The five stages of mourning and grief are universal and are experienced by people from all walks of life. The five widely accepted stages are, in order: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The mind processes grief very much the same way it processes the five stages of a career in Public Safety, only ass […]

Santa’s elves were up late last night, cutting, chopping, and filling little bags with the magic powder the people crave. Christmas magic is alive for every man woman and child; a needle and a spoon, a flickering candle’s heat, penetrating, mixing with blood once lifeless, now alive with pleasure and warmth. Loneliness recedes as her […]

I saw an image on Facebook the other day; a car on fire at a fuel pump a few miles from my house. I immediately started typing some inane comment, unthoughtful, aggrandizing, centered around me and my experiences. Something stopped me from posting. Yesterday another image appeared, two of my favorite people from my past, […]

Captain Scrooge and other Holiday Stories is dedicated to stories about emergencies in homes and cities during the holiday season. “Morse shines in his treatment of the smaller stories in his profession, exploring the depths of compassion, sympathy, and loyalty to the community that all first responders may relate to.” https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M5DK7HE  

He shuffles toward the rescue, no particular hurry; he’s got nothing much to do. It’s ten o’clock on a Thursday Night, he’s out of money, the buzz from the half is wearing off and he’s hungry. He has that wary look about him, not quite knowing what to expect from the people he called for […]

Books make great gifts! Rescuing Providence and Rescue 1 Responding is a perfect present for the firefighter/medic in your life, Mr. Wilson Makes it Home is perfect for anybody with a heart! All I want for Christmas is for you to follow my Amazon Author page, and that won’t even cost you anything 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JRZ2Y2

I didn’t know how else to ask so I just said it. “How much does she weigh?” “Your stretcher won’t break, they did it before,” said her daughter. My stretcher is rated for five-hundred pounds. My patient topped that, I’m sure. “I don’t want to hurt her if the stretcher collapses,” I said. My patient […]

For some strange reason beyond my comprehension I find myself in a Christmas Tree Shoppes store in the first week of December. The Mrs. needs picture frames, and I’m just the guy to get them. I have no desire to shop for trinkets, or glittery doodads, I’m focused on the task at hand. I find […]

December, 2007 Saturday Night, 2100 hrs. LT. Bobby Dunne was still with us. I would sit with him for hours on the Apparatus floor, over in the corner; Dunnes Corner, smoking, talking and enjoying every second we spent as firemen. He never cared that I was a Rescue Blow, I was simply one of the […]

http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2016/12/engine-company-ems-dressed-for-success.html …The good news is that dying people do not really care if the help they called for shows up smelling like smoke, covered in soot, or soaking wet. They tend to be past judgment and are at a point where Attila the Hun could arrive and they would welcome him warmly…