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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog: Sept. 2009
Written by Peter Sells   
Sept. 23, 2009 - A few years ago in Indianapolis I had the honour of being included in a panel discussion on reducing firefighter injuries and fatalities on the fireground.
by Peter Sells | 09/23
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
July 21, 2009,

I remember the booklet that used to sit in a box behind the captain and driver in every truck when I first came on the job. It was a set of procedures to be followed in the event of an actual or pending nuclear attack on the city. We used to joke about it periodically. One of the strategies recommended was to evacuate the apparatus and all related equipment out of the city to a specified parking lot of a shopping mall about 45 minutes north. That way the apparatus and crew would survive the blast and remain intact to respond back into the smoking ruin that used to be Toronto.
by Peter Sells | 07/21
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Editor's blog
Written by Laura King   
July 16, 2009

Having just come back from the Maritime fire chiefs conference in Nova Scotia where coverage of the Toronto city workers strike was sparse, at best, I missed the first stories on the Toronto ambulance that allegedly took more than half an hour to arrive at an apartment building where a man died while waiting for paramedics, and the ensuing debate and media coverage.

by  | 07/16
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
Last year in my column about emotional intelligence I wrote about how a firefighter, especially in a command role, would benefit from the ability to manage emotions in an inherently chaotic situation. The key point was that our objective is to bring rationality to a chaotic situation, to be part of the solution by avoiding becoming part of the problem. This past weekend I saw why it is so important that we achieve that objective.
by Peter Sells | 06/24
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
Earlier this year I wrote about the attempt made by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) to organize the volunteer firefighters of the Sudbury Fire Department. I drew a comparison between the situation faced by volunteer firefighters in many parts of Canada and the schtick of the late, great Rodney Dangerfield. Essentially, volunteers do not get the respect they deserve.  Within their communities, yes, they are the heroes and leaders that are looked up to in exactly the same way as their brothers and sisters in career departments.  But when it comes to recognition within the greater fire service, volunteers are often unfairly regarded as second-class citizens.
by Peter Sells | 05/13
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
In my previous blog, I discussed how the Canadian government does nothing to level the playing field among communities that can afford top-notch fire protection and those that cannot. My thanks to those who kept the discussion going. This time I would like to recognize that there are fire service organizations across Canada that aren’t willing to simply accept the status quo – organizations that pull themselves up by the bootstraps and strive to meet their challenges despite having little or no budget and, in some cases, no fire protection infrastructure.

 

by Peter Sells | 04/15
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
March 18, 2009,

A quick look at the sports culture in the U.S. and Canada:

Baseball – played on a field featuring a mound of dirt;

NASCAR – races are run on tracks with steep banks;

Football – the field is slightly crowned to allow drainage;

Golf – don’t we all wish that the greens were perfectly flat?

Soccer – see football, above.

by Peter Sells | 03/18
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Peter Sells Flashpoint blog
Written by Peter Sells   
Feb. 18, 2009

In one of those weird coincidences of history, like Harry Houdini dying on Halloween, we were reminded a few days ago, Feb. 12 to be exact, that both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were celebrating their 200th birthdays. What were the chances that two of the pivotal minds of the nineteenth century would have been born on the same day? Don’t get me started, or I will calculate the actual chances of that – it’s just an expression, OK?

by Peter Sells | 02/18
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