Gordon Graham here and Happy New Year. I hope that you and yours had a wonderful Christmas season and that is going good for you. On behalf of Ted and Paul – who run this wonderful site – we all wish you a wonderful, successful and safe 2012.

So today (January 2 because the 1st fell on a Sunday) brought us the Rose Parade (with a twist this year with the Occupy crowd making their presence known) and the big ball games around the country and all of the other stuff that happens on the first day of the year, including the “New Year Resolutions” to get in shape, to stop drinking, to lose some weight etc., etc., etc. I do not make any “resolutions” for the New Year; this has always seemed rather foolish to me, but that is just me.

Speaking of which, Mrs. G and I went for a walk yesterday (we do that a lot), and there were all sorts of new “walkers” (people in the neighborhood who we have not seen before) out there on January 1 – with their new, expensive “walking shoes” and their fancy walking clothes and their iPods with headphones. The lovely and talented Mrs. G saw me looking at these idiots running the risk of wearing headphones while walking – thus cutting off one of the important senses, hearing; and she told me there was no need to say anything to them. So I remained silent. We went for a walk today also, and we did not see any of the “new” people on Day 2 of their “resolution” to walk everyday. There will be more on this “resolution” issue later on in this piece.

As I prepare this, I am finishing up the last day of two weeks off – two weeks with no airports, no airplanes, no worries about missed connections, no TSA, no rude flight attendants, no Hertz cars in the middle of the night, no filthy TV clickers in hotel rooms (hint: pack a plastic baggie to cover these fecal encrusted devices) – no problems. Just two weeks at home and that was just wonderful.

However, I have to set the alarm tonight for 0300 tomorrow for an early flight, and the year starts up again. I am not complaining as I am happy to have a job, but perhaps someday there will truly be a “beam me up Scotty” device out there and travelers can avoid all the nonsense that accompanies travel.

If history repeats itself (and it has a habit of doing so), the travel problems I had in 2011 will be the same ones that I will see in 2012. There are no new “travel misadventures” out there – I am sure of that.

Which brings me to another truth: deaths in my former profession. For those of you who have not read these “Risky Ramblings,” my former life was in law enforcement. My focus in life is on “managing risk,” and I spend a lot of time going around and explaining how the discipline of “risk management” and reduce problems – both for individuals and organizations.

Last year was not a good year for LODD (Line of Duty Deaths) in law enforcement. In 2009, 138 law enforcement personnel died in the line of duty. That number jumped to 161 in 2010 and 163 in 2011. You can look at these accumulated data on www.odmp.org, and there is a lot of interesting information there. including the obvious that there are “no new ways” for cops to die.

The sad news is that on January 1, the first new day of the New Year, we had two LODD’s in law enforcement – two deaths on the first day of the year! Both of these deaths involved external intentional misconduct; more specifically, these two deaths (one a U.S. Forest Service ranger in Washington and the other a sergeant in a Puerto Rico police department) involved murder.

This is the big difference between our respective professions. Rarely are firefighters murdered! I am aware of the 343 murders in NY ten years ago, but fortunately these “terrorist” events are rare. Certainly, this could change in the future, and members of your profession might well be targeted more often by bad people with evil intent. It is very difficult to prevent bad people from behaving badly.

Most of the deaths in the fire service do not involve external intentional misconduct. For years, your LODD events involve cardio-vascular, vehicle operations to and from and on the scene of calls, and fire related activities. You knew this long before you read this piece, and if you study the LODD’s in the U.S. Fire Service (93 in 2009, 87 in 2010, and 81 in 2011 ( and while I don’t like any LODD, 81 is better than 87), you will see the “same stuff” over and over again.

I will not pretend to be the guru on these “causes.” You have many people in your business who know this stuff inside and out, and you can read or listen to their thoughts on how to prevent these events from occurring.

But here is one that occurs too often; and if you are into the whole “resolution” thing, let’s make a resolution that we do not experience this “cause” in 2012 here in the States. From www.firefighterclosecalls.com, I have copied this piece (from Australia) for your consideration.

“A recognized heroic Firefighter who helped residents escape last year's flood disaster at Theodore in Central Queensland (Australia) has been killed in the Line of Duty in a tragic accident at the town's fire station. 28-year-old SES (State Emergency Services) Firefighter Matt Stevens, who also served as a mechanic was called to the fire station on Friday night to work on an apparatus that had broken down. Tragically, he was working under the vehicle when a senior officer at the fire station started the truck, reversed out and unknowingly and accidentally crushed him. Yesterday his wife Jessica, also an SES volunteer, was in severe shock at the loss of her husband. His brother Tim, also a member of the fire brigade and reportedly in the truck at the time of the accident, was naturally left devastated as well. As always, our sincere condolences to all affected.”

So this single event not only killed a firefighter, but it seriously impacted three others – the driver, the wife, and the brother. For that matter, everyone in that organization will be negatively impacted by this LODD.

Going back to the data: the American Fire Service has at least one (sometimes as many as five) LODD annually where the cause is “being backed over by another firefighter.” While I am not in your profession, I know many people who are; and they all tell me that there is “no excuse” for this ever happening!

You have a ton of “systems” (policies and procedures) regarding how to back up a piece of apparatus safely. My hope is that these “rules” are properly designed and up to date. Like so many things in our respective professions, the rules are not being followed by one or more people – and a tragedy ensues.

So if you want to make a “resolution,” go to your “policy” manual; and make sure you have a policy on this issue. If you do not, then get one and get it today! If it needs to be modified for the specific issues your department faces, then make the necessary modifications.

Next, make sure everyone on your department knows what the policy says and why it is important. You can take a look at the above story from Australia, or you can look at some of the LODD events from the states related to this issue. Then use these as examples as to why this policy is so important.

And finally, please make sure the “rule” is being followed. I have said this in prior “Risky Ramblings,” but if you have arrogant, ignorant or complacent people in your organization, you have a huge problem lying in wait. Sooner or later, these “attitudes” will cause your organization some serious grief; and I don’t want to read about any “backing” deaths this year – or next year or the year after that.

Anyhow, that is all for now. Thank you f or all you do to make things better in our world. and please take the time to work safely.