Coleman Presented with 2011 Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award

John F. “Skip” Coleman, who retired from Toledo (OH) Department of Fire Rescue as assistant chief in 2008, was awarded the 2011 Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award at Thursday’s General Session.
 
Coleman entered the fire service in 1975, following in his father’s footsteps. In 1984, Toledo hired 64 recruits and asked Coleman to go to the fire academy and train the recruits in self-contained breathing apparatus and search. While at the academy, Coleman was promoted to captain. He was an Ohio-state certified fire instructor, and served the Toledo department as a battalion chief, the assistant operations deputy, deputy chief, deputy chief of operations, deputy chief of training, and deputy chief of fire prevention. He was promoted to assistant chief in 2007.
 
Coleman developed the “Oriented Method of Search” to teach to the recruits after reading “Surviving the Search and Rescue,” written by psychologists in North Carolina. Coleman was asked by the assistant chief of the department to train the entire department in the procedure. This method is now in use in departments from the Seattle area to Fort Myers, Florida.
 
As an officer, Coleman developed several department programs:
  • He wrote the Incident Command Policy and the Mandatory Mask Policy.
  • He revised the Emergency Procedures Manual.
  • As accreditation manager, he brought his department to the status of an accredited fire department in 2002, according to the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. He retained the position of accreditation manager until his retirement.
Coleman was an instructor at Owens State Community College, Toledo, from 1987 through 2003, and is marking his fifteenth year as an FDIC instructor.

He is the author of Incident Management for the Street Smart Fire Officer (Fire Engineering, 1997; second edition, 2008), Managing Major Fires (2002), and Searching Smarter (2011). His first two books are used in Fire Science College program curricula throughout the United States and Canada and have been on promotional process reading lists for departments of all sizes including one of the five largest departments in the United States. 

Coleman graduated from the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officers program in 2002 and has served as an adjunct instructor for several of the NFA Command and Control courses. He is technical editor for Fire Engineering and is on the FDIC executive advisory board He has moderated the “Roundtable” column in the magazine and on fireengineering.com, and is also a blogger. He delivered the keynote address at FDIC 2002.
 
Among the congratulatory comments offered by fire service colleagues regarding Coleman’s receipt of the award are the following:
 
  • Skip Coleman has dedicated his life to the fire service. His passion is perfection, and he worked tirelessly throughout his career and into his retirement to help firefighters and chiefs focus on excellence. His strategies and style are real world, practical, and adaptable. As a chief and educator, Skip has remained a lifelong learner, listening to others and benefiting from their experiences. Skip has been a leader, mentor, role model, and friend to countless firefighters and officers. His influence on the fire service is priceless. I consider myself incredibly fortunate to work with him at Fire Engineering and call him my friend.—Mike McEvoy, EMS coordinator, Saratoga County, New York; Fire Engineering EMS editor
  •  Skip Coleman is highly deserving of this award because of two primary traits he exemplifies: high energy and unbridled enthusiasm. I have been friends with Skip for a few decades and have also taught with him during that time. I challenge anyone to sit through one of his sessions or even casually talk with him without being pumped up after listening, talking with, and learning from Skip. Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, deputy chief, Loveland-Symmes (OH) Fire Department; Fire Engineering/FDIC Executive Advisory Board
  • John “Skip” Coleman has dedicated his life to educating both career and volunteer firefighters on fireground operations. Unlike many other fire service leaders, he has acknowledged that there is more than one right way to fight a fire and has recognized the manpower limitations encountered by both career and volunteer departments. Through his teachings, Skip has made us more operationally efficient in hoseline attacks, conducting fireground searches, ventilating, and in responding to many other types of emergencies. He has advanced command techniques in risk management, accountability, and managing Maydays. Most importantly, Skip has stressed safety, firefighting basics, and a common-sense approach to incident operations. Thousands of firefighters and their communities have benefited as a result of Skip’s educational efforts. I know this first hand, for I have, for much of my own fire service career, read Skip’s articles and textbooks and have been an attendee at many of his lectures. Skip has also taught at my department on at least five occasions, and I can say that our level of efficiency has improved with each and every visit …. His greatest operational rule is, “When things go wrong, firefighters will resort to what is customary and routine.” This rule emphasizes that how we train and how we operate on an everyday basis will affect our chances of surviving the life-threatening event. Skip has always stressed the importance of training; and whether in the City of Toledo, at the National Fire Academy, or in articles written for Fire Engineering, he has always led by example.”—David C. Comstock Jr., Western Reserve Joint District, Ohio
  • Skip has done it all in his career. From working his way up through the ranks of the Toledo Department of Fire Rescue to his classroom and field instruction, to his role as one of Fire Engineering’s technical editors. He has never turned down an opportunity to teach, train, or help another firefighter. He has demonstrated what it means to be a mentor and a true leader and, most importantly, a brother. He always has time for you and never   turns down a request for help. There is no doubt that firefighters are alive today because of Skip Coleman. I truly am a better person for knowing him.–Rick Lasky, chief, Lewisville (TX) Fire Department, member FDIC advisory board.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is named for Tom Brennan, who was the editor of Fire Engineering for eight years and a technical editor. Brennan had more than 35 years of fire service experience, including more than 20 years with the Fire Department of New York and five years as chief of the Waterbury (CT) Fire Department. He was co-editor of The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth Edition (Fire Engineering Books, 1995) and the recipient of the 1998 Fire Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award.

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