Input versus Apathy— You Make the Difference
DEPARTMENTS
EDITOR’S OPINION
FIRE ENGINEERING is your national magazine. Since taking command of the editorial format of this publication, many comments from you bounce around my walls. Most are kind, others accuse us of being parochial in content and geographical region.
In trying to be responsible to all of you, I have, on more than one occasion, asked you for feedback and input in the form of information and manuscripts. Response from the various areas of our country has been thrilling to say the least. You have been a great asset and friend to me in trying to make this magazine more important and more responsive to all our readers. Thanks.
Now, I want to push you further. We need your input on two major issues. Your time and effort will go toward directly helping one very important person—you! Two subjects have recently come to the fore that specifically concern the personal safety of our fire and emergency response personnel.
Both areas of concern have been taken on by fire service leaders who have your well-being as their primary goal. As a direct result of the dedicated efforts of Benecia, CA’s Fire Chief Hank A. Howard into the causes of the failure of four chemical protective suits during a hazardous materials incident (see FIRE ENGINEERING, July 1984), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), under the supervision of its president, Bob Grant, has published a notice of intent to develop standards for the design and construction of chemical protective suits. The NFPA asks you, our readers, to help supply the input that the committee needs to provide the most efficient and effective set of standards to address the frustrating problem of the chemical exposure suit (see Letters to the Editor in this issue).
The second area in which I’d appreciate your feedback concerns Hugh Caulfield’s plea for field information in the area of personal safety. Mr. Caulfield has spoken to you in the past about safety legislation and how responsive it is to the needs of our fire service personnel. He now wants to provide you with an even more accurate picture of where we should be in the field of legislated protection—especially concerning our nation’s volunteer fire forces.
We have set aside this month’s Volunteers Corner column so that his message may receive the widest possible attention. Throughout his presentation, Mr. Caulfield asks for specific information necessary to prepare and forward to you an accurate national safety picture and to tell you just where your protection level lies and what you can do to increase that level.
Both of these projects are worthwhile and valuable. However, neither one will be effective nor be able to act strongly in your behalf without your assistance. Pick up a pen and help them help you.
