Never On A 10

I was fortunate to have worked for one of the greatest departments in the world, but this book could easily represent firefighters from Los Angeles, the City of Miami, the Fire Department of New York, Houston, Washington DC, or any of the hundreds of urban area fire departments across the country. 

I wrote Never On A 10 for multiple reasons.  There are exceptional training books and articles written by dedicated individuals with years of experience, but I saw a need to show what actually happens during day to day operations that are truly indicative of the Fire Service.  In addition, most non-fictional books on firefighting focus primarily on extraordinary lifesaving measures and bravery.  Too many movies and television shows depict firefighters as exceptionally heroic, or only show them responding to the most serious calls day in, day out.  Even worse, they are at times portrayed as totally dysfunctional in both in their professional and personal lives.  The truth lies somewhere in between.  

There have been multiple books in this genre, some of which are extremely engaging and written by veterans of the fire service in tradition-laden departments.  What separates Never On A 10 from that crowd is that it is not about the old-school fire departments such as Chicago, Detroit, or New York.  Never On A 10 combines the humor, critical calls, and everyday life experienced in South Florida with the flavor and heavy influence of the Caribbean. 

The '10' comes from one of the two primary codes that were used by public safety organizations across the country, largely to avoid miscommunication using words such as no and go, which sound similar but can have opposite meanings, leading to potentially disastrous results.  The second reason was to use a common operating platform, thereby minimizing on the air chatter and keeping the air clear for emergencies.  Both sets of codes were utilized primarily to prevent the media and the public from discerning calls, but have mostly been discontinued with the increased use of clear text.

All of the incidents depicted in this book are true.

 

 

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Never On A 10

I was fortunate to have worked for one of the greatest departments in the world, but this book could easily represent firefighters from Los Angeles, the City of Miami, the Fire Department of New York, Houston, Washington DC, or any of the hundreds of urban area fire departments across the country. 

I wrote Never On A 10 for multiple reasons.  There are exceptional training books and articles written by dedicated individuals with years of experience, but I saw a need to show what actually happens during day to day operations that are truly indicative of the Fire Service.  In addition, most non-fictional books on firefighting focus primarily on extraordinary lifesaving measures and bravery.  Too many movies and television shows depict firefighters as exceptionally heroic, or only show them responding to the most serious calls day in, day out.  Even worse, they are at times portrayed as totally dysfunctional in both in their professional and personal lives.  The truth lies somewhere in between.  

There have been multiple books in this genre, some of which are extremely engaging and written by veterans of the fire service in tradition-laden departments.  What separates Never On A 10 from that crowd is that it is not about the old-school fire departments such as Chicago, Detroit, or New York.  Never On A 10 combines the humor, critical calls, and everyday life experienced in South Florida with the flavor and heavy influence of the Caribbean. 

The '10' comes from one of the two primary codes that were used by public safety organizations across the country, largely to avoid miscommunication using words such as no and go, which sound similar but can have opposite meanings, leading to potentially disastrous results.  The second reason was to use a common operating platform, thereby minimizing on the air chatter and keeping the air clear for emergencies.  Both sets of codes were utilized primarily to prevent the media and the public from discerning calls, but have mostly been discontinued with the increased use of clear text.

All of the incidents depicted in this book are true.

 

 

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Never On A 10

Never On A 10

by Robert Edward Palestrant
Never On A 10
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Never On A 10

Never On A 10

by Robert Edward Palestrant

Overview

I was fortunate to have worked for one of the greatest departments in the world, but this book could easily represent firefighters from Los Angeles, the City of Miami, the Fire Department of New York, Houston, Washington DC, or any of the hundreds of urban area fire departments across the country. 

I wrote Never On A 10 for multiple reasons.  There are exceptional training books and articles written by dedicated individuals with years of experience, but I saw a need to show what actually happens during day to day operations that are truly indicative of the Fire Service.  In addition, most non-fictional books on firefighting focus primarily on extraordinary lifesaving measures and bravery.  Too many movies and television shows depict firefighters as exceptionally heroic, or only show them responding to the most serious calls day in, day out.  Even worse, they are at times portrayed as totally dysfunctional in both in their professional and personal lives.  The truth lies somewhere in between.  

There have been multiple books in this genre, some of which are extremely engaging and written by veterans of the fire service in tradition-laden departments.  What separates Never On A 10 from that crowd is that it is not about the old-school fire departments such as Chicago, Detroit, or New York.  Never On A 10 combines the humor, critical calls, and everyday life experienced in South Florida with the flavor and heavy influence of the Caribbean. 

The '10' comes from one of the two primary codes that were used by public safety organizations across the country, largely to avoid miscommunication using words such as no and go, which sound similar but can have opposite meanings, leading to potentially disastrous results.  The second reason was to use a common operating platform, thereby minimizing on the air chatter and keeping the air clear for emergencies.  Both sets of codes were utilized primarily to prevent the media and the public from discerning calls, but have mostly been discontinued with the increased use of clear text.

All of the incidents depicted in this book are true.

 

 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9798988229124
Publisher: Robert Palestrant
Publication date: 06/16/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 404
File size: 22 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Bob Palestrant has over 40 years of experience in public service serving as a registered nurse, firefighter/paramedic, emergency manager, and in the discipline of homeland security. He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) through the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM), a credentialed Chief Fire Officer (CFO) through the Center of Public Safety Excellence, and earned his master's degree in Homeland Security graduating cum laude from American Military University. He has multiple Incident Command System (ICS) instructor certifications, is an Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP) Bomb Making Materials Awareness Program (BMAP) Administrator/Trainer, a State of Florida Fire Service Instructor III and in 2021, was selected as the Government Technology & Services Coalition-Homeland Security Today's State Homeland Security Person of the Year. After promoting through the ranks, he retired from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue (MDFR) in 2012.

Table of Contents

The manuscript is divided into seven distinct sections, with additions photographs inserted at the approximate midpoint of the book.

a) Introduction:  This section describes several things: what their responsibilities are over and above the publc perception; the evergrowing number of calls responded to nationwide; the necessity to be proficient in multiple skills; and firefighter deaths associated with on-duty accidents, elevated cancer rates and suicides, all in providing a realistic overview of who firefighters are and what we do, not how we are portrayed on television.

b) Part I, The Job - Setting the Stage: What the Fire Service means to me as well as thousands of others, ranging from the public we serve, volunteers, those trying to move up into the ranks of career professional, and finally, seasoned veterans. It also illustrates the myriad of difficulties I encountered over a ten-year period in trying to become a member of the service.

c) Part II, Operations: I initially worked with, and for, some personnel who took the job for granted, those with a "me-first" attitude, or others who clearly adhered to the Peter Principle.

d) Part III, Welcome to Battalion 5: The eye-opening realization that there were distinct differences between crews, shifts, stations, and areas across Miami-Dade County, the second largest response area in the country covering over 1,900 square miles. Once assigned to the Liberty City area, I saw that most of the personnel, regardless of rank, set the bar exceptionally high.

e) Additional Photos: Photos ranging from my first "fire truck" as a two-year old, multiple training regimens, rescue calls, community involvement, to my last photo sitting behind the wheel of one of the fire trucks.  

f) Part IV, Timing is Everything: Leaving what I considered my second home in order to have the time to study for hopefully, my last promotional exam; working with mostly new personnel and mostly definitely, working in a new, unknown territory.

g) Part V, Conclusion: Discussing how the composition of the fire service has changed over the past five decades, how fire adminstrators must work through the ranks to truly understand what it takes to be a firefighter, and the organizational principle I call "The Christmas Tree Effect", and how to correct the issue by requiring people hired as firefighters to work as firefighters, nothing more.

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