General Forums >> Introductions >> NEW MEMBERS - Meet the Moderators
NEW MEMBERS - Meet the Moderators
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Posted 10 months ago Welcome newbie. My name is Jeff. I have 21 years in the Fire service, and 4 years on an ALS Medic unit. I am currently a Battalion shift Captain with a department in Central Texas. Aside from my EMS time, I have been a volunteer all these years. My paying job is a digital wireless technician for the nations leading wireless company. I have been there since 2000. I am married, have a 14 year old daughter, and own a home in a nice neighborhood just NW of Austin. I am founder and owner of a professional storm chase team that I founded in 1993, but have been chasing for longer. We are one of the only legitimate chase teams in the state, if not the country, that is not funded in any way, and do it as a public service, assisting the NWS in getting warnings out faster. We are not "storm papparazi" like many of the people that seem to be filling the TV shows in the last few years. You have found one of the most useful and fastest growing Fire Rescue forums available. As was stated, this forum is meant for Fire Rescue personnel, but is open to everyone. If you have joined, you hopefully have family, or an interest in Fire operations. If you are not with a department, please keep in mind that working personnel have higher regard, and their comments are to be respected, whether you agree with them or not. We may also kid or even slam each other from time to time. That is not to say it is OK for you to join in on it. We probably know each other and do it all the time. Please keep in mind, there are thousands of folks on here reading your comments, so be careful what you say. Also please don't refer to yourself as "us", or "we" when referring to personnel if you are not one. If you are a fan, or just have interest, that is fine, but don't be a poser and try to fit in. Be who you are and tell the truth. *Personally*, I like to see a full profile. You don't need to give your address or anything, but i prefer to see a full real name, a department and rank, a city and state, years of service, etc. The more you fill in with honest answers, the more respected you will be. Blank profiles get nothing from me, personally. I hope you enjoy participating and learning on this site. For non-personnel who want to get into fire, the best thing you can do is ask thought out questions, and be quiet and listen and learn. Do not argue or question someone of more experience. Show respect. The fire service is like the military. You respect the rank, and the brotherhood, regardless of your opinion. Civilians / JR's / Rookies are like privates, then it escalates to Firefighter, Lieutenant, Captain, Asst. Chief, Battalion Chief, Chief. There are also Fire Marshals, EMS, Law Enforcement, Instructors, and other professional personnel on here. All deserve respect. It is earned from years of service, not age. We hope you enjoy being here and can contribute to the posts and learn from them as well. Respect and appropriate language are the biggest rules we watch for. Enjoy. == *ALSO, please note, the Firelink Moderators group is FOR the moderators only. Please do not request to join it, and read the group descriptions before trying to join them.* == Jeff Draper
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| Posted 10 months ago Jason was raised in a nomadic lifestyle ever since his father joined the Army when Jason was only six years old. “Born in the North, but raised in the South.” He has lived in many states like Arizona, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, and even Germany. He graduated from Big Rapids High School, Big Rapids Michigan in 1992 and joined the Navy the same year. Jason served on the USS Constellation (CV-64) from 1993-1997 where he did two tours in the Persian Gulf enforcing the “no-fly” zones working on the flight deck as an aircraft handler, firefighter, and ship’s security augmentation force. He was then assigned to Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida from 1997 to 2000. While there, he was designated as Aircraft Crash, Fire, and Rescue Crewman; Structural Firefighter; and Operations Duty Driver--which included runway inspections, and transient aircraft handling. He also volunteered on the Skyline Fire and Rescue District Inc. as a volunteer firefighter in the city of Milton. It was while volunteering at Skyline that Jason caught the “EMS Bug”. He received his initial Medical First Responder training there; and then went on to obtain his EMT-Basic at Pensacola Jr. College. Soon thereafter, he separated from the military with an honorable discharge, and moved back “home” to Michigan where he became an EMT-B and Security Guard with Pinkerton Security Services while awaiting state certification for EMT-B. He worked at Metropolitan Hospital, where he received an Officer of the Month. He then transferred to a Delphi automotive factory as a guard with responsibilities on the Industrial Fire Brigade. Once EMT-B certification was obtained, he started working for Life EMS Ambulance in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He started out as a wheelchair van driver while attending paramedic school. Once he became a paramedic, he rose through the ranks quickly to become a Level II (Senior) medic; Field Trainer; and then Critical Care Paramedic. He also was the founding member of the Life EMS Bike Team that has since grown to a 5 person team. In 2007, Jason decided to transfer from Life EMS’ metro division to the rural operations of Newaygo County, where he still works as a Critical Care Paramedic, AHA CPR Instructor, and PreHospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) Instructor. He also finished his Associates in Business last year while working full time, raising a family, and coaching his son’s youth soccer team. Jason came upon FireLink while researching the job market through www.monster.com. He quickly became very active, and was soon asked to become a moderator. Jason has been married for 14 years to his high school sweetheart, Erin. They have two boys; Alex (10) and Tyler (8). Tyler has recently been categorized with “broad spectrum autism disorder” and receives speech and occupational therapy in school. He is high functioning, and possible has a mild form of autism like Aspbergers Syndrome, but has not been officially diagnosed. Jason’s hobbies and interests include playing guitar; playing XBOX and XBOX 360 while his son beats the pants off of him playing the Halo and Guitar Hero series. He also enjoys movies ranging in taste from the Star Wars Saga, Harry Potter, to Comedies from Steve Correll, Dane Cook, and Jeff Dunham. |
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| Posted 10 months ago My name is Travis. I have18 years fire experience, 13 years in EMS, 5 years in emergency management, and 2 years as a 911 dispatcher. My fire department rank has been captain for 11 years. Currently, I serve as station officer at one of our fire stations. I also serve as one of the training officers for our department. I have taught several first responder classes for our firefighters. I have also played a role in the creation and revision of some of our SOP’s. I have served as a full time paid firefighter and as a volunteer. I have attended many, many training classes at the Georgia Fire Academy. I am working toward a certificate of specialized training in critical incident stress management from the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (along with CaptRalph also on Firelink). My EMS rank is lieutenant. I have NREMT-P and CCEMT-P certification. Our service requires certification in BTLS (now ITLS), crash victim extrication, and high angle rescue as well. I have worked for my current service for almost 10 years. I teach CPR, ACLS, AMLS, PALS, and EMT. I also hold an electronic search specialist and an electronic search instructor certification through Project Lifesaver International. I am active on our bike team as well. Last year I was appointed Deputy EMA Director. I have served in the EMA office for about 5 years. I was instrumental in the creation of our current hazard mitigation plan and in the revision of our local emergency operations plan. I am working toward certification as a GEMA Certified Emergency Manager. I have worked in the 911 center in our county for a little over 2 years. I started going in there a few years ago just to learn how it all worked and ended up a part time employee. If nothing else, the job has given me a new respect for “the other end of the radio”. I live and serve in my hometown. My family has lived in this area for over 150 years. Maybe that is why I feel as strongly as I do about my job(s). Public safety is my second try at a career. I started out in civil engineering. I tried that for a few miserable years before deciding to follow my heart and make a change. Obviously, I wear more than one hat. I don’t claim to know it all but I’m trying to learn all I can. As for advice on using the site…..I’m relatively new at this as well. Complete your information so others will know who you are. Get out there and network. Read Jeff’s advice, he made it sound so nice. The largest room is the room for self improvement |