Josh McFadden
Immediately after returning to the office from another successful NAVIGATOR conference in April, Academy staff members and contributors went right to work putting together an informative, meaningful issue of the Journal.
July/August hits a number of topics.
Audrey Fraizer’s feature story about China focuses on the growth and development of the protocols in the most populous nation on Earth. The MPDS® was introduced in the country in 2010, and results were immediate. This story underscores just how far emergency response has come in China.
I tackled another feature story in this issue—one that looks at recent and distant cruise ship disasters, namely the famous Titanic incident of 1912. In the story I wrote about incidents and tragedies that have occurred throughout history on these vessels and how emergency response would have dealt with the issues.
Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for our centerfold spread in this issue. “Dispatch Man” makes an appearance in the features section. It’s all part of a comic strip known as “Rhymes With Orange.” Read all about the author and get your first look at this humorous character.
As always, we have two CDE articles complete with quizzes you can take for continuing dispatch education credit. In this issue, we have a Universal CDE from Audrey that discusses how to address sinking vehicles. The other CDE is appropriate for this time of year. Summertime is prime for wildfires, and I’ve written a piece that walks dispatchers through the critical components of Protocol 67: Outside Fire, which includes wildland fires. You may be surprised, too, by some of the statistics presented in this article.
The Your Space section highlights dispatchers’ interesting hobbies and achievements from around the world. Read about a dispatcher from the Corona (California, USA) Police Department Communications Center and how she met a man she helped save through over-the-phone instructions on early CPR. Also, our Off Hours story reveals the hobbies and home responsibilities of an already busy dispatcher in Maine, USA.
Southeast Emergency Communications (SEECOM) in Crystal Lake, Illinois, USA, is the subject of this issue’s ACE article. As our Center Piece, we highlight Brevard County (Florida, USA) Fire Dispatch, which has the challenge of contending with hurricanes and other severe weather. Our regular columns make their appearance as well.
Enjoy another issue of reading!
