 | | | 1/30/2012 | Washington Emergency Medical Services Information System, or WEMSIS, is the State’s repository for electronic patient care reports (ePCR). This powerful system allows agencies to submit their incident reports through an internet connection to the State and in return extract reports that can be used for quality assurance and improvement.
Earlier this year on July 14, 2011 WEMSIS had two landmark successes: first, the State transferred its first set of data to the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS), and second the state had received over 1 million reports. Both of these elements were huge accomplishments as now WA can compare itself to other states, and having over 1 million reports is an excellent sample to draw from when measuring EMS System performance.
But even with these accomplishments, more help is needed to make this system a success. Currently, only 32% of the State’s agencies are reporting to WEMSIS, with the majority being from King County. This is problematic as the data is not a good representation of the State in its entirety. It also limits the ability for the State to measure specific areas of the state.
The State currently offers the ability for Agencies to submit their data electronically and at no charge. This is either completed by entering an ePCR directly into the WEMSIS System, or working with your records management system (RMS) to export a file directly to the State. Either way, the state will get its much needed data.
The fire service has benefited from NFIRS and the Fire Based EMS Systems will benefit from WEMSIS and NEMSIS. With your help, a robust database of ems information statewide can be achieved and allow for more informed decisions to be made related to EMS. Go to the following link for more information about WEMSIS: http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/emstrauma/wemsis/default.htm
Mark Correira, EMS Section Chair
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | The Fire Protection Research Foundation (Foundation) is addressing ways to reduce the numbers of deaths, injuries and property losses from home cooking fires. The Foundation recently released a report with the results of a study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The study identified major cooking fire scenarios and focused on the types of prevention technologies suitable for use on or with home cooking appliances, and provided an action plan on how to further utilize these technologies to improve cooking fire safety. The Foundation is an affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).
Cooking-equipment related fires are a leading cause of U.S. fire loss. According to NFPA, from 2005 – 2009, cooking ranges accounted for 58 percent of the total reported home cooking equipment fires while accounting for 84 percent of deaths and 77 percent of injuries. As demand for home cooking appliances, in particular, stove tops increases, reducing the number of fire deaths and injuries related to cooking accidents remains a priority. The report provides an assessment of new and existing promising safety technologies or concepts that focus on three criteria consumers look for when buying products including fire protection effectiveness, cooking performance, and cost and convenience.
Several products sold on the market today already address safety for stove tops including those that provide motion sensors and alarms to warn homeowners of a potential fire during unattended cooking, as well as contact temperature sensors used to detect possible food ignitions due to excess heat. The report provides a status update of the development of this technology over the last 10 years and presents an assessment for future growth.
To conclude the project, leaders from the kitchen appliance, fire service and user communities met at a workshop in July 2011 to review the results of the Foundation study and develop an action plan for identifying potential barriers to further research and product development of these emerging state-of-the-art technologies, and their effectiveness to mitigate home cooking fires.
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | In an effort to make personal safety a top priority, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) and the Chicago Fire Department (CFD) today released a new video, Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home®. Members of the CFD and families of fallen firefighters share their stories in this compelling and moving testimonial of the importance of adhering to safety standards and accepting personal responsibility for following procedures.
Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff was impressed by a video that the NFFF and the Fire Department of New York produced several years earlier to educate members about the importance of training and safety standards. The FDNY leadership had noticed behavioral improvement among its members following the release of their video. Hoff felt that the members of the CFD could benefit from hearing first-hand accounts of the lessons learned by their colleagues and invited the NFFF to collaborate on a video for Chicago.
"The culture of firefighting requires us to do everything we can to make sound decisions so we can be in a position to help the people we serve when they most need it," said Ronald J. Siarnicki, executive director of the NFFF. "With this video the firefighters and leadership of the Chicago Fire Department are clearly showing the rest of the fire service you can still be a firefighter and at the same time do your best to make sure everyone goes home®."
More than two dozen survivors of fallen firefighters, including coworkers and family members, participated in the filming of Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home®. The video took nearly one year to complete and was produced and directed by Rob Maloney of Cool Water Multimedia.
All members of the Chicago Fire Department have had the opportunity to see Chicago Fire Department - Everyone Goes Home® and it is now available for the entire fire service. To see the video, go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=vODww1qwSuE.
For More Information Visit: www.everyonegoeshome.com
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | Scholarship program provides a high-quality, flexible and affordable path to undergraduate and graduate degrees and career advancement.
Brandman University and Washington Fire Chiefs (WFC) recently announced a partnership to offer current graduate and undergraduate programs to firefighters at a special scholarship rate. WFC members who pursue furthering their education will enjoy this scholarship offering valued at approximately $150 per three-unit course. The Brandman-WFC partnership will help ambitious men and women who need a degree to advance in their career and achieve personal goals, but find it difficult to fit school into their busy schedule. Brandman has a similar agreement with CSFA, for which it designed a program specifically to meet the needs of firefighters.
In an effort to help firefighters gain credit for their varied trainings under one degree program, members of various fire departments and fire-related associations met with Brandman leadership. . The representatives agreed that the degree must provide rigorous and well respected academic integrity, recognize prior training, and take into account the unique needs and schedules of these professionals. Together, they created an educational program that would meet the degree completion needs of firefighters and other fire department professionals.
The experts concluded that the firefighting community also needed transfer credit for community college courses, fire marshal and similar training, and past work experience as well as exemplary services to ensure success for students who may be returning to school after several years and have numerous responsibilities. Additional training would ideally include succession planning, team building and other leadership competencies and understanding of expectations and needs when working across generations.
An added benefit was that Brandman University, a military friendly school since it opened its first campus on the El Toro Marine Base in 1958, recognizes those firefighters with a military background and evaluates credit for military service and military coursework for academic credit using the American Council of Education (ACE) guidelines, resulting in up to 46 credit hours through this evaluation.
The program is now available at all of Brandman’s Washington State campuses − Bangor Naval Base Kitsap, Ft. Lewis, Lacey, McChord AFB, Whidbey Island, as well as online.
Brandman University is well-known for unprecedented student services that include executive coaches and advisors specifically trained in appropriate career path opportunities for firefighters. The coaching continues through the first courses of the program and will culminate in the creation of an education and career plan that will detail the firefighter’s individual career objectives. The exercise allows firefighters to map out a plan for success. While in the program, students will construct a meaningful plan for selecting courses to explore and prepare for their preferred futures by completing an initial cornerstone course. A capstone course synthesizes learning through the development of a learning portfolio. Additional certificate programs may supplement the path in order to provide added credentials that will further enhance the educational experience and differentiate the firefighter’s resume. These certificate programs are optional.
The end result of teaming up with industry experts that know their constituents well and a university dedicated to upward mobility for adult learners will be an academic experience for firefighters that is trans-disciplinary, thorough and practical.
About Brandman UniversityBrandman University is a private, non-profit institution accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Established in 1958 and a part of the Chapman University System, Brandman blends a legacy of academic excellence with progressive, innovative curriculum and strong support services designed for working professionals. The university serves more than 10,000 students annually in 52 undergraduate, graduate, credential, and certificate programs in arts and sciences, business, education and health, both offered online and through 26 campuses in California and Washington. Learn more at www.brandman.edu/wfc.
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | At the request of the WFC, I began to do some intensive research in order to attain data that is backed up by facts gathered by numerous professionals working within this field. This research included reading hundreds of pages of assorted documents, pamphlets, reports and websites on the subject. The end result being that alternative fuel is currently being thoroughly researched with much of the massive amount of information not yet being widely disseminated to the public. With much of this research and information being comprised of creative and innovative facts and concepts, the petroleum industry should be viewed with merit and praise. Based upon the results of my research I feel that the existing infrastructure within most (local) fire departments is seriously behind, in some cases decades behind, in regards to being prepared for the modern infrastructure necessary to support these innovative fuels resource measures.
There are four primary types of fossil fuels that are widely used today; gasoline, diesel, natural gas, and propane. With gasoline and diesel fuels being the two most commonly consumed products, natural gas being the third, followed by propane and other fossil or non-fossil fuel alternatives. With approximately 49% of our petroleum (www.eia.gov) being imported from various parts of the world we are facing an expanding need to find alternative energy sources within our own borders. The federal governments Energy Policy Act of 1992 brought the technology and research that is driving us toward a cleaner and more renewable energy source today.
Along with the four fossil fuels listed above there are several emerging fuels that are being tested including:
• Bio-Diesel
• Ethanol E-10/E20 and E85
• Hydrogen
• Electricity/Batteries
• Bio-Butanol
• Biogas
• Hydrogenation-Derived Renewable Diesel (HDRD)
• Methanol
• P-Series
• XTL Fuels
Now that you see the list of fuels you are probably wondering how this information affects us within the Fire Service. Considering the current economic and environmental conditions we are faced with today this has a huge impact upon many areas of fire service. This comes in the form of performance, cycles of departmental interdependence, financing, and the mechanics of apparatus operability, to name only a few of the areas that are potentially impacted. We are currently using approximately a 5% Bio-Diesel blend in all of our diesel-powered vehicles and a 10% (at the very least) E10 Ethanol/Gasoline blend in our non-diesel vehicles. Both of these types of fuels come with various setbacks (some of which are described below) that many people may not be aware of.
In the controversy over Ethanol E10, E20, and E85 we need to consider the impact of these types of fuel and any inherent apparatus conversion or adaptations necessary. As mentioned above E10 is already in use now, I will bypass discussion regarding E20 for now and talk a little bit about E85 which appears to be receiving intense governmental and corporate attention for ecological and global sustainability purposes.
E85 also known as flex fuel is more prominent in the mid west and along the East coast. The primary question here is: Why would fire departments be interested in running gasoline-powered vehicles with E85? First E85 costs less per gallon, it also creates less pollution per gallon and it is a renewable resource. Although these are all important considerations when choosing a fuel for our fleets, this is only part of what we must take into consideration; E85 comes with some serious setbacks. One example of this is that although E85 is cheaper per gallon than gasoline it produces approximately 25-30% less energy per gallon. Which means that you will get fewer miles per gallon than you would from gasoline.
Ethanol/gasoline blends create corrosion issues and reduce the shelf life of gasoline because the ethanol content attracts moisture. This explains many common issues associated with gasoline-powered tools, which may sit dormant for weeks or even months among the plethora of department apparatus. Meanwhile the corrosion process exists and grows internally within the apparatus creating multiple operational problems that leads to additional expenses and economic impact. This in turn places additional strain upon existing fiscal budgets.
When considering the reduced energy factor into the equation, E85 may potentially cost you more in the end. For example if you were buying E85 for $3.09 per gallon when gasoline is costing $3.85 per gallon E85 is considerably cheaper per gallon. When evaluating a compare and contrast for the cost breakdown it is important to factor in that you’re getting approximately 25% to 30% less energy out of every gallon of E85. This estimate is derived from a basic algebraic equation where it is necessary to divide the cost by the estimated percentage of energy output, which is approximately 70% or 0.70 when comparing it mile for mile against gasoline; $3.09 divided by 0.70 equals $4.41. So when compared on a miles per gallon basis E85 would cost you about $4.41 per gallon to as opposed to $3.85 per gallon in order to get comparable mileage.
Because gasoline produces a higher BTU (British Thermal Unit), which is what the fuel energy is derived from, it surpasses the energy output of E85. Unlike gasoline E85 is a clean burning fuel source, however I have no standing knowledge regarding the ecological or fiscal impact inherent within the process of creating alternative fuels such as E85. These unknown (in this research) factors must be considered when contemplating the cost and global impact of all fuel sources.
B5, B20, and B100 are the most common bio-fuel blends with the B5 (or 5%) blend appearing to be the most widely used. The B5 Bio-diesel is currently being distributed at various fueling stations throughout Washington State and is delivered to most fire department fueling stations within our region. In its own way B5 has also proven to be slightly problematic. The bio-diesel blends seemingly run ok in the apparatus and there does not seem to be a loss of power however, the cleanliness and consistency of the product creates serious filter issues. One thing that is sure is that as the climate gets colder the bio-diesel clouds and slowly begins to congeal into a semi-solid state, which in turn leads to plugged fuel filters. These issues relate directly to the bottom line in our fleet maintenance budgets and given our present economic situation fleet budgets are typically already pushed to their limits.
It is imperative that we consider the immediate needs and expenses as well as the future and global impacts of our fuel sources. When considering altering the fuel sources currently in use to those widely believed to be more ecologically and potentially fiscally beneficial, we must remember that given our current budgetary limitations there are multiple and various costs associated with any fuel conversion. Without additional funding to cover the conversion costs for department apparatus the wide spread impact upon departments across our state could have lingering detrimental impacts upon department budgets for decades to come. Simply put unless the federal and state government is going to upfront the cost of infrastructure needs and supplement our fiscal budgets to embrace this concept of alternative fuel the fire service as a whole cannot support this measure at this time.
By: Brian Fortner, Mechanics Section Chair | | Expires:
2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | In order to better determine the information-sharing requirements of the nation’s fire and emergency service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Interagency Threat Assessment and Coordination Group (ITACG) have created a 15-question survey. The IAFC urges each fire department to complete this survey* before January 31, 2012.
“Every fire department in the nation should complete this survey,” said Chief Al Gillespie, IAFC president and chairman of the board. “Fire and EMS departments need to be aware of the threats to their jurisdictions. This survey will help shape intelligence sharing tools for the fire and emergency service, so they know what’s happening in the field.”
The survey is intended to determine if the federal government is providing helpful intelligence to fire departments and the extent to which there’s demand for a fire/EMS-focused, federally-produced intelligence product. The results of this survey will be used by the government to identify the best way to keep fire departments informed on emerging threats, tactics and techniques.
The survey should take about 5–10 minutes to complete; only one response is required from each participating department. All information will be kept private in accordance with civil rights and civil liberties guidelines.
*The survey is an interactive .pdf document. After completing the survey, simply click the green "submit" button at the end of the document. Some mobile devices and computers with certain version of Adobe Acrobat may not allow for automated submission. If you encounter submission problems, email your submission to the ITACG.
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | With the new year comes new promise. Or, at least that’s what we’d like to believe. Governments, including the fire service, can hardly be blamed for talking about the economy in hopeful terms—seizing on even the smallest, positive indicators of recovery and growth. As I told a client recently, that sort of wishful thinking is okay if you’re talking over coffee, but not if you’re talking over budgets.
THE TONE GOES OFF AGAIN Our state official forecasters are calling for more gloomy economic weather in 2012. In their Economic Review & Update, released last month, the Washington State Economic Review and Forecast Council predicted continuing “slow growth, high unemployment, and weak consumer confidence.” The council also warned that the greatest threat to our nation—and our state’s—economy remains the European sovereign debt crisis. As a result, there remains a high risk of another economic setback.
The council also delivered the news that 2011 was the “worst year on record for the single-family housing market” in the United States. Although the council said it expects our state’s economy to outperform the nation in recovery, construction here remains weak and the slight percentage increase in property tax receipts we saw last November is expected to be offset by “lower-than-forecasted” payments for December.
Obviously, that’s not good news for the fire service which relies heavily on property taxes for funding.
Of course, this is not the first time the tone has gone off. The fire service has spent a lot of time and energy figuring out ways to hold down costs. But now is no time to stop. As the economy continues to struggle, the fire service absolutely must come up with new ways to continue funding and delivering outstanding service to constituents.
THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH
Traditionally, fire and emergency medical services were provided by stand-alone fire districts or municipal departments.
As budgets began tightening, fire districts began consolidating or merging. Others began making various contractual arrangements with city fire departments.
As economic pressures worsened, regional fire authorities gained favor as a means of consolidating services, eliminating redundancies, and achieving greater administrative efficiencies.
All in all though, most regionalization and cost cutting efforts were limited to the comfortable confines of the fire service, to working with brothers and sisters in blue and white.
MORE OF WHAT WORKS
It’s time now to take the next step. The fire service needs to look to a more diverse range of agencies for opportunities to contract services. By casting a bigger net the fire service can reduce administrative and operational costs while at the same time finding greater expertise. Sometimes the best fit might not be another blue or white uniform.
For example, a fire district I represent contracts with a local utility district for vehicle maintenance service, including its fire engines. Because fire engines have special maintenance requirements, some additional training was necessary for the utility districts fleet maintenance staff. However the annual cost is less than one half of an FTE (full time equivalent) for a mechanic. There are also significant savings for not having to maintain facilities or equipment. This arrangement has resulted in outstanding vehicle maintenance at significant savings to the fire district.
By comparison, another local jurisdiction spends approximately five times that amount in labor costs alone for a fleet that’s only twice as big!
Another savings example is a fire district’s partnership with a city planning and engineering department. In this case, city engineers coordinate GIS mapping to help the fire district’s pursuit of improved overall response times and equipment use. For the fire district this is, by far and away, a more efficient and cost-effective way of mapping and planning services than establishing and maintaining in-house experts and systems.
THINKING OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT BOX
Outsourcing certain functions of the department to the private sector also needs to be explored.
Now, hold on. I’m NOT talking about privatizing fire protection services. Of course, that’s exactly what’s being done in a number of cash-strapped communities across the country. (See Fire Engineering for an interesting article on this topic.) In fact, the point of considering public-private partnerships is to avoid the privatization of fire protection and emergency medical services. This approach may make some of you nervous, or you may outright disagree with the idea. Understood. As someone with three generations of family connections to the fire service, I share your commitment to protecting the integrity of public fire protection and emergency medical services.
What I’m suggesting is that fire service leaders consider utilizing the private sector to support operations if, and only if, the department could benefit from lower costs and greater expertise by using an out-of-station, out-of-sector contractor.
Some of you already do this by hiring experienced consultants to assist with strategic planning, labor negotiations and, of course, attorneys to handle legal issues. And almost every urban fire department in this state supplements their services with the assistance of private ambulance carriers.
But there are a number of other functions that could, and in many cases should be, outsourced in order to achieve greater efficiency while benefiting from a higher level of expertise. These might include human resources, financial planning and oversight, building maintenance, printing, etc.
A LESSON FROM HOLLYWOOD
A number of years ago a Hollywood director decided he wanted to make a basketball movie. The challenge was finding actors who could make the basketball scenes seem real. After spending months trying to turn actors into basketball players, the director realized it would be much easier turn basketball players into actors—and cast actors in roles that did not require genuine, basketball talent.
In much the same way, the fire service needs to consider re-casting who does what.
Firefighters are not engineers, nor are they accountants, mechanics or computer programmers. There are a lot of municipal agencies and private companies with professionally trained personnel that can provide a wide range of administrative and planning support services such as payroll, engineering, vehicle maintenance, and finance. These are resources that the fire service needs to call upon.
I was recently at a meeting where the Fire Chief informed the audience that the Department had reduced the number of Assistant Chief’s. He then introduced his new financial officer, an accountant from the City Finance Department. There were nothing but smiles to be seen.
In closing, the fire service is past the point of trying to do more with less. It has already done that. But the pressure on budgets remain. We need to consider (not necessarily adopt) every possible option if we’re to maintain effective public fire protection and emergency medical services.
Of course, in the absence of an actual economic recovery, cost-cutting alone won’t be enough. Next month, I’ll be talking about re-thinking funding sources for the fire service.
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | The Washington Fire Administrative Support section’s annual Conference is set for April 30 – May 2, 2012, and will be held in beautiful Ocean Shores at the Shilo Inn. If you have not had the opportunity to stay at the Shilo Inn at Ocean Shores, the hotel is located right at the beach and all of the rooms are junior suites overlooking the ocean. What a great location to network with our peers, enrich our minds, and further our fire service education.
Exciting News! The Information Technology Section of the Washington Chiefs Association has merged with the Administrative Support Section. The combining of these sections will only enhance the educational opportunities for you; such as, at this year’s conference we will be offering GIS Mapping presented by Chris Rogers with Kirkland Fire Department. Also included in the Seminar Series: the return of Washington State Auditor’s Representative Emmaline Hoffmeister presenting Bid Law, Public Works, Prevailing Wage & Best Practices in Contract Management; Janice Corbin from Sound Employment will help us brush up on Writing Job Descriptions and the Hiring Process; Leslie Koziara with Washington State Archives will provide an update on Electronic Records and How to Manage Them; Liz Loomis will present on Marketing Your Fire Department; a representative from the National Fallen Firefighters will provide valuable information on Line of Duty Deaths; and Stewart Ganser of Ganser Consulting will host his annual Fire Admin Software User Group Workshop (this is a great workshop to attend whether you are already using the software or are interested in using it in the future). Again this year, we are proud to present a second track featuring Fire Department Leadership, a course that works toward the Fire Service Management and Administration Degree Program, which will be presented by Everett Community College. Anyone interested in learning more about the degree program should contact our Education Committee Coordinator Lisa Phillips at Lisa.Phillips@ci.bothell.wa.us.
We realize that most often we would all rather be lounging on a beautiful tropical beach somewhere warm, so we’re providing you with the next best thing! We’re at the beach and we’re keeping it Tropcial! This year’s networking activities are Tropical and Beachy, and include Monday night’s hosted hospitality event where you will be treated with tropical delights and a warm bonfire on the beach provided by the area’s local firefighters; we hope you plan to join us for an evening of refreshments and networking with your peers. The annual banquet will be held on Wednesday night and the theme is….you guessed it! Sand, Surf, and Sunshine! Warm sand….blue oceans….and tropical drinks with umbrellas in them! Join in the fun on Wednesday night and wear your tropical attire! You could be the recipient of the Best Tropical Attire Prize! Our ever popular Annual Raffle will also be held at the Banquet; this very important fund raiser provides the funding for our Grant/Scholarship Program. Please plan to bring a raffle item from yourself, your department/association, or from a business owner in your community. It is a fun and exciting way to fund a critical program. And don’t forget, if you are in need of utilizing the grant program, an application will be included in the conference registration packet.
Conference packets will be mailed out in February, and Registration will be available online SOON at www.wsafc.org/FAS. For lodging reservations call The Shilo Inn at (360) 289-4600; room rate is $90 plus tax. Please let them know you are with WA Fire Administrative Support.
If you have any questions regarding the conference or lodging, please contact Conference Committee Coordinator Kathy Amaral at 509 662-4734 or kamaral@chelancountyfire.com. We are excited about Conference 2012 and look forward to seeing everyone in beautiful Ocean Shores!
Kathy Amaral, Conference Coordinator
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2/1/2012 | | | |  | 1/30/2012 | Seeking potential ways to raise state revenue in these tough economic times, the members of the House Ways & Means Committee introduced in December a bill that would impose fees on emergency-service workers throughout Washington State. The bill, HB 2141, would require emergency-services workers, including unpaid volunteers, to pay the state for certification and discipline. At a public hearing on December 8th, WFC joined other fire organizations, including the Washington State Firefighters Association, the Washington State Council of Firefighters, and the Washington Fire Commissioners Association, as well as ambulance groups and other aid organizations, in opposing the proposal.
As the hearing unfolded, lawmakers from both parties expressed concern over the proposal’s efficacy, as well as its potential negative impacts on volunteer firefighters across the state. A WFC representative testified that all but two counties in Washington, King County and Pierce County, are protected primarily by volunteer firefighters, the vast majority of whom are also emergency service workers. The WFC joined other firefighting organizations in commenting on the potential backlash of having volunteers pay certification fees.
Additionally, testimony was delivered as to the potential impact to already-struggling fire districts, should the costs of the fees be passed through to the district. Fire districts, like all local governments, are facing significant financial problems, and are ill-equipped to take on additional costs as revenues continue to dwindle. As the WFC acknowledged, all parties have to do their fair share to help balance the budget in Washington State; however, balancing the budget on the backs of first responders, many of whom are volunteers, is poor public policy.
Lawmakers acknowledged the potential unfairness of requiring volunteers to pay fees, and many are hesitant to support the proposal. Nonetheless, although the measure was not acted upon during the special session, it remains alive during the 2012 regular session that began on January 9th.
A draft letter has been developed by Chief Dan McKeen and the WFC, and we encourage your use of it should this proposal come up for discussion in the 2012 session.
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2/1/2012 | | | | | 1/30/2012 | When the Carson City Fire Department was awarded large grant to purchase new SCBA gear, Chief Stacey Giomi knew he had to find the highest quality gear for his firefighters. He instructed his team to find the best gear for the three fire stations in his department.
The department, which serves a population of 56,000 and has 63 firefighters, updates its gear about every 15 years, so this was an important decision. “We absolutely needed to establish which equipment best met our needs, and we took our evaluation very seriously,” said Chief Giomi.
The department sampled equipment, compared safety features, and rated the brands. When the dust settled, the department chose Scott Safety for its new SCBA gear. The next step was the oftonerous purchasing process. In a field where quality and safety cannot be sacrificed, Chief Giomi still fully realized that “there are high expectations of government bodies that those spending money will seek the best pricing available.” That’s when he gave consideration to using FireRescue GPO, a free purchasing organization specializing in serving the fire service.
Competitively-Bid and Publicly-Awarded Contracts Available
While the Carson City Fire Department had been a member of FireRescue GPO for a few years, it had never made use of the discounts and services offered by the group purchasing organization (GPO). “Due to the intimidation of procurement, we just didn’t look into FRGPO that much,” Chief Giomi said. This time he decided to see if FRGPO could be of help. And when he noticed that Scott SCBA gear was available at a significant discount, he picked up the phone and called for more information. He wanted
to be certain that FRGPO satisfied the purchasing laws placed upon his department.
Bruce Busch, FRGPO’s legal counsel, spoke with Chief Giomi and assured him that FireRescue GPO fully complied with federal and local procurement requirements. Furthermore, through a publicly awarded contract administered by the GPO, the Scott SCBA gear the department had selected was indeed available through one of FRGPO’s vendors.
“We offer fire departments an alternative to the traditionally competitive bid,” says Busch. Describing FRGPO’s unique purchasing approach, Busch explains that “we have done the bidding for you, and that allows departments to purchase off of an existing publicly awarded contract.”
Significant Discounts on SCBA Gear and Other Products Municipal Emergency Services (MES) provides FRGPO members with 25% off of SCBA Gear and 5.11 Tactical Gear as well as up to 51% off list price for turnout and structural
fire gear. MES has become the largest supplier of firefighting equipment for many brands, including Scott Safety.
Chief Giomi’s department worked with MES, and eventually purchased 60 air packs, 120 bottles, 73 masks and 3 RIT Kits for $330,000, saving over $110,000 in the process. Chief Giomi received the customized purchase within a couple months of the order, and there were no complications or hidden costs. MES also came to Carson City and provided training on the new gear.
The entire process went smoothly for the department. Now not only is Chief Giomi pleased with the savings, but he is actively recommending the program to other departments and procurement officers.
“The more that people become familiar with FRGPO, the more comfortable they will be with using it for purchases,” he said. Chief Giomi also wants to help solicit other vendors that can bring more value to FRGPO members.
FRGPO already provides fire departments with great opportunities for savings on a multitude of products and services. Beyond MES, FRGPO has many other top vendors among its portfolio for departments to access, including Sprint (wireless service), Wesco (electrical products), Grainger Industrial Supply and ZOLL Medical (defibrillators).
FRGPO currently has contracts out for bid for radios and apparatus, and those will be available to members in 2012. Regarding Chief Giomi’s initial hesitation to use FireRescue GPO, Chief Jeff Johnson, CEO of the Western Fire Chiefs Association, says FRGPO has proven to work well for every department that has tried it. “Fire departments need to know that we are what we say we are: an easy-to-use procurement vehicle that saves the fire service time and money,” says Chief Johnson. “At the very least departments should register and truly see how it can benefit them.”
Fire departments can become members for free; visit FireRescue-GPO.com to register. For more information, e-mail customerservice@firerescuegpo.com, or call 877.329.8847. | | Expires:
2/1/2012 | | | | | 12/8/2011 | Education has always been important in the fire service, but now this is true more than ever. There was a time when intuition and common sense were all the education required to be a good emergency responder. A rapidly changing world has placed new expectations on firefighters. Brandman University has created a path of success for firefighters to meet the new demands.
Today’s firefighters are faced with an ever growing list of new tactical as well as strategic decisions that must be made with rapid clarity, insight and intelligence. The disaster in Oklahoma City honed the requirements for the Urban Search and Rescue program. Those new techniques were further tested in New York City at the Twin Towers. Now firefighters in the Urban Search and Rescue programs operate under a new set of rules and equipment, like rock cutters and plasma cutters for slicing through steel found in bridges and cement vaults. Advanced learning in subjects such as hazardous materials prepares firefighters to deal with chemicals that when released from their containers cause health risks to our communities. Educational programs that cover wild life topography help firefighters who work on the line of urban wild land interface better understand and respond to the fires.
The world has changed and so must America’s Firefighters and Emergency Responders. Education is the key to change.
If you are a student trying to get hired, an education looks great on your resume, and will separate you from the thousands of candidates looking for work. If you are in the midst of your career, educating yourself is becoming more and more the key to promotions. Many fire departments require a degree to promote to the officer ranks. A Bachelor’s Degree is required to take a Captain’s examination. To promote to Battalion Chief, you must have a State Fire Officers certification and a BA degree. To become a Fire Chief, many departments require a Masters Degree or Chief Officers certification. If you are a Captain and you want to stay one step in front of the firefighters you supervise, then you need to obtain your BA degree.
Fire fighters typically have a bucketful of credits from a variety of topics, such as Strike Team leader, Rescue Systems, Swift Water Rescue, Urban Search and Rescue, but no degree. Brandman University is one of the first colleges to partner with the Washington Fire Chiefs to help potential students recognize the importance of a college degree by offering a special scholarship rate for graduate and undergraduate programs.
The price is right, the class schedules are flexible, now is the time.
“Invest in yourself before you invest in anything else,” Frank Scotti, retired Battalion Chief of the Santa Ana Fire Department.
To find out more visit www.brandman.edu/wfc, or call (800) 746-0379. | | Expires:
1/1/2012 | | | | | 12/8/2011 |
It is with great pleasure the Hazmat and Special Operations Section announces that Nick Vent will be the keynote speaker for the 2012 Hazmat and Special Operations Conference. The Conference is being held May 21-24, 2012 at the Coast Wenatchee Hotel. The keynote is May 22.
Nick Vent currently is a Supervising Environmental Health Specialist with the County of San Diego, Environmental Health Department, Hazardous Materials Division (HMD). He manages the County of San Diego’s Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT), which responds to all hazardous chemical releases in a jurisdiction of 4200 square miles with 18 cities. Mr. Vent is an award winning, California state certified hazardous materials response instructor with 30 plus years’ experience training and certifying fire, law enforcement, and environmental professionals who respond to chemical emergencies. He also teaches various environmental health courses at several colleges in California and around the country. He has a degree in Environmental and Occupational Health and is a California Registered Environmental Health Specialist.
Nick will be discussing the unique response to what the local and national media dubbed “a bomb- making factory” in Escondido, California. This response required the use of Unified Command with Law Enforcement in charge of the complex operation. It involved the combined efforts of over 60 agencies from all levels of government. This event was one of the Homeland Security scenarios that the San Diego region had not covered with a table top exercise previously. This bomb-making factory response required the use of many unique analytical tools, plume modeling, field instrumentation, sampling, and interagency cooperation in planning and public safety. It also required the use of a comprehensive command structure we all strive to have in place during these types of events. An incident of this kind truly shows how the Next Generation of Hazmat responses won’t look like what we have expected to see in the past.
There will be many more great instructors at this year’s conference. Registration will be available shortly. Check out our classes on the Chiefs website. More information to follow
Ron Bowen
Secretary
WFC Hazmat and Special Operations Section
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1/1/2012 | | | | | 12/8/2011 |
Recently I was sitting at my desk when I received a phone call from my wife notifying me she had just been involved in a motor vehicle collision. She was very upset and said that she was probably going to go to the hospital. Immediately lots of stuff went through my head, I figured if she called me she was not injured badly however, she was still injured. Because of my position with the fire district I was able to leave work immediately and go to the incident, which had occurred outside our jurisdiction, and get there before my wife was transported to the hospital. The car didn’t fare as well, though my wife would be just fine.
This was just one of many stressful incidents that occurred in my life this year. Some of them good, such as adopting the most wonderful little boy in the world and seeing him get some of the special needs he has taken care of. To loosing several friends and learning that other friends may not live to see my daughters graduate next spring. In short, life happened in a big way this year.
So, as you are reading this you are probably thinking, “What the heck is this guy telling me this for?” or, “He thinks he has it bad!” or even, “This guy’s got nothing on (fill in any firefighter’s name). My point being, we all have stuff happening in our lives and as hard as we may try it all effects us in one way or another. We kid ourselves if we try to believe that is doesn’t affect our work. We all deal with this stress in different ways.
This time of the year our stress levels go up, just for the simple fact that it is a busy time of year for many reasons. End of the year reports, budgets, planning for next year and just the simple fact of the holidays. Then add life or a crummy call on top of that, and things can go over the top. What is your organization doing to help your people deal with this?
The fire service as a whole is very good at taking care of our own after the fact. We are really good at coming around our people and their families after something bad happens like a line of duty death, the death of a member off duty or even the suicide of one of our member. Some of this stuff we are working on to prevent, but some of it we are falling short in preventing.
Suicides are on the rise in our nation and our members are not immune to this. Law enforcement has been looking at this for many years, but the fire service has not really addressed it. There is a stigma, or thought process, that we have to be strong. Stronger than anyone else around us; we are the mighty firefighter! I have heard it more than once, “Suck it up, it wasn’t that bad”. That works for the first few times then it starts to build. You all know what I am talking about.
How do we help our members deal with this stuff? Are we helping them? I don’t think we are, at least not very well. We are really good at making an offer to help when we hear about something going on in someone else’s life but are we good at following up? I was told once that we had offered to help but we were not going to bug him about it, he knows we are here. Why not continue to check in and see how the person is doing. After you work with someone for any length of time you know when things are not all right and we see all the signs and symptoms of tragedy ahead and we usually chose to ignore them or don’t realize they are there.
So, how do we help? There are a number of ways we can help. Sometimes it is just being a friend and helping the person understand that we really do care and really want to help them out in any way we can. For gosh sakes, we may have to rely on this person to save our lives some day, we need them at the top of their game. Sometimes it takes more than that.
There are lots of organizations out there that can help in these types of situations. Most employers have an EAP program that is part of the employee’s benefits. CISD is also a great resource in some situations. Another great resource is SAFE CALL NOW (safecallnow.org). This is a nonprofit organization run by a former Washington State law enforcement officer who made some bad choices in his life and does not want to see it happen to anyone else. You can call 206-459-3020 any time, day or night and you will talk to a peer from your field, whether it is Fire, EMS or Law Enforcement. They can direct you to almost any service you need from drug and alcohol help, suicide prevention, financial counseling to legal help. This organization is available to anyone in emergency service, either career or volunteer and their families and friends.
There are many other options out there to help someone who has become overwhelmed and just doesn’t know what to do. Your organization should take the time to research this and have some options available to the members and make those options known to them. Don’t just hang something on a bulletin board and expect it to be read. Take the time to address the fact that stuff is going to happen and things are going to seem grim but there is a way to get help.
Let’s make 2012 the year we all work on taking care of our own!
Stay Safe both physically and mentally,
Happy Holidays!
Dave Martin
Training Captain
WSFC Training and Safety Officers
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1/1/2012 | | | | | 12/8/2011 |
Over the last several years, claims against local governments have been increasing. Whether this is due to the alleged litigious nature of our society, or negligence on the part of government, is unclear. However, in order to protect yourself and your agency, you need to be aware of the requirements of the state’s tort claim statute.
The Revised Code of Washington, Chapter 4.96 defines “Actions against political subdivisions, municipal and quasi-municipal corporations.” RCW 4.96.020 addresses the “Tortious conduct of local governmental entities and their agents” including how claims must be presented and filed.
RCW 4.96.020 represents an effort by the legislature to standardize the claims process—and it’s essential you understand the requirements of this law. In order for local governments to have any type of protection under the tort claims rules, they must be able to comply with the requirements of the statute. This is spelled out in RCW 4.96.020(2), which states “The failure of a local government entity to comply with the requirements of this section precludes the local government entity from raising a defense under this chapter.”
In other words, follow the rules.
NON-COMPLIANCE CAN COST YOU
Fire districts are required to make a standard tort claim form available with instructions on how it is to be presented—including the name, address and business hours of the fire district’s agent for accepting claims.
A fire district can provide a custom claim form, however, that document must include (at minimum) all of the information found on the standard tort claim form. It’s important to note that a district may not request a claimant provide their social security number on the form.
If any claim form provided by a fire district fails to require the information specified by the law, or incorrectly lists the claims agent, the fire district will be “deemed to have waived any defense related to the failure to provide that specific information or present the claim in a proper form.”
Additionally, fire districts need to be aware that if the claim is not resolved and the matter proceeds to trial, the amount of damages stated in the tort claim form is not admissible.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
The act requires that a standard tort claim form must, at a minimum, include (1) the claimant’s name, date of birth and contact information; (2) a description of the conduct and circumstances that brought about the injury; (3) a description of the injury or damage; (4) a statement of the time and place where the injury or damage occurred; (5) a listing of the names of all persons involved and contact information if known; (6) a statement of the amount of damages claimed; and (7) a statement of the actual residence of the claimant at the time of presenting the claim, and at the time the claim arose.
Further, the claim form must be either signed by the individual making the claim; by their attorney-in-fact (someone with the power of attorney to do so); an attorney admitted to practice law in the State of Washington; or a court-appointed guardian or guardian ad litem.
THINK AHEAD
No matter how good a job you do, at some point or other, it’s likely a claim will be filed against the district. For that reason, I highly recommend fire districts proactively adopt a policy regarding submission of claims (including designation of a claims agent if the position does not already exist). The policy should be designed to ensure compliance with the statute, as well as streamline the handling of claims. That way, a department can be reasonably certain that its designated claims agent will receive the information in a timely manner, and will be able to pass on all the information needed by the district’s insurance carrier.
For those fire districts that maintain websites, one way to ensure compliance with the law is to post a claim form online. Instructions on how to download, complete, and submit the form should also be posted and easily accessed.
Although some will argue that posting this information online “invites” claims against the department, I believe the opposite is true. Given the very specific requirements of the statute, providing the information can serve as a warning sign on the front door that reads: “If you proceed, proceed with caution.”
Kinnon W. Williams is managing partner of Williams & Williams PSC, in Bothell, Wash. His law firm represents a number of fire departments, as well as other special purpose districts, cities and towns, as special counsel. You may email Kinnon at kww@williamspsc.com or visit the firm’s website at www.williamspsc.com
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1/1/2012 | | | | | 12/8/2011 | Welcome to the Fire and First Responder Update – a Washington State Fusion Center (WSFC) product for fire and first responder stakeholders at the unclassified level. This edition will cover significant events from October 15, 2011 through November 22, 2011. Periodicity of future releases and content will ultimately be determined from your feedback.
The “Intake Highlights” section will provide you with a synopsis of the suspicious activity reports received by WSFC. These are reports submitted by partners which may have implications for first responders. When possible, WSFC will provide amplifying information or analysis associated with these reports.
The “In the Spotlight” section will highlight a fire or first responder unit, or organization that is making a difference in keeping our State secure.
The “Fire and Fire Responder Domain Awareness” section will provide international, national, and local information that could affect the security, safety, or operation of various units within your jurisdictions. WSFC will provide amplifying information or analysis to add understanding to the articles, when appropriate.
In the “Be Prepared” section, you will be notified of current threat-related information, any recent products disseminated by WSFC, and upcoming training opportunities.
Finally, this is your publication, so if you would like to see something added, deleted, or more fully discussed, please send your comments to feedback@wsfc.wa.gov via the attached feedback form. Please be as descriptive as possible. | | Expires:
1/1/2012 | | | | | 11/17/2011 |
A report that sheds new light on the lifesaving value of installing home fire sprinkler systems has been prepared for the nonprofit Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) by Fire Planning Associates, Inc., a comprehensive preplanning organization in Washington Crossing, PA in collaboration with the Bucks Country Fire Marshals Association.
The group studied life safety and property protection in homes with and without fire sprinkler systems and reviewed fire experience in nearly 7,000 sprinklered homes in Buckingham, New Britain, Warrington, Warwick and Wrightstown Townships as well as Ivyland Borough.
In Bucks County, there were 90 home fire fatalities in non-sprinklered one- and two-family homes during 1988-2010. Those deaths made up 88% of all County fire deaths during that time. There were zero fire fatalities in homes protected by fire sprinkler systems. The report details five reported fires in sprinklered homes documented as saving at least five lives.
The average property loss in sprinklered-home fire incidents in Bucks County was $14,000, compared to $179,896 in damages to homes that experienced fires without fire sprinklers. The report found that fires in sprinklered homes required an average of 340 gallons of water to extinguish the fires. Homes without sprinklers required an average of 5,974 gallons (or nearly 25 tons) of water.
“HFSC initiates partnerships to capture and share useful data about widespread local experience with home fire sprinkler systems,” explains HFSC Chair Gary Keith. “This new data from central Pennsylvania adds to our collection of educational materials that help improve and increase the public’s knowledge about the extreme danger of home fires and the lifesaving value of installing fire sprinkler systems.”
Previously, HFSC analyzed information on 10 and 15 years of home fire sprinkler experience in Scottsdale, AZ in partnership with the Scottsdale Fire Department. The reports have been among the most widely used HFSC educational tools.
Bucks County—Add One
HFSC also published 1992-2007 data on home fire sprinkler systems in Prince George’s County, MD, reviewed and analyzed with the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office, the Prince George’s County Fire Department, and the University of Maryland University College.
“The new report provides detailed Bucks County case study comparisons, which will especially help consumers understand the many reasons why installing fire sprinklers in homes protects residents, property, and firefighters, like no other technology can,” Keith adds.
All of the municipal reports share findings in common, including dramatically reduced fire deaths and property damage and far less water usage in sprinklered-home fires compared to fires in non-sprinklered homes.
Fire sprinklers are uniquely suited to protecting residents of homes – where more than 85% of all civilian structure fire deaths occur, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). Most fatal home fires occur at night, when people are typically sleeping.
Working smoke alarms provide an early warning to alert or awaken occupants so they can deploy their escape plan. However, alarms can only detect a fire and signal it; they cannot control it. When only smoke alarms are present, survival is dependent upon the occupants’ willingness and ability to quickly and appropriately respond (normally, to escape from the home).
Fire sprinklers do more. They detect a fire and also automatically flow water on it within seconds. That fast action controls the fire while it is still small, and in most cases extinguishes it. Controlling a fire in this initial stage limits the spread of deadly heat and smoke, and prevents flashover from occurring (the point at which everything in the room ignites).
Unchecked, a home fire becomes deadly in three minutes or less, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Sprinklers are designed to control flames and give residents a safe opportunity to escape. This added time is especially valuable for the most vulnerable populations – young children, older adults, and people with disabilities that limit their mobility.
Because sprinklers keep a fire small, the structure remains safer for responding fire departments. That reduces injuries to firefighters.
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12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 | When it comes to your health, annual check-up can help most of us stay fit and avoid potentially serious problems. Likewise, most people consider an annual review of their insurance, household budget, and overall life-plan a good idea.
It’s also a good idea for the fire service. And now is a good time for your annual “policy checkup.”
After establishing your budget for the upcoming year, through your revenue source hearing, take a hard look at your existing policies and procedures. Do they still make sense? Do they reflect current conditions, from economic to political to administrative? Do they adequately reflect—and anticipate—your various external and internal clients’ needs? Do they need to be amended, better funded, phased out or just torn up?
I also recommend you take a look at your list of consultants available to help tackle any questions or problems you may encounter as you review the district’s policies and procedures. Do you have your team in place?
With everything else on your schedule, you may be tempted to make your annual review a bi-annual review. Don’t. You’ll save yourself—and more importantly, the district—time, money, and headaches with an annual policy checkup. Start with the basics, what I call the Annual Policy Checkup Top 5:
Annual Policy Checkup Top 5
INSURANCE
Even if you’ve already renewed your insurance, it’s still a good idea ask your insurance agent for a comprehensive, policy review. If you have the time, it’s best to have your agent come out and visit your facilities. Walk though what you have to insure, and spend some time talking about your operations. Discuss the problems you’ve encountered in the past and any potential problems you see in the future. Spending a little time with your agent, so he or she truly knows your operation, could save thousands of dollars in the long run.
VENDORS
Most vendors—whether they’re providing copy machines, uniforms, or field supplies—are more than happy to meet with you and discuss ways to make your purchasing more cost-effective. Like any customer service business, they want to make sure you’re happy with the products they provide. And most, if not all, will do a free analysis of your purchasing. This will help you determine if you need to adjust your purchasing or service plans. If a vendor is unwilling to help you get the most for the district’s money, then it’s
time to consider a different supplier.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
If you utilize outside accounting, tax or financial services, schedule some time now—or early in the coming year—to sit down with your provider and discuss financial recordkeeping policies and strategies. For the most of these services providers, this is a slower time of year and they will be better able to focus time and thought on your district’s needs. Again, time spent reviewing and planning now may result savings.
LEGAL
Make sure your general counsel is up-to-date on district activities and issues, including any possible legal concerns you have going into the new year. Likewise, it is important your general counsel be familiar with the district’s service providers and business advisors. For example, does your general counsel know who at your insurance carrier should be contacted in the event of a claim? Does your general counsel have resources that he or she can contact if additional legal counsel is needed in special and unique situations—such as bond counsel? If you have undertaken, or plan to begin, a construction project, does your general counsel have experience in real estate—or does he or she know a real estate attorney who can help you with the acquisition of the property and construction law? Does your general counsel handle your labor and personnel matters? If not, do you know consultants or specialty counsel who could help if the need arose?
POLICY REVIEW
The last area I suggest you look at is general policy. Pull up the policy manual every year, if for no other reason to familiarize yourself with the policies and procedures that bind you and your district. While policies and procedures can be changed, it is better to make changes while you have a chance to reflect instead of simply react to a situation. First, make sure your policies and procedures comply with all relevant law. Then, consider whether they define your district and its objectives and goals? Are any of your policies or procedures dated, or irrelevant? Do you need new guidelines, policies or procedures to deal with changes in the district, labor force, new technology such as use of social media at work?
Plan for success
Being proactive—by looking at your policies and procedures now, before problems arise—is the best way to avoid panic in the coming year. It’s also an important part of planning for success.
Next month, I’ll talk about coming legal trends and the fire service in 2012.
Kinnon W. Williams is managing partner of Williams & Williams PSC, in Bothell, Wash. His law firm is general and special counsel to a number of fire departments, and special counsel to other special purpose districts, cities and towns. You may email Kinnon at kww@williamspsc.com or visit the firm’s website at www.williamspsc.com
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12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 |
My fire service career began over 30 years ago while serving in the United States Marine Corp. where I was trained and served as an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (AR-FF) Specialist. While I’d rather not dwell on how long ago that was, the topic I’m covering in this article has me reflecting back to those early days of my career and the technology of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) we used at that time, specifically the aluminized proximity suits. The technology and superior thermal protection provided by the aluminized proximity suits has stood the test of time and has changed very little over the years, something that can’t be said of the PPE used for structural firefighting.
A short time after separating from Marine Corp I was working at a small fire department in SW Washington where I experienced first hand an effort to incorporate the PPE technology used in aircraft firefighting for structural firefighting. The department purchased what at the time was considered to be cutting edge, new technology bunker gear and I was given a set. This new bunker gear was constructed with an outer layer of material similar to the aluminized material used in the AR-FF proximity suits. At first we thought this new bunker gear was the greatest thing since sliced bread and would without a doubt revolutionize the fire service! The fact that we don’t have crews that appear to be tin men and women working on fire incidents today is a clear indication that the bunker gear revolution we predicted had unanticipated flaws. The first indication of these flaws came during the first significant fire incident we had where a couple of helmet shields were melted. The flaws were further exposed and emphasized during the first training burn where the gear was used. With the collar of the coat secured up around the ears the bunker gear provided exceptional thermal protection allowing the wearer to move deeper into the involved structure than our former gear had. The number of melted helmet shields, bubbled helmets and minor burns incurred by personnel wearing old gear that were teamed with personnel wearing the new gear was what I call a blinding flash of the obvious... the gear protected the wearer too well!
Prior to the new gear, the weakest link in our firefighting ensemble preventing us from venturing too deep within the structure had been our ears and the overall impact of heat saturation transferred through our bunker gear due to its lower thermal threshold. The improved thermal protection provided by the new bunker gear changed the weakest link from our ears and thermal threshold of our gear to our helmet shields and helmets. The new gear altered our perception of the level of heat we were facing. We were able to melt shields and bubble helmets with little or no physical discomfort... Well, that’s not entirely true, there was a considerable amount of discomfort when the Chief saw the results! As a result of the issues encountered during the training burn, it was determined that the bunker gear would be removed from service and shortly thereafter it was taken off the market by the manufacturer.
National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) performance testing requirements for certifying PPE have had modest changes over the years which are in stark contrast to the dynamic effects the new fuels we face have on the fires we now fight. The fires of today build much faster and are much hotter than the fires we fought when I entered the fire service. Recognizing this trend, there has been a slow but progressive effort by the PPE manufacturers to improve the thermal protection capabilities of bunker gear and while not as protective as the aluminized gear from my past, the protection provided by the gear on the market today is getting close.
As in my past experience, the technology improvements in bunker gear may have once again tipped the balance of the weakest link within the firefighting ensemble. Based on a request from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) started a research project exploring potential weaknesses and improvements needed in the thermal performance of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), specifically the polycarbonate lens within the face piece. This action was implemented based on a number of firefighter fatalities investigated by NIOSH where it appeared that the lenses in the SCBA face pieces worn by the firefighters had thermally degraded resulting in bubbling, crazing, and in some cases, holes within the lenses while they were still flowing air. These failures generally occurred as a result of exposure to a dynamic fire event or during live fire training with extended and/or multiple exposures to significant heat.
Firefighter PPE is only as good as the weakest link and prior to exploring this issue it was my assumption that it was the NFPA performance testing requirements that helped strike a balance between the firefighting ensemble components and the weakest link. While I’m clearly no research scientist, I have to say that my internal common sense meter spiked when I reviewed the NFPA performance testing requirements for SCBA lenses and the requirements for the rest of the firefighting ensemble. The lenses are required to be exposed to heat and flame of 200 degrees for 15 minutes and the rest of the firefighting ensemble components are required to be exposed to heat and flame of 500 degrees for 5 minutes. I may be simplifying the issue but considering the variance in performance testing requirements, it stands to reason and shouldn’t be a surprise that the SCBA facepiece is likely the weakest link.
While the NIST research project is not complete and there have been no formal warnings from oversight agencies or SCBA manufactures, our department determined that an initial inspection of all face pieces within the department was warranted after a face piece was found to have minor crazing due to thermal insult. Crazing is a form of heat damage that manifests itself as a series of tiny, hairline cracks in the surface of the polycarbonate plastic which can weaken the face piece and reduce its transparency. The subsequent inspections identified an additional 5 face pieces that also showed similar signs of minor crazing. The accompanying photo shows a SCBA face piece with significant bubbling and crazing damage as a result of thermal exposure, the crazing damage found in the 6 face pieces in our department was far less obvious.
This past August the Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) released a report, based on the proceedings of a one and one-half day workshop on Emergency First Responder Respirator Thermal Characteristics that was jointly hosted by FPRF, NIST and NIOSH in July of 2010. The intent of the workshop was to concentrate on the escalating interest involving the integrity of SCBA face pieces and to identify the performance needs and establish research priorities to address the thermal characteristics of respiratory protective equipment used by emergency first responders. The news release, workshop report and additional information can be found at: http://www.nfpa.org/newsReleaseDetails.asp?categoryid=488&itemId=52713
This issue is far from being resolved but I wanted to make certain the information was out there and available to all departments.
Thank you for your time and stay safe!
By Ward J. Knable, Vancouver Fire Department
WSFTSO Board Member
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12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 | The Governor extended the rule moratorium through 2012. The extension does
allow for issuance of rules in the best interest of public safety. The WFC
and WSCFF have sent out a letter urging this project to be moved forward.
For your information and utilization the joint letter is attached.
There is a very good chance the fire service will be granted permission to
move forward with this rule after January 1, 2012. The final work product
is attached for your review and evaluation. If the moratorium is listed for
WAC 296.305 we anticipate a stakeholders meeting and public hearings prior
to being issued.
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12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 |
The FireRescue GPO is a group purchasing program that functions as a facilitator of national contract pricing. Contract pricing is either negotiated or publicly awarded through a competitively bid process and is made available to our members on our website ( www.firerescue-gpo.com) or through our customer service line (800-810-3909).
As well as helping fire departments save money, the program provides revenue back to the fire service professional associations where the purchase was made. Check out the FireRescue GPO today at www.firerescue-gpo.com. It is free, easy, helps the fire service, and who knows – you might just save some time and money on your next purchase! | | Expires:
12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 | | | Expires:
12/5/2011 | | | | | 11/17/2011 | Rose Oram joined the Washington Fire Chiefs on November 1, 2011 as our Financial and Administrative Coordinator. She comes to the Association after 26 years of government service with Labor and Industries, most recently with the Retrospective Rating Program as their Financial Coordinator. She has worked extensively with many large community associations including Association of WA Cities, Association of WA Business, 501© Agencies Trust, all of the contractor associations, all of the Chambers of Commerce, Restaurant and Food Industries, all of the state agencies, and much more. Her business connections throughout Washington and Oregon will be a valuable resource to you, our members. She looks forward to working with all of you and learning how she can best address your needs. | | Expires:
12/5/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | When was the last time you talked to the Training Officer at your neighboring fire departments? If you are not partnering with them, you are missing out. Partnerships with your fellow Training Officers can be the difference between success and failure. Let’s look at some of the benefits.
As we all know, enthusiastic firefighters and company officers have excellent ideas for drills, training props, and classroom delivery. You can tap your own personnel for their strengths, but why not tap the resources in other agencies as well? Often you can exchange training that has been developed and offered in your agency with your fire department neighbor and vice versa. Many times, this is a great way to bring in fresh ideas and methods to topics which may have grown stale and can be looked at in new ways.
Often we must offer a required class for select groups (Company Officers, Haz-Mat Technicians, etc.) and may have open seats. Why not offer these open seats to your neighboring fire departments in exchange for future classes they will be offering?
In today’s economy, training dollars are limited and it’s time we get creative about stretching every dollar. Networking with our neighbors can save money and time. Why reinvent the wheel if a neighbor has already implemented something that is proven to work? Just recently, I learned about new, reasonable priced web conferencing software from a neighboring training officer. He had already done the initial research and was more than willing to share his discovery. He even negotiated a group pricing discount if more than one fire department joined the purchase.
There is typically not a day that goes by when I don’t talk to a neighboring training officer. Another great program that was a direct benefit of this type of networking is a web based learning class sharing. Through networking, we have developed a shared server through which numerous fire departments can post and assign online learning.
We all like to develop and build new training props. Why not share these great training aids with neighboring fire departments?
Once you establish relationships with your neighbors, training opportunities can evolve into other opportunities such as joint recruit academies, certification testing, live fire, etc. Many departments have found that combining their training with neighboring departments improves mutual aid responses. Training is often a great first step for departments considering consolidations or possible mergers.
If you are not partnering with your neighboring training officers, you are missing out. Some of the most innovative training ideas can come from training officers outside your department. Consider taking it even a step further and expand your horizons by joining a county, regional, state, or national training officers group. Because in the end, training officer relationships can lead to enhancing the skills of our workforce, improved responses, and ultimately, better service to our citizens.
By: Bryan Pearson, Assistant Chief of Training | | Expires:
11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | Delegates at a specially-convened UN Summit are hearing this week that incidence of chronic or "non-communicable" disease is rising dramatically throughout the world. With current trends, societies will be gravely damaged by the combination of a growing, ageing and chronically sick population, with a less productive workforce to support it. Only a concerted, "all-of-society" approach that brings together government, business and civil society has any hope of tackling the underlying complexity of this threat.
According to the World Health Organisation, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, are the world's biggest killers, causing an estimated 36 million deaths each year – 63% of all deaths globally. This is the result of a fairly new condition known as Metabolic Syndrome X or insulin resistance which, oftentimes, is the major central cause of the rising incidents of these degenerative diseases and the accompanying rise in risk factors that lead to these conditions.
In the US, the Milken Institute estimates that nearly half of Americans are sufferers, with $277bn (£179bn) spent on treatment and with a further impact worth $1.1 trillion on the economy through lost productivity. Firefighters are at the top of the food chain when it comes to dependence on productivity. And the definition here is more of that of an athlete than a business man sitting behind a desk all day.
These are already staggering numbers, and they are set to rocket over the next 20 years. With the double whammy of lost economic activity and the cost of treatment, health systems around the world risk bankruptcy. All of this can be avoided by individual firefighters who make the decision to do something about their health/condition and take advantage of what TruYou Health has to offer.
Despite the severity of the threat, these chronic diseases are some of the most preventable. Sometimes known as "lifestyle diseases", they are caused in the main by four factors: poor diets high in carbohydrates, sugar and fat and low in proteins, fruit and vegetables; physical inactivity; alcohol misuse; and smoking. What may once have been seen as a problem for individuals now threatens whole communities of firefighters.
Although personal responsibility must play a role, good intentions are easily overcome by a world which is more and more unsupportive of living healthily: high-carbohydrate, processed foods are an easier choice for reasons of taste, cost, accessibility and preparation time than making things from scratch; urbanisation and a built environment militate against physical activity; social networking and video-games are taking over from sport-based leisure activities; and jobs are increasingly desk-based and stressful. However, even in an active profession such as firefighting, the incidence of obesity, over-weight, high risk factors, etc. runs high.
Clearly the root causes of unhealthy living are a complex array of social, economic, physical, biological and behavioural factors, most of which lie outside the usual role of health agencies.
The only way to achieve the necessary fundamental shifts in this paradigm of disease acceptance is to adopt protocols that have a proven track record of correcting high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, Type II Diabetes, obesity, etc. This is what TruYou Health, a medically directed program does.
• With this program we can promote and develop firefighter wellbeing through our weight management protocols. We work in conjunction with personal physicians, health insurers, to support health screenings and blood tests at the beginning and end of our program which can only lead to increased overall firefighter health, wellness and productivity.
• Health insurance companies, HRAs, Flex Plans, etc. are offering incentives.
What is clear is that these complex commercial, health and behavioural issues cannot be solved alone. However challenging it may be, TruYou Health actually works with each individual participant to develop healthier substitutes, balance out the physiology of the body so that the whole mental and emotional attachment to food is changed, the body is taught how to utilize its own fat as the primary energy source and creates within the individual the habit of making the right food choices by combining a rigorous protocol with education that influences behaviour, to make healthy lifestyles the easy choice.
We are already seeing considerable strides being made by many of the leaders among you, and there are a number of examples of strong collaboration with the health community. However, the battle against chronic disease requires a major increase of such efforts on all sides. It is not a battle we can afford to lose.
The goal of TruYou Health with its 26 year proven weight management protocol, is to tackle one of the main culprits, and now the second cause of early death in society, obesity. The beta program led by Chief Wayne Senter proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that all risk factors that are the result of obesity can be dealt with by this four phase program and that the results were sustainable even after completing the program.
TruYou Health is now expanding its efforts to gain more ground in this fight against disease and obesity within the firefighter community by providing a WEB based protocol that allows for convenience and results within the varied schedules of the firefighters.
Just contact Chief Senter or John Lehner at 714-401-7009 for more information.
The TruYou Protocol
Fire Fighters are unique in their profession. However, when it comes to risk factor determination, they fit right into the general population figures. It is the uniqueness of the requirements of their profession that puts them on an even higher need level that demands greater health and wellness. I can compare them to athletes whose profession requires a higher level of health in order to garner the needed performance day after day, month after month, year after year.
The TruYou Health protocol that we have set up for firefighters includes beginning baseline reports from each fire fighter's doctor on the following:
Blood pressure
cholesterol levels
triglyceride levels
Homocysteine levels
Type II Diabetes (existing/early onset/none)
At the beginning of the program TruYou Health professionals determine:
Body fat %
Lean mass %
Hydration levels
Weight
Measurements
These five categories that are our responsibility are recorded weekly, are based on CDC, FDA, and AMA norms and are discussed with the participant in his/her weekly consult. The physician categories will be taken again at the conclusion when the fire fighter has reached his/her goal.
TruYou Health has set up a whole tracking system where everything is recorded and available to an authority determined by the Fire Chiefs Ass'n or Wellness Committee, without circumventing any HIPAA regulations. | | Expires:
11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | No question, talking about taxes can ignite political hellfire. But, legally, you cannot avoid the subject. Every fire district and regional fire authority must hold a hearing to review and establish their taxing authority before submitting their tax levy.
Additionally, fire districts and regional authorities that utilize benefit charges as a source of funding must—under state law—have held a public hearing to review and establish benefit charges for the subsequent year by November 15th.
Whether your department or regional authority survives these hearings relatively unscathed depends, in large measure, on how well prepared you are to explain the policies, programs and procedures needed to maintain a state of readiness.
With these legislatively-mandated deadlines fast approaching—and anti-government and anti-tax rhetoric escalating—now is a good time for the fire service to take stock. What programs do you have in place to protect the public’s safety? Are you able to articulate equipment and staffing requirements? What makes your department or regional authority worth the public’s money?
Even if you’ve already concluded your public hearings, there’s tremendous value in evaluating your department’s performance at those meetings.
In simple terms, survival depends on knowing how to talk to the public. Does your department know how to tell its story?
I’ve found that the more people know about fire service operations the more understanding they are of the cost of providing that service. Sure, you’ll probably hear some complaints, maybe even encounter organized opposition at revenue hearings. But solid facts, accurate figures, and logical funding arguments will help cool even the most inflammatory of objections.
I advise my clients to approach these legislatively-mandated hearings as an opportunity to improve public understanding of the fire service and to turn skeptics into supporters.
Know the Law
Start with a clear understanding of the relevant public hearing laws. Don’t make assumptions. If you haven’t read the statutes in a while, now’s as good as any.
Understanding the laws will help you better define your responsibilities and the public’s role in these hearings. RCW 84.55.120 requires all taxing districts, including fire districts, to annually hold a public hearing on revenue sources. Under this law, all districts must hold the hearing before setting their respective levies.
However, it’s important to note that this is not an invitation to the public to participate in the budgeting process. Developing a working budget remains the responsibility of the district and its commissioners.
Rather, it was the legislature’s intent that this law offer citizens an opportunity to provide meaningful input when tax increases are being proposed.
Districts or fire authorities that impose benefit charges have an additional hearing requirement.
RCW 52.18.060, and its companion statute RCW 52.26.230, require, respectively, that fire districts and regional fire authorities utilizing benefit charges as a source of funding hold a hearing prior to November 15th of each year to review and establish the benefit charges for the subsequent year.
Again, the purpose of this hearing is to provide citizens with an opportunity to comment on proposed benefit charges or any changes to existing charges. The hearing is not intended as a public work session on the department’s budget.
This is a time for citizens to have direct access to their elected officials, the fire commissioners. In turn, it is the commissioners responsibility to consider the public’s input and determine whether to amend policy, service, or budget in response.
This is not the time for the administration to make decisions on behalf of the board.
Preparing for a Successful Meeting
The timing of these hearings should be carefully considered. Because fire service funding is predicted largely on property tax rates, I recommend scheduling these as close to the November 15th deadline as reasonable—generally, that’s October. (It should be noted that these hearings can be held in conjunction with your regularly scheduled meetings.)
Setting a date for the hearings, it is important you schedule time for research and preparation of materials.
Research is critical. You need to identify all of the various programs and services the department or fire authority provides, along with cogent arguments for each one—regardless of cost. No matter how small the bill, you need to be able to explain why the program or service is worth the public’s money.
Define the department’s mission. Quantify the demand for fire protection services. Explain equipment and staffing needs in terms of maintaining readiness, protecting public safety, labor agreements, and compliance with state and local laws.
Identify the various ways your department or fire authority has worked to hold the line on costs such as applied technology and inter-local agreements. Has your department acquired new equipment in the past year, such as a more fuel-efficient fire truck? Or maybe it’s something less flashy, such as automatic nozzles, that have made positive difference.
Don’t overlook preventative measures, from commercial sprinkler systems to home fire alarm checks. For example, some people may object when a fire department seeks a ban on personal fireworks but more will support that effort when they know the tens of thousands of dollars spent on aid calls and fire suppression every Fourth of July holiday. You know preventative measures save dollars and lives—make sure your community knows it too.
If your department or fire authority is asking for an increase in funding, back up the request with specifics. Clearly describe current service levels and explain the need for additional revenue.
Be prepared to point out significant cost overruns and explain why the expenditures were necessary. Provide information related to projected increases in the coming year, including consequences of under-funding service.
The public will appreciate well-documented facts and figures.
Think about how best to tell your story. If you do that, you will likely have a successful and meaningful hearing and, most importantly, the support and trust of your public.
Next month I’ll be discussing strategies for the coming year.
Kinnon W. Williams is managing partner of Williams & Williams PSC, in Bothell, Wash. His law firm represents a number of fire departments, as well as other special purpose districts, cities and towns, as special counsel. You may email Kinnon at kww@williamspsc.com or visit the firm’s website at www.williamspsc.com
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | Every firefighter deserves one, does every firefighter want one?
That is a question Lighthouse Uniform Company and several retired fire chiefs around the country are trying to find out.
If, it turns out, every firefighter wants one; we will move forward with a very ambitious program we are calling ‘Got You Covered’ A Dress Uniform on Every Firefighter.
The target of ‘Got You Covered’ are America’s smaller and volunteer fire departments and the goal is to provide access to dress uniforms at no cost or at nominal cost through solicitation of corporate sponsors.
The first step and the goal of the below survey is to determine whether the Fire Service in general, and the smaller and volunteer departments in particular, would want and would wear dress uniforms if they were within their reach.
If it turns out money is the only thing between the Fire Service and dress uniforms, we will craft a program we hope valuable enough to interest sponsors capable of making it happen.
That said, I’d like to thank WFC’s Mike Brown, Frankie Richards and Kathleen Harmon for sharing the vision and helping make this survey happen. Please forward your responses back to steve@lighthouseuniform.com or fax them back to the Lighthouse at 206-282-5662.
If you would like to be kept informed of the progress of ‘Got You Covered’ A Dress Uniform on every Firefighter, include a department name, contact person, phone number and email address with the return of your survey.
If you can think of other questions that shed light, have any ideas that might move the program forward or want to be involved in this project, please let me know.
Survey Form
Steve Cohen, Pres.
Lighthouse Uniform Company
Home of the Fallen Fire Fighter Dress Uniform Program
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 |
In the last ten years, the number of hospital- and community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections has risen. Because MRSA can be transmitted from surfaces to people and from person to person, the increase in incidence has led to concern for firefighters who interact with both hospital and community populations as part of their job and have the potential to be exposed to MRSA as part of their daily duties.
The Washington Fire Chiefs are partnering with the University of Washington (UW) Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and UW Field Research and Consultation Group in Seattle to better understand the presence and distribution of MRSA in fire stations and to help reduce risk factors. They will provide a number of MRSA environmental sampling kits to fire stations across the state as part of the UW Environmental Sampling for MRSA in Fire Stations Project.
First identified in the 1960s, MRSA has become a major pathogen in the last 10 years. It can cause minor or severe skin and soft tissue infections as well as wound and bloodstream infections and/or pneumonia. MRSA is spread by direct skin-to-skin contact and contact with contaminated items and surfaces. A recent study by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles suggests that MRSA can survive on some nonporous surfaces up to eight weeks following contamination and can be transferred to human skin in only three seconds.
In today’s environment, firefighters and paramedics will likely treat patients who carry MRSA on their skin or in their nose without knowing it or who have had a MRSA infection. The potential risk of a carrier developing an infection from having MRSA in the nose is not clear, but many people are colonized with MRSA prior to infection. On average, 25-35% of the population is colonized with Staphylococcus aureus and 0-2% with MRSA. As part of a recent year-long study led by Dr. Marilyn Roberts and colleagues at the UW School of Public Health, nasal colonization was examined in 40 firefighters within one fire district. In this small sample, 22.5% of the personnel were colonized with MRSA and 10% colonized with Staphylococcus aureus.
The majority of the nasal MRSA/ Staphylococcus aureus isolates were genetically related to the strains that the study team found on environmental fire station surfaces, suggesting transmission between personnel and environmental surfaces may be occurring.
The study team determined which locations in two different fire stations in two fire districts were most likely to be contaminated and found MRSA on 44 (4.2%) of the 1,060 samples examined and included USA300, the major cause of community-acquired MRSA infections, and hospital-like (HA) MRSA isolates. Samples were taken from the inside and outside surfaces of fire apparatus (medic/aide trucks, fire engines and fire trucks) as well as specific equipment and equipment bags in the fire apparatus, fire-station garage floors, water coolers, computer keyboards, kitchen appliances, phones, TV remote controls, cloth chairs, desks, bathroom and gym surfaces, washing machines, and fire-protection clothing. The same strains of MRSA were found in both dirty apparatus sections and clean living quarters.
To better prevent bacteria from contaminating surfaces, protocol changes were proposed and educational materials on best practices for disinfection were distributed.
The UW Environmental Sampling for MRSA in Fire Stations Project is open to fire stations across Washington state.
How can a fire station participate in the project?
• Request a sampling kit from the UW Field Research and Consultation Group
• Complete a short survey
• Collect 20 swab samples from different locations within the fire station
• Mail the samples back to UW Field Group in a pre-paid box
If you have questions about participating in the project, please contact Nancy Simcox at the UW Field Research and Consultation Group at 206-543-9711. In addition, the following websites are available for more information about MRSA and the UW project:
Professor Marilyn Roberts:
Marilyn C. Roberts, PhD, is a professor in the School of Public Health, University of Washington. Her current research includes identification of MRSA on environmental surfaces and how to reduce contamination levels of these surfaces and correlations between MRSA colonized by personnel working in the area and the MRSA from the environmental surfaces.
Nancy J. Simcox is an industrial hygienist for Field Research and Consultation Group, University of Washington. She is the field manager for the UW Environmental Sampling for MRSA in Fire Stations Project.
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | National Relevance:
Cohesive Strategy efforts are taking a turn toward the national as Phase II draws to a close and Phase III begins. The Cohesive Strategy Sub-Committee and the Wildland Fire Executive Council are busy reviewing the Phase II National Report, which summarizes and synthesizes outcomes of each of the regional assessments and strategies.
Your voices were heard; your ideas have been incorporated into the Western Regional Assessment and Strategy, and will remain a critical part of the national discussion. Please remain engaged and gear up for action on all of the immediate opportunities that have come out of Phase II here in the West. One of these immediate opportunities is to continue and enhance effective collaboration around land and wildland fire management objectives.
Enhancing Collaboration:
In the course of doing outreach for the Western Regional Assessment and Strategy, we heard many comments about the need to improve or extend collaboration. Many who are familiar with the community processes active throughout the West believe that increased collaborative efforts will improve on‐the‐ground results.
Local collaboratives such as the Applegate Partnership (OR), Greater Flagstaff Forest Partnership (AZ), Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition (WA), Wallowa Resources (OR), and others have been able to transcend political and regulatory gridlock to successfully complete fuels reduction and landscape restoration projects on the ground.
Follow this link for more information and helpful hints on collaboration to meet the goals of the Cohesive Strategy: http://sites.nemac.org/westcohesivefire/
Points of Contact:
Western Regional Strategy Committee (WRSC) Lead Western Joe Stutler Deschutes County Forester joest@co.deschutes.or.us(541) 322-7117
Working Group (WWG) Lead Joe Freeland BLM - Management and Program Analyst jfreeland@blm.gov(208) 387-5163
For More Information:
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | The State Fire Marshal’s Office is rolling out a new training program for Fire Fighter I, Operation Support 2.0. This new program revisits a very successful training program, Operation Support, which was widely used throughout the state in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Operation Support provided free firefighter training at local fire departments across the state.
The new program, Operation Support 2.0, will provide free Fire Fighter 1 training at no cost to small, rural volunteer departments. This program will provide instructors, curriculum and books. Departments will only be required to provide the students, and an adequate training room. Free IFSAC Fire Fighter I testing will also be available if desired. IFSAC certification is not a requirement to receive this program.
Departments will have a choice: use the new Operation Support 2.0 OR seek the $600 reimbursement under the existing Basic Fire Fighter program. More details are available in this flyer or from Howard Scartozzi, Chief of Instruction at the Fire Training Academy. Howard can be reached at (425) 453-3000 or howard.scartozzi@wsp.wa.gov. | | Expires:
11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | Pre-Design Meetings on October 21st and November 9th
The first steps in replacing the Burn Building at the Fire Training Academy have begun. The architecture firm of Rice, Fergus, Miller is developing the “pre-design” package, a necessary initial step that identifies the basic design of the building and the projected costs. As part of this process, there will be a general Stakeholders meeting at the FTA on October 21st from 10:00 AM to 2:00PM. This meeting will be a brainstorming session and it is open to everyone, particularly those individuals who have conducted training in the current building. A second meeting will be held at the FTA on November 9th, to provide a summary of the ideas presented in the first meeting.
These meetings are open to anyone. A box lunch will be served both days, but please understand: NO RSVP – NO LUNCH! You can RSVP and reserve your lunches by contacting architect Ron Easterday at reasterday@rfmarch.com
This is a unique opportunity to assist with the design of the new Burn Building. This only happens once in a generation
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | Be advised that the WSFFA has made available some of the first volunteer license plates via an on-line auction (see attached for the sample plate)
The auctions that serve to offer the first ever Washington Volunteer License Plate is live
The WSFFA is making available VF 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 for auction to those meeting the criteria, and having the winning bid
To qualify you must;
- Own a vehicle licensed in Washington State,
- Be a volunteer firefighter, member in good standing of a Washington fire service organization for more than 12 months,
- Been a Washington volunteer firefighter for more than 10 years, now retired
and
- Be able to pay all applicable State and local fees. All fees are due within 15 days of notification to the Department of Licensing.
Further information (FAQ's) can be found at www.wsffa.org. Also find us on Facebook; "Washington State Fire Fighters' Association"
T.J. Nedrow, WSFFA Volunteer Special License Plate Administrator
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | The annual Washington State Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, April 22, 2012 in the Rotunda of the State Capital in Olympia. Each year this service is held to honor Washington State firefighters who have given their lives in the Line of Duty during the previous year.
In previous years the service was held in October, shortly after the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Maryland. This year, the decision was made to move the Washington State service to the spring because of the scheduling pressures put on families to attend the International Association of Firefighters Memorial (IAFF) Service in Colorado Springs in September, followed by the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, and then the Washington State Memorial.
The State Ceremony includes a display of fire apparatus, Washington State Fire Service Honor Guard, Washington State Fire Service Pipes and Drums Corps, State Representatives, presentation to family members, and the fallen firefighter’s name being added to the Memorial Pike Pole. There is also an informal gathering at a local restaurant for attendees following the ceremony.
Please make plans to join the fire departments honoring a fallen firefighter and their families. For questions or information about being involved please contact Pat Ellis, Memorial Committee Chair, at 253-856-5826.
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | WSAFM would like to congratulate the winners of the Fire Marshal of the Year award and the WSAFM Member of the year award.
On October 5th, 2011, at the WSAFM Annual Banquet, David Kokot won the WSAFM Member of the Year Award for his diligent service on the WSAFM board, his representation of Eastern Washington and for his work on the State Building Code Council.
Jeff LaFlam won the Fire Marshal of the Year award for his continuing support on the WSAFM board handling communication for the association, and for his work on his local Residential Fire Sprinkler Ordinance, which utilized a collaborative process that can be used by other jurisdictions in the state.
These awards are given out every year at the Fire Prevention Institute. WSAFM would like to encourage you to nominate the outstanding individuals in your department. Nomination will open up next summer, but it’s never too early to have a nominee in mind!
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11/1/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy is announcing that 18 firefighters are preparing to graduate from the Washington State Fire Training Academy. Graduation will be held on Sunday November 6, 2011, at Carco Theater 1717 Maple Valley Highway, Renton, WA. Ceremony begins at 10:00 am.
On August 19, 2011, 18 recruits started the 11 week (180-hour) Recruit Academy that meets National Fire Protection Association 1001 Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications at the Firefighter I, Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations Levels. Graduating firefighters have learned basic fire service principles through classroom instruction and rigorous hands-on live fire training.
The following fire departments and districts are represented in the upcoming graduating class:
Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue (2)
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue (4)
Fire Training Academy (3)
King County International Airport- Aircraft Rescue Firefighting (2)
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (5)
Pierce County Fire District #27 (1)
Snoqualmie Pass Fire & Rescue (1)
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State including inspections of state licensed facilities, plan review of fire protection systems and school construction projects, licensing of fire sprinkler contractors and pyrotechnic operators and training Washington State’s firefighters. For additional information you may visit our web page at www.wsp.wa.gov and then click on State Fire Marshal.
For more information on the Fire Training Academy contact the Academy at (425) – 453 – 3000.
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11/6/2011 | | | | | 10/13/2011 | State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy is announcing that 34 firefighters are preparing to graduate from the Washington State Fire Training Academy. Graduation will be held on Friday November 4, 2011, at the Criminal Justice Training Center 19010 First Avenue S. Burien, WA 98148. Ceremony begins at 10:00 am.
On August 11, 2011, 35 recruits started the 12-week (440-hour) Recruit Academy that meets National Fire Protection Association 1001 Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications at the Firefighter I & II, Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations Levels. Graduating firefighters have learned basic fire service principles through classroom instruction and rigorous hands-on live fire training.
The following fire departments and districts are represented in the upcoming graduating class:
Chelan Fire and Rescue (1)
Clallam County Fire District #3 (3)
Eastside Fire & Rescue (1)
Fire Training Academy (5)
Hanford Fire Department (2)
Kennewick Fire Department (1)
Lynnwood Fire Department (2)
Mason County Fire District #12 (1)
North County Regional Fire Authority (2)
North Highline Fire Department (1)
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (5)
Renton Fire & Emergency Services (7)
Soap Lake Fire Department (1)
South Kitsap Fire & Rescue (1)
Vashon Island Fire and Rescue (1)
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State including inspections of state licensed facilities, plan review of fire protection systems and school construction projects, licensing of fire sprinkler contractors and pyrotechnic operators, training Washington State’s firefighters. For additional information you may visit our web page at www.wsp.wa.gov and then click on State Fire Marshal.
For more information on the Fire Training Academy contact the Academy at (425) 453-3000.
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11/6/2011 | | | | | 10/7/2011 | Fire Prevention week is right around the corner, this year’s theme is “Protect your Home and Family from Fire”. What is the leading cause of fire in the home? Unattended cooking fires.
Every year we see the costs of fires that start on the stovetop often with tragic results. Cooking fires are also increasing dramatically throughout the country, despite the best efforts of the fire service to prevent them.
Why are those efforts falling short? Because everyone cooks every day and education and awareness are the only real tools the fire service has had to combat these fires in the home.
Why can’t the fire service do more? Because your home is your castle even if your castle is attached to your neighbors. But now there is another solution.
“There is an affordable engineering solution for electric stoves that has been around for years preventing these fires before they start.” This is a technology solution that is finally gaining traction. Over 50,000 of these devices have been installed on electric coil ranges in multi-family, student, and military housing around the world. In every case once they have been installed, there has never been another fire on that range’s stovetop, with the additional benefit of reducing energy use which literally pays for the technology.
Start eliminating these fires for good, starting with this “Fire Prevention Week”.
For more information, visit www.pioneertingtech.com and look for Safe-T-element. Media kit available in Company > Media Info section.
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10/16/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 | As training officers and safety officers, and those who could be a scene safety officer, we know how difficult it can be to achieve harmony. Among all the rules, limitations, laws, and department standards that we are expected and directed to uphold and enforce, when it comes down to it we still have one large obstacle to overcome. And that is the obstacle of a firefighter mentality.
Now a firefighter’s mentality isn’t a bad thing. It has moved this job forward in so many ways that could have only been accomplished by one method…by doing it! However, we all know and have seen that this mentality isn’t always by the book. There are the way things are taught from the training division and then there are the ways that they get done on scene. It is up to the training officers to present the material in such a fashion that it is accepted, bought off on, and taken to the field because it fits with the goals of each firefighter. For example, when it comes to starting a saw there are only two acceptable ways to start it. And the logger start is not one of them! But we all know it gets done sooner or later. The reasoning why there are only two acceptable methods, as well as some hard lessons learned over time, are a general necessity to drive home this and most teaching points. It is also upon the safety officer to understand the method(s) that the training officers present to ensure that they are being done safely on the fire ground. Having a separation between your training division and safety officer creates an unacceptable gap that could mean increased risk for our firefighters.
Even though not everyone may not be using Vent-Enter-Search (VES), let’s look at it for an example. If the training division conducts a month long session for your department on the various ways to accomplish VES and how to keep firefighters safe during this high-risk/high-benefit tactic but fails to invite anyone who is responsible for scene safety, you can imagine how the on-scene safety officer will react when they see this tactic for the first time. They will most likely stop the tactic from a distance (over the radio) without understanding what the members were doing. If it already isn’t being done within your department, those responsible for training and for safety need to sit down when planning future direction and upcoming training events. And BOTH need to be present during the training sessions to understand just what it takes and how it needs to be done so that when it is deployed on the fireground it is done efficiently and safely.
And likewise, the scene safety officers need to be providing feedback to the training division on what they are witnessing on the emergency incidents. If the safety officer arrives on scene and finds out the first in unit wasn’t able to accomplish their 360, then Safety needs to get this done ASAP. But, they also need to follow-up with the training division so that future officer trainings can be tailored to better suit the safety needs of the department.
Are your training and safety divisions sitting down at the same table? How frequently? It shouldn’t be a casual relationship. It isn’t a casual relationship. It is personal relationship that takes work to make it succeed. They need each other as much as hose needs water. The safety officer who only responds to calls but never to training events isn’t in touch with the department. Just as the training officer who never follows up on the practical application (I.e.: going to a scene) of the newest material has no concept of what the firefighters are really being faced with. Training and safety must communicate on a regular basis. They need to be up to speed on the latest fireground expectations as well as a complete understanding in the method that tasks are to be accomplished. Together the members and the department will be safer, and ultimately that means a safer community. All from two divisions sitting down and talking on a regular basis and working on their relationship.
Ryan Scharnhorst, Washington State Fire Chief’s Training and Safety Officers
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10/1/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 |
Recent reports suggest the hard downturn in property values is finally easing up. While that’s good news, those same reports say it could be years before we achieve economic recovery. It’s clear the fire service, which has traditionally relied heavily on some form of property tax to fund operations, needs to pursue alternative funding as part of a new, long term financial strategy.
A benefit charge is generally the first option to come to mind. But I’ve found that it may not be a department’s best option. In sparsely populated areas, a benefit charge may not raise enough revenue. There may also be considerable and costly resistance, especially from the business community, that could defeat a benefit charge—and make citizens less willing to support other funding measures.
So what can you do? Here are four, additional funding options to consider:
EMS Levy
RCW 84.52.069 authorizes emergency services levies of up to fifty cents per thousand of assessed value. These levies can be imposed through counties, cities, towns, hospital districts or fire districts. If the county imposes the emergency service levy, the city or fire district cannot impose an emergency service levy for those amounts taken by the county. What this means is that if the county takes twenty-five cents of the available fifty cents the city or fire district is able to request the remaining twenty five cents from their constituents for a total of fifty cents.
Ambulance Utilities
RCW 35.21.766 allows for cities to create an ambulance utility and impose a utility fee following a process where the city finds ambulance service to be inadequate. This is not to the exclusion of the EMS fees. Both can be imposed concurrently.
Fire District Emergency Medical Service Fees
RCW 52.12.131 authorizes fire districts to impose emergency medical service fees. This is an alternative that many fire districts have been using for years. Again, this can be done whether an EMS levy has been passed or not. The imposition of charges, while not always popular, does require the end user of the service to pay the direct costs. Although there will always be arguments of equity and fairness many times this may be a compelling argument. Finally, while there is always a concern that these charges will be most difficult on those less fortunate in the community, most cities and fire districts are free to adopt Hospital Charity Care guidelines established in WAC 246-453-001 through – 090 as a way to lessen the impact on those less fortunate in the community.
Fire District Local Improvement Districts Fees
RCW 52.20, et. seq. allows for the creation of a local improvement district within a Fire District for the acquisition, maintenance and operation of facilities, specifically benefiting an area within a Fire District. This can be used to bolster the services in a somewhat isolated portion of a Fire District and can be set up in conjunction with other charges and fees.
Kinnon W. Williams is managing partner of Williams & Williams PSC, in Bothell, Wash. His law firm represents a number of fire departments, as well as other special purpose districts, cities and towns, as special counsel. You may email Kinnon at kww@williamspsc.com or visit the firm’s website at www.williamspsc.com | | Expires:
10/1/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 | Dear Enduris Fire District members:
If you are a district that has a union representative, Enduris is offering one scholarship per member entity to the Labor Management Symposium put on by WFC. One labor representative and one management person are required to attend this together, and Enduris will pay for each registration. If you’re registering, select the “send payment” option when you register, and put “Enduris” in the PO payment field, and that will notify WFC to bill Enduris directly for your participation.
Employment claims have been on the rise for fire districts. We hope that you will take advantage of this member benefit if applicable.
Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Best regards,
Joanne R. Bisquera
Membership Services Coordinator
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10/1/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 | Washington Fire Chiefs encourage submitting applications for 2011 Assistance to Firefighter’s Grants, especially rural fire departments. See the included information from Cathie Patterson, FEMA AFG Branch Chief.
Mike Brown
Executive Director
Washington Fire Chiefs
360-352-0161
As you know, the 2011 Assistance to Firefighter’s Grant application cycle has been opened since Monday, August 15, and is scheduled to close at 5 pm EST on Friday, September 16. We have worked diligently to ensure that this year’s application process is easier than ever before for grantees to complete and submit their applications. We have been closely watching this year’s grant application cycle and have noticed a trend downward in the number of rural applicants (in progress and submitted applications).
I am concerned because there have been a couple of rumors circulating that I feel might be discouraging rural applicants from applying. The first rumor is that fire departments must train their members to the level of Firefighter II to score in the funding range. Departments only need to ensure that their members are trained, or in the process of being trained, to the Firefighter I level. The Firefighter II question within the application is for data analysis only and does not weigh on the scoring of the application.
The second rumor that we have heard is that a department’s call volume will adversely affect their scoring to the point that it would move them out of the funding range. While call volume does carry some weight in the scoring, it is highly unlikely that a department’s call volume alone will prohibit them from receiving funding.
With two (2) weeks remaining in this year’s application period, it’s really not too late to submit an application.
Thanks for your support.
Cathie Patterson
Branch Chief
AFG
202-786-9796
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10/1/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 | At the Center for Public Safety Excellence annual recognition banquet in Atlanta Georgia on Thursday August 25th the Washington fire service was recognized in the following categories. The Spokane Valley Fire department was recognized as meeting the standards as an accredited agency under the Center for Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). Spokane Valley joins 5 other Washington state fire departments and 144 Fire departments throughout the world who have voluntarily followed CFAI best management practices for continuous improvement. The other Washington state fire departments accredited include: Bellevue Fire Department, Kent Fire Department, Navy Region Northwest FIre & Emergency Services, South Kitsap Fire & Rescue, and Tacoma Fire Department.
Also recognized that evening were several Washington state fire service members through the Center for Professional Credentialing. The first category was Chief Fire Officer, which has a three year term. Fire Chief Wayne Senter from South Kitsap Fire Rescue was awarded his 4th term, Fire Chief Grant Baynes from Richland Fire Department was awarded his second term, Deputy Chief Forest Burke from Duvall-Fire District 45, Fire Chief Mark Chubb from Woodinville Fire & Rescue, Deputy Fire Chief Darin Reid from Camano Stanwood Fire Rescue, and Fire Chief Christian Tubbs with Mercer Island Fire Rescue all received their first term.
The other categories awarded were EMS Chief James Cole with San Juan Island EMS and Division Chief Steven Brooks from Lacey Fire District 3 who were both awarded their second term as Chief Medical Officer and Fire Prevention Manager Greg Rogers with South Kitsap Fire Rescue was awarded his first term as Chief Fire Marshal.
Also recognized at the CPSE banquet was Mike Brown, executive director for the Washington State Fire Chiefs Association. Mike was awarded the Ray Picard award, for his leadership in promoting accreditation and credentialing to professionalize the fire service.
The International Association of Fire Chiefs held their annual conference at the same time and place and awarded the Tony Pini Diversity & Inclusion award to Bainbridge Island Fire and Rescue for their efforts to build and maintain a diverse volunteer fire fighter program serving their response area.
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10/1/2011 | | | | | 9/12/2011 | The Washington State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Washington State Association of Fire Marshals (WSAFM) are pleased to announce additional classes have been added to the 2011 Fire Marshals Roundtable program, which is being held October 3-6, 2011, at Campbell’s Resort on Lake Chelan.
WSAFM President, Jared Moravec, stated he feels “the latest addition of classes to the Roundtable program ensures that we will be delivering a very well-rounded program this year.” President Moravec added, “the outstanding educational sessions being offered will provide attendees the opportunity to take advantage of national level programs at the local level, while earning Continuing Education Unit (CEUs) credits from the .International Code Council.
Additions to the program include:
MAKING PIECES FIT
Jack Snook, Emergency Services Consulting International – Wilsonville, OR
As public funds diminish and competition and demands for existing local tax dollars increase many emergency services organizations are looking at alternatives. One consideration is to eliminate services and programs like fire prevention and the local fire marshal’s office. In many cases, a viable option is to engage in cooperative service with neighboring jurisdictions. In doing so agencies ultimately want to answer the “million dollar question” … What’s in the best interest of the people we serve?
There are proven ways of determining if some form of alliance is a “best solution” for a community and organization. The first step is to provide information and education to decision makers. This can be accomplished through the participation in a nationally renowned workshop. This dynamic and informative presentation will assist individuals and agencies in answering such questions as: why cooperative service? What are the options? What are the short and long term benefits? What are the risks? Where would cost avoidances most likely occur? Are the savings significant? and many others. In addition, you will learn the steps necessary to manage a successful four phase process, review actual case studies, discuss critical issues, discuss potential difficulties and learn what others would consider “keys to success”.
Jack W. Snook, Co-Author of the book entitled “Making the Pieces Fit” has been making presentations on the subject for over nineteen years. He and ESCI staff will share both their first hand knowledge of managing consolidated organizations as well as their experience in conducting over 50 regional consolidation feasibility studies throughout North America.
THE SCOTTSDALE EXPERIENCE
Jim Ford, Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal – City of Scottsdale, AZ
This presentation will look specifically at one community’s history and use of technology to address the current and future fire problem. It will outline the steps used to research, adopt, implement and now evaluate the history and benefits the City of Scottsdale received by requiring automatic sprinkler protection in all new structures.
The presentation will also briefly review the past recommendations to the nation’s fire service from the “America Burning” documents. The original report was commissioned in 1975 by the National Commission of Fire Prevention and Control and has been updated periodically by the U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association. The recommendations identified the need for better fire prevention and better protection of the built environments. The City of Scottsdale has aggressively implemented several measures that align with many of these recommendations and as a result, this community has been recognized as a world leader in the development of built-in, proactive fire protection measures.
Updated presentations on the history, experiences, data, and continued progress have been conducted at the U.L Symposium on Residential Fire Protection and in Sweden, Scotland, England, Aruba, Canada and throughout the U.S.
MODEL PERFORMANCE MEASURES
The class is intended to provide an over view and examples of model measures for fire prevention programs, including plan review, code enforcement, fire investigation and public education. The instructor will cover the logic model, the relationship between planning and evaluation, and formative, process, impact and outcome measurement examples for each prevention discipline
FIRE DEPARTMENT C.A.R.E.S.
Mitch Snyder, Battalion Chief, Tami Kapule, Prevention Coordinator and Randy Droppert, Data Integration Coordinator - Kent Fire Department
FDCARES - Fire Department Community, Assistance, Referral & Education Services. This program is an innovative approach to injury and illness prevention. If you would like to offer your community additional services, while providing both your residents and your organization cost savings, FDCARES is your answer.
The FDCARES program is an evolving and growing community assistance program that is based in the arena of solving issues for people before an emergency takes place. The program has been developed to interact directly with members of the community in an effort to prevent injury and illness. This direct interaction will also aid in preventing the need for future emergency services for these individuals as well. Emergency service prevention has a ripple effect. It will assist in preventing ambulance transportations, emergency room visits, and associated costs to both the individuals as well as insurance providers. This prevention can also keep emergency service providers available for more acute type incidents as well as keep hospital emergency rooms from being overcrowded and alleviate the need for patient diversions.
This presentation will follow a power point description of the how the FDCARES program was developed, how it is funded, and how any fire department organization can start the same program within their community. Included is a 26 minute video that will present a complete overview of how well the program connects the residents of a community to the assistance of the fire department and other social services in an effort to prevent injury and illness and the need for the emergency 911 system. Many of the additional benefits, including the cost savings to your residents, your organization, and various businesses within your community will be discussed.
For the complete program agenda, additional information - including on-line registration, fees and lodging information, please visit the conference website at:
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10/1/2011 | | | | | 8/16/2011 | The Washington Fire Chiefs are continuing to look for ways to assist local fire Departments as we work together to deal with the economic downturn. One of these efforts is a new Partnership with Office Depot Business Solutions Division to establish an exciting cost reduction opportunity for all of our members. If you choose to participate, this agreement could reduce your office supply expenses dramatically based on our combined purchasing volume. Our first test of this contract revealed a 54% savings which was $276 in dollar savings.
We have partnered with Office Depot under the TCPN Group Purchasing Organization. We have joined with a contract that has over $400,000.000 in buying power and is available to us at no cost of membership. In addition to the extremely competitive pricing, each Fire District will receive a 1% annual rebate if you order 80% of your purchases electronically. That check goes directly to each District.
Shop on-line using your specific log in and password. Delivery is next day in most cases and includes free shipping to anywhere within Washington. You can also shop your local Office Depot and receive our contract pricing through your procurement cards or a store purchasing card.
Once registered, welcome packets will be sent to each of your locations. More details to follow.
The Washington Fire Chiefs are excited to help each of our departments control costs in this important area of expense.
For more information, feel free to contact our partners at Office Depot. Contact information is listed below.
Office Depot is currently the office, toner and paper supplier for the State of Washington contract. They have successfully serviced all agencies for over 5 years and have the scope of service in place to handle all of our needs.
I am confident that this partnership will be beneficial,
Mike Brown
Washington Fire Chiefs
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | By now I am sure that most everyone is aware that all FCC Part 90 (Public Safety and Industrial Business Pool) frequencies must be narrowbanded by January 1st, 2013. The narrowband requirement includes the statewide mutual aid frequency REDNET. The only exception to this rule is the two dedicated VHF one-way paging frequencies 152.0075 and 157.450. In order to coordinate the narrowbanding of this frequency the following information is being provided to all public safety partners across the State. If you have any questions regarding narrowbanding REDNET please contact me: voss@mountvernonwa.gov or 360-336-6277 (office).
WHAT IS NARROWBANDING?
Licensees in the private land mobile (public safety and industrial business) VHF and UHF bands traditionally have employed systems that operate on channel bandwidths of 25 kHz. “Narrowbanding” refers to a requirement by the FCC that — on or before December 31, 2012 — all existing licensees implement equipment designed to operate on channel bandwidths of 12.5 kHz or less. This means that licensees will need to convert their existing wideband (25 kHz) systems to narrowband (12.5 kHz) operation before January 1, 2013. Any equipment that is not capable of operating on channels of 12.5 kHz or less will need to be replaced.
WHAT ACTION HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN?
• All REDNET licenses held by the WSAFC have been updated to add the required narrowband emissions.
• All communications centers operating under these licenses will be mailed/emailed a copy of their updated license.
• A date of June 1st 2012 has been set by the WSAFC Board of Directors as the date by which all REDNET users will need to have reprogrammed REDNET in their radios to the meet narrowband emissions requirement.
WHY JUNE 1ST, 2012?
• Allows time for entities to plan with their radio service providers to reprogram their existing REDNET base stations.
• Allows planning for those needing to access high mountain sites after snow melt.
• Gives us one more fire season with the advantage of wideband coverage on a primary All Risk Mobilization frequency.
• Allows plenty of time to get the word out to all public safety agencies of the deadline.
• Allows public safety agencies that need to purchase new radio equipment to meet the narrowbanding mandate another budget cycle to prepare.
REDNET FREQUENCY SPECIFICATIONS AS OF JUNE 1ST, 2012
Receive: 153.830 No Tone
Transmit: 153.830 No Tone
Bandwidth: 12.5 kHz (Narrowband)
By Mike Voss – REDNET Coordinator
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | The Department of Ecology is pleased to announce we are seeking applications for funding assistance through our Washington State Clean Diesel Grant Program.
The goals of this strategy are to:
decrease the amount of diesel pollution emitted into the air; and
reduce the negative health effects of diesel pollution, especially for:
o children, the elderly and people whose existing health problems put them at risk (sensitive populations); and
o economically disadvantaged communities (environmental justice communities) that are exposed to a higher amount of air pollution than the general population.
We will be accepting applications and making funding awards in two phases.
Phase I – Existing Applications. Evaluation and funding awards will be made in early September 2011 using existing applications currently on file from prior solicitations. Project categories that apply to these funding awards include the following:
School Bus Replacements - estimated funds available: $1,500,000
School District Idle Reduction Technologies and Installation - estimated funds available: $1,000,000
Fire District Projects (Engine repowers, exhaust retrofits, idle reduction) – estimated funds available: $500,000
Construction Equipment Exhaust Retrofits (on-road vehicles and off-road equipment)– estimated funds available: $200,000
Phase II – Accepting New Applications. Evaluations & funding awards will be made in early November 2011 using existing applications, and new applications received as a result of this solicitation. Ecology specifically requests applications for projects in the following categories:
Additional awards for school bus replacements, idle reduction for school bus, fire district projects, and construction equipment retrofits
Port and Marine Projects (including Columbia River)
Other projects that provide significant diesel emission reductions
IMPORTANT NOTE: Because additional funds may be available at later dates, Ecology will continue to accept applications after the November timeline. Please do not hesitate to submit an application at any time.
Eligibility
We encourage the following entities to apply (Applicants must operate diesel engines more than 50% of the time within the State of Washington to be eligible):
Cities
Counties
Municipal associations
Public utility districts or co-ops
Ports
Transit authorities
State government
Non-profit organizations
Privately-owned diesel fleets operating mainly in Washington
Priorities
The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) has identified diesel exhaust as one of the air pollutants most harmful to public health in Washington State. Seventy percent of the cancer risk from airborne pollutants is from diesel exhaust. It makes healthy people more at risk for respiratory disease and worsens the symptoms of people with health problems such as asthma, heart disease, and lung disease. More than four million people in Washington live or work close to highways and other major roads where they are most likely to be exposed to diesel exhaust.
Ecology will evaluate all applications to determine how the project will reduce exposure to diesel emissions and improve public health for Washington’s citizens. In addition, we will prioritize all applications as follows:
1st Priority: Public fleets including cities, counties, municipal associations, public utility districts, port and transit authorities, and state agencies.
2nd Priority: Privately-owned vehicles and equipment that: (a) provide and maintain public service such as garbage collection, recycling, and utilities; (b) construct public roads and buildings; and (c) operate on port properties or are associated with port activities, such as cargo-handling equipment, drayage vehicles that transfer goods and materials, and harbor vessels.
3rd Priority: Other privately-owned vehicles and equipment that operate mainly within Washington.
Application Deadline
Applications for Phase II projects should be submitted no later than Monday, October 17, 2011 to have priority consideration. We will continue to accept applications after October 17, 2011 and will make additional awards based on funds available.
Application & Guidelines The Department of Ecology, Clean Diesel Grant Application & Fleet List spreadsheet can be found at: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/air/cars/DieselGrantPage.htm. We encourage you to provide an attached cover letter further explaining your project, your financial need, and other information related to this project such as costs, device information, time frame, partnerships, etc.
Contact Information For questions regarding this announcement, contact: Carrol A. Johnston, Diesel Coordinator, at 360-407-6568 or carr461@ecy.wa.gov | | Expires:
9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | A few months ago while I was attending a class at an emergency services con-ference, the speaker put up a slide which caught my attention. So much so that I made it into a sign that hangs in my office. It simply says, “Smart people solve problems…Geniuses prevent them.” Now, I’m not a genius, and smart is sometimes questionable as well, but I thought this was a great motto.
Shortly after the conference, I saw a story on the internet about a fire depart-ment treasurer who had stolen over $100,000 from the department over a number of years. I clicked on the accompanying video to see a very nervous fire chief meeting with the press. He was obviously uncomfortable and at-tempting to answer the questions put to him. He said that they had implemented new rules to conduct oversight into the department’s finances. He said, “From now on, we will require 2 signatures on all checks.” And, “From now on, we will conduct audits on a quarterly basis.” As well as “From now on, Financial reports must be made at every meeting, no excuses!” Smart Chief, but he could have been a genius. I’m certain he had the knowledge about all of those preventative measures to have implemented before the funds were stolen but for one reason or another, he didn’t.
Then I thought about catastrophic events far beyond the simple loss of property. I thought of Chiefs having to nervously say things such as, “From now on, everyone will wear seatbelts.” Or “From now on all members will be subject to an annual physical.” And “From now on there will be a spotter in place before backing the vehicle.” In these cases the difference between smart and genius could also be the difference between life and death; tragedy and just another call; or everyone going home or not.
The information and statistics are available to all of us. The answers are also there. They can be found in the NFPA Standards, OSHA Standards, websites, your insurance company’s recommendations, all of the fire service and EMS magazines (free on the Internet), and so many other places which could have even a questionably smart guy like me operating like a genius.
A great source of information is the NIOSH Fire Fighter Investigation and Prevention Program which can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/ . You can sort through reports by state, year, cause of death, type of duty, and many other areas. The reports not only contain information about the incident but also provide recommen-dations to prevent future occurrences which make a great checklist for your policies and procedures. And if you think what you read there could not happen to you…think again. There is no need to develop rules. The information is all around us and for the most part available at no cost.
Make your “From now on….” really from “now on” and not “from after the next tragic event on.” Hey, if I can be a genius, anybody can.
By Bill Tricarico Loss Control Director, Emergency Services Insurance Program | | Expires:
9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | FIRE 20/20 is pleased to announce that Portsmouth, VA; Toronto, ON; Bainbridge Island, WA; and the Fire Service Women of New York State have been named winners of the first annual Tony Pini Diversity & Inclusion Awards. Each will be honored for their outstanding work to
build and nourish a diverse and inclusive fire department culture, and foster proactive relationships and trust with their multicultural communities.
"Some people look at diversity as a problem. We believe it's the solution to more safely and effectively serving our growing multicultural communities," said Larry Sagen, Executive Director of nonprofit FIRE 20/20. "The Tony Pini Awards give the fire service an opportunity to acknowledge, celebrate and share diversity and inclusion programs that are helping departments better serve their communities."
The four winning departments will be presented with etched glass awards during a special ceremony at the Diversity Breakfast of the Fire Rescue International Conference in Atlanta on August 25th. Awards will be presented to the honored departments by the sponsors of the 2011 Tony Pini Awards: FIRE 20/20, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, LION, and Scott Safety.
Twelve semi-finalists were selected from a field of forty nominations from throughout North America. The selection committee was comprised of volunteers from the International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF), International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services (iWomen), National Association of Hispanic Firefighters (NAHF), National Native American Fire Chiefs Association (NNAFCA), National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), Volunteer Chief Officers Section (VCOS) and the Human Relations Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
The Tony Pini Awards are named for the late Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Pini, who demonstrated a lifelong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Chief Pini was a founder and an active member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs' (IAFC) Human Relations Committee, a member of the IAFC Ethics Task Force, a past chair of the California Fire Chiefs' Cultural Diversity Committee, and a founding board member of nonprofit FIRE 20/20.
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | Our Expanding Open Public Meetings Act
Like it or not, you’re now squarely in the public eye.
This is true for everyone who serves as an appointed representative to a governmental trade organization, such as the Washington Fire Chiefs Association, where legislative positions are taken. This holds even if you’re a temporary appointment, attending a single meeting.
For some time now, the reach of open government principles has been expanding, allowing for greater scrutiny of public officials. Central to this, of course, is the definition of a public agency.
In what may be seen as a far-reaching decision, the Washington State Court of Appeals recently found that a statewide association of county officials is subject to the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). This is the first application of OPMA to governmental trade groups and cannot be ignored.
The Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) is an organization of elected and appointed assessors, auditors, coroners, clerks, prosecutors, sheriffs and treasurers. The non-profit, bi-partisan organization has a long history, including being recognized by the legislature in 1959 as a statewide “coordinating agency” of county officials.
The OPMA portion of Washington’s Public Disclosure Act does not define “state agency.” Of late, however, the courts appear increasingly willing to liberally construe the OPMA in order to achieve the law’s intended goal: transparency in all forms of government. The appellate court’s decision underscores this trend.
“The legislature enacted the OPMA as part of a nationwide effort to make government affairs more accessible and transparent,” the court wrote.
“The OPMA's purpose,” the court continued, “is to permit the public to observe the steps employed to reach a governmental decision…The intended result is to ensure government accountability to the public by demonstrating that publicly funded agencies are functioning as intended. And the OPMA contains the same strongly-worded declaration of public policy as the [Public Records Act]:
The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”
The court rejected WACO’s argument that it cannot be considered a government body subject to OPMA because it lacks decision-making authority, writing that “there is no rule-making authority requirement” under the act.
It also should be noted that, in reaching its decision, the court took into account the fact that WACO actively lobbied to become legislatively sponsored and had, in fact, obtained a legislative mandate to report and comment on proposed legislation. This fact appears to have been crucial to the court’s ruling.
There is another reason West v. Washington Association of County Officials deserves our attention. The case clearly lays out the test for an Open Public Meetings Act claim.
To prevail in an Open Public Meetings Act claim, the complaining party must demonstrate that: 1) members of a particular governing body; 2) held a meeting; 3) where the government body took action in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act; and 4) the members of the government had knowledge that the meeting violated the statute.
In this regard, the court cannot read your mind and will, in all likelihood, be unwilling to accept self-serving denials. Regardless of what you claim you did or did not know, the court will base its decision on objective facts.
I’ve little doubt that the Open Public Meetings Act will rarely be construed to deny citizens the right of access to public officials and public policy making. For that reason, I advise my clients to comply err on the side of transparency.
Both the Washington Fire Chiefs and Washington Fire Commissioners Association provide legislative input and commentary. As the public—and the courts—demand increasing government transparency, I believe all of us should seek to understand the intent and mandates of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act. If you are a representative of these, or another trade organization, it is essential you understand this law.
West v. Washington Association of County Officials serves as a reminder that it is critical to be aware of the basic tenets of open government. This is an interesting case, and one that all governmental trade groups should read.
Kinnon W. Williams is managing partner of Williams & Williams PSC, in Bothell, Wash. His law firm represents a number of fire departments, as well as other special purpose districts, cities and towns, as special counsel. You may email Kinnon at kww@williamspsc.com or visit the firm’s website at www.williamspsc.com | | Expires:
9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has announced that the application period for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program will open on August 15 and end at 5 pm Eastern Time on September 9. This program has over $404 million available for career, volunteer and combination fire and non-affiliated EMS departments to apply for basic equipment, training, and wellness and fitness needs.
While the fiscal year 2011 AFG program remains largely unchanged from last year, DHS has made a few important adaptations to the program:
New Guidance: FEMA has reformatted the AFG Guidance and Application Kit to create two separate documents. Section I of the kit is designed to help grantees during the application period. Section II is intended to help grantees understand the rules and regulations associated with administering the federally funded grant awards. Both sections of the grant guidance and other AFG documents are available on FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grants webpage.
Scoring Changes: Applications will receive two reviews that comprise their total score. The first review, which counts for 50% of the total score, will measure the request to see if it meets the funding priorities. The second review is the panel score, which also is 50% of the total application score.
Funding Priorities and Eligible Items: Funding priorities are now categorized as high, medium and low. DHS has made the following items eligible for the AFG program: behavioral health programs, replacements for SCBA not compliant with or manufactured before the 2002 edition of NFPA 1981, boats under 20 feet and extended warranties. Personal protective equipment is now eligible for regional project funding. In fire-based EMS, ambulances will share the same priority (high) as pumpers in scoring. Flashover simulators are not eligible for funding.
Applicants may apply for more than one vehicle. However, driver/operator training/certification is required.
Extended warranties and service agreements are allowable if acquired at the time of the original purchase.
This year, prime recipients of AFG grants are required to register in the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) system. Fire and EMS non-affiliated departments are encouraged to register with the CCR system.
To register:
Obtain a DUNS number from Dun and Bradstreet. If you already have a DUNS number, skip to #2.
Once you have a DUNS number, register online.
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | The Washington Fire Chiefs would like to join the IAFC in requesting your assistance with contacting your Senators in support of S. 911, a bill to establish a public safety wireless broadband network.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has reported out S. 911 which gives public safety the tools it needs to construct a nationwide public safety wireless broadband network, a key IAFC and public safety goal for the past four years. The bill now goes to the Senate floor. This action likely will occur when Congress reconvenes after Labor Day. This will be a major issue of debate and it will require 60 votes to pass the legislation. Passage of the bill in the U.S. Senate is essential if we are to succeed. Senators need to hear from constituents in their states during the August recess.
That is why I request that you initiate a message via fax or e-mail to the two U.S. senators in your state in support of the creation of a public safety broadband network. A copy of a suggested letter is attached (Attachment A) along with how to obtain your senator’s contact information. Once you have faxed your letters to your senators, please send a copy to Alan Caldwell ( acaldwell@iafc.org) in the IAFC Government Relations & Policy Department for follow up.
This is a major effort being undertaken by the main public safety leadership associations – the Public Safety Alliance (PSA).
Additional background information on the D Block issue is available on the PSA website (psafirst.org).
Thank you for your leadership and urgent attention to this matter.
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | A Happy Workforce Is a Productive Workforce
As we enter the third quarter, many organizations are getting into the full swing of preparing for their next fiscal year, which means budgets and forecasts; new initiatives, promotions, and product launches; and hopefully, effective workforce planning to ensure that all of those efforts are successful.
Workforce planning strategies don’t just focus on having the right number of employees in each role, but they also help managers and employees learn how to handle diverse dynamics and empower them to learn from each other as well as use their differences to propel the team to success.
Most organizations continue to run lean following the global financial crisis. This staffing situation has overshadowed what began before the downturn – changing workforce demographics driven by the retirement of Baby Boomers. Over the next few years, most organizations will begin to experience a talent crisis that will affect the way businesses are run. It will affect employee/manager relationships, succession opportunities, approaches toward employee development, philosophies toward retirement, and the fundamental way we work together. Workforce planning is important because it addresses all of these issues before they become a problem.
Workforce planning helps you understand the capabilities and roles of everyone throughout your workforce by giving insight into the core characteristics of each employee, regardless of their culture, age, or gender.
You might think that with so many people still searching for full-time work, that any fears of a talent crisis would now be moot. However, organizations that are hiring aren’t just taking warm bodies, nor are they willing to train workers who are unskilled in their business. So the talent crisis forecasted before the downturn hasn’t been remedied by large pool of laid-off and displaced workers. Perhaps the most successful organizations will be those who figure out a way to take advantage of that talent pool.
The better a manager understands an employee, the more effective they can be. Effective workforce planning tools combine insight into the unique working characteristics that can impact the employee/manager relationship, along with actionable information on how the employee and manager can work together. Those tools also aid in the understanding of differences in working styles between managers and employees and provide specific guidance on how the manager and employee interact in order to:
- Increase Productivity
- Improve communications between manager and employee
- Identify and avoid potential management conflicts
- Resolve ineffective working relationships
Did you know that one of the most common sources of poor work ethic is the relationship between a manager and an employee? And good workers are more likely to leave a company because of their boss, not because of pay. A manager can significantly impact workforce development and employee performance. Whether the impact is positive or negative is often the direct result of their understanding of each other's work habits and style.
Managers who are "out of touch" with their employees often cause low productivity, dwindling morale and high employee turnover, while employees who feel a connection to their manager are often highly productive and engaged in their work. Having a greater understanding of the dynamics of their work relationship will help both parties appreciate where their perspectives are similar and where they differ. This mutual understanding will result in a more productive and positive working relationship.
Vicki Wilson, President of Willow Creek Consultants, helps organizations implement strategies that are guaranteed to ‘maximize workforce potential’. Visit her website www.willowcc.com for more information. She can be contacted by phone (208) 762-8638 or email Vicki@willowcc.com.
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | During the 2011 Legislative Session, the Washington Fire Chiefs were successful in passing HB 1506, a bill addressing fire suppression efforts and capabilities on unprotected land outside of fire protection jurisdictions. This important legislation, nicknamed the “no-man’s land bill,” does a number of things to improve firefighting in areas not served by fire protection jurisdictions, and passed with overwhelming support by both parties.
Among the key provisions of the legislation is a statement of intent that encourages property owners of unprotected land to form or annex into a fire protection jurisdiction where possible. Also included in this is an encouragement that nearby fire protection jurisdictions meet with property owners to discuss the level of service they can reasonably expect, if any. An open line of communication between fire service and property owners is crucial to any successful arrangement.
Another major provision of the legislation is the explicit allowance for billing for service provided to improved property outside of fire protection jurisdictions. The law now allows a nearby fire protection jurisdiction to respond to fires on property that includes structures, and to bill for the service in accordance with the Washington Fire Chiefs fee schedule.
As with any piece of complicated legislation, however, there are terms that need refining. One thing the legislation does NOT do is explicitly allow for billing for service provided to unimproved property outside a fire protection jurisdiction. This is to say that, although service can be rendered to brush fires on lands not containing structures, the provisions of HB 1506 do not provide a legal obligation for the landowner to reimburse the fire protection jurisdiction providing the service. In this sense, the law is the same as it has always been. We did not intend to include this inconsistency in the legislation.
Because of this inconsistency between improved and unimproved land, we will be seeking a technical correction to the HB 1506 in the upcoming 2012 legislative session. This correction will look to expand the definition of “unprotected land” to include BOTH improved and unimproved property, meaning that a responding fire protection jurisdiction would be able to recover costs for the provision of service to unprotected land, regardless of whether the service was provided for a structure fire or a brush fire.
We will keep you updated on the progress of the WFC as it seeks to further improve legislation regarding fire service on no-man’s land.
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | While the summer has been relatively quiet for fires, we have important business to do related to the Washington State Fire Resource Mobilization Plan (WSFRMP).
Recently an opinion was provided by an assistant attorney general stating that the plan is for fires only and does not cover other types of hazards and events. This is not the first time we have had to deal with this interpretation. As before, the real issue is not about the plan rather the language in the adopted state budget. The plan itself is clearly all risk however the budget language allows for reimbursement of costs only for fire incidents. In short, the plan can be utilized for any type of incident but the funding is only available for fires and specifically for the costs associated with fire resources. On the surface one would say that's obvious but an additional issue is contained with the very narrow definition of fire resources. In short this simply applies to fire apparatus and personnel.
The good news is that we have a strategy to resolve this once and for all. The WFC intends to develop and introduce language to amend the appropriate RCW's to clarify the use of funding for all risk events and as important to broaden the definition of fire resources to include all types of commonly operated apparatus and equipment. This would include EMS, hazmat and technical rescue just to name a few examples.
We are committed to partner with the State Fire Marshall's Office and appropriate associations to make this a top priority in the next legislative session. It is our belief that since this is simply a clarification of language and intent with out fiscal impacts, we can be successful.
In the meantime, it is fire season and we have had three authorized mobilizations so far this season. It is important that regardless of the issues with funding, in the event a fire jurisdiction experiences a non fire incident requiring mobilization do not hesitate to request mobe. Be familiar with the process and know who your Regional Fire Defense Committee Representative is. We need to utilize the plan as it was designed while we continue to work toward solutions.
The Fire Defense Committee, WFC and WSP staff are committed to maintain and improve one of the most successful mobilization plans utilized in the US.
Stay safe and have a good summer!
Dave LaFaveFire Chief, C2F&R
Board Member, WFC
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | The Fire Rescue Wellness Corporation has partnered with Zone Living to offer Zone products at a 20% discount to members of the fire service and their families. The discount is in addition to auto-ship discounts. The Zone Diet is well known and allows you the flexibility to use as many or few of their products when following their nutritional program. The Zone Diet is also recommended by Crossfit.
Healthy weight loss requires complete nutrition. You need essential amino acids, fatty acids and polyphenols. Zone can guide you to achieve complete nutrition through healthy weight loss by supplying your body with essential nutrients it cannot make on a daily basis.
Your diet is also the key to controlling your inflammatory response. Cellular inflammation can cause obesity and the Zone Program is a proven way to reduce cellular inflammation.
To get further information, and discount codes, please click to access the full flyer. | | Expires:
9/1/2011 | | | | | 8/15/2011 | I want to formally thank ESCI for the Annual Report that was prepared by Joe Parrott.
As a small fire district, we do things a little different by necessity. Joe was very patient to get through the process. A primarily volunteer department being measured consistently with all
other departments was the right thing to do. The planning process has made us more forward thinking to the Level of Service we will provide our community now and in the future as we consider facilities, equipment and personnel for staffing.
From Chelan County Fire District 5's perspective, the in-depth Annual Report process was highly successful. I would strongly urge every department that is considering growth from a strictly volunteer response service to a staffed service, to go through this in depth annual report analysis. The process will enable department elected and administration to establish service levels and the planning for those elements to provide that service.
I can see the benefit of 3rd party consultant analysis on a periodic basis. A chief can get caught up in wanting the annual report stats to read to the department's best interest. The consultant can
be more objective with less bias for truer picture. Chelan County Fire District 5 will be back for another report in the coming years.
Thank you again for a job very well done.
Arnold Baker, Fire Chief
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9/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 | How many times have you said, “if only there were more time in the day” to get everything done that you need to? We live our daily lives with a packed schedule in hope for a moment here and there to take a breath. Now let’s add to that “time in the day”…..the life of an emergency service provider.
The importance of properly training personnel in the duties associated with Fire and EMS can never be overemphasized. You must rely on your skills, training, and experience to keep yourself safe and help your community. As you invest your time in emergency services, you will find the added value of online training to assist in your learning.
Today's technology allows for learning from almost anywhere, at any time. E-learning provides quick access to materials for first responder, EMT, para-medic, and firefighter education. The virtual world is a critical strategy toward making training and support available on a scale sufficient enough to have sig-nificant impact on our members. The virtual world of e-learning is not in-tended to replace face-to face classroom and hands-on training by any means.
An online presence makes training in Fire and EMS more accessible. Increasing member participation in training and access to information will only strengthen your organization. E-learning has the potential to be utilized in many ways. In some departments it is used as a way to prepare you for train-ing before you get to your scheduled training night, while other departments use e-learning as a follow-up to hands-on training. The virtual learning world is also a great way to pass the time away between calls when you are waiting for the next one to come in. It also provides an opportunity to accomplish the dif-ficult task often faced by departments to adhere to mandated training and re-quired hours by state and federal standards and regulations. It is never an easy task to get everyone in the same place at the same time to accomplish the task of training.
There are a few tips to highlight when you enter the virtual world of training. Look for programming that provides quality courses with knowledgeable in-structors. Another positive point to look for is the ability to track your pro-gress or the members in your department if you are responsible for training. Find a program that allows you to track participation as well as time spent in the course to ensure a quality learning experience. Along with tracking the progress of training courses, some online learning programs offer the ability to print certificates that can be placed in your training folder as documentation. These are just a few of the positive points to look for with online learning. Now it’s your turn to take an adventure today, in the virtual world of training.
By: By Heather L. Fredenburg E-Learning and Training Coordinator, Emergency Services Insurance Program
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 | “He had a heart attack” is one of the most frequent statements made in our society. As fire fighters, we are dependent on each other to be healthy, able to react in emergency situations, able to survive a profession that has a high degree of daily stress attached to it and able to “run with the team” no matter the situation. Our profession automatically demands that we be at our best physically, mentally and emotionally.
However, too many of us fail to realize that we also have a responsibility to our families to be as healthy as possible; to maintain ourselves so that our profession does not end up crippling us before our time, to be around for our grand children, to enjoy our well earned retirement, to do everything that is possible to guarantee ourselves a high quality of life as the years go by.
Obesity and overweight lead to many, many medical/health problems. And firefighting is certainly not exempt from the second most frequent cause of early death. However, with the stress of firefighting, the chances of a cardiac incident is much higher than among those who have sedentary jobs. And heart attacks are the number one cause of death in the U.S. The tie that binds heart disease and obesity is unquestionable. Luckily, obesity and its accompanying risk factors can be dealt with and brought to health levels permanently if the proper steps are followed.
Over the last year, Chief Senter and the Wellness Committee helped us to gather together a group of you who had some pretty serious risk factors, including over-weight, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. These individuals worked with me and our medically directed weight protocol program to prove that, together, we could accomplished what no other program could: teach the body to burn fat, lower cholesterol, get the body down to a healthy body fat percentage, lower high blood pressure, and completely change the eating habits of the individuals who participated. On top of that, every one of the participants who stayed with the program to its conclusion successfully maintained his/her weight loss and body fat % and healthy levels regarding risk factors.
Now, we are ready to reach out to all fire fighters in the state of Washington, through the Wellness Committee, and create an opportunity for you to improve your quality of life, which equates to a much better chance of living a long, high quality, disease free life.
Just take a brief look at the below statistics:
• Obesity is the #2 cause of preventable death in the United States
• 60 million Americans, 20 years and older are obese
• 9 million children and teens ages 6-19 are overweight
• Being overweight or obese increases the risk of health conditions and diseases including: Breast cancer, Coronary heart disease, Type II diabetes, Sleep apnea, Gallbladder disease, Osteoarthritis, Colon cancer, Hypertension and Stroke
If you are overweight or obese, have any associated risk factors or suffer from Type II diabetes, just contact us directly or, through the Wellness Committee, and we can help you make a change for the rest of your life.
To find out more about this program, just call: John Lehner @ 509-922-5207 or e-mail me at john@rgchealth.com and I will send you an explanation of the program, FAQs and a cost analysis. This program can be paid for by HRAs or Flex Plans. You may also contact the Wellness Committee and they can give you further information.
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 |
The Washington Poison Center is standing by to assist EMTs, firefighters, healthcare professionals, 911, and all first responders with patients that have been exposed to toxins, poisons, or medication / drug overdoses. We are:
1. Staffed 24/7 by certified poison experts, many are HAZMAT Life Support certified (AHLS).
2. Our hotline is answered by healthcare professionals and backed up by consultations with physician toxicologists.
3. 1-800-709-0911 is a dedicated priority line for EMS, medical professionals, and other emergency responders. This line is the fastest way to reach us . As of June 27, 2011, the public line (1-800-222-1222) will have a phone tree to help triage calls, making this line slightly slower. When you are in an emergency, you do not want to wait (if all operators are busy, there may still be a wait, but the priority in line will always go to emergency responders).
4. We provide rapid access to triage, pill ID, poly-pharmacy, interactions, and antidote locators. You will receive quick advice on whether to treat on-site or if the patient needs to be transported to a hospital.
5. Calling us reduces unnecessary responses by EMS and visits to hospital emergency departments, resulting in a substantial savings in healthcare and public resources.
The dedicated line is 1-800-709-0911. This line is not for the public. This is dedicated to emergency personnel only. Use this line if you are an EMT, ER nurse, doctor, firefighter, police, sheriff, or state patrol with a poison emergency.
The public line is 1-800-222-1222 - When the general public calls with a poison emergency, they use this line to call the poison center.
93% of the time, we can help you and your patients over the phone without sending them to a healthcare facility. If they need to be seen in a facility, we will let you know quickly and even call ahead to prepare the hospital for proper treatment.
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 | In the past, AWC has regularly conducted a police and fire compensation survey, gathering additional information on police and fire compensation and benefits beyond what is collected in our annual Salary Survey. After the last survey, we determined that changes were needed, and sought feedback from various members. While the survey provided some useful information, we felt there was an increasing need for raw data from police and fire agencies (job descriptions, salary schedules, collective bargaining agreements, specific contract language, premium pays, details about health plans, MOUs, information about concessions, etc.) that reached beyond the scope of the traditional survey. In response, AWC began seeking an alternative that would meet this growing need.
AWC is pleased to announce that in lieu of the traditional police and fire compensation survey, we are partnering with the eCityGov Alliance to gather police and fire data utilizing their HR Compensation and Classification Portal. The HR Compensation and Classification Portal is a web-based tool that allows users to quickly and easily upload and view data and information. Users can also search, review and print the raw data of other comparable public agencies to conduct compensation analysis that meets their specific needs.
As part of this partnership, AWC will be providing one year of FREE access to the HR Compensation and Classification Portal for a limited number of cities, counties and fire districts to upload and access data beginning July 1, 2011 and continuing through June 30, 2012. At this time, the project is limited to cities above 5,000 in population, counties above 10,000 in population, and larger fire districts with union employees.
I strongly encourage you to participate in this project. And it’s simple to get started! This Project Brochure gives you additional information, and here is the actual Registration Form.
Once your registration has been processed, you will be given secure access to the Portal and can begin to upload your information and access the data from other jurisdictions. (If you pre-registered at the Labor Relations Institute last month, you don’t need to complete the online registration form – you’ll get a separate e-mail with further instructions). As data is uploaded from a greater number of jurisdictions, the Portal will become an invaluable tool to help you prepare for negotiations (and potential interest arbitration) with your police and fire unions.
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 |
State of Washington Governor Chris Gregoire has signed into law legislation providing financial incentives and removing certain barriers impacting the installation of fire sprinkler systems in homes. HB1295 was passed in the House. Its companion, SB5206 , moved quickly through the Senate and was submitted to the governor for approval.
The law, which takes effect on July 11, 2011, “exempts homeowners who install fire sprinkler systems from paying the fire operations portion of the impact fee and establishes that the Washington State Sprinkler Licensing fund can be used, for “developing and publishing educational materials related to the effectiveness of residential fire sprinklers.” This law also states that “owners and operators of water systems shall not be liable for damages resulting from shutting off water to a residential home with an installed fire sprinkler system if the shut off is due to: (a) routine maintenance; (b) nonpayment by the customer; or (c) a water system emergency.”
As found on the governor’s website; “…Chris Gregoire has delivered real results to the people of Washington. Combining effective leadership with a tireless work ethic, she has shown time and again that she has the courage and independence to stand up and fight for individuals and families.” With this action, the governor recognizes the community benefits of home fire sprinkler systems. By removing certain barriers this law facilitates the adoption of home fire sprinkler requirements by communities in the state.
Removing barriers to home fire sprinkler adoptions has become a primary target of the Washington Fire Sprinkler Coalition and this bill addresses 4 of the 7 barriers that where identified in the final report on Voluntary Private Residential Sprinkler Systems developed by the Private Residential Fire Sprinkler System Technical Advisory Group, this group was made up of while they continue to pursue the goal of obtaining statewide adoption of the home fire sprinkler requirement. The WA Sprinkler Coalition continues to be doing some very exciting things, if you would like to become involved with the WA Sprinkler Coalition contact Greg Rogers at grogers@skfr.org or join us on facebook.
Way to go Washington!
By: Greg Rogers, WA Sprinkler Coalition
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 7/14/2011 | State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy is announcing that 18 firefighters are preparing to graduate from the Washington State Patrol Fire Training Academy Firefighter 1 Recruit Academy.
The Fire Training Academy Recruit School program is an 11-week course that meets National Fire Protection Association Standard 1001 for certification at the Firefighter I and Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations Level. Graduating firefighters learn basic fire service principles through classroom instruction and rigorous hands-on live fire training.
On April 15, 2011, 19 candidates started the 180-hour Firefighter 1 Recruit Academy. On June 26, 2011, 18 candidates will be acknowledged for having completed the training. Graduation ceremonies will be held at Mt. Si High School, North Bend and starts at 10:00 am.
The following fire departments and districts are represented in the upcoming graduating class:
Bainbridge Island Fire Department (5)
Eastside Fire & Rescue (5)
Fire Training Academy (3)
Mason County Fire District #2 (1)
Port Ludlow Fire & Rescue (3)
Skagit County Fire District #4 (1)
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State including inspections of state licensed facilities, plan review of fire protection systems and school construction projects, licensing of fire sprinkler contractors and pyrotechnic operators, training Washington State’s firefighters, and collecting emergency response data. For additional information you may visit our web page at www.wsp.wa.gov and then click on State Fire Marshal.
For more information on the Fire Training Academy contact the Academy at (425) – 453 – 3000.
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8/1/2011 | | | | | 6/22/2011 | | | Expires:
7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | At the annual conference in Spokane, the Washington Fire Chiefs (WFC) honored former Senate Majority Leader and current WFC lobbyist Gordon Walgren for his years of service to the citizens of Washington State and for his dedication to the fire service profession.
At a banquet held on May 25th during the WFC Annual Conference, Walgren was made an Honorary Fire Chief and presented with an official Fire Chiefs helmet to commemorate the honor.
Walgren, who served in the Washington State Legislature from 1967 to 1980, and rose to the rank of Senate Majority Leader in 1975, has worked with the WFC since the mid-1980s and has played a significant role in the passage of every major fire-related piece of legislation since.
At a ceremony in which his family, friends, and colleagues spoke glowingly about his dedication to public service, Walgren himself reflected on the early years of his involvement with the WFC and how then-Executive Director Otto Jensen hired him as a lobbyist as Walgren was just breaking into the field. Walgren observed, “Without friends, you have nothing in this life.”
Current WFC Executive Director Mike Brown, as well as current WFC President Al Church, both spoke about Walgren’s almost preternatural understanding of Washington State politics, and how this understanding has helped the WFC gain respect and statute in Olympia. Brown commented how, at the beginning of every legislative session, Walgren will submit a report with his pre-session predictions and thoughts about how the session will unfold. Brown stated, “It’s amazing to look back at the end of those sessions and see just how right-on Gordon was with his predictions. Every time I read them I am reminded how lucky we are to have Gordon as part of the Fire Chiefs family.”
Gordon Walgren, who has represented the Chiefs since 1988, continues as their lobbyist. He lives in Bremerton and also represents the Port of Bremerton and Kitsap Transit, as well as several other major clients.
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | Fire Chief Mike Thompson, Spokane Valley Fire Department, receives the Washington Fire Chiefs “Chief Dan Packer Fire Chief of the Year Award”. Chief Thompson was nominated by his department with accompanying support from the Board of Fire Commissioners, IAFF Local 3701 and all administrative Staff.
Several Washington Fire Chiefs were nominated for this recognition, all deserving of recognition with Chief Thompson being selected by a committee made up of a City Manager, Career Firefighter, Volunteer Firefighter, Fire Chief and a Citizen at large.
Each nominee must meet the following:
- Emulate Fire Chief Dan Packer’s strong leadership characteristics of loyalty, determination, strength in action and relationships
- Professional performance consistent with WFC Code of Ethics
- Extended courtesy and respect to community, fellow employees and members of the WFC
- Exceptional performance and accomplishments
- Contributed significantly to the safe and effective operations of the Fire Service as a member of the WFC
- Contributed above and beyond the normal call of duty.
Chief Thompson’s accomplishments are too numerous to include, however, the following summarizes why he was the recipient of the Chief Dan Packer Fire Chief of the Year Award:
Chief Thompson has developed a team in Partnership with many others – not expecting or claiming credit for many successes, though he will readily accept responsibility for shortcomings of team and / or organization. Chief Thompson commands respect and admiration from those with in and outside of SVFD.
Through Chief Thompson’s guidance and leadership, Fire District Commissioners, Labor groups, staff members, and citizens have combined efforts to accomplish many initiatives that result in delivery of a superior level of service to the public.
Chief Thompson meets all the identified criteria and all those who work with Chief Thompson are proud to be associated with him!
Congratulations to Chief Mike Thompson. The Washington Fire Chiefs are proud of you!
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | Chief Tim Milbert, Kittitas County Fire District 6, receives the 2011 Otto and Betty Jensen scholarship.
This scholarship is in honor of and at the request of Otto and Betty Jensen and was established in 1996 to pay the cost for a Volunteer Fire Chief and spouse to attend the Washington Fire Chiefs (WFC) annual Conference and Expo. The Volunteer Fire Chief, due to financial limitations of their organization, would otherwise not be able to attend.
Chief Tim Milbert, Kittitas County Fire District 6, has been a Volunteer Fire Fighter and Fire Chief for many years; he unselfishly operates a department with 2 career and 18 volunteer members in addition to his employment to support his family.
Chief Milbert has completely overhauled his department to improve community service on a “shoestring” budget. He has been able to update his equipment and training by being very conservative, always thinking of his crews first, giving them all the opportunities first and their isn’t anything left for himself.
The Washington Fire Chiefs are proud of Chief Tim Milbert and pleased to be able to award him the 2011 Otto and Betty Jensen Scholarship.
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | This year’s Hazmat and Special Operations Conference is now history. Despite low numbers, the three days of training provided a great deal of information to those in attendance. Our thanks to all those that attended and the agencies that sponsored them. We will be getting a Save the Date Notice out shortly so put next year’s conference on your calendar and submit for approval early. The dates are the week of May 21-24, 2012 in Wenatchee. Our thanks also to all of the instructors that provided top-quality training to the attendees. We heard nothing but great comments about them. Planning for next year’s conference will start soon.
The Committee leadership will see some changes for the next year. The current slate of officers nominated and up for election at the next meeting are:
Steve Trackwell; South King Fire and Rescue, Chairman
Barry Rickert; VRFA, Vice Chair
Robert Homan; Renton Fire, Treasurer
Ron Bowen; WA State Fire Marshal’s Office, Secretary
If there are others interested in joining the Board or assisting in planning next year’s conference, you are more than welcome. Please contact me at 360-596-3923 or ron.bowen@wsp.wa.gov.
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 |
Why are we looking for something different?
Fire service groups engage in many wellness and fitness activities that help make their fire fighters healthier – and healthier employees should produce lower health insurance premiums. But it doesn't always work out that way. If your health plan has an average year, what’s your reward? It’s a big increase. If the plan has a bad year, it’s an even bigger increase.
You already spend a lot of money to buy health insurance for your employees. It has become the 800-pound gorilla that significantly impacts budgets, negotiations and sometimes even staffing levels. FRWC was created to provide a comprehensive approach to improve fire fighters’ health and wellness. We use our time and resources to create solutions, and have developed a health benefit package and structure that offers a better way to spend and manage your benefit dollars. The FRWC health insurance plan is designed to incentivize and reward participating groups and members for successful wellness and fitness activities.
Our plan offers financial rewards to participants in three different ways.
• Funding of Health Reimbursement Arrangements to accumulate dollars for unreimbursed medical costs. Can be used for current needs and/or saved for retirement medical.
• Potential refund of health plan surplus to reward successful wellness efforts
• A portion of health insurance premiums counted as salary to increase your pension benefit
FRWC has spent considerable time and resources developing this plan and is excited about its potential to help you manage health benefit costs and to reward successful wellness and fitness efforts.
If you are interested in offering this plan or want to learn more about how it can help you, contact FRWC's broker and consultant:
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | It has become apparent that all our lives have become much busier. This is very evident in many areas; one such area is in training our volunteers. The demands that are placed on our volunteers to maintain certification are no different from those placed on our full time employees.
The questions we need to answer are these, how do we train them in a manner that is consistent with mandates and how do we provide it in a fashion that provides various opportunities for the volunteer to get the training. Many volunteer organizations are made up of individuals with varying work schedules, family responsibilities etc. This makes it sometimes difficult if not impossible for some to attend formal training on a particular night or time.
There have been many methods used in our locality. Some have chosen to provide a training schedule having the same class provided during daytime hours that was scheduled for a night drill. This is advantageous for those who are not able to attend during traditional night drill as it provides an opportunity to make up missed classes.
Another method that has been used is mutual aid departments providing a joint effort to provide training using the same curriculum on various staggered dates. This has a multitude of benefits. One being that it too offers the volunteer another date and time of training , another benefit is that is gives the volunteer an opportunity to gain experience working with neighboring agencies and the agency providing the training gets to see that these individuals are capable members who can bolster staffing of an alarm assignment.
Lastly, we look at a method that takes advantage of the technology available. By making use of the internet, methods have been developed locally that gives volunteers the ability to “work from home”. They login to the website and are tracked through that login during topic review, duty shift scheduling and testing, the site gives them the opportunity to review skills through video, PowerPoint, PDF, or other media. They are able to take that knowledge and work with a designated instructor at a time convenient for them on the drill grounds for skills signoff and fine tuning. Currently, this model also has a testing portion that requires a passing grade and this is tracked for all employees’ career and volunteer.
These are just a few ways that we can retain our volunteers with various schedules and still provide quality training. Next we will look at ways to make sure that we maintain competency and proficiency while using these various methods.
Mike Zainfeld
WSFTSO, Board Member
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | To find out about the latest changes to the AFG application and Program Guidance, attend one of the many FY 2011 AFG application workshops that are currently underway. AFG regional representatives will be available to answer your application questions after the presentation.
If you have questions regarding the Assistance to Firefighters Grant opportunity, please contact our help desk at 1-866-274-0960 or at firegrants@dhs.gov | | Expires:
7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | Motivational guru Zig Ziglar ( www.zigziglar.com) has motivated and inspired millions of people to be better at whatever they do for a living. Zig's ideas about creating a sense of urgency are exemplified in his "Day Before Vacation" story. This technique can have a tremendous effect on your productivity! Think about your last day at work before you went on your most recent vacation. Didn't you get as much done in that day as you would normally get done in two, three, or even four days? (Be honest!) Look at what Zig says you did on the day before vacation.
On the night preceding the day before your vacation, you likely sat down with a piece of paper and listed all of the things that had to get finished the following day – your gottas (I gotta do this, and I gotta…") Then you committed that they'd all be done by the time you left the office the next day. Right?
On the morning of the day before your vacation, you arrived at the office on time – maybe even early. But you didn't head for the coffee machine. No, you went straight into the first gotta on your list. You likely also did things in a slightly different order from usual. You took the least favored, most distasteful task on your list and got it out of the way quickly, instead of having it hanging overhead all day long (the way you normally would!) With that tough one out of the way, you were feeling pretty good, and so you tore into the next task on your list, and the next one after that. If anyone came to chat about last night's game, you politely but firmly informed that person that you were just too busy – and got back to business.
As you completed each of your gottas, you felt your energy rising, so that by halfway through the day you were buzzing with a sense of accomplishment that drove your enthusiasm level ever higher, raising your mood and painting a smile on your face. Your obviously energized and enthusiastic demeanor infected your colleagues. They started to ramp up effort, to smile a little more, and they became similarly enthusiastic. The atmosphere in the office got a little extra spark, and this lifted you even further.
At the end of the day, you had all of your gottas completed. You were as high as if you'd been on high-octane caffeine, even if you hadn't had a drop all day! You felt good. Now, that's focus!
So what did you do that day to get so focused? Let's have a look.
First, You Created a Vision
"By the time I leave tomorrow, I'll have cleared my desk and put my affairs in order so that I am free to be away for two weeks."
When your vision gets knocked offline by events around you, you are like a $10 billion guided missile without a target. You can fly around in circles looking pretty impressive, but eventually you're going to run out of fuel and crash and burn. If your vision has been hammered by recent economic changes, get working on a new one – now! Take time to figure out what you really want for yourself, your family and your business. Get it clear in your head and paint this target in front of you every day.
Second, you Formulated a Set of Goals
…that would deliver your vision – your gottas. Having a great vision is useless unless you formulate clear, achievable goals to ensure that your vision becomes reality. You must plot a course to take you from where you are now to your target, with checkpoints that let you know when you go off course.
Third, You Made a Commitment
"I absolutely must get these tasks completed by the time I leave the office tomorrow."
This is the most common stumbling block that people tend to hit, even if they are accustomed to planning by creating compelling visions and formulating achievable goals. They fail to commit. If you've ever made a New Year's resolution you failed to complete, you know what happens to plans without commitment. If there's no commitment, the fault is most likely with your vision – it simply isn't compelling enough. Otherwise, the commitment naturally would follow. If you were fatally ill and had just one month to live, but could get a cure if you had $1 million more than your current total net worth, would you get the money? Of course you would. Or you'd kill yourself trying even before the month was out! You know that your vision is right when it has the same sense of urgency. A real commitment immediately gets you off the ground and in search of your target.
Before you spend one more day out of focus, stop and look carefully at your life. Be sure that your guidance mechanism has a clear target encoded into it, and that you've mapped a route to target that makes you want to take off right now. Get the Day-Before-Vacation feeling every day!
From the book 40 Strategies for Winning in Business by Bud Haney and Jim Sirbasku. © S&H Publishing Co.
Vicki Wilson, President of Willow Creek Consultants, helps organizations implement strategies that are guaranteed to ‘maximize workforce potential’. She can be contacted by phone (208) 762-8638 or email Vicki@willowcc.com.
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | Conference 2011, held in Spokane on May 2 - 4 was a great success. We had 57 full registrations and 6 one day registrations. Conference was held at the historic Davenport Hotel; the accommodations were beautiful and the service was excellent.
We were able to offer a two-track education program this year with Track 1 offering our Seminar Series which included Emergency Preparedness, HR Recordkeeping and Documentation; Personnel and Public Records, Archives, Bid Law, Wellness, and Microsoft Office- Access. And Stewart Ganser of Ganser Consulting once again held his annual User Group Meeting. For Track 2 we were pleased to be able to once again offer a course that can be applied to the Fire Service Management and Administration Degree Program. The course, Fire Service Management, was well received with 12 students attending. Anyone interested in learning more about the degree program can contact our Education Committee Coordinator Lisa Phillips at Lisa.Phillips@ci.bothell.wa.us.
A Big Appreciation to Enduris Insurance for their support to our organization; this year they assisted not only with financial support of our education program, but WFAS member Sue Cronk, employee of Enduris, was instrumental in the planning process of the education and networking opportunities at the conference. Also a huge thanks to Ganser Consulting, Bias Software, and Nicholson and Associates Insurance for their support this year. All of theses groups helped to make our conference a success. We appreciate your interest and support in our organization!
The election of open officer positions was held; members voted into position were Shannon Hill of Kittitas Valley Fire, Vice Chair; Terri Woods of Chelan County Fire District 9, Eastern Representative; Lisa Brengan of Mason County Fire District 4, Western Representative.
A program that is one of much importance was again a huge success - the Annual Raffle, where proceeds go toward the Grant Program, raised $1,035! Proceeds are used for Conference Scholarships, which enables fire service administrative personnel to attend our conferences that may not be able to due to budget cuts or other situations. We appreciate all of you that brought items to the conference for the raffle! And there were some great items!
We would like to thank all of the conference attendees for their participation and we hope that everyone had a great time and came home refreshed, educated, and filled with new ideas. We would also like to thank Mike Brown for his support and for taking the time to attend our banquet providing the Installation of Officers. We appreciate the support.
In 2012 we are heading for the Beach! At the Shilo Inn in beautiful Ocean Shores. A Survey will be coming out soon, asking for your input on Conference education, location, etc for the Board and Committees to consider for 2012 and future conferences. Please take the time to submit the survey, your input is an integral part of the planning process.
Thanks again, and if you have questions or need information regarding the Annual Conference, please contact me at kamaral@chelancountyfire.com or (509) 662-4734. | | Expires:
7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | On April 27th, 2011, a series of deadly tornados ripped through the state of Alabama. I had already been scheduled to visit there at the end of the month for a series of client visits. The scope of my trip suddenly changed from training to damage assessment and to see if there was anything we could do to help those departments affected. As I watched the news coverage of the damage, I had no idea what to pack for the trip, the media accounts almost made it look like the whole state of Alabama was in tough shape. Communications were limited with those involved and I remember telling several people, “I don’t know what to expect when I get there.”
Coming out of the clouds into Birmingham at 10,000 feet I got my first view of the landscape. Amazingly, it looked just like the last time I landed there and I saw the awesome views that I had remembered. At the airport I met several folks from the Red Cross, a few folks from FEMA, and Insurance Adjusters that were moving into the area. These were the first signs that anything was wrong. Arriving at the hotel, part of the awning was missing, only one of four local TV channels was on the air, and gen-erators could be heard throughout the neighborhood. There was not a rental car to be had, so a local fire chief and an agent agreed to pick me up and drag me around. On the way to the affected areas, we saw convoys of electric trucks, disaster recovery vehicles and military moving in. My guides told me horror stories of daring rescues, searching for victims, missing people, and children that were numbered because it was unknown who they were or where their relatives might be. All of this and yet the landscape looked unchanged other than a blue tarp on a roof and tree down here and there. As we rounded a corner, the road was blocked by state police and rifle carrying military. I had a feeling the view of the incident was about to change.
I have no words for what I saw next. Complete towns flattened, cars upside down, and empty concrete slabs where houses and businesses had stood just moments be-fore. We pulled into a make-shift tent firehouse that was serving as a local command post. Here I saw firefighters and EMT’s that looked like they were sleeping standing up, and yet they were still caring for the injured and even helping to supply dry clothes, basic hygiene items and cups of coffee to all those that were affected and the troops that moved in to help. Some of these responder’s firehouses and homes were gone as well and yet all they wanted to do was help others. I was at a loss, amidst all of this devastation the emergency services providers I was surrounded by were com-plete professionals who were faced with their own loss, yet continued to work count-less hours and welcomed everyone who crossed their path.
This same scene repeated itself for the next three days as we moved from town to town. One minute we were driving past well groomed lawns and kids playing baseball, the next we would be through another checkpoint and find towns that were com-pletely gone. It was the most destructive thing I have seen in my 20 years in the fire service. As I flew back out of Alabama, I tried to figure out what lessons I had learned on my trip. Chief Rubin often talks of making lemonade out of lemons. These were pretty rotten lemons that folks down there had been given, but I kept thinking of the warm thank-you’s and smiles they shared while I was there.
What would the appearance be next time there is an “issue” in your organization, what will the public see? Items such as sexual harassment, theft of funds, firefighter arson, staffing issues or infighting can have a long lasting effect on the image of your organization. Will the public see the 10,000 foot view where nothing looks wrong? Will they see the local view where it is evident that something is wrong but they really can’t see the true scope? Or will they see the view from the press that makes your organization look like it is in complete shambles?
How you respond and react to your “issue” will probably have a lot to do with how people from the outside react and re-member your organization in the future. I will always remember the new friends I made on my trip to Alabama and how they responded to an event that will far outweigh anything that will happen in most organizations across this country. I will remember how they rolled up their sleeves to help their community and their neighbors and how in the middle of that, they made an outsider like myself feel so warm and welcome, when they really had other things to worry about. I will remember that how the outside world sees our organization in the time of need (either natural disaster or our own internal inflicted damage) will most likely depend on how we handle it. I will remember these great folks from Alabama and try to live up to the example and level of professionalism that they have shown. We can only hope that when the next “event” hits our organization we can respond as well as they have.
By David Denniston Education and Training Manager , McNeil and Company, Inc. | | Expires:
7/1/2011 | | | | | 6/9/2011 | This year your Washington Fire Chiefs Golf Club held another successful golf event. The weather cooperated and we all enjoyed the day at Indian Canyon Golf Course in Spokane. The results were as follows:
1st Place with a score of 61 (Doerflinger, Cowan, Spice)
2nd Place with a score of 62 ( Russel, Ralston, Singson, MacIllvennie)
3rd Place with a score of 64 (Weis, McDaniel, Greg, Borders)
Finished but not First (Jahn, Scott, Tupper)
Closet to the hole winners: Al Church, Wayne Barnhart and ???
Longest Drive winner Shane Heston
We want to thank our sponsors:
Eagle Sponsors: CIAW/Canfield Insurance; Erven & Bong LLC; Rice-Fergus-Miller.
Birdie Sponsors: 1-800-BoardUp; EF Recovery; Provident; H&W Emergency Vehicles; MacIlvennie Assoc/VFIS; LEOFF Trust.
Par Sponsors: Wedbush Securities; SeaWestern; NW Burn Foundation; Systems Design; WHA Inc, Seattle Northwest Securities Corp; NW Safety Clean; Pro Golf Discount.
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7/1/2011 | | | | | 5/25/2011 | Memorial Day weekend has become synonymous with the beginning of summer by celebrating with barbecues, outdoor cooking and camping. The Office of the State Fire Marshal would like to remind everyone to be careful with any activity that could trigger a wildfire. “It doesn’t take much for a small fire to turn into a large blaze,” says State Fire Marshal Charles M. Duffy, “Knowing a few fire safety tips will help everyone have a fire safe holiday weekend.”
Campfire Safety
It is important to follow the campground rules for the use and extinguishment of campfires.
- Build campfires where they will not spread. A 5 to 10 foot circle around the fire should be cleared of all flammable materials and your tent should be at least 15 feet away.
- Keep campfires to a reasonable and manageable size, no larger than 3 feet x 3 feet – do not let them get out of hand.
- Thoroughly drown the fire, stir it and douse it again with water – do not leave a fire until it is OUT COLD.
Barbecue Safety
Always inspect your grill at the beginning of the season, checking all connections and supply hoses. Make sure the venturi tubes that deliver gas to the burner are not blocked.
- Do not overfill the propane tank. Always store tanks outside, in a well-ventilated area.
- Keep barbecue 5 to 10 feet away from your house or other flammable material. Never barbecue in enclosed areas as carbon monoxide could result.
- Do not add fluid to hot coals, the flame can flash back up into the container and explode.
- Dispose of hot coals properly, douse them with plenty of water and stir them to ensure that the fire is out. Never place them in plastic, paper or wooden containers.
General Fire Safety
Ensure children and pets are kept well away from fire. Teach your children to report any loose matches or lighters to an adult immediately.
- Make sure everyone knows to Stop, Drop and Roll in case a piece of clothing does catch fire. Call 911 if a burn warrants serious medical attention.
- Never leave your fire unattended and keep plenty of water nearby.
- Do not wear loose clothing while tending a fire and tie back long hair.
For additional fire safety tips and informational brochures visit the Office of the State Fire Marshal webpage at www.wsp.wa.gov/fire/firemars or the United States Fire Administration webpage at www.usfa.dhs.gov.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal is a Bureau of the Washington State Patrol, providing fire and life safety services to the citizens of Washington State including inspections of state licensed facilities, plan review of school construction projects, licensing of fire sprinkler contractors and pyrotechnic operators, training Washington State’s firefighters, and collecting emergency response data.
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/14/2011 | Washington State Fire Chiefs Officer Section
Is hosting a Mini Workshop
Dates: NE Grant Co #3 May14th/Nov5th
SE June/Oct
SW March/July
NW April/Sept
Cost: $5.00 pp or Two for the price of one
Pay at the door (includes membership in WFC)
Location: TBD in region above
Site Contact: TBD by site
Topics:
Competent to Confident
6 Common Human Relations Mistakes
Learn It Today and Use It Tomorrow / career track planning
Presented by: Members of WFC Officers Section. Information follows 4th Edition of Officer 1021 including Center for professional credentialing information.
Intent:
We intend to bring members meaningful education following the Officer 1021 guidelines. These short sessions will allow members to achieve Officer 1021 requirements on an on-going basis. | | Expires:
11/5/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 |
What we're referring to is the amount of weight lost by just ten people – Washington firefighters and spouses. In 2010, Dr. Randall Wilkinson and John Lehner of Live Well, along with Chief Wayne Senter of the Washington Fire Chiefs, worked to develop a beta program to test with 10 individuals from the community’s ranks - including some members of the Fire Rescue Wellness Corporation. The purpose of this demonstration program was to test and find a weight loss solution that worked well for firefighters across Washington.
 All of the participants in the test program, as established by the Fire Rescue Wellness Corporation, have either successfully completed the program or are well on their way to reaching their individual goals. The success rate of the Live Well demonstration program is 100% and none of the participants have dropped out. As a result of the beta program created by Live Well and the Fire Rescue Wellness Corporation, ten program participants have lost a total of over 400 pounds. On average, those participants lost 3.6 pounds per week over an average of 12 weeks. Some of the participants are very close to graduating from the program while others, who had higher weight loss goals, are still making progress. Many of you know Chief Senter has lost over 50 pounds on the program and if you ask him, he'll tell you that he "feels like a completely new man".
 As a result of the demonstration program tested by the ten participants, the Washington Fire Chiefs Association Wellness Committee has endorsed the Live Well program. This endorsement is a perfect example of the WFCA motto, "We Serve, Educate and Lead". The ten participants served in the test program in order to educate themselves on the ease and effectiveness of the program.
As a result of the positive outcome, they're now leading the rest of the Association by encouraging firefighters across the state to participate in the Live Well program.
Here are a few of the concepts that participants in the Live Well program can expect to learn:
- How to safely and constantly lose an average of 3 to 7 pounds per week.
- How to put your body into a continuous fat-burning mode that melts away pounds twenty-four-hours-a-day (yes, even when you are sleeping).
- How to be sure you’re losing fat and protecting your lean muscle mass.
- How to feel refreshed, energetic, and happy - even during very brisk weight loss.
- How to truly enjoy yourself without the persistent hunger associated with most diets. (See Dr. Mike Ciel’s explanation of the program)
 So, why is this program so successful? It's because the Live Well US program accomplishes a number of essential components in order to ensure weight loss and continued healthy eating for the future.
- Live Well is medically directed and therefore keeps meticulous records, which are available to our clients at all times.
- The program trains the body to burn fat as its major energy source. It is a proven fact that, if correctly done, the body can burn fat, protect the lean muscle and organ tissues, and control blood sugar levels within a very narrow range.
- The Live Well program helps level out the physiological imbalances within the body that lead to cravings that are literally impossible to overcome.
- Those cravings are a primary reason why 95% of all people who lose weight on other programs gain it back within a short time span.
- It allows clients to change their mental and psychological patterns and habits so that upon graduation, choices made are so different than they were before that their health profile is easily maintained.
- The Live Well program will help bring current risk factors into healthier ranges - such as Type II Diabetes, obesity (the #2 cause of early death in the US), blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and many more. (see article on metabolic syndrome X)
Live Well is a plan designed specifically for long-term health promotion and weight control. It's not a “diet” that leaves you with the “Now what?” question after the weight has been lost. (see FAQs)
If you'd like to learn more about the Live Well program and how to get started,please visit their website at LiveWellUS.com or call them directly at 1-888-538- 9628.
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 | With property values declining and public dollars shrinking, many fire departments are looking for ways to save money and still deliver superior service. Much of the discussion focuses on consolidation of fire services under regional fire authorities (RCW 52.26). An RFA can contribute to better service, most efficient management and overall cost-savings. However, a close look at regionalization and the use of the fire benefit charge reveals that one size cannot fit all.
All service areas share certain, common characteristics—but regionalization remains the exception rather than the rule. Why? Because for all they are alike, every service area has its own set of challenges. What makes regionalization work in one community may be absent in a neighboring city.
Benefit charges apply to personal property and improvements to real property, which have or will receive benefit from the services provided by a regional fire authority.
Benefit charges do not apply to such things as churches, growing crops and, most importantly, groups, associations, or agencies that have and maintain their own fire service.
So a service area with a significant number of churches is not going to receive either taxes or benefit charges for the protection of those structures. Rural districts, with vast areas of raw land, likewise may not receive an economic boost from benefit charges.
A proposed RFA that includes large industrial and commercial complexes or institutions required to maintain their own fire service, may need to completely rethink funding sources because those properties would likely be exempt from benefit charges.
What all this means, of course, is that you need to take a very careful look at every component of your funding and how it will be affected under a regional fire authority. As part of that effort, you need to consider whether voters will find the new funding mechanism palatable.
For a variety of policy reasons, service providers may opt not to impose benefit charges on personal property. In some instances, this could have the affect of shifting the burden of cost for fire protection onto the owners of improved real property.
If a proposed RFA crosses political boundaries it could have the effect of increasing costs on some but not all homeowners in the proposed service area. Or, if the RFA relies heavily on benefit charges—despite having a large number of exempt businesses or institutions—the burden of cost could shift dramatically onto single-family homeowners.
Once again, it all depends on the unique characteristics of the proposed service area.
All of this requires careful analysis and a close review of what your income sources will be and how those income source will affect the various property owners in your jurisdiction.
Everyone in government, including those in the fire service, is looking for the magic formula that will eliminate budgetary problems. Regionalization, and the use of the fire benefit charge, deserves consideration. But, as with every other tool, you need to know how it will actually work.
Close review and careful analysis of income sources, including the affect on various property owners in your jurisdiction, is essential because regionalization of fire service is not a one-size fits all proposition.
By: Kinnon W. Williams, Esq.
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 |
The requirement of the “Newborn Safety Act“ RCW 13.13.360, enacted to prevent the loss of the lives of newborns under the age of 72 hours has a requirement that all “safe places” post a sign by July 1, 2011 stating that this is a safe place to relinquish a baby. Your fire station and your trained personnel are safe places for these babies. No name, No blame, No shame.
Let me share a story: Her denial is shrouded in over-sized clothing, as in her confusion she tries to hide the fact. She is pregnant and frightened. Fearful to share her secret with her parents, or friends or anyone who could council and help her, she is alone. She approaches the event with no pre-natal care for herself or her baby and has no plan. Some women in this hopeless, emotional crisis see no way out and sometimes give into the temptation to abandon their newborn child in some convenient but inappropriate place. The public learns about it when the body of the newborn child is found in a mall bathroom or worse in a dumpster.
There is hope and help for these frightened women. All fully staffed fire stations, hospital emergency rooms or federally designated rural health clinics are designated as safe places for a newborn. Your fire chiefs association has drafted the protocol as a guide for you to use as well as signs to be posted by July 1, 2011. The signs are in English and Spanish, printed on sturdy aluminum and suitable for posting outside your front door.
Safe Place for Newborns of Washington, a non-profit organization, maintains the 24/7 crisis hotline number that is listed on the sign. 1-877-440-baby (2229) Safe Place has a speaker’s bureau, posters, brochures, and wallet cards for use in training your staff about the law and the requirements of you as firefighters.
The fire chief’s conference May 23-27 in Spokane is an excellent time to ask questions about the law and your role in implementing it at your station. Check at the registration table to see sample copies of the signs and pick up a brochure about the law and Safe Place. Signs are available for you to pick up in Everett, Spokane, Tri-cities, Cowlitz County, Quincy and the fire chief’s office in Olympia. Don’t wait as the deadline is fast approaching and it is vital that we get these signs posted for mothers in crisis and to save the lives of their newborns.
Michelle Walsh
Safe Place for Newborns of WA
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 | Many valuable lessons come from outside the classroom. Kaplan University students may be able to earn credit toward their degrees from the knowledge gained in their personal and professional lives. Portfolio Development is designed to familiarize students with the process and prepare them to petition for college credit for demonstratable college-level learning acquired through life, personal, and work experience. Benefits include:
- Students may apply prior learning credits toward up to 75% of their degree plan
- Experiential Learning credits may reduce the number of courses students need to complete to earn their degrees saving time and money.
Additional cost-savings benefits available also include:
- Up to 55% tuition reduction for military
- 10% non-military reduced rate through affiliations with WFC
(see: www.wfc.kaplan.edu)
- Up to $5400 Fire Science scholarship
- Online Fire Science degrees that closely follow the FESHE national curriculum model
Student Examples:
After submitting her portfolio for assessment, Carol Platt earned 24 credits, saving her more than $8,900 in tuition and 2 terms toward her degree.*
After completing EL 203 and submitting his portfolio for assessment, James earned 30 credits (five 6-credit courses), saving him more than $11,000 in tuition and several months toward his Bachelor of Science degree.*
After completing EL 203 and submitting her portfolio for assessment, Laura earned 34 credits (six 6-credit courses), saving more than $12, 600 in tuition and several months on her Bachelor of Science degree.*
Call 253-278-6184, Fax Back to 1-800-853-3810, or Email: aanderson@kaplan.edu to learn more about this program for yourself or your department.
Please include the following:
Name:
Department Name:
Best Contact #:
Best day and time to Contact:
Email address:
Zip code:
Seeking what level of degree (AAS, BS, MS):
Current Education Level:
Any prior or current military experience (Y/N):
Interested in helping your department, taking classes, or both?:
Additional Comments:
Forward this information on to anyone who you think may benefit from this program.
* Tuition savings calculated as 34 x $371.00=$12,614.00, 30x$371=$11,130.00, and 24x$371=$8,900.00. Figures are provided for illustrative purposes and are not a guarantee that students will earn any particular number of credits or achieve any particular savings. No experiential learning credits are guaranteed through this process. Graduate students are not eligible to submit experiential learning portfolios.
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 |
Treetop is hosting "America's Best Firehouse BBQ Cookoff" contest. The contest invites firehouses from around the country to submit their most delicious, mouth-watering BBQ recipe using Tree Top products for a chance to win a grand prize of $10,000 to go toward their station or to share with their favorite charity. The America’s Best Firehouse BBQ Cook-Off contest is live and runs through May 22.
- Submit your best BBQ recipe using Tree Top apple juice or apple sauce.
- Describe why your recipe is the best.
- Tell us a bit about your firehouse.
- Explain your plans for the $10,000 grand prize.
The top 10 finalists will be sent a video camera and gift package, and then will record a four minute video convincing America and the judges that their firehouse – and recipe – are the most deserving of the $10,000 grand prize.
We hope that you’ll share this contest with all of the firehouses you work with as we are hopeful the $10,000 grand prize can make a difference in your community.
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 |
The time is running short for people to register for this year’s Hazmat and Special Operations Conference. The Conference is taking place at the Coast Wenatchee Hotel June 23rd with the beginning of the Rope class and June 24th with the general conference. Keynote this year is Mr. Tom Wells from the National hazmat Fusion Center to discuss the role the Center plays in the hazmat family. We also have a presentation on Chemical Suicide, the return of Hazmat IQ, Mike Callan and a lot of new and exciting training.
If your Agency cannot support your attendance we are offering a special one day rate of $100 so you can at least get one good day of training. We will also provide you lunch and attendance to our fun-filled Vendor Night. Registration and further information can be reached on the State WFC’s website at http://www.wsafc.org/hazmat/default.aspx. If you have any questions, please call me at 360-596-3923 or email me at ron.bowen@wsp.wa.gov
We are in need of new membership on the Committee. This year we are having two senior members of the committee retire, two members stepping down because of work and other issues and I will not be running for Section Chair again. If you have liked the work the Committee and the Conference has accomplished in the past and want that effort to continue into the future, now is the time to come forward and sign up. The time commitment is not excessive and with your Agency’s support, you can continue the work that has been so successful. If you have any questions or are interested, please let me know
Ron Bowen
Chairman
Hazmat and Special Operations Section
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6/1/2011 | | | | | 5/12/2011 | According to the National Safety Council, June is National Safety Month and this may be a great time to prepare your organization to get involved and par-ticipate. Each week carries a different theme that brings attention to critical safety issues. In addition, June 19 – 25 has been designated Fire/EMS Safety Week by the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
As I write this, 31 firefighters have died in the line of duty thus far in 2011 ac-cording to the United States Fire Administration. If this trend continues about 95 will die before the end of the year, a tragic and unacceptable number. In addition, an untold number of Firefighters and EMS providers have been in-jured while making a difference in their community.
Sometimes, we all need to look at things from a different perspective. I think this may be an opportune time to do just that. Consider National Safety Month and Fire/EMS Safety Week as a time to make a difference to yourself, all of your loved ones and everyone who depends on you, by changing some habits.
The National Safety Council has divided the month into separately themed weeks which is an excellent idea. I’m certain that if you thought long and hard, you could come up with four areas which could make you safer in what you do. For instance, in week one, what if you buckled that seat belt every time you responded to an incident…hey, if you could do that, I’ll bet you could do it every time you got into a vehicle from now on. After you’ve done it for a week you may see that it’s no big deal… it’s easy…it didn’t interfere with your mis-sion, and now that you’re in the habit, you’ll keep right on doing it.
The second week is a great time to begin taking better care of you. How about some fruit instead of that ice cream and taking a walk instead of watching that TV show. When is the last time you had a physical? How about picking up the phone and making an appointment? It’s tragic that every year, the leading cause of line of duty death is heart attacks. Adding further to that tragedy is that in the majority of these cases, a simple physical would have uncovered the issue which could have been corrected before such a terrible event oc-curred.
Okay, week three and guess what? This is the 2011 Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week! This very impor-tant program, sponsored by the International Association of Fire Chiefs, has the theme, “Surviving the Fire Ground – Fire Fighter, Fire Officer & Command Preparedness.” The recommended activities and materials incor-porate the use of the IAFF Fire Ground survival Program which includes:
1) Preventing the Mayday
2) Being Ready for the Mayday
3) Self-Survival Procedures
4) Self-Survival Skills
5) Firefighter Expectations of Command
More information may be found at:
http://www.iafc.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=306
I guess that sets up some work for all of you during week three of the month.
As you move into week four, its time to think about protecting yourself when you are on the highway, whether during response, return or just driving to the station in your own car. The week’s theme is “On the Road, Off the Phone.”
There now, you’ve got some work to do in preparation for Safety Month. But the results could mean so many more first responders still around and making a difference for many safety months to come.
Oh, and since all of this worked so well in June, it will also work in July and August and into 2012 and 2013 and so on. Safety, just as fire prevention, doesn’t last for just a week or a month. It is a plan for life. So go ahead and make a difference you can live with.
By Bill Tricarico Director, Loss Control Services, Emergency Services Insurance Program | | Expires:
6/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | Arriving at your office one morning, you’re greeted by the fire district secretary holding a public records request from a citizen. The request, which seeks information about a recent project, includes all related emails from agency staff and appointed and elected officials.
As Chief, you know the Washington State Public Records Act (Chapter 42.56 RCW), which passed in 1972, requires “all public records and documents in state and local agencies available for public inspection and copying.” You also know the definition of a public record is quite broad (RCW 42.17.020).
What you don’t know is how to satisfy a public records request that includes email.
Do you treat all email—whether written by staff or officials—the same? What about email that is partly or even mostly personal in nature?
Under a number of recent decisions by Washington’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, personal emails in which public business is discussed are subject to disclosure under our open public records law. That applies across the board—to both staff and appointed and elected officials.
For example, let’s say a fire commissioner sends an email inviting you, the chief, and another commissioner to join him at a baseball game. “Hey, let’s catch a game. Really looking forward to seeing that new pitcher take the mound. I’ll drive. On the ride, remind me we need to talk about selection of an architect for the station expansion.”
Although largely personal in nature, the email does include mention of a public project and so should be considered a public record. (It should also be noted that the email might constitute a violation our state’s open meetings act.)
But what if there’s highly personal information contained in an email? Should you ignore the email? Should you redact the information?
Continuing with our example, imagine there’s a response from the second commissioner that includes his daughter’s unlisted home phone number? “Great. Will do. Pick me up at Bitsy’s, okay? If you get lost, call. Her number’s unlisted but I’ll trust you with it. It’s (555) 555-5555.”
What do you do?
In general, exemptions are narrowly construed under Washington’s law. Unless specifically identified by the Public Records Act, or other applicable federal and state laws, the information is most likely subject to disclosure.
Before you exclude an email or redact information, seek legal counsel. Your attorney will be able to determine whether the email should be included in your response or listed on an exemption log.
I encourage clients to ask questions early and often. Good communication is especially important when faced with a far reaching or complicated public records request. Local jurisdictions have spent tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars satisfying public records requests. In some cases, jurisdictions have paid hefty penalties for making avoidable mistakes.
In order to protect your department, start by doing the following:
1) Review your communication policy, in light of the Open Public Records Act.
Does your policy include a description of the state’s Open Public Records? Are communications protocols clear for all written communication, including email? Is there an established process for handling public records requests?
2) Review your records retention policy.
Make sure your policy is consistent with record keeping and disclosure requirements under the law. What is your system for identifying, organizing and archiving records, including email? Do you have a records custodian, or someone who helps the department maintain a retention schedule? Know how to properly dispose of records you do not need to keep – if you don’t know seek help from State Archives and your attorney.
3) Provide training to employees and public officials.
Staff should be trained in public records request procedures and records retention, including email retention. Similar training should be offered to your governing board.
4) Establish response protocols.
When a public records request is made, promptly notify all relevant personnel and elected officials of the request and their obligation to preserve the records. Under no circumstance should they purge their records.
5) Talk with your attorney.
How can you respond to the request in a timely manner? How can you verify compliance with the request on behalf of the agency? What is the cost of satisfying the request and who pays the bill?
Should you seek clarification from the requester?
The cost of responding can be staggering, even if well managed. The Association of Washington Cities, a non-profit organization, and the Washington Attorney General are pressing for legislative changes, including provisions for at least partial cost-recovery.
A big public records request can feel like hearing the tone for a 3-alarm fire, but just like pre-planning for fires, what you do now to prepare for public records requests will make a difference in the future.
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | New features – and a different “look and feel” for system administrators – are coming soon for Rapid Responder. All of the old features remain – you can still locate a floor plan, a picture, or an emergency plan with just a few clicks of the mouse. Here’s a brief summary of the changes:
Admin “look and feel” – the “Manage Data” menu choices used to be confined in a very small space at the bottom left of the admin site ( https://prodadmin.rapidresponder.com), so an admin user had to scroll down several times to find the item he or she was looking for. Now the menu choices fit neatly into a single screen, eliminating the need to scroll in most circumstances. Other administrative screens have been improved for easier use. Use of the Incident Command System functions for a “Non-Site” emergency – the most dramatic change for First Responders is that they can now create a secure and encrypted communication space for an emergency which is not tied to a specific school or critical infrastructure site. Once the emergency event (drill, exercise, or actual incident) has been created by one first responder, the initiator can invite other first responder agencies to view and participate in the secure features of the ICS tool. For example, the county emergency management agency could create a flood event, and invite the appropriate dispatch, law enforcement, one or more fire departments, perhaps a neighboring county’s EMD, and other first responder agencies to participate. Secure chat, interagency chronological logging, uploaded storage of and access to relevant FEMA forms (e.g., ICS 201, Incident Briefing), and other advanced features become immediately available to the participating agency users.
Improved Annotation of Aerials, Floor Plans, and Other Images – The annotation feature will now allow more intuitive creation of response plans between school (and other site) users and first responders. Simple text box-like annotations can now be added. Interactive features can be built in to an annotated image to take users directly to an image or a procedure associated with an icon on the image.
User Administration – Most users will be unaffected by this change, but those who are will appreciate it – it will no longer be necessary for certain users to have two or more usernames and passwords to perform different functions. For example, a school resource officer can have one password as a first responder to access any school in the county, and use the same access to assist school administration with keeping the information current.
More “Fire-Department-Friendly” Entries for Pre-Fire Plans – Improvements to meet the expressed needs of Fire Department Users for places to store pre-fire plans and the associated information are planned. Contact Bruce Kuennen if you have specific requests for this type of data. (See the “Need a place to store your Pre-Fire Plans” article in this newsletter.) Other Changes – A number of other improvements will be implemented in Version 6. As always, the user manuals which accompany the system will be revised and immediately available upon the release. Access them at https://prodadmin.rapidresponder.com, by clicking on “Help” in the upper right corner. Another issue of this newsletter will focus on these and other changes shortly after Version 6 “rolls”. A series of webinar training will also be announced at that time, for those who wish to become versed in the new features. Need a place to store your Pre-Fire Plans?
One that would be accessible to mutual aid partners in an emergency? WASPC is pleased to announce that the statewide mapping system, also known as Rapid Responder, is being upgraded to accept pre-fire plans in a variety of formats. An inexpensive pricing scheme has been developed to allow local fire departments to upload their pre-fire plans directly into Rapid Responder for instant access.
Prior to this announcement, access to and use of Rapid Responder has been free to first responders. There is no change to this policy for sites already mapped by WASPC. Fire departments may continue to upload their pre-fire plans to existing schools, critical infrastructure, and other public sites at no cost. However, the below pricing schemes allows fire departments to create new sites and buildings that will be maintained in the statewide system for access for appropriate first responders.
Tiered pricing, beginning at $40/year/building for new sites
Existing sites FREE
Min # of buildings Max # of buildings Per building Annually
1 25 $40 $1,000
26 100 $36 $3,600
101 200 $32 $6,400
201 300 $30 $9,000
301 400 $28 $11,200
401 500 $26 $13,000
501 600 $24 $14,400
601 700 $22 $15,400
701 800 $20 $16,000
Over 800 Unlimited $20 Calculation in
blocks of 100
Site limits will be determined in interlocal agreements between WASPC and the fire jurisdictions. WASPC will provide initial training and ongoing support to departments which choose this option. An icon in Rapid Responder will indicate that the site was created by a fire department.
This same pricing scheme will be made available to other governmental entities which seek to add sites and buildings to Rapid Responder. Examples may include state and local emergency management departments, law enforcement, and public health agencies.
“Full mapping” of new sites - where WASPC sends its contractor, Prepared Response, Inc. to take the pictures, facilitates a pre-planned tactical response, and performs all of the initial data entry - is still priced at 16 cents per square foot. Generally, this mapping has been supported by state appropriations or federal grant funding.
Selah School District uses Rapid Responder – and a BIG Table – in Tabletop Exercise
The Selah School District, in cooperation with the Yakima Valley Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and its first responders conducted a major tabletop exercise on March 10, 2011. In addition to the school personnel, Selah Fire Department, Selah Police Department, Yakima County Sheriff’s Office, ESD # 105, and the Yakima Training Center (U.S. Army) participated in the exercise.
The OEM provided a huge, 8 foot by 8 foot square aerial map of the city of Selah, including the three schools directly involved in the scenario. Participants moved matchbox style police cars, fire trucks, and other props around the table to represent resources deployed to respond. They also wrote key information on the acetate overlay to indicate, for example, road barriers and lockdown status.
Participants were not briefed on the scenario in advance; they were given individual injects as the scenario unfolded. The primary incident involved the taking of hostages at one of the schools; other injects required participants to react to parents and the media. The final activity was a mock press conference.
The fire department and the police responders referred to Rapid Responder at several key points in the scenario. They gained familiarity with the third floor of the school where the hostages were held. They referred to the pre-planned tactical response for several key perimeter and staging decisions. When the intruder told responders that he had planted a bomb, the incident command accessed the “Display Plot” bomb standoff tool in Rapid Responder, and determined that many of the staging areas had to be moved farther away from the school.
The exercise was developed by a planning team led by the OEM. The Situation Manual followed the guidance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP). For further information, please contact OEM Director Jim Hall at 509.574.1904, jim.hall@co.yakima.wa.us, or Superintendent Steve Chestnut, 509.697.0702, stevechestnut@selah.k12.wa.us. | | Expires:
5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | The Washington Fire Chief’s has entered into a strategic partnership with Emergency Services Consulting International (ESCI) that will provide significant benefit to member agencies and the association itself. ESCI is a premier firm providing specialized, high quality, fire, EMS, and communications consulting services to organizations throughout the United States and Canada.
The benefits of this partnership include:
• When responding to a public or non-public RFP issued by a WFC member-employer in good standing, ESCI has agreed to reduce its usual and customary proposed consulting fees by 5%.
• In addition, ESCI will provide to the WFC a 3% finder’s fee for any non-public RFP-based project ESCI is awarded by a WFC member-employer in good standing.
• Mutual exposure and marketing of both entities for business and membership enhancement.
ESCI has been meeting the needs of emergency services agencies since 1976 and is considered by many to be the nation’s leader in emergency services consulting. ESCI’s Corporate Office is in Wilsonville, Oregon, with regional offices in North Carolina and the nation’s capital. Jack Snook is President and Chief Operating Officer of the firm.
ESCI provides consulting and facilitation for such projects as:
Strategic Planning & Master Planning
9-1-1 Communication Evaluation
Executive Search/Assessment Center
Fire Department Evaluation
EMS Evaluation
Cooperative Effort/RFA/Merger Feasibility
Staffing/Training Analysis
Standards of Cover/Deployment Study
ESCI provides numerous other customized studies at the client’s request.
A new pilot program has been implemented in 2011 called Administrative Support Plus. This new program provides a form of retainer services to agencies needing flexibility or a variety of services. Administrative staffs are being reduced or stretched to the limits across the state. ESCI can provide “just in time” support for your administrative needs. The program provides three key deliverables in a project format, such as a Strategic Plan, a Deployment Analysis, and an Annual Report, plus 4 hours of consulting services per month as the client chooses for a year for a flat monthly fee.
For additional information about this exciting strategic partnership, call Mike Brown, Executive Director for the WFC at 360-352-0161. To learn more about ESCI, visit their website at www.esci.us. | | Expires:
5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | Everyone has an “off” day. Hopefully it doesn’t last too long. If it persists, the bad day turns into a “rut,” and that’s a problem. In sports, it’s called a slump. In the stock market, it’s either a flat or downward trend.
Whatever you call it, it’s not good.
It’s so difficult to replace experienced workers, especially those who are seasoned or specialized in what they do. So don’t give up on them too quickly. Find out what’s going on and try to fix it.
Most managers aren’t doctors or psychologists, but there are steps that anyone can follow to try to diagnose the cause of an underperforming employee. Once you know the problem, you can begin to help them recover.
I would guess that many underperforming employees aren’t consciously slacking off and could be just as baffled by their downturn in production. Examine what has changed: The skills necessary for the job? A new boss or coworker? New goals? Or perhaps nothing has changed and the employee is no longer challenged by doing the same job day after day.
If you show your employees that they are valued and that you and the organization care about them, that is a vital step towards motivating them back to their usual productive selves.
Depending on the issue, the turnaround may take time – think of a large freighter on the ocean making a slow but steady turn – but work with the employee to set goals and milestones to monitor improvement. But it’s also important to remember that nothing is forever. If you and the employee have legitimately tried to correct the situation with insufficient improvement, perhaps it’s time to amicably part ways.
It’s unrealistic to expect that everyone has a perfect day every day. Bad days will happen, but coach your managers to watch for the slumps, and to know what to do to help the employee get back on track.
Vicki Wilson, President of Willow Creek Consultants (www.willowcc.com), helps organizations implement strategies that are guaranteed to improve productivity. She can be contacted by phone (208) 762-8638 or email Vicki@willowcc.com.
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | Grant County Fire District #3 (GCFD#3), whose main station is located in Quincy, WA, serves a district of 504 square miles, with 18 miles of the I-90 corridor, two large resorts on the Columbia River, and The Gorge Amphitheatre within it’s boundaries. A combination department with 6 career and 80 volunteer firefighters, GCFD3 is always looking for a better way to serve the public with the available manpower.
Beginning with two rooms at its Crescent Bar station, GCFD#3 has been developing a resident program that has now grown to three stations, two of which are only three years old or newer, with a total of 14 rooms. The primary intent of the resident program is not only to provide better customer service, but also to provide a positive experience, opportunity and training to young men or women interested in a career in the fire service. Residents come to the program with little or no experience and are provided training up to the Firefighter 1 / EMT level within their first year of residency.
Resident firefighters live within one of GCFD#3’s facilities and must make it their primary place of residence. They are provided with protective clothing, living accommodations, internet, television, laundry and basic necessities to live at their station. Residents pull a minimum of two night shifts per week, along with one weekend a month. A small amount is paid for shifts worked, along with a food stipend each month. They are encouraged to find outside employment, or be a secondary education student.
The resident experience provides an opportunity for growth and interpersonal dynamics not afforded in many other settings. It can be a challenge to learn to live and work with others in this setting, but the benefits of the education, skills and call response is invaluable to these young people serious about firefighting as a career choice.
For more information on GCFD#3’s resident program, contact:
Grant County Fire District #3
P.O. Box 565
Quincy WA 98848
(509) 787-2713
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | Has your department been successful in becoming more diverse and inclusive? Have you developed creative programs to reach out to different multicultural communities to increase your community risk reduction efforts? If so, the Washington Fire Chiefs and nonprofit FIRE 20/20 want to hear about it. FIRE 20/20 has established the Tony Pini Fire Service Diversity & Inclusion Awards.
The awards are the first in the 275 years of the fire service that recognize departments for diversity and inclusion initiatives. Partners include: International Association of Black Professional Fire Fighters (IABPFF), International Association of Women in Fire and Emergency Services (iWomen), National Association of Hispanic Firefighters (NAHF), National Native American Fire Chiefs Association (NNAFCA), National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), Volunteer Chief Officers Section (VCOS), and the Human Relations Committee of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.
The award recipients—two career and two volunteer departments—will be honored at the Diversity Breakfast at the Fire Rescue International Conference (FRI) on August 25, 2011. Lion is the Founding Sponsor and IAFC is serving as the Host Sponsor.
The nomination period will close on April 30th. An online nomination form, the selection criteria and examples of programs are available at www.fire2020.org. One member from each of the four winning departments will receive roundtrip airfare to Atlanta with one night hotel, and a custom etched plaque for their department.
“Retired Santa Rosa Fire Chief Toni Pini was a lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the fire Service,” explains Larry Sagen, Executive Director of FIRE 20/20. “He was a founder and an active member of the IAFC’s Human Relations Committee, a member of the IAFC Ethics Task Force, and was a chair of the California Fire Chiefs’ Cultural Diversity Committee. And on a personal level, as a founding member of FIRE 20/20 Board of Directors, he was a great mentor.’’
“This is an opportunity for Washington Departments to nominate and acknowledge some of the great things we’ve accomplished in our state,” said Chief Al Church, South King Fire and Rescue and President of the Washington Fire Chiefs.
For more information about the Tony Pini Fire Service Diversity & Inclusion Awards, contact Odessa Kawai at FIRE 20/20 at (360) 627-8663 or by email at ff@fire2020.org.
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 |
“Our world has changed”, “This is the new normal”, “Doing more with less” “Doing less with less”, “We have to change how we do business”.
Statements like these have become part of our daily conversations around the firehouse, you may ask, and what do they really mean?
Well not to state the obvious, but I will, it all relates to the reduction of funding secondary to the drop in the economy. That is the simple version; If your department that has been able to withstand decreases in funding, good for you.
If your training budget has been spared even better, I would guess like most of us you have tightened your belts, regrouped with a new training plan and If not you better. How do I do that you ask; well I can offer some suggestions and I will provide you with some links you can checkout to see what the rest of the world is doing.
First: You must keep in mind Safety Is Number One For Our Members, while delivering highly skilled professional service to our citizens is paramount regardless of the makeup of your department.
Second: Meet with the operations side of the house and determine what if any strategies or tactics are going to change for the delivery of service (Fire & EMS). Remember you are not released from the liability of mandated training just because you have less in your budget.
Third: Take the opportunity to look inside and perform a S.W.O.T Analysis, asking “What are Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Trends”.
How efficient is the delivery of your training? Do you have the ability to continue to deliver the way you have always done? Or is there a better way? There may be some computer based training that does not require everyone getting together, EMS, On-line safety training and so on. I agree there is no substitute for “H.O.T” hands on training and quality face time with the crews, so maximize your time when you are together.
Do you have an opportunity to train with a neighboring department? This may help reduce the cost of instructors, training sites, logistical support and offers cost sharing.
If you Google “fire department training more with less” you will find a number of articles with a variety of ideas of what other organizations are doing. Take a look, you will find that a lot of the ideas and trends are the same, so why not work a little closer with your departments next door.
I don’t have all the answers nor would I pretend too, times are tough all over, together we will get through them.
Take Care & Be Safe,
Vic Pennington, Vice Chair
Washington State Fire Training & Safety Officers
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 4/18/2011 | A couple of years ago while attending the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis; Cathy Hedrick from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) gave me a black wristband with the NFFF logo and the words “Everyone Goes Home” on it. It was kind of cool and it seemed appropriate at the moment to put it on. After all I was with some of the top safety people and educators in the world and maybe it would help me fit into the group assembled for the conference. It is always easy to do something when it is the norm and well accepted by the “group”. Little did I know at the time just how much I would learn about safety from a simple black band. I will share a few of the lessons I continue to learn and have been driven home by the basic wristband.
Safety does not have to cost much. I own several articles of clothing which bear the “Everyone Goes Home” logo. There are the job shirts, several golf shirts, T-shirts, the dress shirts, and countless other items stuffed in my drawers at home. My wife often quips I do not own many articles of clothing without some sort of fire or EMS logo. I paid good money for some of those items (please do not tell her how much). But, the one item which reminds me daily of safety, the black wristband, did not cost me a dime. Safety is exactly the same way. We buy a ton of expensive items to make our jobs safer, but often times it is the simple basic safety items that make the most difference. Remember, a safety “attitude” does not cost us anything.
Safety is not always “cool”. The first wrist bands I remember are the Lance Armstrong “LIVESTRONG” yellow bands supporting the foundation to help cancer patients. I cannot think of anyone who frowned upon wearing those bands when they first came out. Since, however, colored wristbands are everywhere. I know people now look at me and wonder if the band I am wearing supports anything of value, or is just something I bought from the local junior high volleyball team to support their Disney World trip. I accept the fact most people will never know what my wristband logo says, just like most people will never accept why I do many of the things I do on the emergency scene. For example, walking into a crowded grocery store in my full turnouts when the alarm has gone off and everyone else just looks at me funny. Bottom line, I really do not care if it is cool or not, I know it is the right thing to do.
Safety does not always have to look good. I had a friend once say, “dude you wear a designer watch, fancy titanium bracelet, a gold past chiefs ring, a diamond chip wedding band, and that fifty cent rubber wristband.” A past chief of mine used to always say, “Half the job is looking good.” What we really need to understand is safety does not always look good. Sure, our big red truck with its thousands of dollars of lights and three sirens “looks impressive” while blowing the intersection of a red light, but it is not always looking good that counts the most. I now understand the chief did not really mean we just “looked good”. What he really meant, we take pride and ownership in what we do. Do not let appearances alone dictate what safety items you do and do not decide to follow.
Safety does not always feel good. I cannot tell you how many times my arm hairs have gotten twisted between my NFFF band and the other metal bracelet I wear. A few times I have ripped the band off when it happened and thought it was crazy to wear when it caused such discomfort. After I calm down I always realize the message, just like safety, it is far more important than the slight inconvenience it sometimes causes.
Safety is not always easy. Often I have walked out of the house only to realize I left my band upstairs on the nightstand. My immediate thought, “it is not worth going back to get it, I will just remember it next time.” Safety is much the same way. How easy is it to say, “I do not need the seatbelt on this trip, I will just wear it next time.” Do you know when you will have the accident and where the seatbelt will save your life? Safety cannot be a choice. We need it all the time, every day.
Safety that is broken must be replaced. Twice now I have broken my black wristband. Each time it has taken effort on my part to get it replaced as soon as possible. Safety items are the same way. It would be easy to just say, “has it really mattered?” or “do we really need it anyway?” The answer has to be a resounding “yes”. When a safety item breaks or is outdated do not just let it go by the way side, replace or fix it as soon as possible.
I am sure there are many more lessons I will learn from my NFFF Everyone Goes Home wristband. It is a daily reminder to me of the importance and need of our mission to teach firefighter safety, and to “live” what we teach. Safety may not have to be expensive, be cool, look good, feel good, or be easy to be important. Safety does however need to be fixed when it is broken, and evaluated on a regular basis to be sure it is working. Safety can be very simple, put it on, and wear it proudly every day. I would rather put a simple black band on my wrist every day and live for what it stands, than put a black band around my badge and mourn another loss for which we must suffer.
By Dave Denniston
Training and Education Manager
Emergency Services Insurance Program
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5/1/2011 | | | | | 3/23/2011 | Are you looking to recruit and retain a more qualified, diverse, inclusive and safety-conscious workforce, and you haven’t had success in recruiting women? Here are some things to consider when recruiting women for your department. [Special thanks to Chief Ruth Obadal, Fire Chief (Ret.), Puyallup Fire and Rescue, for helping us compile this tip sheet.]
- First of all, women are not so different from men in terms of what entices them to become firefighters or even what makes good firefighters. There is a range of abilities and interests among women as well as men, and lumping them all together—or stereotyping—does everyone a disservice. Still, there are good reasons to hire women and a targeted recruitment can be useful.
- Emphasize the reason you’re recruiting women. It’s not just about numbers. Women add value to your department. A variety of life experiences and approaches to problem solving, caring, compassion, safety, training and service will make you more adaptive and effective.
- Identify and remove barriers to hiring women. Are station facilities available to accommodate both genders? Watch your language. When women hear only about “firemen” and “the guys,” they may feel unwelcome and excluded.
- Develop, implement and enforce a zero tolerance policy regarding harassment. The chief and command staff need to commit in policy and practice, and make it clear throughout the ranks that it will be enforced. No one wants to work in a hostile environment, and the ‘boys will be boys’ excuse is an expensive ticket to court.
- Community outreach is key to recruitment success. Map your community to identify organizations and contacts who will help with recruitment. Develop a PR strategy and a targeted message. If you don’t have women in your department, reach out to a neighboring department.
- Use your existing workforce as recruiters. Even if they are all men, they certainly know women who might be interested and could be successful as firefighters. ‘Word of mouth’ is a significant tool in successful recruitment.
- “First and only can be lonely!” Very few people are comfortable or confident when they’re treated as an outsider. Hiring a token woman or asking one woman to be your poster child for recruitment is a recipe for failure. The pressure on her to be perfect and to represent all women is not fair to her or to the organization.
- If you have no women in your department, consider opening lateral transfers first. Their previous experience can give them a boost in knowing the job and being accepted in your department.
- Monitor, measure and celebrate how your department is becoming a better place for everyone. And keep trying. Change in workforce demographics does not happen overnight.
Thanks to Vision 20/20 for the wonderful article. View the original version here: http://fire2020.org/2011/03/tip-sheet-recruiting-and-retaining-women-firefighters/ | | Expires:
4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/22/2011 | Named in honor of the late Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Pini, a lifelong advocate for diversity and inclusion in the Fire Service, the first annual Tony Pini Awards will honor fire departments that are working to build and nourish a diverse, inclusive culture, and that foster proactive relationships with their multicultural communities.
Two career and two volunteer departments will be presented with the Tony Pini Awards during a special breakfast event at the International Association of Fire Chiefs Conference (FRI) on August 25, 2011.
Go to the nomination form at: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/470941/Tony-Pini-Diversity-Inclusion-Awards
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | As someone who stands outside and watches others enter burning buildings, I frequently review in my mind the actions to take when, and if, the Mayday is called. From deploying the RIT team to requesting another fireground frequency and additional units, the scene develops rapidly. My department (Spokane Valley FD) trains frequently for this situation and our personnel are well versed in locating, assisting, and removing lost and trapped firefighters. But, as our RIT team enters, what should they expect to find, i.e. what are our lost or trapped firefighters doing to save themselves? In order to fully understand the strategies that our personnel use to save themselves, the SVFD training and safety division implemented a baseline evaluation process. In addition to identifying current practices, the evaluation process also suggested areas for future, focused training.
The SVFD evaluation was modeled on the “Project Impact” firefighter survival test undertaken by the Savannah (GA) Fire & Emergency Services. We named our exercise “Project Alive” (to thwart any web searches if the name leaked) and identified that our objective was to isolate individual firefighters in a stressful situation and to capture the behaviors exhibited. Since the focus of this exercise was on gaining an accurate picture of the department’s performance as a whole (as opposed to individual performance), a tracking system was developed that allowed each member to see their own results but ensured that their overall anonymity. We believe that stressing the non-punitive and anonymous nature of the evaluation helped to maintain its integrity over the three day process; data gathered from day three appeared just as valid as that from the first day.
As each crew arrived at the training site, the company officer was given the assignment of advancing a hoseline into a large commercial occupancy in support of a crew that was investigating smoke in the building. The crews were asked to report to the interior staging area with all appropriate tools and equipment for the given assignment. As each firefighter was prepped to begin the drill, SCBA masks were covered and bottles were replaced to ensure that each participant started with roughly the same amount of air (1600 psi with a high-pressure system). Though batteries were removed from radios to ensure that live communications were not transmitted, participants were told to use their radios as they normally would. Each firefighter was then led into the large evaluation room, disoriented, and left in a corner.
Participants were told that, as they were advancing the backup line in relatively clear conditions, they had come off the line to search an area. While off the line, conditions in the building changed, there was now no visibility. The firefighter or officer was now alone and separated from the rest of the company. The stop-watch was started and no further communication was made with the participant other than to tell them their air level (if they checked and successfully activate the light on their SCBA display). A call for help on the radio was met with silence, i.e. members had no idea if help was coming or not.
Two evaluators observed each participant and recorded their observations on a preprinted form that identified such behaviors as calling the Mayday, searching for a wall, following a hoseline, and using tools or debris to make noise, etc. The form also included a space to record the elapsed time when and if each behavior was observed. At the conclusion of the exercise participants were thanked for their efforts and sent on their way. Many were puzzled by the lack of immediate feedback but, given the need to keep the test site consistent for each of the forty daily participants, time constraints prevented reviewing performance with each to each individual. After tabulation, results were presented to the department in a format that allowed individuals to look up their own performance using their randomly assigned numbers. Companies were also called to the training center to review the cumulative results and discuss what the training and safety division identified as “best practices.”
Our observation of firefighter performance on this evaluation led to some insights that will help guide future survival training, a few of which follow. First, calling a Mayday was not universal. On average, it took 49 seconds for the mayday call to be made, but 17 participants (out of 121) never made the call and many others were delayed in calling. Second, only 47 percent of the participants activated their P.A.S.S. alarm. As long as everyone on scene understands that alarm activations are immediate action items, the P.A.S.S. alarm can rapidly signal a firefighter in trouble even when radio communication fails. A best practice that we observed was firefighters turning the alarm off to attempt radio communication followed by an immediate alarm reactivation.
One interesting observation involved the use of the emergency button on the top of our Motorola radios. Only 14 participants (12%) used the emergency button, a fact we attributed to the training that accompanied our first generation of radios with the buttons. It went something like this, “This is the emergency button, don’t push it unless you need to.” Most participants have never pushed the button or even seen it pushed. Firefighters will not typically perform an action in a stressful situation if they have not first practiced that action in a safer environment.
Through the observation of each participating individual, this evaluation enabled our training and safety division to develop a broad understanding of department’s current performance level, including strengths and weaknesses. From this understanding we will tailor our training program to focus on the weak areas (while still reinforcing the strong areas). Hopefully, you will never find yourself standing in front of a building asking the question, “Are they coming out?” If you are in that terrible situation, the focused training that follows a Project Alive style skills evaluation may help ensure that your answer is “Yes!”
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | The Fire Protection Bureau (State Fire Marshal’s Office) continues to move ahead on a number of fronts.
Fire Training AcademyBurn Building: The majority of the Burn Building is open for live fire training. Live fire training continues to be delivered inside the building using the Warehouse, “little room” (adjacent to the warehouse), and 3rd floor of the tower. The only closed areas are the tower’s 4th, 5th, and 6th floors. A complete structural analysis of the building is being completed at this time. We expect to have the results by end of April, which will guide the decision on repair or replacement. I will be sending out more information at that time. Please call Phil Cane or Howard Scartozzi if you have any concerns regarding the building’s availability for live fire training. They can be reached at (425) 430-3000. SCBA Building:Construction of the much delayed SCBA Building is moving forward. The concrete pad for the building was poured several years ago but the metal building was not erected. After nine months of effort, a contract has been approved to have the outside structure completed using available funds. The estimated completion date is June 30, 2011. The inside of the building (electrical, plumbing, etc.) will be done when more funds are available. This includes moving the SCBA compressor out of the Burn Building. We do not have a completion date for this second phase. New InstructorsThere are two open instructor positions (Deputy State Fire Marshal’s) at the FTA. We expect to announce who has been selected for one of the positions in the next few weeks. The announcement for the second position job will be made in about three months. (Note: nothing is quick in the state’s hiring process). Decentralized Training (Operation Support 2.0) It appears that the first request will be coming from the Skagit County Fire Training Officers. Phil Cane (FTA Administrator) is looking forward to receiving a request from the Inland Empire. IFSACReaccreditation: The IFSAC site visit is scheduled for March 22nd to 24th. Congratulations to Spokane Fire Department for the successful re-accreditation of their IFSAC “sub-entity” status! New Personnel: The IFSAC/Fire Mobe section will be whole again in the very near future. The new Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal is Bill Slosson, who comes to us from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Bill has wildland fire experience with DNR and he is a volunteer fire fighter for the Lacey Fire Department. Melissa Gannie, currently a Deputy State Fire Marshal with the NFIRS program, will move over to the section once the program is terminated by the Legislature. Melissa brings a wealth of knowledge, intelligence, and customer service skills. Lysandra Rittenbach will be the OA3 and she joins us from Washington State University. The only section member with previous experience in IFSAC is Barbara Gagner, who will continue in her current position as a Deputy State Fire Marshal. Fire MobeDan Johnson will remain the Fire Mobe team leader until Bill Slosson is trained, which will take at least one fire season. Once Bill’s training is complete, he and Dan will share the leadership by alternating duty periods throughout the fire seasons. Sue Carr is leaving the Fire Protection Bureau effective March 8th for a position as a manager for the University of Washington Police Department. We will miss her contributions. Hopefully, we can replace her before the start of the fire season. Esther Hernandez will continue to in her current role with Fire Mobe. Sue’s departure will keep Esther very busy this summer. I intend to join you for your May 5th meeting. In the meantime, please contact me if you have any questions. I can be reached at (360) 596-3901 or chuck.duffy@wsp.wa.gov
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | There has been a lot of activity in WSAFM’s fire prevention efforts across the State recently. The Fire Team USA event in Kirkland last month was a huge success! The class was filled with a wide range of jurisdictions and a wide variety of audience members including elected officials, city managers and building officials. The weather cooperated for the live burn and sprinkler demonstration. Many thanks to Fire Team USA for making a return visit to Washington, to the Washington Sprinkler Coalition and the Washington Public Fire Educators for their assistance, as well as to the Kirkland Fire Department.
Please add Kenmore to the growing list of jurisdictions who have adopted a residential sprinkler ordinance. Beginning January 1, 2012, all new residences in Kenmore will require fire sprinklers! We are also carefully monitoring and testifying in favor of the Sprinkler Barrier Bill in the State Legislature and hope it will continue in the process.
As WSAFM begins to wrap up its current Integrated Risk Management grant, we have already started looking towards the future. We have applied for two additional projects in the latest Fire Prevention & Safety grant process. We hope to continue the Integrated Risk Management program utilizing selected jurisdictions in Washington State. In addition, we are seeking to launch a public campaign on residential fire sprinklers. We are optimistic, given our success in our current grant, that WSAFM will be given the opportunity to continue to build upon our ongoing grant work.
By: Jared Moravec, President
Washington State Association of Fire Marshals
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | We are excited to announce an alliance with Kaplan University that enables members, fire employees and their immediate family members to pursue their degrees online with a 10% tuition discount.
Kaplan University offers online classes designed to fit your work schedule. And, as part of our partnership with Washington Fire Chiefs, you and your immediate family receive the following benefits:
- 10% percent tuition reduction on all programs, including certificates *
- Textbooks included in the cost of tuition for undergraduate programs†
- You could receive credit for firefighter training and other work/life experience‡
- Scholarship programs available-i.e., Kaplan’s $5400 Fire Science scholarship for those with at least 1 year experience (towards undergrad programs)
- Significant tuition reductions for Veterans-38%, Active Duty, and Reservists-55% (towards undergrad programs)
An accredited university, we offer more than 125 degrees and programs designed to encourage and enhance the talents of our students. Fire degree programs Include: Associates in Fire Science, Bachelors in Fire Science, Bachelors in Fire Science/Emergency Management, Masters in Public Administration, Masters in Fire and Emergency Services. The online courses closely follow the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) national curriculum model. Programs are comprehensive and the online flexibility is ideal for individuals in the fire science and emergency management fields who may work inconsistent hours.
Kaplan University could help you develop the knowledge and skills to enrich your professional life and take on new challenges.
Get started now. Click here to learn more or call 866.583.4416 or contact Aaron at 253.278.6184 or aanderson@kaplan.edu
INVEST IN YOUR TALENT. WE WILL INVEST IN YOU.
*To ensure tuition reductions, you must contact Aaron Anderson, or visit the following website and complete the form on the right-hand side: www.wfc.kaplan.edu
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | Three Washington fire stations are receiving a little help from their friends at California Casualty.
Washington fire fighters who called California Casualty to get an auto insurance quote this winter, were automatically entered into the “Help Your Fire Station” drawing to win $500 for station supplies and equipment. The lucky winners were:
- Darren Deibler, City of Camas, Station #41
- Kirk Gomez, Snohomish County Fire District #4
- Jose Zamora, Toppenish Fire Station
Darren said the money will be used in one of three ways: to paint the front of the fire station, put funds toward a new training trailer, or buy a new alarm bell system. Kirk wants to buy new workout equipment for the department, and Chief Collins agreed that would be a good use of the funds.
“Our fire stations are being impacted by reduced state budgets. We understand this. Our field reps are in fire stations every day, and the Help Your Fire Station sponsorship was one way for us to help our public safety friends”, said Doug Goldberg, Sr. Vice President at California Casualty.
California Casualty has been protecting America’s firefighters for nearly 40 years, by providing group auto and home insurance through association partnerships like the Washington Fire Chiefs and Washington State Fire Fighters’ Association.
For more information about California Casualty or to get a quote, call 1-866-680-5142 or visit www.calcas.com.
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | Like most other employers today, fire departments are exposed to constant privacy threats as a result of Internet use. Administrative operations can be interrupted, employee privacy compromised and valuable information lost as a result of data mining, electronic viruses, hackers—or even the absence of a clear policy on employee email.
Email is now the most widely used method of workplace communication worldwide, and the inadvertent disclosure of emails is a common problem. I’ve counseled the agencies I represent to amend their email protocols to include an electronic privacy notice on all outgoing email—including original and reply messages. The easiest way to do that is to include the notice as part of your email signature.
Here’s an example:
Electronic Privacy Notice: This e-mail, and any attachments, contains information that is, or may be, covered by electronic communications privacy laws and is confidential and proprietary in nature. If you are not the intended recipient, please be advised that you are legally prohibited from retaining, using, copying, distributing, or otherwise disclosing this information in any manner. Instead, please reply to the sender that you have received this communication in error and then immediately delete it. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Regardless of the size of your agency, it is important to safeguard your emails with an electronic privacy notice. While not perfect, an electronic privacy notice will provide your department with some essential protection.
With electronic communications and social media rapidly expanding, there is no question but the risks to privacy are also increasing. Each and every department should have policies in place addressing employee email protocols, use of the Internet and social networking sites. Like other policies these should be reviewed and updated annually, and included as part of regular employee training.
Kinnon W. Williams, Esq.
Managing Partner, Williams & Williams PSC
(425) 486-8138 kww@williamspsc.com | | Expires:
4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | Finally after 20 years of trying, fire officials have been successful in getting residential fire sprinkler requirements into the body of the 2009 International Residential Code. This decision has most impacted Washington state in that It removed a road block requirement that adoption of a residential sprinkler ordinance by any jurisdiction be first approved by the building industry controlled State Building Codes Council, (SBCC).
Yet, why have only a few jurisdictions adopted ordinances requiring new single family residences in the future be provided with residential fire sprinklers?. Here are four key challenges I believe still remain that are restricting universal public code adoption
Challenge 1, "Water Purveyors"
Many water purveyors assess "connection fees" and/or "standby fees" that far exceed the total cost of the system being installed. The catch all justification for these fees is "system development". The rational for such exorbitant charges is that these systems require more water, rather than the exact opposite, far less. One state however, (Kentucky) has passed legislation setting limits that water purveyors could assess for residential sprinkler system connection fees. Expensive back flow preventors are also required on residential fire systems. These devices are required to be tested annually by a licensed back flow tester even though no one has given evidence that water in a plastic sprinkler system could ever become toxic.
The Dept. of Health, Clean Water Division, in Washington State waives that requirement if the residential system has a soft seat check valve installed, and the system provides the only source of water to the main toilet.
Challenge 2, The "Sprinkler Industry"
The State of Washington allows homeowners to install electrical or fire sprinkler systems in their own homes. However, it is nearly impossible for a homeowner to purchase sprinkler heads, and approved pipe and fittings. The reason sprinkler components are not available at hardware stores I was told, is that the possibility of "liability" to the seller if the system is installed improperly. Could you imagine the impact on home installations if "How To" seminars along with residential fire sprinkler components, were available at "big box" stores?
I understand the beginning, (design) and the end, (flow testing) are critical. If a person follows the design, and flow tests after installation, the installation itself can be no more difficult than installing a lawn sprinkler system.
Challenge 3, The "Fire Service"
In the rapid development of a house fire today, it regularly reaches flashover. Flashover can be defined as the point of transition from a `small fire` involving a small number of objects in the room to a `large fire` involving all objects in the room. Once flashover occurs, the room becomes untenable.
What would it take for today's fire department to respond in such a manner as to be able to apply extinguishing agent on the burning material prior to flashover? Fire departments strive for a "response time" of four to five minutes. The problem with the fire department "response time", is how it is defined. Fire department "response time" begins when the fire department is dispatched. It fails to take into consideration the 3 to 5 minutes before the fire is discovered, the one minute dispatch time, and the one minute setup time when the fire department arrives on the scene. Instead of four to five minutes, the actual time frame from ignition to fire department intervention is closer to 10 minutes. I believe the facts prove that it is nearly impossible for the modern day fire department to apply an extinguishing agent on a residential fire before flashover has occurred.
Challenge 4, Rule makers and "Home Builders"
The argument of home builders against residential fire sprinklers are the same as their earlier arguments against smoke detectors, and yes, even indoor plumbing---they are too expensive, they will flood your house, and since they are building safer homes today, no one really needs them in their home anyway.
The thing homebuilders fail to take into consideration, is that it isn't burning houses killing people today, it is the contents burning inside those houses that are killing people today..
I believe the time has come to finally remove the remaining challenges.
- The sprinkler industry must address the concerns with their current product. For some reason "approved" CPVC piping and fittings are not made in 1/2" size. This requires the installer of a combination plumbing/fire sprinkler system to use 3/4" piping and fittings. This adds an unnecessary expense to the installation. Residential fire sprinkler components also must be allowed to be sold directly to the public, not just to sprinkler contractors.
- There is adequate proof that flashover occurs regularly in our homes before the fire department leaves the station. The fire service must come to grips with the fact they are no longer able to regularly reach the scene before flashover occurs.
For years fire sprinkler proponents have been "preaching to the choir" about the value of residential fire sprinklers. But if one inquires about how many firefighters have residential fire sprinklers in their homes one quickly come to the conclusion the "choir" may have been listening, but wasn't hearing. Today's firefighter is no longer just a firefighter, they are emergency response personnel. Less than 10 percent of their heavy response load is to "working" structure fires. Built in fire protection must be embraced, promoted and reviewed by the fire service.
- Rule makers must require that water purveyors set reasonable fees for water connection fees for residential fire sprinkler systems.
I sincerely hope those who take the time to read my thoughts will take them as constructive and not critical or hypocritical. If not, so be it, I believe they had to be said.
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4/1/2011 | | | | | 3/10/2011 | Frontline managers have difficult jobs. They have to know the business (better than their staff). They are expected to supervise and coach their employees not only on how to do their jobs, but how to do so with their right attitude and behaviors. And they have to be able to step into the breach in that inevitable moment when a disgruntled customer utters the words “I’d like to speak to your manager.”
Frontline staff perform different functions depending on the industry: in retail they’re cashiers and sales clerks; in healthcare, they’re triage nurses and doctors and administrative staff; in travel they’re flight attendants and reservationists; and in public safety they’re firefighters and EMT’s.
Customers are demanding, and if something goes wrong, the best organizations have frontline staff and managers who are trained and skilled at fixing the situation. Imagine being in the unfortunate position of being a frontline manager at the stadium earlier this month whose staff had to tell 400 ticket holders that they couldn’t sit in seats they had paid for to watch the Super Bowl. This situation is ripe as a case study in so many things, but for a moment, consider the skills and attributes needed to successfully weather a similar situation in your business: empathetic and understanding; confident, but not arrogant (or panicky); informed and empowered.
Coach your frontline managers. Instill in them the organization’s values and remind them of the pivotal role they play in representing the organization to its customers. Help them to be as efficient as possible while empowering them with the flexibility to resolve customer issues quickly and to their satisfaction.
Vicki Wilson, President of Willow Creek Consultants, helps organizations implement strategies that are guaranteed to ‘maximize workforce potential’. She can be contacted by phone (208) 762-8638 or email Vicki@willowcc.com.
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