Va., and Adam Ward, 27, of Roanoke, Va. died at the scene. The woman they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, 62, of Goodview, Va., was transported to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Flanagan then fled before deputies arrived on scene. The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Virginia State Police, immediately began a search operation to locate the suspect. Information gathered at the crime scene and in interviews shortly afterward lead investigators to identify Flanagan as a suspect.

Shortly before 11 a.m., Roanoke City Police located Flanagan’s 2009 Ford Mustang at the Roanoke Regional Airport. The Mustang has been recovered as evidence.

The investigation determined that Flanagan left the airport days earlier in a Chevrolet Sonic that he had rented earlier in the month.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement was able to locate the suspect as he traveled along Interstate 81.

It was shortly before 11:30 a.m., when Virginia State Police Trooper Pamela M. Neff was on patrol along Interstate 66 and her vehicle’s License Plate Reader (LPR) alerted to the license plate of a silver Chevrolet Sonic traveling east on I-66. She followed behind for a short distance as additional troopers responded to assist and then activated her emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop.

The driver of the Sonic, Flanagan, refused to stop and sped away from the trooper. It was only a minute or two later that the Sonic ran off I-66 and into the median. When Trooper Neff approached the vehicle, she found Flanagan suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Flanagan was flown from the scene to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he died at approximately 1:26 p.m. Wednesday (Aug. 26, 2015).

Flanagan was a former employee of WDBJ-TV and on air went by Bryce Williams. Flanagan sent a lengthy, multi-page fax to a national news organization in New York about this incident. Investigators now have a copy of it to use in the course of this investigation.

The quick progress of this investigation and resolution were due to the dedicated and quick efforts of our public safety partners with the Virginia State Police, Franklin County Department of Public Safety, Bedford County Sheriff’s Office, Rocky Mount Police, Roanoke County Police, Roanoke City Police, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, FBI, the Department of Justice, Homeland Security, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Customs and the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

The investigation into the double homicide and shooting remains ongoing at this time.

Source: Franklin County Sheriff’s Office Investigates… – Virginia State Police

#realheroes #alllivesmatter #WDBJ7 #WDBJ #publicsafety #police #rescue #investigations #community

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IndyCar Driver Dies of Head Injury – Journal of Emergency Medical Services

Wilson was struck by crash debris at the Pocono Raceway

Tue, Aug 25, 2015

JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer

IndyCar driver Justin Wilson died Monday night from a head injury suffered when a piece of debris struck him at Pocono Raceway. He was 37.

IndyCar made the announcement at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Wilson, a British driver who lived outside Denver in Longmont, Colorado, was hit in the head during Sunday’s race by piece of debris that had broken off another car. Wilson’s car veered into an interior wall at the track, and he was swiftly taken by helicopter to a hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“Can’t even begin to describe the loss I feel right now. He was my Brother, my best friend, my role model and mentor. He was a champion!” his younger brother, Stefan, also an IndyCar driver, tweeted. Stefan Wilson said his brother’s organs would be donated.

Source: IndyCar Driver Dies of Head Injury – Journal of Emergency Medical Services

#racing #indycar #safety #trauma #training #education

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