"Firefighters in Poland are a special group. It is you who proved that modern Poland in modern Europe is not just a catchword, that public service in Poland may operate on the highest European level" said the Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the firefighters on the Firefighter Day. (own info)
Firefighters in Iraq
We had to totally change our way of thinking and reorganize the mode the rescue and firefighting actions are performed. We used to leave for the actions armed, dressed in the bullet-proof vests, says Major Jarosław Pędzik, the head of the military fire service during the first rotation of the Polish Military Contingent in Iraq. (own info)
Easter Tragedy in the Mountains
A place called Kocioł Białego Jaru in the Karkonosze witnessed a tragedy on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday. No-one thought that the rescuers from the Voluntary Mountain Rescue Service, Czech Horská Služba and firefighters from the State Fire Service and Volunteer Fire Service may spend Easter searching for a young man trapped under the snow. Przemysław Tkacz describes the action.
Deadly Gift
This beautiful March day was to be remembered by the boy for the rest of his life. Eighteen birthday and a great Honda as a gift! However, his family will remember this day as one of the worst ones after the racing Honda 600 drove directly into a truck... Report by Krzysztof Łangowski.
A Not Indifferent Outstanding
The firefighters from the Fire and Rescue Unit in Kąty Wrocławskie did not expect the visit at all. This was an ordinary day, ordinary service, and suddenly a call announced the Regional Chief Fire Officer of the Lower Silesia province coming to the unit together with a medical rescue coordinator and the head of the organization and supervision division. What for? Why to this unit? By Lech Lewandowski.
Carefully With Data
Has a dispatcher a right to obtain victim's personal data from the phone operators? Michał Serzycki, the Chief Inspector of Personal Data Protection, resolves doubts. (own info)
Rescue Exercises "Kawice 2008"
Operator Logistyczny Paliw Płynnych Sp. z o.o. is one of the biggest companies in the Polish market operating in the scope of storage and logistic service of the current fuel consumption. The company has 22 fuel bases in Poland, where over- and underground tanks store: petrol, diesel oil, light heating oil and aircraft fuel. By Przemysław Tkacz.
Drill in Jaworzno III Power Plant
Transformer on Fire
The failure of a transport grid, which paralysed the city of Szczecin in April, has drawn the attention of the public opinion to the issue of the national energy security. No wonder that the drill in Jaworzno III power plant, organized by both the management of this energy giant and the State Fire Service, attracted over 60 observers. (own info)
Premises For Predicting Contamination. Part II
Topographical Factors
One of the modern definitions of topography (from Greek topos - place and graphein – to draw) describes it as "a set of terrain features concerning its relief and the objects present there." The term terrain refers to the land area on the outer part of the Earth's coating, with its own structure located in the frame of reference and the height system; it includes the elements of the ground cover and geological features. By Włodzimierz Wątor.
Fire Investigations in Italy
Fire investigations increasingly draw attention of the EU Member States. This interest manifests itself best in the increasingly frequent meetings of experts dealing with this important, but still underestimated issue. By Piotr Guzewski
Divine Providence Is Not Enough
There are 1,729 wooden churches in Poland; 65 of them in the Opole region. The churches are an important element of the cultural heritage of both Poland and Europe – report from a conference devoted to the preservation of historic monuments in this part of Poland. (own info)
Forests on Fire – a Problem Not Only for Firefighters
The Art. 4 (item 1, point 7) of the Act on Fire Protection is ambiguous: it is not obvious whether "procedures …" shall be universal in the case of any of the events set forth in the Act, or separate "procedures …" shall be created for each of the events: for a fire, a natural disaster and separate for other local dangers. By Jarosław Zarzycki.
How to Deal With Stress?
As an instructor on trainings concerning stress and the ways of dealing with it I often ask firefighters: what do they associate stress with? They answer: with anger, nerves, headache, anxiety, tiredness, problems, people, exams, sickness, work, night alarm etc. These examples show how many spheres of our life are affected by stress – by Anna Kasperczyk.
St. Florian in the Birthplace of Solidarity
The high point of the central celebration of the Firefighter Day was the delivery of banners to the Regional HQ of the State Fire Service of the Pomerania province and the Regional Division of the Union of the Volunteer Fire Service of the Republic of Poland. This year the celebration took place in the city of Gdańsk – the birthplace of the Solidarity movement. The occasional speeches referred again and again to this idea and symbolism. Report from the celebration. (own info).
Airport Vehicles of the Military Fire Service
Wings Under the Aegis
After the military transport plane CASA C-295 M crashed on 23 January 2008, the units of the Military Fire Service (MFS) from the 12th Air Base in Mirosławiec arrived on the spot as first. Paweł Frątczak and Zbigniew Szablewski describe the equipment of the firefighters in the army.
Taming Media
The firefighters who participate directly in the rescue actions and serve in alarm and dispatch centres learned how to cooperate with the media. By Paweł Frątczak and Mariusz Wawerka.
Gas-proof on a Line?!
Someone said once: "Show me what you wear and I will tell you who you are". Someone else objected that "Clothes do not make the man". Maciej Schroeder writes about protective clothing of the firefighters.
Changes in the Civil Protection on the EU Level
Safer EU Citizen
The growing number of risks all over the world and high ambitions of the European Union in the scope of emergency management cause that the question of civil protection on the EU level develops quickly gaining simultaneously increasing importance on the world stage. By Agnieszka Woszczek
Protectors From Under the Wawel Hill
Firefighters from Kraków celebrated in May a beautiful 135th anniversary of founding professional fire service. Although its image has changed for all these years, the main idea has remained the same: to save human life regardless the risk. (own info)
Fire Bringing Fame
History has known cases, when someone was erased from the general memory for some crimes. This has concerned mainly powerful persons from the top. One day this exclusive circle of greatest criminals and atheists was joined by a quite indigent shoemaker, who was regarded by his contemporaries as an idiot and loser. He sneaked in the team by setting fire to one of the Seven Wonders of the World – the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus. By Paweł Rochala
New Old Medal
The parliamentary Act of 14 April 2007 amending the Act on Orders and Decorations introduced a new honourable distinction to the Polish decoration system: Long Service Medal (in 3 degrees). Actually it would be more appropriate to say that the medal was reestablished, since it had been awarded in the Second Polish Republic in the years 1938 – 1944. Even the symbolic representation and the rules of awarding it have remained unchanged. By Krzysztof Krężel
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