Mass Gatherings During COVID-19 Pandemic

Last month, I asked Chief Kevin McGee, Chair of the IAFC Terrorism and Homeland Security Committee (T&HS), to have the committee research and develop leadership considerations for response to mass gatherings and large crowd events – planned or spon…

Managing the Economic Challenges of COVID-19

How is your department managing the economic fallout from COVID-19?   In this latest installment of iCHIEFS podcasts, Chief Steve Pegram, Goshen (Ohio) discusses what the IAFC’s Economic Crisis Task Force is doing to support fire and emergenc…

Extraordinary Times Demand Extraordinary Leadership

You have heard countless times during this national emergency – we are in unprecedented times.  Our generation is no different. There have been many unprecedented times. All four of my grandparents and even great grandparents lived through the Spa…

Running A Firehouse During A Pandemic

Fire and EMS agencies across the nation have been affected by medical PPE shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It is critical, as fire service leaders, to develop systems quickly to address logistical needs. Our department worked from a syste…

Good Policies Support A Culture of Trust

As I read a line-of-duty-death report recently, two statements jumped off the page. First, the report concluded that “General Orders are often contradictory, unclear, or too cumbersome for personnel to glean operational value.” Second, it stated i…

CMS Issues Data Collection Waiver

In light of the ongoing spread of SARS-CoV-2, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a waiver for agencies selected in 2020 to participate in the Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection process. According to CMS, those agencies p…

CMS Provides COVID Support Payments to EMS Agencies

If your fire department provides ambulance transportation for EMS patients, you’ve likely seen a financial impact from COVID-19 responses. While agencies in the COVID-19 hotspots are seeing considerable increases in transports, many other agencies are …