Winter 2021 Vol. 35, No. 3
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CONTENTS HAZMAT
Protecting Our Most Valuable Asset: Occupational Safety and Your Hazmat Team 4 Glenn Clapp
The Entry Briefing
7
Mark Schmitt
Barnyard Management Both Sides Now 8 Ken Farmer
Charles L. Werner
Setting Up a DFR Program Successfully
Here’s Hoping 2021 is More Joyous for you than 2020 32
10 12
Can the COLORS of a Station Affect Mental and Physical Well-Being? 34 Karen Collins
Don’t Get Lost in the Smoke: Navigating the Maze of Designing Your New Fire Station 36 Ken Newell
Working with a Design-Build Firm on Your First Project 38 Goosie Kennedy
Fire Station Profiles
Ending the Pandemic by Vaccination 14 James Winslow
Doug Cline — President, International Fire Service Richard Carroll — Instructor, Cleveland Community College Kent Davis — Consultant, Threat Suppression David Greene Ph.D — Ph.D Chief, Colleton County Fire Rescue David Hesselmeyer— President - On Target Preparedness, LLC Ricky Hesson — N.C. Hazmat Association Goosie Kennedy — D.R. Reynolds David King — Chesapeake FD, Underwater Medics Owner Karen Leatherman— President, Fitness Forum Travis McGaha — NC Firefighter Cancer Alliance
Skyland Fire and Rescue
42
Ken Newell — Stewart-Cooper-Newell Architects
Spartanburg Fire Dept.
43
Lizzy Long — Billy Graham Rapid Response Team
Crossword Puzzle
44
16
New Deliveries 46
19
Mark Schmitt — Captain, Greensboro Fire Department Matt Sloane — Skyfire Consulting William Tatum - SC EMS Director
Bill Webb
Recruiting & Retention
Mark Rivero — Public Safety Management Programs S. Illinois University Caroline Schloss — Crossword Puzzle Ryan Selleck — Owner, Active Shooter Solution Consulting
A New Administration and Congress: It’s Time to Introduce Ourselves 18
Mark Rivero
Glenn Clapp — Division Chief - Fuquay Varina Fire Dept.
Richard Ray — Capt. Durham Fire and Rescue
Update from Capitol Hill
Generational Mentorship
Alan Cagle — NC Hazmat Association
Tracey Mosley - Program Manager, NC Association of Fire Chiefs
EMS
William Tatum
Eddie Bowling — Emergency Management Director - Thomasville FD
Bill Carter - Director of Fire/EMS Business Development for Civic Federal Credit Un
The Station House
Ben Kroll
Teamwork Defined
Jim Bell — President Bobbitt Design Build, NC Division
Dale Folwell — N.C. State Treasurer
DRONES
The Necessity of Drones in the Fire Service and Public Safety
EDITORIAL BOARD
Ask Mr. Bill
James Winslow — NC EMS Director
FEATURES
Bill Webb — Ex. Director Congressional Fire Services Institute
Leadership: Our Biggest Failures 26
Dalan Zartman - President, Rapid Response
David Hesselmeyer
Water Rescue
The Art of Rescuing Victims 20 Dalan Zartman
2020 Hindsight Will Never Sound the Same
27
Slow Year for PIO
30
Dale Folwell
Rescue
Agricultural Equipment Rescues Bob Twomey
23
Firefighter Behavioral Health — A Five Alarm Fire 40
Leadership
The 7 Qualities Fire Service Leaders Must Possess — Courtesy Doug Cline
Bill Suthard
Dr. David Greene
28
Trudy H. Schneider Business Manager
STAFF R.B. Knight Publisher
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Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal reserves the right to edit for clarity and content. Editorial opinions and products advertised do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the publisher. © 2021 KCI Media Group, LLC
Charlotte, North Carolina 28262 704-568-7804 Vol. 35.3 • Winter 2021
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Winter • 2021 3
Hazmat 2021
SIXTY ONE DELTA ONE
Protecting Our Most Valuable Asset: Occupational Safety and Your Hazmat Team
There should be no argument that the most valuable asset that our hazmat teams have Glenn Clapp is our personnel. To CHMM, CFPS look after the safety and well-being of our hazmat team personnel is not only first and foremost a moral imperative, but also is required by regulatory standards. Our discussion today will focus on those particular regulations and standards that will allow us to properly ensure the safety of our personnel and that will hopefully keep us out of “trouble” with regulatory agencies. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 created the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in order to protect the safety and health of American workers. Since its genesis, OSHA has promulgated standards for different industry settings that specifically delineate safety and health regulations. If your hazmat team does not comply with the applicable standards, injuries or fatalities to your personnel can occur; and monetary penalties can ensue from the citations that are issued. Many emergency response personnel will question the statement above, as we often do not view ourselves as an “industry.” In the
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eyes of OSHA, however, we do indeed fall under the purview of the General Industry Standard found at Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 1910. In fact, fire departments may also fall under the Construction Standard found at 29 CFR 1926 if your organization performs trench rescue/recovery services. Depending upon which state your organization lies within, the entity ensuring compliance with occupational safety standards might be OSHA itself or a state agency — such as the North Carolina Department of Labor — if your state is what we refer to as an “OSHA State Plan State.” OSHA does indeed allow such state agencies to oversee occupational safety matters if their program is at least as stringent as OSHA Standards and if OSHA approves the program. Although we have specific OSHA Standards that apply to the hazmat response world, it bears mentioning that OSHA has a “catch all” in the form of the General Duty Clause stipulated in 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act.The General Duty Clause mandates that employers are required to provide a workplace as free as possible from hazards and can be cited by OSHA or your state agency in situations in which a specific standard does not exist. As might be
surmised, the OSHA Standard that impacts hazmat teams the most is the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) Standard found at 29 CFR 1910.120. Paragraph q of the HAZWOPER Standard pertains to hazmat teams as it covers the realm of emergency response. For instance, 1910.120(q) (1) specifies that employers whose employees are engaged in emergency response develop an emergency response plan. As public safety hazmat responders we are still required to comply with the above requirement in the form of a site-specific emergency response plan that is developed at and tailored to individual incident scenes. Paragraph (q)(3) of 29 CFR 1910.120 refers to the procedures for handling emergency response, including the requirement that the senior emergency response official shall be in charge of a site-specific incident command system (ICS). The utilization of a unified command is also alluded to in 1910.120(q)(3)(i) in that “Responders and communications shall be coordinated and controlled through the individual in charge of the ICS, assisted by the senior official present from each employer.” Additional procedural requirements include the provision that the personal protective equipment utilized and
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the emergency operations employed shall be appropriate for the conditions encountered; the requirement that the “buddy system” — mandating that personnel entering hazardous areas shall be in groups of at least two — be used in hazardous areas, the mandate that back up personnel properly equipped to perform rescue and “advanced first aid” assets with transport capability are in place; and the stipulation that appropriate decontamination procedures be utilized at hazardous materials response scenes. Another element contained in Paragraph 1910.120(q)(3)(vii) that is essential to scene safety is the required designation of a “safety official” (known in ICS parlance as a Safety Officer) who is “knowledgeable in the operations being implemented.”Although we are well familiar with establishing an overall Safety Officer when appropriate at incidents, it is sometimes necessary to appoint an Assistant Safety Officer for Hazmat in large-scale incidents with a hazmat component.To meet the knowledge requirement addressed above, most safety professionals will render an interpretation that such a Safety Officer or Assistant Safety Officer for Hazmat shall be trained and see VALUABLE ASSET page 6
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
Valuable Asset Cont’d from page 4
certified to the minimum level of a Hazmat Technician. The topic of training is definitely not omitted in the HAZWOPER Standard. 1910.120(q)(6)(iii) delineates the areas of competency of Hazmat Technicians — those personnel performing offensive actions to plug, patch, or otherwise mitigate spills or releases — and subsequent paragraphs define training areas for Hazmat Specialists and OSHA Incident Commanders. While OSHA does address the need for a minimum of 24 hours of training equivalent to the operations level of training in addition to the competencies specified to be deemed a Hazmat Technician, state certification agencies usually set the bar much higher for public safety hazmat responders (e.g. the requirement of the completion of Hazmat Operations training, an 80 hour Chemistry of Hazmat course, and a 92 hour Hazmat Technician class to become certified as a Hazmat Technician in North
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Carolina). We are also required to complete annual refresher training to ensure our continued competency in responding to hazardous materials emergencies. 1910.120(q)(8) requires that annual refresher training “of sufficient content and duration to maintain competencies” be completed, or in lieu of that a yearly demonstration of competency be performed. It is interesting to note that a specific duration of the refresher training is not stipulated. As we move away from operational matters for a brief time, the topic of medical surveillance and consultation is tackled in 1910.120(q)(9). OSHA requires that a baseline medical exam be performed on hazmat team members and Hazmat Specialists. Ongoing medical surveillance is also required, in which OSHA refers us to 1910.120(f) in which a medical exam is required “prior to assignment and at least once every 12 months unless a physician believes extending the interval to a maximum of two years is appropriate.”An “exit” medical exam is also required upon termination
of employment or reassignment; and employees presenting signs or symptoms of overexposure to hazardous materials are required to receive a medical exam coupled with medical consultation. Of course, a physician may reduce the interval between medical exams for personnel if it is deemed necessary. Our final area of discussion will be that of the personal protective equipment we use in hazmat responses that ensures that we return home to our families at the end of each shift. As we are all aware of, protecting our respiratory tract is of utmost importance in the field as inhalation is usually the quickest, easiest, and most effective route of exposure for us to hazardous materials. OSHA’s Respiratory Protection Standard (29 CFR 1910.134) requires that personnel wearing tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment be fit tested — either qualitatively or quantitatively as appropriate — on an annual basis or when changes occur that may affect the fit of a respirator mask (e.g. weight loss or gain; dental work, etc.).The fit test is required for each type, make and model of tight-fitting respiratory protective equipment worn.The Respiratory Protection Standard also requires medical clearance for personnel to wear respiratory protective equipment. Such medical clearance is required prior to wearing respiratory protective equipment and follow-up medical clearance exams are required when certain stipulated conditions — such as when the need for reevaluation is indicated or the hazards encountered change — occur. Most hazmat teams, however, require their personnel to receive medical clearance to wear respiratory protective equipment on an annual basis as part of their medical monitoring to err on the side of caution. As our most utilized piece of respiratory equipment is the selfcontained breathing apparatus (SCBA), we should touch on the subject of flow testing. Flow testing is the
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process of ensuring that our SCBAs are providing the flow of air for the user that they are designed and specified to provide. OSHA does not directly address flow testing; however, manufacturers recommend a flow test interval (normally annually) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1852 states that flow testing should be performed prior to placing an SCBA in service, following any repair or rebuilding; and on at least an annual basis. If we do not follow those stipulations, OSHA or our state agency can still cite us under the General Duty Clause. Our hazmat suits provide the barrier between responders and the very chemicals they are exposed to. As such, we are required to perform certain maintenance and testing actions on the suits due to their important role in ensuring the safety of the wearer. With respect to our fully encapsulating vapor protective suits, we definitely want to ensure that they remain vapor tight. OSHA provides us with non-mandatory testing procedures in Appendix A of 1910.120, however the current NFPA 1991 Standard on Vapor-Protective Ensembles — which will transition to the NFPA 1990 Standards on Protective Ensembles in the near future — specifically covers initial suit design specifications that include vapor protective suit testing in which suits are inflated to a certain pressure for a specified length of time and the pressure drop is noted. Manufacturers of vapor protective suits also will require recurrent pressure testing, usually on an annual basis. Suits that drop below a specified pressure level at the end of the test are required to be repaired — if allowed and appropriate — or taken out of service. Specific testing procedures are delineated in the suit manuals/ instructions that are included with each suit. Initial performance testing for splash protective suits is addressed in the NFPA 1992 Standard on Liquid see VALUABLE ASSET page 50
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
Hazmat
The Entry Briefing
The Entry Briefing is a crucial part of any hazardous materials incident. It must be conducted prior Capt. Mark J. to the first Entry Schmitt, EFO Team making access into the Hot Zone. Other tasks may have begun prior to the Entry Briefing (reconnaissance, evacuation, chemical research, etc.), but the Entry Briefing is the real beginning of any offensive tactics to be undertaken during the incident. To conduct a proper Entry Briefing, it is important to understand what information must be covered and why. A proper Entry Briefing, like any good news article in journalism answers the especially important questions; Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? In an ideal situation, all the answers are known before the Entry Briefing is given. If all the answers are not known, then as much information as possible must be presented while the rest of the answers are being discovered.
Area of Safe Refuge are also indicated.
When? When did the incident occur? Is it still occurring — such as an active leak — or did it occur several hours ago and now just involves a spill? What is the projected time that the Entry Team will operate down range? If this is a large-scale incident that will take place over several hours or Operational Periods, when will the personnel staffing the Decon Corridor be rotated out? If the incident is expected to last over several Operational Periods, what is the best estimate for time required to successfully mitigate the incident?
Why? This is the opportunity for anyone involved, but especially the Entry and Back-Up Teams to ask any questions that they may have.These questions may ask for clarification of existing information or new information altogether. It is much easier for questions to be asked now as opposed to wasting precious air while the Entry Team awaits answers while down range in personnel protective equipment.
How? How is this incident going to be mitigated? Depending on the incident, the answer to this question may not
become totally clear until the Entry Team goes down range. In other cases, a Recon Team has already been down range and gathered information.This information was then analyzed, and a plan of action established (Plan A). While Plan A is always the preferred option, someone should be working on a Plan B, C and D just in case the incident parameters should change. An Entry Briefing must be conducted prior to any team being sent down range. If Team Two is replacing Team One, then Team One should be made available to conduct see ENTRY BRIEFING page 50
Who? Who identifies most of the major players in the Hazardous Materials Branch including the members of the Entry and Back-Up Teams, Entry Officer, Decon Officer and Research Officer. Personnel staffing the Decon Corridor and Medical Monitoring are also identified. Any other persons such as property representatives, technical specialists or responsible parties are also identified at this time.
What? What encompasses many questions and will depend on the size and scope of the incident.The chemicals involved and their hazards are identified.The container or containers are discussed as is the weather forecast for the incident.The tactical objectives are explained as are the means on how to achieve them. What tools, kits, monitoring equipment, personal protective and respiratory equipment being worn and anything else to be used during the entry are listed. If decontamination is to be something other that the usual wet decontamination, it is also explained here. Radio communications and emergency signals must also be covered.
Where? Where exactly is the Entry Team going? In some cases, this will be selfexplanatory if the incident occurs outside. If the incident is occurring inside of a structure, detailed instructions need to be laid out.This is not only for the benefit of the Entry Team, but also for the Back-Up or RIT Teams as well. Interior operations can be extremely complicated depending on the overall size of the structure and elevation differences such as multiple floors above grade or basements or vaults below grade.The locations of the Decon Corridor and
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Winter • 2021 7
Barnyard Management
Both Sides Now
Once again, I am showing my age! In 1966, Joni Mitchell released a song called “Both Sides Now.” It later won a Grammy for best arrangement Ken Farmer and instruments and vocals. It was later recorded by Anne Murray and Neil Diamond with success. In the song, she sings about looking at love from both sides now and from the give-and-take. She concludes with that somehow, she really does not know love at all! I guess that’s still true for some of us. But many of you have now found that one true love and clearly understands and embraces both sides. Like many of us during the recent pandemic times, I ended up watching some TV shows that I would not normally watch. One was the story about the rise of country star Garth Brooks. Garth was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was a graduate of Oklahoma State University. That is the part of this story that I will come back to in a little bit. Garth has become one of the biggest county acts ever with his career. He recorded nine albums that achieved diamond status. He beat the Beatles who held the record
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at six. His career is amazing when you consider it all. He has won two Grammy Awards, 17 American Music Awards and the best-selling solo album. He did something very unusual for a musician and retired from performing between 2001 and 2005. In 2014 he staged a comeback world tour. He has since released several albums. According to the records, he has sold 170 million records. As of 2020, he is the best-selling solo artist and is ahead of Elvis and second to the Beatles. I could go on about his history and his fans. He is an amazing performer and loved by his fans here in the United States. He has become more thoughtful and contemplative in recent years. In the show I happened to catch, he was sitting in a cabin on his farm talking about his father and two brothers. In this scene, he held his hands out and turned them slowly as he described his father’s advice about life. He had told Garth to always look at both sides of any situation before making a final decision to be for or against something. He said that everything is a blessing, and everything is a curse. That’s some deep advice, in my opinion. What may look like gold today can turn to brass tomorrow. Everything has many impacts. Being
the richest person in the world comes with a set of advantages and disadvantages. Don’t ever assume that everything will be perfect in the future. What may look like a golden chance may destroy your life. Like you, I can tell hundreds of stories that fit this scenario. His dad’s good advice was that there was always another side to each issue in life. Some were good, and some were bad. It was always your choice to ponder the issue and decide what was right from your perspective, morals and beliefs in your life. This perspective struck me for many reasons. In each of our experiences we have had to decide on many matters in many situations. Sometimes you must make the decision quickly and sometimes without all the information. One key thing we can all learn from this story is to always take the time and make the effort to find out all the information and facts you can before deciding. There is a need to not extend your time to plan, and you may be forced to decide before you are ready. In the year 2020 about the only thing you can count on is that what you know now will change in a few minutes or days. Nothing seems certain and what you were told one
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day will change dramatically the next day. So, what is right and wrong today may become wrong and right overnight! I would just simply follow Garth’s dad’s advice and ask you to consider both sides of a discussion or argument. Ask more questions; look for more accurate information; wait a few days until you can discover all the facts and then make a decision that is best for everyone. Always try to consider both sides now. And the rest of this story deals with Garth and his connection to the fire and rescue service. From what I have observed about him, he is a deeply concerned person and has not gotten above his raising. An old friend of mine works at the International Fire Service Training Institute which is housed at OSU. He met Garth when he was a fellow bouncer in a local club in Stillwater. To this day, Garth and his wife will stop and talk with him and his family when they run into each other in Stillwater just like they were both still in college. This tells me a lot about him and his lifestyle. Next time you have a chance, put on some Garth Brooks music and appreciate his view of life. You will learn something. He is someone who still lives in the barnyard! Stay Safe.
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
Drones
The Necessity of Drones in the Fire Service and Public Safety
In 2015, I wrote my first article in “Firehouse Magazine” about drones in the fire Chief Charles L. service. I recall Werner (Ret.) identifying three major categories of potential use and perhaps four more possibilities. While I was right in my predictions of the seven use cases, I never imagined that five years later, use cases in public safety would increase exponentially. In the DRONERESPONDERS 2020 Spring Survey, over 17 public safety use cases were identified impacting almost every aspect of emergency response and across all public safety disciplines. Over the last several years, drones have proven to enhance safety for citizens/responders, improve operational effectiveness and provide real time situational awareness. Drones provide essential incident/ event information that simply cannot be seen from the ground. Without a drone, it’s a gamble with safety. I ask,“Would you ever make a critical command decision with your eyes closed?” – NO! Since 2017, the natural disasters (hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, earthquakes, mudslides, volcanic activity), civil unrest and COVID19, drones have been documented to have saved over 500 lives globally, logged tens of thousands of flights during disasters and assisted with many humanitarian missions. Drones make a difference in a big way and this trend will continue. The ability to conduct aerial reconnaissance has previously been
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limited to larger departments due to cost and complexity of operating a manned aviation wing — helicopter and/or fixed wing. Today, drones change that dynamic and can easily and affordably provide that aerial view at a fraction of the cost. Drones do not replace helicopters but are an enhancement to the aviation wing as it can fly in areas and at times when manned aircraft cannot.
The Value of Drones: • Structure fires – overview of conditions, thermal imaging heat signatures that can identify fire extension, identify issues with structural integrity and can help direct more accurate water stream application and locate fire extension to other buildings. • Wildfires – overwatch, direction and speed of fire spread, locate hot spots and conduct ground fuel analysis to mitigate hazards. • Fire investigations – capture the incident scene in high resolution and create 3D models for review from different angles and review at a later time. • Hazmat – locate and monitor spill flows, identify contamination of waterways, remote sensing and identification of substances, thermal imaging can identify liquid/gas levels in containers, see plumes otherwise invisible to the naked eye, maintain overwatch during hazmat ops, drop needed tools nearby work area, communicate warnings when radios are inoperable. • Water rescues can be made by dropping flotation devices to swimmers in trouble or a person in swift water. • Lost persons – searches can be
made over larger areas more quickly, thermal can locate people at night and dangerous and inaccessible areas can be searched. • Damage assessments from natural and man-made disasters which can be used for Presidential Disaster Declarations and to provide information to citizens to expedite insurance claims. • Disaster recovery – can monitor recovery progress, identify roads reopened, monitor receding water. • Traffic crash reconstruction – crash measurements can be captured in about a third of the time, free roadways more quickly and reduce secondary accidents making it safer for citizens and responders. • Law Enforcement Tactical Ops – overwatch of dangerous ops, interior room searches and suspicious packages checked more safely. • Training – incidents and training accidents can be captured by drone video and used to review later for training purposes. • Pre-Incident Planning – 3D models can be created from drone imagery which can show building features, hazards and more and can be accessed later during an incident. • Video streaming – live video streaming can be shared with the incident commander, the emergency manager or anyone that needs access to the information. Some departments may think that FAA regulations and remote pilot qualifications may be too heavy a lift to take advantage of a drone program.There is one alternative, which is an actively tethered drone and one example exists that has been implemented by Pierce Fire Apparatus Manufacturing, which launched their Situational Awareness System with
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the Fotokite Actively Tethered Drone. This drone can be mounted in a compartment, on the cab of apparatus or in a mobile case. It is launched by one button operation, provides visual optic/thermal image views to the incident commander via a smart tablet, receives constant power through the tether — doesn’t require changing batteries — and lands with one button operation. Most importantly, this drone operation DOES NOT REQUIRE remote pilot certification nor does it require a Certificate of Authorization (COA).The actively tethered drone is more limited in operation but can fly at an altitude of 150 feet and provide invaluable overwatch and without all of the other drone program and regulatory requirements. Recently a new program, Drone as a First Responder (DFR) has emerged proving to be of great value.This program got its start with the Chula Vista California Police Department as part of the FAA’s Integration Pilot Program.The DFR program launches a drone at the time of incident dispatch.The drone flies beyond visual line of sight, arrives over the scene in an average of 115 seconds, usually arrives first and provides immediate video reconnaissance to the telecommunications operator as well as responders in the field. Both police and fire units now have access to the video streaming which helps to determine if additional resources are needed and/or units can be returned to service more quickly. The program’s success has led to the formation of a DRONERESPONDERS DFR Working Group. If you or your department is interested in DFR or participating with the DFR Working Group, please send an email to Captain Don Redmond, dredmond@ chulavistapd.org. For free drone resources, visit and join DRONERESPONDERS.ORG.
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
Drones
Setting Up a DFR Program Successfully
Although the concept of using a drone as a first responder (DFR) originated within law enforcement and has seen Ben Kroll significant success there, the application of drones as first responders has considerable potential within fire rescue. In 2019, the Chula Vista Police Department (CFPD) became one of the first public safety agencies to deploy the drone as a first responder concept. Instead of the drone being a reactive tool, deployed on-scene by responding units, the drone is integrated into the agency’s dispatch system and is launched from the roof of the police headquarters. Commands are sent to the drone from the watch commander who is positioned inside. A visual observer is stationed on the roof and keeps eyes on the drone and airspace. If the visual observer detects a potential conflict with other aircraft, they can immediately take control of the drone and maneuver it to a safe location. A vital component to this concept of operations is the ability to fly the drone beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) of the
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pilot-in-command (PIC) and visual observer. As part of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) UAS Integration Pilot Program (IPP), Chula Vista Police Department was able to obtain the proper authorizations to operate drones beyond the visual line of sight of the operator. While we’ve seen a handful of law enforcement agencies across the country attempt to replicate the success of CVPD’s BVLOS operations, we have yet to see fire rescue agencies try this on. But the DFR applications within the fire rescue community could bring extraordinary benefit to the communities that they serve. To illustrate what a DFR program for a fire department might mean, let’s first take a look at the Chula Vista DFR model and some of the data that has been collected. When the CVPD receives a call through dispatch, the watch commander can immediately initiate a drone response directly to the scene. Before officers even arrive on scene, the drone can be overhead of the incident providing intelligence to responding officers on the way. This intel has provided valuable data in over 4,000 calls that CVPD has responded to. In many cases,
officers are able to identify threats and discuss tactics before they’re even on-scene. In nearly 25 percent of calls using DFR, the call was able to be cleared before an officer even showed up on scene. This alone allows for better allocation of resources and results in less wasted time during an officer’s shift. Now picture having this ability as a responding fire rescue unit. For an active structure fire, responding firefighters would in many cases
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have the ability to get a full 360-degree view of the fireground before even arriving. Communication between the responding engines and the drone controller could allow for firefighters to request varying vantage points or to zoom in on a specific location, or even the ability to use a thermal image sensor. In instances where the responding firefighters have been given incorrect location information, the drone could help identify incorrect
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information, saving valuable seconds and minutes.
How Could a Fire Department Set Up a DFR Program? There are a few key components to setting up a DFR program successfully. While there is much information available publicly about how to set up a drone program on a whole, this discussion will focus solely on setting up DFR operations for a fire department. For an agency to get to DFR operations, it is recommended that they have some sort of drone infrastructure already in place. It is recommended to use a crawl-walk-run approach to setting up drone programs within public safety and DFR is closer to the run side. When setting up any drone program, especially DFR, community buy-in is extremely important. Drones often invoke negative sentiment, especially from communities that may not understand their benefit. It’s extremely important for agencies to be transparent and inform their communities of what they will and will not be doing with the drones. Specifically, with DFR, community members may see drones flying above them and no operator nearby which means educating the public becomes paramount as to the benefit of the drone operations. Secondly, mapping out your concept of operations (CONOPS) is critical. The CONOPS will define your missions, protocols, operating procedures, and contingencies and serves as the overarching defining
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document of your DFR operations. Additionally, the type of unmanned aircraft used is also very important. Making sure you have the right tool for the mission is critical and there are a lot of options available. If for instance, you have a coverage area for your DFR operations of three miles and you are using a drone with 15 minutes of battery life, it’s entirely possible that you may end up with very little time on scene due to the time taken to travel to the scene and then return. Add in unfavorable environmental conditions such as strong winds and that time is reduced even further. On the other hand, some larger unmanned aircraft can offer 30 plus minutes of flight time and often have the ability to carry multiple sensors including zoom and thermal. Another key component of setting up a DFR program involves regulation by the Federal Aviation Administration. While some law enforcement agencies currently operate DFR purely within line of sight, the ultimate goal of most DFR programs would be having the ability to fly beyond visual line of sight. To obtain this authorization from the FAA, an agency is required to make a safety case and operational risk assessment and submit to the FAA. After a review process, the FAA can grant an agency BVLOS authority if they feel the agency has provided enough safety mitigation. Unfortunately, the FAA does not currently provide templates for this process but there are public safety agencies who are
willing to share this information as well as private companies that specialize in this type of work. Ultimately, the case for DFR operations inside of a fire rescue agency is compelling. We’ve already seen meaningful data from a handful of law enforcement agencies operating DFR programs and the applications for a fire rescue agency are just as strong. Already having proven the significant impact that drones are having within the fire service, we are hopeful that we will see fire rescue take on the development of DFR programs in the near future. Ben Kroll is co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Atlanta-based Skyfire
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Consulting where he manages the day to day operations at Skyfire which was founded in 2014 and serves the public safety industry by integrating drone technology into public safety. From a background in curriculum development as an FAA licensed flight instructor and commercial pilot, Kroll has brought his manned-aviation experience to the drone industry and serves as a thought leader and international speaker on the integration of drones into multiple industries. As a member of the FAA Integrated Public Partnership program, he wrote the first of its kind “Beyond Visual Line of Sight” authorization and operational safety assessment for Chula Vista Police Department’s Drone as a First Responder Program.
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EMS
News from North Carolina EMS
Ending the Pandemic by Vaccination (Editor’s note: This column was written before Pfizer began shipping the vaccine on Dec. 14.)
The purpose of this column is to briefly describe the process vaccines must go through to prove they are safe and effective. I also want to emphasize how important vaccination will be to end this pandemic.There must be widespread vaccination for our society to return back to normal. We are now in the middle of the biggest public health crisis since 1918.The entire healthcare system and especially prehospital providers have been under great strain. The only way to end the pandemic is by vaccination.The process of vaccine development and administration has a long and proven track record of safety in our country. Vaccine development and administration is something that the United States is very good at. In the United States vaccines must go through a thorough process to prove that they are safe and effective. This is a multi-step process which is monitored for safety throughout. At the end of this process the Food and Drug Administration reviews all the data before giving approval for the vaccine to be given to the public. Each vaccine candidate must go through several phases of trials which are numbered James Winslow
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sequentially One through Three. As mentioned above, a vaccine candidate vaccine must go through an approval process which involves three different phases. Each phase is larger and more complex than the phase before it. Phase One trials typically have 30-50 participants. They are meant to determine if the vaccine generates an immune response and if there are any initial safety concerns.They are also meant to help determine the best dosing. Phase Two trials are larger and have hundreds of participants.Their purpose is to assess safety and determine how much of an immune response is generated by the vaccine. Phase Three trials include the largest number of participants.They normally include tens of thousands of participants. A phase three trial is meant to determine how well the vaccine protects people from the disease and also looks for more rare adverse reactions. Phase Three trials follow patients for several months.The full multi-phase process is important in insuring that we have a safe and effective vaccine. The United States has not permitted any shortcuts in the development of a COVID vaccine. Some countries have cleared vaccines for deployment to the general population without undergoing the final phase Three trials.This is not the case in the United States. In the U.S., vaccines have to go through
the full three phase process.This is very important. Phase three testing with 30,000 or more subjects ensures that we will have a safe and effective vaccine. By requiring a phase three trial the FDA is ensuring that we will have a safe and effective vaccine. Both of the vaccine candidates being considered for approval by the FDA at this time have undergone phase three testing. At this time there are two candidate vaccines going to the FDA for possible approval.These vaccines are being developed by Pfizer and Moderna respectively.The data for these vaccine trials is very encouraging. The Pfizer vaccine started phase three testing on July 17 and final data was ready on November 18th.There were 43,000 participants in the Pfizer phase three trial.There were 162 cases of COVID in the placebo group and eight cases in the group which received the vaccine. None of the
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cases in the group which received the vaccine were severe.The main adverse events reported were fatigue in 3.8 percent of people who received the vaccine and headache in two percent. The biggest challenge with the Pfizer vaccine will be that it must be stored and transported at negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit. The Moderna vaccine started phase three testing on July 17th. Preliminary data was analyzed on November 16th and final data was ready on November 30th.There were more than 30,000 participants at 100 clinical sites. In all there were 196 patients in the study who got COVID-19. Of the subjects that got COVID, 185 were in the placebo group.There were 11 cases of COVID in the group which received the vaccine. Of the 11 people in the vaccine group who contracted COVID none had severe symptoms.There were no serious adverse reactions in the group which received the vaccine. The main adverse events noted included injection site pain, fatigue, muscle aches, joint pains, headache and redness at the injection sites. We will have safe and effective vaccines for COVID.The only way to end the pandemic is for greater than 70 percent of the population to get vaccinated. We must get our society back to normal. We must also protect ourselves and our patients from COVID. We are lucky that we have a very robust healthcare system in this country which can rapidly develop safe and effective vaccines. Candidate vaccines are undergoing a rigorous multi-phase process to insure they are safe and effective. If the FDA reviews the final data and gives approval then I trust that we will have safe and effective vaccines which will allow our society to heal and get back to normal. Dr. Winslow has worked at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem for the past 11 years. He was appointed as the Medical Director of the NC Office of EMS in 2011. This document contains all protocol, procedures, and policies for all EMS agencies in North Carolina.
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EMS
Teamwork D E F I N E D
For this article, I have a few questions for you to ponder and answer on your own. Once you do that, I hope you can utilize your William Tatum answers to help foster an improved environment of teamwork. First, do you belong to a team and if so, what team is it? Secondly, do you believe that the best team you belong to is your service, shift or battalion? Teamwork is a must for success. Even if you ride alone in a QRV (Quick Response Vehicle) or are the sole telecommunicator in the Comm Center, you are still part of a team.Your team includes members from many aspects of public safety. We must look beyond the uniforms and apparatus in order get a true sense of teamwork and how it contributes to the final product. Teamwork can be defined many ways in certain circles.Typically, they all encompass a meaning of working as a group to complete a task in an effective and efficient manner to achieve a common goal. Synonyms may include collaboration, cooperation and coordination. No matter which terms you choose to relate to, understand that it truly takes teamwork in our service lines. If we begin to “freelance” or go against the goal of the team, people can suffer, property can be destroyed and lives could end. The makeup of your team brings members with varying strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, each member comes with different
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backgrounds, levels of education and life experiences in general. It takes many ingredients to make a perfect meal, right? The same reigns true with the development of a team.Teamwork requires trust, collaboration, respect, unity, consideration and understanding among its members. From the rookie EMT or probationary Fire Fighter to the most senior officer on a scene, everyone has something to contribute. We may encounter situations in the field we have not seen before, that’s a given. However, another member of your team may have. Allowing them to interject when appropriate will foster growth and trust. A goal we all share in public safety is to ensure that our citizens receive the help they requested in a timely and efficient manner. We too must coordinate with other teammates such as law enforcement, other fire and medical teams, and on occasion public utilities that respond to a common scene. When seconds count, there is no time for internal disputes or power struggles. Effective teams have clear goals, unified commitments, principled leadership and a result drive structure. To achieve clear goals, your team needs to know what is expected of them and how they are to perform their duties. Policies and procedures (P&P) can be crafted with these goals and objectives in mind. Certainly, the P&Ps must be relevant, easy to understand and court defensible. When creating these, include all levels of experience in the planning and revision phases. Sometimes when we are not as engaged as we should be with field staff, we lose track of what
truly is happening and therefore may not truly address accurate issues. When a team gets a new member, that employee must understand the importance of their commitment to the job, the agency and the citizens they serve.They need to be clearly aware of what their position entails such as work hours and overtime, the work environment, conduct on and off duty and training requirements. Team members should understand as well that while they do not have to agree with everything, they must agree that providing the citizens with the best service is the responsibility of everyone on your team. Principled leadership include promoting trust among their team members. Upper management also has an obligation to provide quality supervisory training to newly appointed leaders. Such training should include leadership styles, dealing with difficult employees, conflict resolution and cultural diversity. Leaders must display high personal standards such as honesty, integrity, brother and sisterhood, and most importantly, stewardship. By setting a positive example, leadership can motivate their team to achieve a higher level of professionalism. A result-driven structure includes proper equipment and tools to do the work that is required.The team must also have a successful work environment.Team members should be asked for ways that workflows can be improved on a regular basis.This process has proven very worthy during this global pandemic. Processes we had ten months ago have truly changed. We all must be open to suggestions and process improvement ideas from all who are involved in service delivery. One of the most important components of a team are qualified and well-trained team members.The
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days of “A patch and a pulse” are long gone. When faced with employee shortages as well as a less than stellar applicant pool, we must make decisions that will not impact the team negatively. Onboarding a new hire is not cheap. We must ensure we are investing in the right team member. When asked, many present employees would rather work a little overtime to cover open shifts rather than just putting an unqualified person in the slot to cover time. When you take time to explain the reality of situations to the entire team, their understanding is strengthened.
Final Thoughts When 2020 began, I personally did not know how much importance would be placed on the concept of teamwork. Granted, it may have taken a pandemic to highlight the need of teamwork and the ever-present flexibility everyone must have. We all have been tossed curve balls this year and without a strong, teamwork-based approach, many public safety service lines would have crumbled. My New Year’s Resolution for 2021 will be to foster clear goals, reunify my team’s commitment, improve my principled leadership and strive for a result driven structure. William Tatum serves as President of the South Carolina EMS Association. He is also a career paramedic serving as the Communications Supervisor for Prisma Health Emergency Medical Services. In addition, he is the SC Membership Coordinator and one of the Region II Directors on the Executive Board for the National Association of EMT’s (NAEMT). Tatum is currently involved as an Adjunct Instructor for EMT programs in the upstate and is part of many EMS and Public Safety Advisory Committees. He can be reached via email at president@scemsa.org.
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Update from Capitol Hill
A New Administration and Congress:
It’s Time to Introduce Ourselves
Now that we have elected a new president, the question is if he will be a strong supporter of the fire and emergency services. The answer Bill Webb is quite apparent. Yes, Joe Biden will support the fire service as he has throughout his political career. But we need to keep in mind the inner workings of a presidential administration and its interaction with the legislative branch. While we anticipate much support from President-elect Biden, we need to temper our optimism with the realities of the federal budget process — starting with the submission of the budget to the enactment of appropriations legislation. To succeed in sustaining support for federal fire programs, we must continue developing working relationships with key individuals who will advise both the president and congressional leaders on our issues. This is where the rubber meets the road. How many times have you heard a reporter talk about White House staff? When you hear this reference, you might get the impression that the staff consists of a small cadre of aides. On the contrary, the White House staff occupies two large buildings:The Old Executive Office Building (formerly known as the
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Eisenhower Executive Office Building) and the New Executive Office Building. Hundreds of senior executives and staff serve at the pleasure of the president and vice president.These appointed staff perform various duties including policy advisors. In 2021, we need to start establishing working relationships with the advisors assigned to homeland security, health and human services,WUI, public safety communications and other issues. During the Bush Administration, we formed strong working relationships with key presidential advisors, including Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Hagin. For those of you who recall President Bush attended the CFSI Dinner and two National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Services. Mr. Hagin was the primary reason for the President’s appearance at these events. He also helped us with other issues, including implementation of the Hometown Heroes legislation that authorized the Public Safety Officers Benefits for firefighters who succumb to heart attacks in the line of duty. Historically, we have developed working relationships with key staff in other administrations, but the task has never been easy, as competing interests vie for their time and attention. In 2021, we will also need to establish working relationships with federal agency officials, starting with the U.S. Fire Administrator. The fire administrator is the only USFA executive appointed by
the president. Throughout USFA’s history, all but one administrator possessed a fire service background, a key criterion for the position. I do not foresee this trend changing with the next fire administrator, nor do I anticipate changes in the interactions between USFA and the national fire organizations. There are many other federal agency officials we must engage with, including the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Ideally, I would like to see an administrator appointed, like former Administrator Dave Paulison, who possesses a fire service background as well as an extensive emergency management background, which will give the fire service an influential seat at FEMA’s table during discussions on all disasterrelated issues. The list of federal officials is lengthy, including representatives from the U.S. Forest Service (WUI), Health and Human Services (Medicare/Medicaid), Transportation (HazMat and EMS), Labor (OHSA), Justice (PSOB), and Commerce (Public Safety Communications) are among the individuals on our list.Virtually all 13 federal agencies have oversight of at least one federal fire program, which is why developing and maintaining relationships across the broad spectrum of the federal government is imperative. And lastly, there is Congress. As the saying goes, the president proposes while the Congress disposes. Once the
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pandemic is eradicated and the economy begins to recover, Congress will eventually need to restore funding back to preCOVID levels, requiring cuts to many federal programs. Our mission — and I mean yours and mine — will be to prevent federal fire programs from being in the crosshairs when Congress considers which programs to cut. You’ve heard me deliver this message in previous articles, but I cannot overstate the importance of it — especially with a new administration and 67 new members (seven senators and 61 new House members). Be prepared to get engaged in 2021. The essence of advocacy in Washington, D.C. is in building relationships. Let us do it together. Bill Webb has served as Executive Director of the Congressional Fire Services Institute since 1995. CFSI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy institute designed to enhance congressional awareness about the concerns and needs of the fire and emergency services. As Executive Director, he works closely with members of Congress and fire service leaders to sustain support on Capitol Hill for programs and legislation that benefit our nation’s fire and emergency services. Before joining CFSI, Webb worked for the Firefighter Combat Challenge as the project manager for the competition. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and is an honorary member of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, the Delaware Volunteer Firefighters’ Association and the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 36.
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Recruiting & Retention
Generational Mentorship
Today’s workforce is already a complicated and multi-generational challenge. If you Mark Rivero are a Baby Boomer and looking to develop your staff, are you ready for the challenge of ‘change’? In public safety, change has always been met with struggles with employees saying that the change is not good for the department. Change can be seen as the impact on one when it has become a direct effect on one in the work place. Well, today public safety organizations are seeing applicants and candidates applying for initial employment and promotions with college degrees even though one is not specifically required or asked for on an application. In past experiences, one could acquire a chief position simply by moving up the ladder within the organization.Today, when reviewing an application for a chief position of a fire department may require a master’s degree and/or an Executive Fire Officer (EFO) designation to be considered as a qualified applicant or candidate.
Looking at Younger Generations to Prepare a Department for Success Starting at the high school level, many departments have the opportunity to sponsor an Explorers program where the students are able to gain experience — including some local, state and federal certifications.At the high school level, an advantage of participating in this type of program is that it can lead to a highly interested and dedicated student that could have great potential.The high school pathway also can direct a student to the community college route where the skills and abilities of progression are developed to another level and he or she can acquire an Associate’s degree. After the community college success, now comes the opportunity to move onto a Bachelor’s degree and then onto a Master’s degree. In short, these pathways offer a public safety or fire/EMS organization the opportunity to create positive and progressive avenues for students wanting to join the forces. However, generational differences need to be onboard and have buy-in to the development of the younger generations entering the workforce. A progressive approach within any organization could be to create a mentorship program. In this, employees that are seen as leaders can become a mentor to the explorer students and actually provide guidance at each level from high school through college. In the fire service and EMS, we have multiple avenues for the progression of these students and the mentorship can also be included.“Ride-Alongs” are an incredible way for the young and interested students to “see” what the action is all about either in the fire or EMS scenarios.They may not be able to actually “participate” in the fire or EMS scene but, being some part of a call will create the willingness to go for the job. In this, the mentor, can review the call with
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the student and review the procedures as well as quiz the student for recall and reassurance which can lead to a dedicated student.
Where Does the Mentorship End? If you are part of a progressive department, mentorship never ends. Success in mentorship will create good relationships with people and also set standards for those wanting to join the forces with quality experiences and this can include relationships with local community colleges and other schools of higher education.
Who Is the Best Person to Be A Mentor? In many fire/EMS departments there are those employees who are always ready and willing to train.These are the ones who also don’t mind getting dirty and getting in the trenches.They are the ones who build the props for training as well as the fire burn activities. They are the ones who arrive early and leave late without any fanfare.These are the one who are also the career athletes and are ready at a moment’s notice for help to any of their co-workers.You ask why? It’s a simple as, they are the ones who love the job and the people around them.These are the first responders that you want to show up for you if needed. These individuals have the personal understanding of what the public safety environment is like and they also enjoy demonstrating the required skills and abilities to anyone interested in the fire and EMS career field.When looking at the mentorship, they are most likely to volunteer to work a rookie academy or teach at a local community college. The mentor is one who enjoys giving back to the community and also one who the community looks up to for leadership and development of the youth and the department. Whether a high school, community college, university or fire/EMS department, leadership will always dictate the direction of its people. Good leadership knows who are the mentors in each of the categories mentioned and we need to be sure that the newer generations gain the experience from the best of the best so that we can continue to have people interested in public safety and also have mentors excited to educate and train those that are willing to jump at the chance to be a first responder. Mark Rivero worked for the City of Las Vegas, Nevada, Fire and Rescue from 1992 until 2011, holding positions as firefighter, training officer and, ultimately, professional development officer, creating degree pathways for fire service personnel and bringing in educational institutions to address higher education topics and degrees that were specific for the fire service. He currently serves as a program advisor/site coordinator for Southern Illinois University, and as the chairperson for the doctoral degree path committee for professional development at the National Fire Academy. He also works with the American Council on Education, reviewing fire service courses at various institutions across the United States. Rivero received his doctorate from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 2004.
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Water Rescue
The Art of Rescuing Victims
In the waterbased environment, we find ourselves operating in a space that is truly Dalan Zartman fluid. Evolving, changing, reactive, dynamic.This is not dissimilar to the fire environment. Structural presentation, building integrity and construction style, smoke and fire behavior.These are all moving pieces during a working fire. When we find a victim in a structure fire, we have to quickly assess the victim, determine their immediate needs, then assess the environment and problem solve. The water rescue scenario is not any different. However, we train far less on it when compared to structural firefighting.The result is far too many near miss and NIOSH reports in which the consistent cause of derailment was an inability to apply the right process to the water rescue.That is my own libertarian take on it. What am I implying? I am implying that in most cases we have not established the right foundation to make the attempted water rescue. Foundations are best built systematically. Our rescue preparations should be the same. For the purposes of this discussion, I’d like to explore the importance of the process for water rescue and what the process consists of. We can then move into specific examples of the process properly applied to retrieving victims from different water environments or hazards.
Have a Simple Process A process should be simple and have only a few key elements. It should also be versatile and unlimited in its application.To progress through that decision-making process efficiently, we must have a strong foundation. We must have an adequate level of knowledge, skill and ability. Let’s break each of these three ingredients down: KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities)
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• Knowledge: We must have a working knowledge of the characteristics and hazards associated with the water that we are operating in. Whether it is swift water, flood water, ice, or a specific water feature such as a pillow or hole, we should understand how to recognize them, identify them and interpret them. We must have the knowledge to know what is required to safely and effectively perform rescue sequences in that environment or feature.This should be career long development of continuing education and experience. • Skill: We must have the adequate technical expertise to apply to the operation.This is all about practice. From initial training for certification to advanced training in mastery level courses, we learn techniques and then we perform those techniques with repetition after repetition until they become precise and sharpened. With each repetition, we are additionally developing experience. Experience based on
the environment as well as our successes and failures during each evolution. • Ability: We must have the ability to apply our knowledge and skill. Not just in training and repetitions but when it matters most and lives are in the balance. This is a much broader term and includes everything from adequate resources to proper physical and mental conditioning.This is the preparation for performance component. Meaning, we can be knowledgeable and skilled, but if we are grotesquely out of shape or ill equipped, then our ability to apply any of that knowledge and skill is severely limited. Now that we have established the foundation, we can recognize that in order to make sound decisions and perform at a high level, that foundation of training should be in place long before we arrive on the
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scene of the rescue. Our foundation should also be vetted.This means we should allow outside agencies or instructors to evaluate and assess our training process to ensure that we are considering approaches that may be more advanced or practiced than what we already know internally. It also helps spur on innovation, growth and compliance with ever changing standards and practices. Internal training that is isolated for too long will often result in stagnate, stale and antiquated practices.This can be accomplished by sending your own instation instructors to outside training courses or by bringing outside training groups into your stations.
Water-Based Victim Rescue Process Now let’s discuss the actual process for water-based victim rescue. We must be capable of quickly recognizing water characteristics, interpreting them and applying the right solution. Quite simply:
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• What is it? • What does it do? • How do I deal with it?
must be applied to the victim as well as the water environment.There is no way to describe every possible water rescue scenario. So, we will keep this relatively basic and confined to primary water rescue techniques used to retrieve victims from the water. We will then add the matching environment or scenario where that technique is best suited. Parbuckling: This involves coming alongside of a victim, and using an implement to help roll the victim into the boat.This may require two rescuers but can typically be performed by one rescuer while the pilot stays on the tiller.The boat should approach the victim in a controlled manner and the victim should be secured in a linear fashion parallel to the side wall or sponson of the boat. Boats can be pre rigged with cargo nets, webbing, or cordage. Rescuers can also deploy sections of throw line or EMS blankets. With all of these equipment options, the deployment concept remains the same. We are going to anchor the equipment on the inside of the craft by attaching it to designed anchor points or simply standing on it. We then pass the equipment or implement into the water and under
the victim, reach over the victim and bring it back towards the boat. This creates a “burrito” or a roll or a V bridle around the victim. We then pull on the free end or top side of the implement and sit down into the boat. This action rolls the victim in. System Application: Flat Water application, limited wave or wind sweep, victim is commonly floating face down or face up and in an obviously unresponsive state. Commonly a recovery mode technique where injury management is not as high priority. Requires basic KSAs with one rescuer minimum and one pilot holding position of the boat or going to neutral and assisting the rescuer. Leverage: This usually requires a backboard.The approach is made under control again but we orient the victim perpendicular to the side of the boat with their head closest to the boat.The backboard is then plunged straight down into the water between the boat and the victim. As the buoyancy of the board offers resistance, push the board towards the victim’s feet and allow to come naturally to rest under the victim. Secure the backboard strap under the victim’s arms and across the chest.
Then bring the head of the backboard up top the top side of the boat and withdraw the victim from the water. The board should be used as a lever with the side of the boat functioning as a fulcrum. If rescue swimmers are in the water, another option on this is to leave the backboard in a slightly vertical position while securing the victim with the upper strap.The victim can then be bounced slightly up and down to create upward momentum and buoyancy and more easily transferred up onto the side of the boat. System Application: Flat Water application, limited wave or wind sweep, victim is commonly floating face down or face up and in an obviously injured state. Commonly a rescue mode technique where injury management is the highest priority. Requires basic KSAs with one rescuer minimum but two preferred and one pilot holding position of the boat or going to neutral and assisting the rescuer.The secondary rescuer can enter the water and support the victim’s injuries during the packaging and transfer. Bounce: In this technique, the see RESCUING VICTIMS page 22
Let’s take for example, a river with swift water. We are headed up river in our motorized boat headed towards our victim. As we approach, we see a large tree that has fallen into the river and our victim is clinging to the upriver side of the tree. Our victim appears fatigued and doesn’t have much time before they succumb to the current. • What is it: Strainer.The tree is acting as a strainer in the water and our victim is compressed by the current against the upriver side. • What does it do: It diverts water creating intense pressure on the upriver side of the tree and increases the flow of water around the tree, under the tree, and potentially over the tree.The result is everything from eddys to holes on the down river side of the tree with potential current differentials as well as potential displacement of the tree.The water will want to take the victim where it naturally wants to divert. • How do I deal with it: I must quickly analyze all of the potential and existing characteristics of the water as it interacts with the strainer. I must understand all of the advantages and disadvantages of those characteristics for my approach to the victim as well as my extraction of the victim. I must know the strengths and weaknesses of my crew and my craft and make a quick decision based on our collective KSAs. If we break down various water environments, we can discuss the specifics on applying the right KSAs to the specific technique of extracting victims from the water. It sounds like it should be easy, but the water is ever changing and often completely unforgiving. In a split second, the inability to properly read the water and manage your rescue position, can have fatal consequences.The system
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Winter • 2021 21
RESCUING VICTIMS Cont’d from page 21
victim is secured by a manual grab from the rescuer to the side of the boat.The boat holds position and the rescuer bounces the victim up and down two to three time and then pulls them into the boat.The rescuer must assume a high position up on the side of the boat and get a firm and reliable rasp on the victim.This is difficult if the victim does not have a PFD on.The rescuer must also be careful to produce enough bounce for the desired movement but the victim should not be dunked to the point that their head or face are pushed underwater. On the last momentous bounce and the rescuer should pull up and then sit down into the boat bringing the victim in on top of them. System Application: Flat Water or Moving Water application, limited current, victim is commonly floating in a defensive swimming position or upright position and is conscious and relatively active. Commonly a rescue mode technique where injury management is not a high priority. Requires advanced KSAs with one rescuer minimum and one pilot holding position of the boat.The pilot must be skilled enough to counteract the turn forces that will be applied to the boat when the victim is secured in current.The rescuer must be skilled enough to hold onto the victim and pull them in quickly.This is a physically demanding technique on the rescuer and presents specific hazards to the victim in the way of a motor that is
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not reduced to neutral.The victim cannot be lost under the boat or down the side of the boat without the pilot quickly transitioning to neutral. In current this will result in the boat being at the mercy of the river. Approaches must be made from a down river position and the victim should be allowed to come to the boat. As the pilot throttles up to maintain position, the victim will have increasing drag and result in more resistance and force for the rescuer to overcome. Peel Out: The peel out technique requires timing, communications and coordination but is by far the most efficient technique.The set up for this is the same as the bounce. However, the pilot must be proficient at eddy turns or peel outs and he must know the turning radius of the boat. Additionally, the water space must be wide enough to make the turn.The rescuer should also make sure that he grabs the victim and secures them on the front third of the boat. If the victim and rescuer set up too far back, they will end up on top of the pilot and will not develop the natural bounce needed to get the victim into the boat with ease. As soon as the victim is secured. The pilot initiates a tight turn towards the side that the victim is on.This turn will bring the bow of the boat and thus the victim partially out of the water as the turn progresses. Additionally, the wake produced by the outboard will push under the victim approximately half way through the turn and help push the victim into the boat.The rescuer must time his pull to marry up with the bow lift and wake production
and then simply sit down into the boat and the victim will follow. System Application: Flat Water or Moving Water application, moderate to swift current, victim is commonly floating in a defensive swimming position or upright position and is conscious and relatively active. Commonly a rescue mode technique where injury management is not a high priority. Requires advanced KSA’s with one rescuer minimum and one pilot maintaining operation of the boat.The pilot must be skilled enough to set up the boat with appropriate spacing to make the turn. He or she must also be capable of performing advanced peel out or eddy turns while communicating with the rescuer.The rescuer must be skilled enough to hold onto the victim and pull them in at the proper time.This is also a physically demanding technique on the rescuer and presents specific hazards to the victim in the way of a motor that is not reduced to neutral. The victim cannot be lost under the boat or down the side of the boat without the pilot quickly transitioning to neutral. In current this will result in the boat being at the mercy of the river. Approaches must be made from a down river position and the victim should be allowed to come to the boat.This technique reduces much of the motor hazard to the victim as the motor is moving away from the victim during the turn and it is also reducing the workload on the rescuer. Pinning: Pinning is applied when we position the boat with a proper ferry angle and throttle control to stabilize a point of contact between the boat and an object such as a tree, bridge column or vehicle.This is typically used for conscious victims that can assist in their own rescue sequence by following directives and command and initiating their own movements. System Application: Flat Water or Moving Water application, limited to swift current, victim is commonly stuck on an object. Commonly a
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rescue mode technique where injury management can vary. Requires advanced KSAs with one rescuer minimum and one pilot holding position of the boat.The pilot must be skilled enough to read the water as it interacts with the object and position the boat properly to avoid high siding or being swept away with the object it displaces.The pilot will also have to determine the proper angle and amount of throttle necessary to keep the boat in a stabilized position with the object.The rescuer must be skilled enough to coach the victim into the boat safely as well as potentially exit the boat and secure the victim on the object to ultimately assist them into the boat.This may require additional resources to free the victim depending on their entanglement with the object. To summarize, rescuers must develop strong and continually growing KSAs. Both individual rescuers and rescue crews should be disciplined in approaching rescue evolutions with a system to help process information efficiently and accurately and translate into high impact and proper actions. Practice, practice, practice and let the experiences you develop sharpen your capabilities. Stay safe and Train Hard! Dalan Zartman is a 20-year career veteran of the fire service currently assigned to a Heavy Rescue. He is a certified rescue specialist, fire and rescue instructor, public safety diver, and paramedic. As president and founder of Rescue Methods llc, he and his team of instructors have delivered technical rescue courses around the world. Zartman and team Rescue Methods are also active competitors in global rescue competitions and are passionately focused on serving emergency services, military, FEMA teams, NATO teams, and Industrial organizations. He is also a team leader for a nationally deployed type 1 dive and swift water response team and oversees global alternative energy fire testing programs. He has served on NFPA committees and is closely connected to Bowling Green State University as an adjunct faculty member and advisory board member.
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Rescue
Agricultural Equipment Rescues
Rescue Instructors occasionally have the pleasure of teaching a class of exceptional quality and fun, Bob Twomey the fulfillment of seeing the rescue students really “get into the class.” I experienced those feelings this past October while teaching the TR-Machinery and Agricultural Rescue certification class locally. What made the class so exciting was that all of the participants were either Firefighter II or Technical Rescuer certified rescuers, many with other rescue specialties such as High Level, Ropes, and Rigging specialty certifications. Likewise, one of the course participants is currently the chief of a local fire department and he owns a large farm here in the local area. He was able to provide old and new equipment to use in demonstrations, rescues, disentanglements, dismantling and stabilization techniques. It should be noted that ALL fire and rescue personnel should strive to improve knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) whenever possible. The rescuers in this course were already advanced in skill levels, so this made preparing the required practical scenarios so much easier to accomplish. Their past KSAs allowed for excellent exchange of ideas and concepts about how to perform the rescues, alternative rescue methods and potential problems that could arise during an agriculture rescue. It just could not have been a more meaningful and educational class! Using Tyvek suit straw filled “victims,” we saw the effects of a person caught under a rotating PTO driven mower (commonly called a bush hog), a victim whose pant leg fabric got caught in a rotating power-take-off (PTO) operating at a common 540 revolutions per minute operational speed (which is nine revolutions per second), and the devastating injuries that would result to a real human being. Seeing is believing; seeing the victim hit with blades rotating at 540 RPM and seeing a person rolled up in a PTO at the same speed — well, it gets the point across that the outcome for the victim will not be good. We had a wonderful opportunity to see what happens when a farmer tries to unclog a debris-jammed cutter head on a combine operating at field harvest speed. We saw what happens to a body when it gets tangled up in a hay “round baler” on the bale roller belts, and when a victim gets caught in a “square baler” hay
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baling machine. In all situations, the patient outcome was not one conducive to survival. The students were then able to begin rescue disentanglement on extremely tough, durable machinery. A victim caught in a corn picker, baler, combine, or other crop harvesting machine is more than likely to involve a body recovery. Many pieces of farm machinery will be under tremendous spring, mechanical or hydraulic tension when shut down or literally choked down by a human body entering the machine. To not be able to discern this type of hazard can be fatal to rescuers! Hydraulic hoses contain fluid that is under great pressure and very hot. Yet some pieces of see AGRICULTURAL page 24
Hydraulic pressure must be relieved on a charged hydraulic system to allow this door to open.
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Modified Ladder-as-a-Derrick and Ladder Slide on grain dryer bin rescue.
Stabilization of overturned tractors is critical prior to rescue operations.
Rescue of victim inside a portable grain dryer. Note hot, warm and cold zones.
machinery will require that this hydraulic pressure be relieved to affect a rescue, especially if the machine or tractor controls are unreachable or damaged, as in a rollover. Class participants got to see how to do this safely. Modern farm machinery is often computer controlled, and unless complete lock-out tagout procedures are followed, parts of a machine can reenergize unexpectedly. The risk to victims and rescuers should be obvious here. There are just so many different types of accidents that can happen with farm and heavy equipment. As such, rescue agencies with farms and farm-related activities in their districts should be certified in basic agriculture and machinery rescue. Your agency should have equipment dealers and their mechanics on a “call out as needed” emergency basis. Why? Because this type of equipment is complex, and it requires a working knowledge of how components function and interact, how they can be disassembled safely, what can and cannot (or should not) be cut, moved or messed with on a machine without proper procedure and safeguards. In a nutshell, do NOT be afraid of calling for help from folks who know farm machinery. This includes farmhands and family members or other farmers who know agricultural machinery. They may just save you or your victim’s life!
Stabilization of Farm or Heavy Machinery is Absolutely Critical Prior to ANY Rescue Farm machinery is heavy, often top heavy, unwieldy, and sometimes bulky, with sturdy purchase points sometimes hard to reach. Many times the soil under this heavy machinery is soft, muddy and won’t provide much bearing strength. ALL of the stabilization methods learned in vehicle extrication and rescue will apply, but other stabilization techniques must be utilized, such as how to stabilize a heavy liquidfilled tractor tire to keep it from rotating. Chocking tractor tires has its own methodology, different from passenger vehicles, and it is usually done on soil surfaces instead of asphalt. Thus, agriculture and
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heavy machinery stabilization is a specialty area of rescue. Grain bins, dryers and silos present unique challenges to rescuers. For example, an upright silo filled with corn silage is a confined space, a toxic atmosphere (HazMat) and will require high level rescue skills. If the victim is engulfed by product, trench rescue stabilization concepts will likely need to be utilized to prevent further victim engulfment or rescuer engulfment. Basic rescue methods from TR General, using ladders, ladder slides, ladder derricks often times work well in agriculture rescues. Grain augers used to fill grain bins present special hazards, such as when an arm or leg gets wrapped up in the vanes of the auger shaft. Can I reverse the auger to remove the victim, or do I need to cut the auger shaft? Am I going to have to hurt the victim some more if I have to reverse the auger to free a limb? Is the auger electrically driven by motor, or is it powered by a power take-off from a tractor? Can the auger be cut with a K-12 Rescue Saw or with a cutting torch? As you can see, many things need to be considered quickly in your initial “scene size-up.” Manure management on farms with confined animals have unique risks. Many dairy, beef, and swine farms employ a manure storage pond or lagoon to temporarily hold manure, urine and facility wash water. Typically, the storage periods are for four to six months, depending on animal types, numbers, type of farming operations and so forth. These facilities are supposed to be fenced off and well managed. Generally, they are designed to be six to 12 feet deep. Most are earthen structures, with earthen dams built to contain a certain volume of waste. Lagoons tend to be deeper than waste storage ponds and typically are more “liquid” in nature. Waste storage ponds tend to “crust over” with liquid under the crust. This crust can sometimes be several feet thick before it is mechanically agitated to a slurry prior to being pumped out for use as fertilizer for crops. Anyone venturing out onto this crust, knowingly or unknowingly, is
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at great risk of falling through this crust and becoming trapped in the manure and liquid under the crust. This type of rescue normally is a body recovery. While working with NRCS in a piedmont county years ago, I actually witnessed a small child run out onto the thick crust of a dairy waste storage pond that was unmarked and not fenced off! He soon came running off the crust back onto the dam, and only by a miracle of God did he not fall through the crust layer! Since manure is undergoing biological decomposition in these structures, rescuers must be concerned about toxic gases emitted from decomposition processes, even though these are outdoor facilities. Closed facilities, such as slurry storage tanks and storage areas under animals on slatted floors, tend to be more likely to contain concentrated gases immediately dangerous to life and health (IDLH). I believe you can now understand that farms have the potential for many types of dangerous and complex rescues, from rescues in or out of silos, grain bins, waste storage facilities and a myriad of types of heavy farm machinery. Some machinery is older, some new, each with its own unique requirements for stabilization and rescue. Sometimes your standard extrication tools won’t be very effective on very tough, durable machines designed to plant, manage and harvest crops. Hazards will include toxic pesticides or herbicides,
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mechanically or electrically energized equipment, hot hydraulic fluids and pressurized cylinders, fuels, fire or explosions, very heavy, tough, durable machinery, rescues in wet, soft, or muddy fields, rescues during inclement weather — and the list goes on and on. I could not possibly begin to cover all that we covered in this TR Machinery and Agricultural Rescue certification class. But I can tell you, from 47 years of rescue experience and teaching, that learning how to SAFELY perform agriculture rescues is paramount. I would encourage any rescuer to take this certification class, but will temper that statement with this: It is a “basic” specialty class in how to perform these rescues, acknowledging that more advanced agricultural rescue training will be needed. It covers a great amount of material, and it will keep you safe — if you adhere to the safety principles presented. Bob Twomey has been in the volunteer rescue service for 46 years, having served on five Rescue Squads from the coast to the mountains. He is currently a member of Transylvania County Rescue Squad, past Chief and Training Chief, an EMT for 45 years, and is an IFSAC and OSFM certified Rescue Instructor. Bob has been active in SAR, Mountain Rescue, and teaches high-level rescue. He is the chief pilot of Wolf Tree Aviation, and flies helicopter searches and rescue support locally. He is a Crew Chief for the NC Forest Service. He can be reached at 828-8847174 or at btwomey@comporium.net.
Ladder Derrick-Ladder Slide used to effect rescue.
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Feature
Leadership: Our Biggest Failures
(This is the second in a series of articles focused on leadership in the fire service. It is directed more for the volunteer side, but certain principals can be applied to the career David side as well.) Hesselmeyer Last edition, we spent time reviewing what the definition of leadership is using dictionary and other references.This led us to talk about what leadership isn’t and then what it is. If you have spent any length of time in a professional setting, I think we can all concur on what leadership looks like and what it doesn’t.The issue at hand though is that our definition can be off tremendously. My travels have led me to question our definition as well. I have seen leaders who consider themselves great in that position due to the fact that they have read the newest leadership book.Yet use the book only to prove how awesome they are. I have seen leaders fail to develop any skills from the start and fail miserably as they do not care to put the effort into the process. So many times, we fail to take the action that we need to in order to succeed. Let’s take a few minutes to discuss some of these major failures we do in the fire service regarding leadership.
are departments that choose officers based on how much they are liked through a popularity contest; excuse me, I mean a popular vote. Normally this leads to what I call “politics” prior to elections where those wanting a position are making allies so they can get enough votes to obtain that much wanted officer position.This truly hurts our younger members as they are often preyed on and influenced to vote in a certain way; whether right or wrong. One department I had experience with actually had more politics involved than that.They would initially vote for their Board of Directors for the following year. Then at some point that board, not even being in their term of servantship, made decisions on whom they would put into their officer positions. Everyone scrambled to get to be a member of the board thereby increasing their chances of being an officer. We could go on and on concerning this. Our failure comes from allowing anything other than the best and most effective to become officers and therefore lead the department and its members. You can say similar stuff when it comes to career officers. Spend some time reviewing how officers are selected and there are always holes where they can sneak someone into the position without anyone noticing.
Patronage and Politics
Lack of Leadership Training
This is a tremendous failure in the volunteer world of leadership and can be also in the career side. How does your department choose their officers (i.e. leaders)? This is done so many different ways it is confusing to keep straight.There
I have had the privilege of being an officer in several departments over the years. Each time that I was put into the role, I chose to do something difficult. I made the time and effort to finding a way to better myself as a leader. Does this mean that I became a superb and
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awesome leader? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I am no better than anyone else. However, leadership is a craft just as is firefighting. So why don’t our officers find ways to better themselves as leaders? Good question, right? The easiest way for me to understand this personally is by asking this question. How do you feel about a firefighter being voted on (volunteer) or hired (career) and not going through training to do the job? Would you like that person coming to put your house fire out, do CPR on your spouse, or drive a 50,000-pound fire truck? Not even close. We expect these firefighters to get initial education and experience and then to constantly build on top of that education and experience. So why doesn’t it happen? I think first and foremost it is because these leaders do not really care about their craft of being a leader.They love the title and power and that is it. Secondly, I think it is because they are scared that others may find out what they do and do not know.They would rather you think they know everything and not risk you finding out the truth. This is such a missed opportunity with all the training we have at our fingertips!
Admit Mistakes A mistake. A firefighter’s worst nightmare. It is even worse as a leader. No one wants to admit that they have made a mistake. It hurts, shows you are not perfect, and that you have weaknesses that could be taken advantage of later on. We constantly do things like place blame on others, hide away from discussions where these talks are being discussed and run away from them. I have seen many leaders regularly do the blame game and such. On face value, there does not seem to be any major impact concerning their actions like this.These actions though cause a lot of damage over time. Members or staff begin to resent you. It creates general unhappiness and dissent.This
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is a disease that is not easily treated. It spreads constantly and can even impact a member’s family or other departments. Being the fact that I have an 11-yearold (12 years old by the time you read this! Happy Birthday Reagan!) daughter, a two-year-old son, and a one-year-old daughter, you can imagine I have had watched movies like Moana (Disney) many times. If you have not seen it, Moana is a tribal princess and goes on a quest to save her village.The reason she does this is that there is a disease spreading among the islands killing the fish and other items they eat. At one point of the movie, the grandmother of Moana (who I think is my favorite character in the movie and also reminds me of my Mom, Dianna) shows Moana where the disease is making its way on shore.There is black slowly creeping onto the island.Yet it spreads quickly decimating their village.This is how placing blame on others impacts us.
Conclusion There are many failures that we make within the fire service.These are just a few that I feel are slowly yet horrifically creeping into our culture and we do not do anything about it. In the following articles, we are going to spend some time looking at how we can fix some of these issues if you are willing to do the work! Until next time, be safe! David Hesselmeyer, M.P.A., has been in emergency services for 16 years. Currently he is a firefighter, rescue technician, paramedic, and North Carolina Executive Emergency Manager. Hesselmeyer is the owner and primary consultant with On Target Preparedness (OTP) which contracts with emergency services agencies and non profits to assist in risk assessments, plan writing, plan revision, exercise development, etc. He currently volunteers with Buies Creek Fire Rescue and works part time with Harnett County EMS. He can be contacted at dhesselmeyer@ontargetprep.com or visit his website at www.ontargetprep.com.
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Feature
News From the N.C. State Treasurer
2020 Hindsight Will Never Sound the Same
Another year has passed and for many of us it was a year of defining Dale R. Folwell, CPA experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic affected us all in one way or another. The health crisis quickly turned into an economic crisis. And as keeper of the public purse, it’s important to let people know that our state is financially secure because of the conservative management of the state’s finances by the North Carolina General Assembly, as well as previous state treasurers. Because our decisions were based on transparency, data and a willingness to challenge assumptions, we are in a good position to withstand economic headwinds and come out of this crisis stronger than before. As I reflect on my first term as Treasurer of the State of North Carolina, I am reminded of the choices made to cut costs and bolster the pension system. We have cut more than $350 million in Wall Street fees. We have reduced the state’s Net Other Post-Employment Benefits debt by almost $3.3 billion largely through renegotiation of our Medicare Advantage contract which will save approximately $200 million per year than can be used for education, public safety and roads. At the same time, the state pension funds saw record values of $110 billion and, according to Moody’s Investors Service, has been widely recognized as one of the best funded pensions in the nation. This incredible performance occurred during one of the most volatile markets in history. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, the PEW Charitable Trusts performed a ‘stress test‘ which concluded that the state’s pension fund is well-positioned to maintain solvency during tough economic times. With this, the Department of State Treasurer and Board of Trustees proactively created a proposal to formalize the practice of stress testing at least once every five years. The new legislation was enacted on June 26, 2020 and requires comprehensive stress testing and risk reporting. This means we can continue working to make sure the North Carolina pensions are wellfunded for retirees, current employees and future public servants. With these successes, I stand on the shoulders of two groups of people — the staff at the Department of State Treasurer
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and the state treasurers before me who acted and reacted responsibly when it came to the management of public servants’ assets. I have and will continue to build on that foundation and remain committed to preserving, strengthening and sustaining all North Carolina Pension plans. There are five different pension plans that make up the North Carolina Retirement System, which is recognized as having the 26th largest pool of public money in the world. These include: Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System, Local Governmental Employees Retirement Systems (LGERS), Consolidated Judicial System, Legislative Retirement System and the Firefighters’ and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund (FRSWPF). Some fire and rescue personnel fall under LGERS depending on their employer (just over 10,000 members at the end of 2019), but all firefighters and rescue workers in the state of North Carolina, even those that are members of LGERS, can become a member of the FRSWPF if they meet certain criteria. To be eligible, you must be 18 years or older and belong to a department that: • I s rated by the Fire Insurance Rating Bureau and is certified by the Department of Insurance as not less than a Class “9S” department. • Files a roster annually with the North Carolina State Firemen’s Association, which is forwarded to the pension fund by January 31 each year. • H olds training sessions at least four hours monthly for which members are required to attend at least 36 hours per year. To become a member of the FRSWPF, you must complete Form 350 (Enrolling in the Firefighters’ and Rescue Squad Workers’ Pension Fund) through your department or squad and provide contributions of $10 per month for each month of creditable service on a partial or annual basis. This contribution may be made by your department or squad on your behalf, or you may make the contribution. The full contribution amount must be received by the Retirement Systems by March 31 to qualify for the previous year. Members normally must pay into the pension fund for 20 years see HINDSIGHT page 45
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Leadership
By Doug Cline
The 7 Qualities Fire Service Leaders Must Possess — Courtesy (This is part five of a sevenpart series on leadership.) During this series we will be examining
the seven qualities that are necessary for a leader to be successful in leading the organization and the team.You cannot be an effective team leader without being able to effectively communicate in every realm. Part five will focus on courtesy.
The definition from Webster’s Dictionary of courtesy: 1. A behavior marked by polished manners or respect for others 2. A courteous and respectful act or expression. For fire service leaders a realistic appraisal of your team’s abilities enables you as a leader to strike a healthy ability to communicate. For today’s fire service it is import to understand that every form of communications is important and is required for the ability to communicate with the diversity of the generations in today’s fire service. Understanding that no matter what generation, group or age you are communicating with, courtesy is a critical element that has lasting influence. I know of no highly successful leader, especially in the fire service, who fails to demonstrate courtesy. I know of many fire service officers and leaders who earned their respect in their position of authority and autonomy because they understood that courtesy is the lubricant that allows the human interaction of interpersonal dynamics to work harmoniously. Others who fail to provide courteous behavior usually do not gain respect or get the level of response they could if they would just apply courtesy practices. John C. Maxwell states,“Everything rises and falls on leadership.” He is
absolutely correct in this statement. The temperament of a leader is an important ingredient that goes a long way in determining his or her success. In short, behaviors and attitudes are critical factors and do matter. All too often, we hear the stories of fire service bullying and other behaviors that contribute to poor morale and working conditions. As a leader it is important to be aware of your surroundings and your workplace culture. Now is a good time to be reminded of simple courtesies that make a difference. I have provided a list of the common courtesies I have learned from great leaders and mentors that every fire officer should remember.This list is not exhaustive but a sound foundation to begin working from.The list is in no specific order.
Return Your Phone Calls Nothing frustrates me more than not to get communication from someone I am trying to communicate with. As a leader when people are reaching out to you it is important to them that they communicate with you. How many times has this happened to you? You leave a voicemail and you go days or weeks without a response often requiring multiple attempts and follow up. How did it make you feel? Nothing indicates you or your situation are not important any louder than the silence of being ignored. A courteous leader will return calls promptly. In an effort to meet this objective I have my office phone always forwarded to my cell phone so I can answer the call immediately if I happen to be out of the office. Nothing indicates your desire to communicate more than answering the phone. If I cannot take the call, I try to send a quick text, if possible, to indicate I am busy and will contact them as soon as possible. I try to set the rule of no more than one hour to return a phone call and always apologize for not being able to take their call initially.
Answer Your Emails Timely Nothing frustrates me more than not to get communication from someone I am trying to communicate with. As a leader, when people are reaching out to you it is important to them that they communicate with you. How many times has this happened to you? You send an email or emails and you go days or weeks without a response.This is extremely frustrating when this is supposed to be a quick and resourceful way of communicating. A courteous leader will return emails promptly. With technology at the level it is today we receive emails on multiple devices which will allow the ability for a quick response. Nothing screams being ignored more than going days without a response of some kind on an email. If I cannot respond in detail to the email immediately, I try to send a quick return email to say I have received it and will get with them as soon as I
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can or if out of pocket an automatic response to indicate such. I try to set the rule of no more than four hours to return an email and always apologize for being delayed if I go over that.
How to Say ‘Thank You,’ ‘Please’ and ‘You’re welcome’ It should go without saying but these polite yet simple forms of communication are essential words in the vocabulary of every leader. However, all too often I hear communications of leaders exclude these simple phrases. It is important as a leader that you use these often and use them with sincerity. These phrases are still relevant and meaningful.Your responses from others will indicate that they appreciate your courtesy.The feeling of being appreciated is critical to improving the performance and morale of those you lead.
The Timing of Positive and Encouraging Words One of the most powerful and courteous things you can do as a leader is to speak words of encouragement to those around you. Encouragement improves attitude. Attitude is critical in people being positive and feeling good about themselves. I personally have never felt worse after someone encouraged me. Encouragement by definition makes us feel better, puts a bounce in our step, a smile on our face and a desire to be successful, thus improving your attitude. When our attitude is better, we are healthier, happier and more productive.The timing of a kind word to a colleague can be just the thing he or she needs to make it through the day or through a difficult time. Be aware of the needs of those around you and don’t be afraid to speak a kind and encouraging word.
your undivided attention and listen to understand and not to answer.
The Timing of your Silence In the Bible, the book of Ecclesiastes states,“there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak.” Often times we want to respond — listening to answer — without taking time to understand what it is being communicated as we talked about above. As a leader, there will be times when you need to hold your comments and not say a word. We often respond out of emotion rather than understanding. Emotional responses will routinely not be thought out and will usually exacerbate the situation. As a leader you can be just as courteous by what you don’t say as you can by what you do say. As a leader you have to learn the appropriateness of the moment.
Just Let Some Things Go Human nature is hard and we all work off emotions at times. As a leader, extending courtesies can be challenging. Great leaders in the fire service have taught me that one of the wisest things you can do as a
leader is to learn how to let things go. Don’t be so hell bent on winning the battle that you lose the war. A good leader will focus on the end outcome. Consider the issue and measure your response. Learn how to forgive and move on.You’ll be happier in the long run.
The Value of People’s Time In our fast pace world today, time seems to be of the essence. As a fire service leader you are probably very busy with the tasks and responses of the day and all of the other components of life. A courteous leader is considerate of other people’s time and knows how to manage their own. It is critical that when you set a meeting time you are on time and that you are prepared for the meeting and not wasting time on trivial things. When people schedule appointments with you, be prepared to meet with them and schedule enough time for that meeting. Showing courtesy as a leader means that you value and respect other people’s time and won’t waste it. Giving of your time with impromptu situations also indicates the personnel are important and
that you care. We all know that our personnel are your most valued resource, giving of your time to them indicates your commitment to them and that you value them.
Mind Your Own Business As a leader it is important that you DONOT get caught up in or participate in the gossip and office politics. We all know that gossip and the rumor mill have been around for a long time and continue to thrive in organizations. A courteous leader will stay out of the gossip and rumor mill as well as silencing these with facts and stopping the conversations. There is a thin line of when it is your business as a leader and when it is not. If it affects the organization, violates policy or is malicious then it is your business as a leader. As leaders if it’s not your business then don’t make it your business, refrain from being part of the problem. If it is your business then use it as a teachable moment to show the proper way to handle it. see COURTESY page 46
The Art of Active Listening On so many levels we are losing the art of active listening and being present in the moment. We are losing this component in the art of conversation. All too often we are distracted and listening to answer rather than listening to understand. The better connected we are through technology the more distant we’ve become relationally. For proof, try having a 30-minute lunch with a group of friends or colleagues and watch how many times each person is checking their mobile device, if not staying on that device the entire lunch. I have learned from mentors that the art of active listening is critical in being a true respected leader. I have designed my office where I have to turn my back to the computer and phone to have a face to face conversation. I have set up a meeting space (a round table and four chairs) in my office that I utilize frequently to have conversations.This area allows for open body language and the reduction of positional power from behind the desk. Other leaders I know have a coffee table and sitting chairs in their office for utilization in the art of active listening. Remember to put away the phone or remove any other distractions, give others
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Feature
Slow Year for PIO
Make no mistake – the year 2020 was a crazy, tough, chaotic year for many. It was a year that will go on record Bill Suthard as one if not the most memorable years ever. A chaotic year full of contradictions, surprises and unusual events. From the acquittal of President Donald Trump in an impeachment trial, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent changes to our daily lives, schools shut down as new words such as “Zoom” and “remote learning” are
created, a spring and summer of civil unrest across the country, growing calls for defunding the police, a less than “normal” presidential race, a busy hurricane season, an even busier western wildfire season and a fall presidential election which left one candidate crying foul.
Slow PIO Year This year was one of my slower years as a Public Information Officer (PIO). Not because incidents did not occur, quite the contrary. We remained busy with calls for service — full disclosure we did see a decrease in medical calls as we re-structured our
responses to avoid COVID exposure. My year was slower due to a huge decrease in community events, as well as a marked decrease in media visits, engagements and interest. In early April we suspended all public visits to the fire stations to reduce COVID exposures; not necessarily to protect us, but to protect the public from us. We also cancelled our spring community events, blood drives and the bi-monthly child safety seat inspections. Along with the loss of all of those events, comes all of the missed attempts at public education, fire safety awareness and our media exposure that goes along with it. We rely on media to get our messaging across to the residents of our area that are not users of social media. Additionally, and for dynamic, real time incidents that affect our residents, we rely on media to put the “icing on the cake” so to speak in getting timely, important information out to our key stakeholders — residents, other agencies, local businesses and our community leaders.
Media Had Their Hands Full in 2020 As mentioned, this year we saw a major decrease in media interest and coverage — especially for our human interest/community focused/ safety awareness stories. We saw a 100 percent decline in print media
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support in 2020 after March. Print media is newspapers and periodicals. It completely went away, even though we included them on media releases. I can say that we were starting to see the support and interest come back at the beginning of December. During the year we definitely saw a decrease in media coverage for our major incidents — accidents, fires and rescues. I attribute this to many reasons for why this occurred; which I will outline for you. In my opening, I mentioned that 2020 was a chaotic, contradiction of a year. So many negative stories filled our news, our social media timelines and our newspapers. At the beginning of the year, every day was led off and closed with news about the presidential impeachment, followed in March by the COVID pandemic. Important news mind you, but delivered in mainly a negative light — across multiple networks.Then positivity began to surface and our mainstream media began to celebrate first responders and our frontline healthcare workers and share positive
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stories about the battle against our new enemy – the pandemic.Then the tragedy occurred with the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Everyone was dealt a serious blow with this new tragic event and the mainly negative stories that filled our timelines. Every night we learned about the Floyd tragedy, ensuing civil unrest across America, COVID and an ever-growing presidential campaign, which in itself was also negative. The next phase involved civil unrest throughout the summer and in many cities across America. This unrest included demands for defunding law enforcement. In July came the west coast wildfire season — this year’s fires stretched across California, Oregon, Washington and Colorado burning over 8.1 million acres, destroying 13,877 buildings and killing 46 people.The Atlantic hurricane season didn’t help.The 2020 season was one of the busiest seasons on record and it started early, back in May.The 2020 season saw a total of 30 storms (a record high), 13 of which became actual hurricanes and six that became major hurricanes killing more that 409 people and causing over $41 billion in damages. Our timelines were becoming very full by fall with daily negative news including COVID, civil unrest, western wildfires, hurricanes and the presidential campaign. By the time the evening news was over each night — there was barely any time for positive news and hope. But wait, there’s more. In November the presidential election was held, and as we know the results were contentious, which of course, led to more negative news. Couple that with the fact that COVID cases were on a dramatic rise leading into the holidays, and new restrictions were enacted by government leadership.The hits kept coming. It was becoming harder to include all the top (negative) stories in the 30-minute segments the media had to operate within.
of our community events and the negative news in the world, I tried to foster good, supportive stories. I initially attempted through my local media contacts, but that didn’t pan out — the first time in years for me! I attributed this to the pandemic and the travel restrictions reporters faced, coupled with the restrictions on visitors at the fire stations. So, like I always do, I took to social media. I shared positive, community stories. Although we had some negative responses to a few of our posts (folks
felt the firefighters should have had a mask on when a picture was taken, or should be standing further apart in the picture). Mind you, our members ride the same fire truck and spend 24-hour shifts together while sharing a locker room and a dormitory.They are as close, as close can be, they’re family. On a few occasions, when we shared a post in support of our local law enforcement partners, (Huntersville has a fantastic police department) it was met with negative, toxic responses. Many of our LEO supportive posts received negative feedback from folks — but not from members of our community. Fortunately, many of these toxic responses were flagged through social media and eventually removed. We continued to work hard to focus on positive community interactions and made attempts to further positive discussions. As COVID became commonplace, our community rallied to support healthcare workers and first responders within our area. We asked our firefighters at our stations to report any positive community interaction to the PIO so that I could post it and thank the community. I’m
happy to report that the firefighters stayed busy with this. As I’ve said previously in my other articles — we really serve an amazing community here in Huntersville.They are tireless supporters of their first responders and we are thankful for that!
Positive Messaging — Hope So, what positive messaging did we target? Well, the correct answer is that I had to figure it out on the fly, and my very first challenge was the pandemic, and I had never dealt with a pandemic before. For this article, I will share how we handled the messaging related to COVID. I felt the first message we needed to address was that their fire department was on duty, prepared and would be there for anyone in the community that needed us. One of the first posts I shared was of a couple of our firefighters wearing their “Pandemic Gear.” I wanted the post to represent a clear and to-thepoint informational, upbeat post to the community, poking fun at the gear while also making a statement that we were there and prepared. We just looked a little different. see SLOW YEAR page 46
Hope I will be the first to admit that I understand why the negative stories abound and my article in no way is an effort to blame the media for the lack of positive coverage; but my article may be a shameless effort to draw attention to something that we need in our lives — the need for more HOPE. We need more community, and positivity.The year 2020 did not provide much hope for us, but we can change that. A PIO can change that, and this PIO really tried — all year. In the spring of 2020, with the loss
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Here’s Hoping 2021 is More Joyous for you than 2020 A column devoted to answering your questions on consumer, mortgage, small business and non-profit investments and lending programs to help you navigate the new financial landscape. Send your questions to bill.carter@civicfcu.org. an issue.When asked why the accounts had been paid late, he replied that there was “too much month left at the end of the money.”That’s just about the best way to explain it. He had more bills to pay in that 30-day window than he received in income. Now, in July I asked you to track your every expense so that your budgets would be realistic, and you would have a very honest picture of what your monthly expenses really were. I don’t know about you, but I am ALWAYS surprised at the expenses that we incur each month. Most people think that they are in better shape than they are, so that’s where my annual New Year’s Day ritual can help.
What’s Your Net Worth? New Year’s Day:The day that most Americans gather around the big screen TV (or streaming service) to watch college football bowl games, consume wonderful snacks and indulge in the beverage of choice. However, I have an annual ritual that I observe every New Year’s Day, and that is examining my financial wellness. Sounds exciting doesn’t it! Well it kind of is, as I like to control my finances versus my finances controlling me.There is nothing worse than financial stress! Many years ago, I was attempting to qualify a young couple for a mortgage loan, and the husband’s credit became
I compile a balance sheet on our family, and then look back at the previous year’s balance sheet to see how they compare.Your assets should include any cash on deposit, the value of any real estate owned, the balance of your 401k account or any stocks and bonds held, and the value of your vehicles. Even though they have value, I do not include items such as beanie baby collections, musical instruments, gun collections etc. as an asset, even though you have “invested” in these items.They obviously could be sold, and the money used to boost your bottom line. But we are not looking at the value of tangible assets at this time other than those initially noted. I then total our assets.
Next, I look at our liabilities by first listing our mortgage loan and car loan balances, and any outstanding credit card debt, or installment loan balances that we have. Be sure to include any medical bills that have been set up on monthly payments.This is our total debt. By subtracting our debt from our assets, we will get a snapshot of our net worth.This would be the value of your estate should all assets be sold, and all liabilities paid off. Each year you want to work to increase your net worth from the previous year’s total if possible.
Now it’s ‘Cash Flow’ Time to See if You Have ‘Too Much Month Left at the End of YOUR Money’ List the minimum monthly payments for your home, auto, credit cards, installment loans, medical bills and total them up. Now add up your guaranteed monthly sources of income. If you are paid every two weeks, just use the net amount for two pay periods as your monthly income.Your monthly cash flow is your total income less your total monthly minimum payments. Do you have any money left at the end of the month? I certainly hope so, as the cash flow model above includes only debt payments, and no expenses for living! Your true cash flow will be the above minimum payments PLUS your monthly living expenses. Now comes the difficult part: tracking your monthly living expenses.
These include housing, food, medicine, gasoline, utilities, car repair, home and yard maintenance, clothing, children’s activity registration costs like dance classes or little league, and the list goes on for each family. This exercise is where your eyes might bug out of your head as you stumble on miscellaneous expenses that you were either not aware of or had forgotten. Every time I have done this the miscellaneous expenses, car maintenance, and medical expenses have made my preliminary budget obsolete before I even began. So just because you don’t have these expenses as regular monthly payments like a credit card payment, you need to factor these expenses into your budget either as a specific line item, or to savings to cover these expenses when they do arise. Go on-line or go through your checking account statements either in hand or on-line to see what you paid in these categories last year. Having any fun yet? Now, pull up an Excel spreadsheet or sit down with a legal pad and list each monthly minimum payment you must make for both debt and living expenses. Total all minimum payments and estimates and then subtract from your monthly net income.
Do You Have Any Money Left at the End of the Month? Most of us cannot control our income at will, so we need to look at reducing our required monthly debt and living expenses to free up more cash. If you have an installment loan payment or a monthly credit card payment, using any extra cash to pay these off early will save you money in interest, eliminate a payment, and then free up more disposable income to go to savings, or to pay off another account. This examination of financial wellness certainly rules out any “impulse purchases” by yourself or your family if your efforts are going to be any benefit to you. Now that your monthly income and monthly minimum expenses are set, you have your initial working budget! Yeah! Notice I said initial working budget. Which means budgets will change with a new pay raise or a new car loan payment, and you must make the adjustments accordingly.
Your Financial Goals What are your family’s financial goals for this year? To save $1,000 for Christmas? To have $2,000 in savings? To pay off a couple of credit card accounts? Get your family involved as this helps get everyone onboard to work together to meet these goals. Some easy places to begin are looking at your current habits, and if changing the habits will assist you in meeting your goals. I used to buy a Starbucks latte every morning.Was it good? YES!
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Was it more expensive than the black coffee that’s free at work? Absolutely! By eliminating Starbucks daily, I saved approximately $150 per month and lost weight as I was consuming fewer daily calories. Did I have to make a change? NO! But was it beneficial? YES! So, look and see what you might change to save a little money daily. Another place in our budget that jumped out at me as a waste of money were subscriptions purchased that were not being used. From magazines that were never read, to the on-line clubs and memberships that never got used.We were given a Hulu component in April so we could watch more television and movies while we were quarantined.We purchased Amazon, Netflix and several other streaming services, and have probably watched about four movies in seven months.We are usually so tired at the end of the day we collapse on the couch and watch reruns of Andy Griffith and Family Feud. Interest rates are as low as they will ever be. If you have a mortgage or auto loan, check to see if it’s worth refinancing your current loans. If you can refinance, you will immediately recognize extra income each month as your payments could be less.And on your long-term mortgage, this savings can be exponential over the life of the loan.
Other Areas to Find Monthly Savings • Compare home and auto insurance policies to see if another company offers the same coverage for less money
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• Look at your cell phone plan to know exactly what you are paying for. Do you need all those services? Can you carrier give you a better deal to keep your business? • When shopping for groceries, don’t purchase more than you need.Also, look at buying generic brands vs. name brands if possible, in order to save additional money. • Don’t carry much cash.You can spend a pocketful of cash very quickly and not be able to account for what you really purchased. Use on-line digital financial institutions and utilize the technology that is out there to assist you. By “projecting forward” you will become aware of upcoming expenses such as oil changes, birthdays and holiday expenses.This will require you to recognize these expenses ahead of time so you won’t be surprised when they occur. Budgeting for these items takes thoughtful consideration.
allow you to really enjoy those New Year college bowl games. Finally, no matter which team is victorious,YOU will be the true winner! Should you have any questions regarding these tips please feel free to email me at bill.carter@civicfcu.org.
Bill Carter is Director of Fire/EMS Business Development for Civic Federal Credit Union in Raleigh. He has been in the financial services industry for 41 years and serves on the Advisory Board of the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Foundation. You can send your questions to him at: bill.carter@civicfcu.org.
In Conclusion Establishing an accurate budget does not take much time, and once established they are easy to monitor and adjust. Also, there are many phone and laptop applications that will assist you. Some applications can even track your expenses as they occur. However, you manage your budget, do it consistently and adjust accordingly, and you will have very few surprises that might keep you awake at night. Now you WILL have money left at the end of the month! And, knowing that you are in control of your financial destiny will
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The Station House
Can the COLORS of a Station Affect Mental and Physical Well-Being?
Part one of this series emphasized the need to consider the physical and Karen Collins mental wellbeing of the first responder when designing the fire station. One aspect of design that is lacking or misunderstood is the human response to color in the architectural space. Part one described how the brain interprets a situation, space or event and then tells the body how to respond. This reaction affects emotions, energy,
perception, diet, social interaction, strength and many other functions. Part two will review specific guidelines recommended for selecting colors that will aid in promoting well-being.
Avoid Typical Influences There are three typical influences for selecting station colors that have been used in the past and are still used today.
Government Guidelines The U.S.Air Force published a design guide in the late nineties that states: “colors and finishes should reflect professionalism, warmth and a strong
positive image.”This guide also included a monochromatic finish board as a reference. Many station interiors today adhere to this color scheme.There are current government guidelines for station design but color is only mentioned as a safety feature and any aesthetics are left to the architect to decide. Image one follows the color standards laid out in government guidelines but unfortunately is not motivating. Firefighters spend many hours in training, so their meeting room should be a space that will engage the mind and encourage learning. Image two introduces subtle color in the finishes that will better stimulate the brain “Color Trend” has been defined as a “direction” or “an emerging preference for a color or several colors.”White
walls are an extremely popular trend in commercial design. Unfortunately, there are some common misconceptions about white walls that have led to the overuse of this color. One concept is that white is a neutral color.The reality is that white will “jump out” as any other saturated color. It should be limited to accents, trim or ceilings. Another misunderstood concept is that white walls will brighten the space making it easier to see.Although it is true that more light will reflect into the space, this can cause an optical strain because of glare from high LRV (Light Reflectance Value).There are some areas where it is appropriate to use white, but they are very uncommon and should not be the norm.The apparatus bay is a good example of a space where a higher LRV is helpful. Image three is an example of poor
Image One
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Image Three
Image Four
Current Trends
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LRV ratios and an overuse of white.The blue-green color in image four adds interest and balances the warm colors. The kitchen is a favorite hang-out. It is a space for coming together in a familytype atmosphere which enhances team morale. It should be a comfortable yet energetic space that is welcoming. Color experts have described white walls as being clinical, empty, uninspiring and non-stimulating.As of yet, there is no evidence that supports the use of white or off-white walls as psychologically or physiologically beneficial. The training room in photo five is not only under-stimulating for the brain, but sitting for hours in this bright space will have a negative physical impact. I modified image six to include eye-pleasing contrasts that will help the mind focus on learning. I purposely used neutrals because it is not uncommon for end-users to request them. With enough contrast variation, neutrals will not be boring.
Personal Preferences These are actual reasons that have been given by clients and architects regarding the selection of paint colors.“It’s just paint, we can…” • Select it at the last minute • Come back later and re-paint • Let each person choose their favorite color for their space • Use white – it goes with everything and will brighten up the place • Use white – we don’t want to upset anyone who hates blue/ green/yellow/grey
minimizing stress. Color combinations are harmonious (or orderly) not because of personal preference, but because of the position of each individual color with regard to other hues in a scientific color system. Color harmony is achieved when the eye is no longer seeking to balance the color.
Other Considerations In his article “Designing Fire Stations to Attract and Retain Members,”Anthony Crocamo argued that “a spartan environment won’t attract new members or give current members much reason for staying on. Providing a comfortable environment for today’s firefighter is required.” He encouraged the banning of drab color schemes in the living and community quarters. In an interview with Captain Mark Werner of Columbus, Ohio, Werner noted:“Busy houses have happier firefighters.There is no time to complain or dwell on events witnessed.” Since a daily routine doesn’t always include emergency runs, it is important to consider the design for the non-busy times. Monotonous spaces cause thoughts to turn inward.To better minimize
Image Five
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stress, avoid these environments that tend to encourage unhealthy inner thoughts. An awareness of the human response to color and an understanding of color and scientific color systems is essential when designing fire stations or any commercial space. Faber Birren, one of the best-known color authorities world-wide, sums it up in this statement:“Color in a man-made environment is far too vital to man’s well-being for its choice to be left to personal whim or fancy. Color has the ability to serve man’s physiological and psychological needs and to help keep him on an even keel in time of stress.” Reducing stress levels of firefighters is beneficial for the individual and for the department.
With this in mind, creating environments with a positive influence on physical and mental well-being should be a high priority in fire station design. Karen Collins, IACC is a freelance designer in Pataskala, Ohio. She earned her BFA in Interior Design from Virginia Commonwealth University in 1992. After 18 years in the residential design and construction industry, she began working for JBA Architects as a commercial designer until 2020. After completing the required seminars developed by the International Association of Color Consultants in 2008, she was voted in as president of the board for the IACC-NA from 2013-2017. In 2020 she completed her thesis “Improve Firefighter Well-Being by Utilizing Color in the Fire Station” to become a certified color designer.
The color red is not only a historical color for the station, it is a color that many firefighters identify with due to tradition and familiarity. It’s no surprise that there is an excessive use of bright red throughout fire facilities. A typical color scheme seen in many fire stations today includes red accents against white walls. Without other colors to balance the space, there is no adequate surface to provide rest for the eye.The International Association of Color Consultants teaches that extreme contrasts of light and dark (such as white and red) must be regulated to avoid constant adjustment of the iris muscles which is cause for undue stress. Because of the impact of such a saturated color, location and amount should be carefully considered.
Additional Guidelines Within each space, the purpose of the environment should be taken into consideration. For instance, should the room be designed to be welcoming, warm and inviting or should it focus on production, energy and movement? These two different effects are achieved using color, texture and lighting. Finishes should also be chosen for specific functions appropriate to the space such as the apparatus bay, training spaces, living quarters, etc. A consistent theme can unite the facility with continuity that will aid in smooth transition from one space to another. Although finishes might greatly vary, the mind will register the change in atmosphere very quickly and acclimate accordingly. Color harmony is imperative for
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The Station House
Don’t Get Lost in the Smoke: Navigating the Maze of Designing Your New Fire Station
While certainly exciting, the idea of starting a new construction project, and particularly one as complicated as a public safety facility, Ken Newell can often cause as much anxiety and tension as losing your path in a training maze. Large projects obviously demand a great deal of coordination, but the endless decision-making, detail planning and critical analysis that even a small project requires can easily overwhelm an unprepared department. “What do I do first?”“How do we get from point A to point B?”“How much will it cost us?”“How long will it take?” “Who can I trust for good advice?” Like the disorienting smoke of a maze, these questions and more can quickly clutter your thoughts and your path, as you start moving toward a new building. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide you with a safe and clear path through the maze of a new project. At the end, you’ll have a “laundry list” of some very basic issues that need to be considered as you proceed. Even if you’ve worked on a commercial building project in the past, despite the advantage you have from that perspective, it never hurts to refresh your memory about the obstacles you’ll want to avoid this time around! It would be impossible to answer every question you’ll have about your project, but if you know the major issues to address, the minor questions should be easier to answer. So, follow along and let’s find a clear path!
Obstacle 1 – Stations Require Land That beautiful new station being planned — you are going to need somewhere to put it.There are many factors that may drive the approximate location of the new facility, such as population growth projections, community development or even ISO ratings. Once you’ve found a potential
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site that seems to fit those factors, there are still several key questions to ask. What is the property going to cost? There’s more to consider here than just the price tag. If the property is offered to you for free it may actually be an occasion to look the gift-horse in the mouth. Departments far and wide have been given really great properties in the past — but the reason they were free in the first place was because of the small fortune required to make them “buildable.”There is a great deal of truth in the notion that the most important part of your property is what’s below the dirt line. Buried debris, rock, bad soil, high ground water, multiple utility easements, abandoned underground tanks, etc., are all invisible conditions that may require you to spend thousands of dollars just to get the site ready to build.These potential obstacles have to be considered as a property cost and may be significant enough to point you to another location.
Obtaining a Phase I environmental report and soil borings can help you identify some of these problems in advance. Knowing the site’s history can also provide good indicators of what you can expect to encounter once the first shovel goes into the ground. What exists on the site that I need to know about? Once the property is yours, you need to get a survey. It’s important to understand that this is more than the boundary plat that came with the deed. However, the same surveyor may be able to provide you with a comprehensive survey for a good, fair price. Without exception, make sure the surveyor is going to produce the drawing with a computer-aided drafting software.The station’s future designer will need the survey in order to provide their services. While the survey will need to include many items, a couple of the major things that need to be included are as follows: Boundaries: These are the property
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lines with all the Meets and Bounds (that’s surveyor talk) identified. Topography: This is represented by the squiggly lines that run all over the survey. It reveals the elevation and slope of the property. Shown topography is just as important for sites in the relatively flat piedmont region as it is for sites in the foothills and mountains, although the degree of precision is more critical on sites with steeper slopes. Utilities: Water lines or wells, sewer lines or septic tanks and drain fields, gas lines, electricity and power poles, telephone lines, fire hydrants, easements, etc., all need to be shown in order to tie into them — or avoid them — with your new facilities. Major Trees or Tree Lines: You may be part of a community that won’t let you cut a limb without permission, or you may live where clear-cutting is simply a way of life. Either way, it is better to avoid the destruction of major trees when possible. Permitting jurisdictions that are more “restrictive,” will require a landscape survey in order to justify your future landscape plan, or lack thereof. Identifying the major vegetation will enable the designer to use it as an attractive design feature. Existing Structures: If the new property has existing structures on it, you need to plan to upgrade them, avoid them or demolish them. No matter which you choose to do, the survey needs to show their locations and elevations. Existing structures that are to be upgraded or demolished will have to be certified “environmentally friendly” ahead of time. Part of that is — you guessed it — the “A” word: ASBESTOS. (Ouch! You should have thought of that before you bought the site!) Failing to address asbestos, if it is an issue, is a major legal problem! If you don’t address it, and it is disturbed, everyone in a 50-mile radius can
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be slapped with major fines.That includes the owner, the architect and the contractor. Finally, if your project is a renovation-and-addition to an existing building, now is the time to determine if the project will require additional property acquisition. Resolve this before you have the survey performed if at all possible, because once acquired, the new property will need to be added to the total survey.
Obstacle 2 – Stations Require a Designer Being an architect, I would of course have much preferred to put this first on the list. Humor aside, the point here is that it is never too early to involve an architect. Notice I said involve, not necessarily hire. Any architect worth their salt will be happy to give you some direction, advice, and input even before you agree to start writing checks. At this point we have already discussed property, but keep in mind that an architect can help you evaluate property before you purchase or invest in it. Without question, the architect you choose needs to have plenty of expertise and experience in the area of Fire/EMS facility design.Think of it this way: just because a dermatologist is an M.D. doesn’t mean you want him performing open heart surgery on you! Ultimately, any architect should be able to design an adequate station with enough practice. But is your goal to simply have an adequate station that “kind of” meets your needs? Do you really want to be the one paying your architect to learn a new building type? Let someone else do that. Instead, find an architect that has extensive, successful experience with public safety projects. Check their credentials on this and scrutinize their experience. More than anything else, you won’t regret this decision.
whether the contract is single-prime or multi-prime. Soft Costs Soft Costs are all the other things you will spend money on.This can include land, testing, financing, design fees, furnishings, fixtures and equipment (FFE), etc. Funding your project requires a reality check — it is unlikely that you will be successful in visiting your City/County Manager, Fire Board, etc., asking them for a large sum of money to build a station, and then walking away with that money in-hand. In our current economic environment of very tight state and local budgets, finding money to build or renovate can be very difficult. What does this mean for you? Put simply, time.You need to be having this conversation with your money provider(s) for years. Instead of requesting a lump sum, convince them to budget a set amount for your project each year and you will be off to a good start.This holds true even if you plan to get your major construction funds from bonds or lending sources. Getting the ball rolling can often be accomplished with smaller financial outlays. For example, after you secure the land, you can hire an architect to
carry the project through a partial design.The architect can help you program a list of your station’s needs, give you an approximate size for the new facility, and provide design development level drawings. Here again, remember the earlier point of hiring an architect with the necessary experience to provide these services to you efficiently and effectively. This level of design should result in rendered site plans, floor plans, exterior elevations (or perspectives) and accurate construction cost estimates for a fraction of the Architect’s total fee.Then, you can use these drawings as fund-raising tools to do marketing.You are your project’s best salesman. Consider:You have to convince the city manager, board, commission or community that the department needs a new facility. These renderings and cost estimates will excite them — a picture is worth a thousand words, after all — and prove to them that you have done your homework. Alternatively, you can also have your architect complete a full design package.This will carry the design all the way through construction documents, which include specifications and drawings.The
benefit here is that this will yield the most accurate cost estimate and you will be ready to build immediately once funding is available. Without spending a dime for construction, you will be ready to jump into that stage. Obviously, the best route is to have enough finances planned so that you can design, bid and build without stopping.Typically, this traditional approach will save you the most time, and money, in the long-run.
Obstacle 4 – Stations Need a List Be honest with yourself.You already have a mental list of needs or you would not be considering a new station in the first place. A written version of this list is something that you can easily compile very early in your process.The more time you spend thinking about it, the better it will be.To that end, for the benefit of you and your architect, there are three lists that you should consider developing: Current Spaces and Activities: If you are going to relocate to this new facility — or add to your existing — you already have spaces that you are using now. List each see NAVIGATING page 39
Obstacle 3 – Stations Require Funding The two most important parts to any project are time and money – and time will take a back seat to money just about every day of the week. Before you get into any serious investigation, design or construction, it is imperative that you have an idea of your budget. Where will you get the necessary funds? When will you need it? How much of it is available now? These are all questions that you need to begin answering early in the process. You may work for a City Fire Department.You may work for a County Rescue Department. Or, maybe you’re a Volunteer or work in the Fire/ EMS Industry.The funding issue, of course, is as varied as the organizations that you belong to, but there are still some uniform, basic concepts that hold true. Essentially, money utilized on a project can be divided into two groups: Construction Costs and Soft Costs. Construction Costs Construction Costs are those costs that you pay the contractors for actual “brick and mortar”.These costs that you pay for the materials and labor of the construction are usually the largest of your expenses.The money spent here is usually paid to between one and four contractors, depending on
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The Station House
Working with a Design-Build Firm on Your First Project
There are a few modern ways to perform the art of building your new fire station. Currently, the one that has made Goosie Kennedy major waves within the industry is working with a Design-Build firm on a CM@ Risk project or a traditional cost sharing Design-Build project. These two ways have more similarities than differences and within either existence it is likely a formality from your board of directors which method is chosen. All those items being equal, your choice of contractor should be based on experiences of construction for your needs, knowledge of industry trends, department specifics, location to your area, and the unspecified “fit” that the chosen contractor brings to the table. Not all decisions are easy and not all decisions will be black-and-white within your board of directors, but as most do, a point system to help determine the best fit contractor is a qualifying technique that can be used to help. One of the most important times, after the decision process has been made, will be the first client-contractor meeting. It is similar to a first date where both individuals know what they want out of the relationship and both have a good idea what they bring to the table but breaking through the ice and getting to know one another is vital, before we talk about marriage (money). Of course, unlike dating, we typically do not have much time to learn about
the entire family history before we must get to work and start learning the needs of the client and work within the timeframe of construction. However, taking the first steps slow will help launch the next three months of design into a high velocity spin cycle. The first thing the client must do is know your station and write down your needs. Every station is different and every station has different wants, wishes, desires and must-haves. These items need to be documented and those items must be presented to the contractor at an early stage so they are not overlooked during the design phase. As a builder, it is disheartening to be so close to a design the client likes and discover they have forgone a “weight room for 12 people” or a “Captain’s Lounge.” While the meetings are taking place, have a secretary for the fire department taking notes to ensure all comments are being documented and have those notes sent out as reminders after the meeting. This is a common practice for most experienced contractors, but if more than one person is taking notes, the likelihood of missing an element reduces.
Know Your Timeline Knowing your timeline is a helpful piece of information when it comes to the speed of build. Current construction time varies depending on the size, shape, complexity, and location of the project, but the permitting process can take anywhere from 90 to 120 days. If you are in a more urgent need than most, be prepared to answer
questions at a rapid pace and have your building committee prepared to have virtual meetings or last minute “urgent” meetings to discuss the process as it unfolds. Giving your Design-Build General Contractor the information they need, at the right time, will help accelerate the process and have the least down-time as possible.
Have a Budget Have a budget in place when you start the conversations with your general contractor. Have a range of price in mind based off talking with other stations that have just built in the recent years. Know that every station is different and all prices are changing at a rapid pace, but have an idea of what you are comfortable paying based off your tax base and income. One of the worst experiences a General Contractor can have is designing a building that the
client loves but can’t afford. Be ready for suggestions on how to stretch your budget to ensure the “must-haves” are taken care of first, and the “want-tos” follow behind.
Be Open Minded Listen to the ideas of your contractor’s past experiences. Remember, you hired them for a reason and you want their experience to help you move from an idea on a page to a structure you can touch. They have built stations in the past and they have a portfolio that proves positive results can come through the process. Allow yourself to take a back seat on design while the professionals orchestrate the floorplan into a fundamental design that flows and works for your needs.
Visit References Take trips to completed stations of your Design-Build General Contractor. Allow them to show you their work and what they have put in place for other clients. Talk to the clients and consider what changes, likes and dislikes of their station they would recommend. Work with those ideas to ensure your story is one that is full of excitement and eager anticipation to move into your new home.
Ask Questions Last, ask questions during the process. No question is out of the way and no question should be left unasked at the end of the day or project. Use this time when you are around your general contractor to understand the process and how all components need to work together. From drawings, to purchase agreements, to schedules, to construction; all elements need to follow one another, in a straight line, leaning on one another’s proper completion. Overall, your knowledge and responsibilities are important during the process of your first build. For most, one new construction project is all many stations will see in a lifetime. Remember, try not to rush the process, or get too hasty with your decisions as your choices are there for many years to come. Goosie Kennedy is a Project Manager for D. R. Reynolds Company, Inc., a Design-Build General Contractor.
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NAVIGATING Cont’d from page 37
one, how big it is and how you use it. Why is this important, you may ask? Simply, you often don’t realize all the different things that you do in the same space until you write it down.You certainly don’t want to build a new facility and not accommodate an activity that you do routinely. Further, how many offices do you have? How many sleep rooms? Where are you doing training? Even more importantly, don’t forget to list your personnel. Be sure to list all your vehicles and their lengths. Are you holding any outdoor training procedures now? What are they and what kind of staging areas do they require? Finally, if you happen to have the original blueprints or design plans of your existing facilities, add these to the package. Current Needs: This is a different list than your Current Spaces. Otherwise, you wouldn’t need a new facility! List every space and activity that you can think of that needs to be accommodated today. If you think you know how big the spaces need to be, show that also. And don’t forget storage. Chances are that you are storing things in a remote location. Now may be a good time to plan that space into the new building and bring your equipment, supplies, etc., back home to the station. Also, list the equipment that you don’t already have but do need.Things like hose dryers, SCBA units, extractors,
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compressors, ice machines, etc., all absorb space in the plan and should be considered. Don’t be afraid to include spec sheets on specific equipment you have or want. Future Needs: Admit it — you are already thinking about buying that new apparatus two or three years from now, or the personnel that are budgeted to be added to your staff next year. Maybe you’re anticipating a consolidation of two services that are not housed together now, like fire and EMS. One popular trend in station design is adding a police sub-station to remote fire stations. The point of this list is that it is wise to plan the building’s needs, use and function for as many years in the future as you can predict or afford. No one has a crystal ball, of course, but make your best attempt at planning a facility that will
accommodate your department’s future. *Incidentally, our design firm offers a free Fire/EMS Design Handbook that incorporates sample lists like these for your use and benefit, available upon individual request to info@scn-architects.com.
Exiting the Maze – Successful Navigation Planning a new fire/EMS station project doesn’t have to mean losing your way in the maze of factors and decisions. Proceed carefully with this article’s suggestions in mind, and you’ll be surprised at how painless the initial process can seem. Start today on a few of the items discussed here. Most of them don’t require hiring a design professional.And be deliberate — if your group or funding authority sees that you are laying a good foundation for your planned facility, they will take you
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much more seriously. In turn, that will usually mean realizing your completed project sooner, rather than later. So, start planning now, and with a level-headed approach you will still have hair left at the end of the project — apologies to those already without. Remember, every maze has an exit! Ken Newell is a Principal and Partner with Stewart-Cooper-Newell Architects. Since 1988, he has been directly involved in over 300 of the firm’s 425+ Fire/EMS and Public Safety projects. Newell has earned a national reputation for the programming and design of public safety facilities that are functional, practical, and budget-conscious. He has also consulted other architects on the planning and design of over 125 public safety projects spanning 27 states. Because of his extensive experience in Public Safety design, he has been invited to speak at many state, regional, and national Public Safety conferences since 2000.
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Feature
Firefighter Behavioral Health — A Five Alarm Fire
You are likely reading this after the year 2020 has concluded and I’m sure you would agree with me that Dr. David Greene we would really like a do-over. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our response operations, logistical requirements, planning objectives and the world as we know it. One thing that has not changed in the fire service during this pandemic is the decline in firefighter behavioral health. We are still losing more firefighters to suicide than we are in the line of duty each year and I wish it would stop. Two firefighter suicides “close to home” in the last couple of months have really made me want to revisit this issue. Allow me, if you will, to explain our position. I joined the fire service the same way many of you did. I was attracted to the excitement and thought that my involvement in the fire service would only require a knowledge of how to turn the lights and sirens on in the engine and where to point the nozzles — toward the flames. I was REALLY wrong. My fire service education has taken me
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through building construction, pump operation, technical rescue, hazardous materials, pre-hospital medicine and so on. When I first joined the fire service, I was young and likely lacked the level of empathy that I have now. This is to say that I have formed a new respect for the tragedy we see every day. That tragedy comes in many forms and can be anything from an individual’s poor living conditions to seeing a child die from traumatic injuries. I’ve felt that it is much harder to witness those tragedies now, after 30 years, than when I started. I’ve attended many classes on firefighter behavioral health and hear often about a firefighter’s file folder or bad-call tank. This is the place where we store all of the tragedies we have experienced or witnessed. Perhaps mine is full and that is why I feel differently about the tragedies I see today than 30 years ago. Let’s start there. When we join the fire service, we commit to operating at tragic scenes in a professional manner. Those that call us, demand that we put our emotions aside and go about solving their problem in a systematic and non-emotional manner. Make no mistake, not everyone can be you. The fire service is a job where you
are called without notice to operate in a foreign environment under dangerous conditions and make split second decisions that carry with them the potential for catastrophic consequences. There are not many other professions that operate in this manner. Many of us have long resigned ourselves to the possibility of giving our lives to save another person. To continue to operate in an environment that could potentially cost you your life requires bravery, a suppression of your survival instinct, and what some would consider a sense of fearlessness. It is this suppression of emotions and fearlessness, both requirements of our occupation, that pre-disposes us to having poor mental health. We’ll come back to that in a minute. Next, we need to understand the context of a firefighter suicide. I often hear other firefighters say that they think the firefighter that committed suicide left their family, their station, their shift, and their department and that it was an incredibly selfish thing for that firefighter to do. Since firefighters have been conditioned to suppress their emotions in this occupation, we do not typically respond to a co-worker who asks us how we are doing with,“Well, I’m really lonely and I feel as if I am a burden on my family and my department and I’m thinking about killing myself.” Nevertheless, this is how some firefighters feel. Behavioral health specialists suggest that when a firefighter commits suicide, they oftentimes view it as a selfless act, relieving their family and department of the burden that they believe they are. This context is something that we need to understand because if we label each firefighter that commits suicide as selfish, we are not beginning to understand the problem. Next, we need to understand who possesses the ability to commit
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suicide. Research suggests that the ability to complete suicide is developed through repeated exposure to painful or fearsome events. Abused children and victims of physical or sexual abuse often have these experiences. However, firefighters, law enforcement, EMS, and even dispatchers share these experiences. This post-traumatic stress is common among military members committing suicide and has just recently been explored in the fire service. So, if you take an individual who has expressions of loneliness or burdensomeness, add the ability to complete suicide — which is achieved through repeated exposure to trauma — and add to it a sense of fearlessness and a loss of survival instinct, you will have a high-risk individual. The math version of that is Loneliness + Repeated Trauma + Fearlessness = Firefighter (High-Risk Individual). In this equation, we cannot remove the repeated trauma or the fearlessness that is sometimes required — not always. However, we can battle the loneliness. We should effort to identify any of our firefighters who seem socially withdrawn. There is also a myriad of external factors that can contribute to our loneliness —divorce, anxiety, depression, alcohol/drugs, feeling of hopelessness, financial problems — and these are all high-risk indicators. Above all, we — and I mean all of us — need to remove the stigma preventing firefighters from asking for help. This stigma has existed since I joined the fire service and is rooted in fear and ignorance. Firefighters are either afraid of being ridiculed if they ask for help or they do not know how to get help. There are countless organizations that now exist to assist firefighters and other first responders with improving their behavioral health. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF)
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website (www.everyonegoeshome. com) has links to state and local programs in your area. As far as the fear of being ridiculed goes, those days are over. I have seen countless firefighters over the years become very emotional after a call. Sometimes, it is a particularly bad call and sometimes it is the accumulation of bad calls. No one is immune. Just a couple of years ago, I responded to an incident involving a deceased child. Although it wasn’t a particularly graphic scene, the circumstances were unusual and sadly, I had seen a lot of deceased children before that call. It wasn’t one of those calls that you walk away from thinking,“That’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen,” but it was certainly tragic. I arrived home after that incident and had to call my wife to come out into the yard because I didn’t think I could make it into the house. When she met me in the yard, I found that I couldn’t even talk about the incident. Thankfully, my wife helped me through that difficult time. In my career, that is not the first time that I have had a highly emotional response after an incident. And you know what? That is OK. Let me make that clear. Our great service requires, as our citizens demand, us to operate at incidents in a calm, professional and non-emotional manner. However, and this is important, NO ONE should be ridiculed for being emotional AFTER a call has occurred. We often deal with people on the worst day of their lives. That is extremely sad. If you have not felt sad for the people that you serve, it will eventually catch up to you. I urge you to consider your own emotions before you end up pulling up in your yard and cannot make it inside. The accumulation of post-traumatic stress, along with the above internal and external factors, can be detrimental to firefighter behavioral health if that accumulation is not routinely addressed. So, what do we do? Social support and social connection are the biggest preventers of firefighter suicide. Our fire service family should be cared for just as our citizens are. Many years ago, the fire service routinely used Critical Incident Stress Debriefings after a particularly bad incident. These sessions got all of the responders and hospital staff together and allowed each attendee to talk about the incident, their role, what they witnessed, and how they felt about it. Unfortunately, we learned that many either did not participate or otherwise found their participation not helpful. Nevertheless, we must position ourselves to be able to talk about these critical incidents whether that is with our crew, shift, department, significant other, or professionals outside of the fire service when necessary. Likewise, we should be able to talk to any individual in our fire service family that have withdrawn, are experiencing divorce, depression, alcohol/drug use or those that express feelings
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of isolation, hopelessness, anxiety, burdensomeness or display any of the other high-risk indicators. The National Fallen Firefighters’ Foundation uses the acronym ACT to guide you in how you should approach a firefighter identified with one or more of the above.
Ask the Firefighter First, you should “Ask the Firefighter.”You should ask,“Are you thinking of killing yourself?” Many are hesitant to ask that question for fear that you may be planting the idea in the firefighter’s head. You will not. They either already have it in their head or will not give your question legitimate consideration pursuant to your question. Any answer other than “No” to your question should warrant further attention and the second letter in the ACT acronym.
Care for the Firefighter Next, you should “Care for the Firefighter.” Talk more about their problems and tell them that you want to talk more because you care about them. Try to identify if they have a plan to harm themselves and if they have a means to do so. If this is the case, then you probably need to follow the last step in our acronym. Otherwise, continual care may be required for an extended period of time.
Take the Firefighter “Take the Firefighter.” This will involve taking the firefighter to get the help they need from behavioral health professionals. This will likely involve outside entities or people and while discretion should be used to the extent possible, protecting a firefighter’s health should be paramount. Our fire service family demands that you “ACT” whenever necessary. Firefighter behavioral health continues to be a struggle in our honored service. I beg each of you, since you are part of my fire service family, to take care of everyone else in our fire service family. The National Suicide Hotline is 800273-8255 and the First Responder Crisis Support Helpline is 844-550HERO (4376). Put those numbers in your phone in case you or anyone else in our family needs them. Not everyone can be part of our family, but all of us are charged with the responsibility of protecting our family members. Be safe and do good. Dr. David A. Greene has over 27 years of experience in the fire service and is currently the deputy chief with Colleton County (S.C.) Fire-Rescue. He holds a PhD in Fire and Emergency Management Administration from Oklahoma State University and an MBA degree from the University of South Carolina. He is a certified Executive Fire Officer through the National Fire Academy, holds the Chief Fire Officer Designation from the Center for Public Safety Excellence, holds Member Grade in the Institution of Fire Engineers, is an adjunct instructor for the South Carolina Fire Academy and is a Nationally Registered Paramedic. He can be reached at dagreene@lowcountry. com.
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Winter • 2021 41
Fire Station Profile
North Carolina
Skyland Fire and Rescue
Department Name: Skyland Fire & Rescue County: Buncombe Type Department: Combination ISO: 3 Number of Stations: 4 Number of Apparatus: 18 Pumpers: 5 Tankers: 3 Brush trucks: 4 Chief’s or Command Vehicles: 2 Rescue Truck: 1 Specialty: 2 Do you provide EMS? Yes What type: ALS Specialty Operations: • Water rescue • Confine space • Wildland • Search & Rescue Annual Budget: 7,500,000 Area Covered Square miles: 54 Population: 28,000 Total Runs: 4562 Fire: 1596 EMS: 2966 Chief: Fire Chief Ryan Cole Chief Officers: Deputy Chief Trevor Lance Division Chief Shane Harris Division Chief Mike Staton Division Chief Rick Wood Division Chief Zach Cicillian Battalion Chief Eric Barnwell Battalion Chief Brian Grindstaff Other Officers: 12 Captains
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Number of Members: 101 Paid Full/Part time: 82 Volunteer: 19 Address: #9 Miller Road S. Asheville, NC 28803 Website: Skylandfire.com Phone: 828-684-6424 Community Outreach: Provide public education in schools and business, do community awareness on risk assessments throughout the district, and working on community connect through First Due. Top Two concerns in your
community: Urban Interface and Community Awareness What are you doing for fundraising? Picture Drive What upgrades will you make in your department this year? Purchase of a ladder and engine What special hazards or unique businesses in your community? Within the district we have the following: • A large river that divides the district – French Broad River, we cover (2) Interstates - I-26 and I-40, have Asheville Airport within our district, Railroad that runs through the district, We cover National Forest land and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
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Fire Chief Ryan Cole
What makes you special? Like all departments, We feel that we have some of the best, if not the best, firefighters in the state!
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Fire Station Profile
South Carolina
Spartanburg Fire Department
Department Name: Spartanburg Fire Department County: Spartanburg Type Department: Career Structure: Municipality ISO: 1 Number of Stations: 5 Number of Apparatus: Pumpers: 6 Aerials: 2 Specialty: 1 Do you provide EMS? No Specialty Operations: (list all) high and low angle, confined space, swift water, trench, and structural collapse. We also run a hazmat engine in support of the County Hazmat Team with a minimum of 2 technicians on duty. Annual Budget: 6,345,976 Area Covered Square miles: 19.2 Population: 37,644 Total Runs: Fire: 2800, EMS: 0 Chief: Dr. Marion F. Blackwell, Jr. Chief Officers: • Brad Hall, Asst. Chief of Operations • Phil Starck, Asst. Chief of Admin • Doug Lea, Battalion Chief • Jamie Pruitt, Battalion Chief • Jeremy Morgan, Battalion Chief • Will Smart, Division Chief/Fire Marshal •B rad Bennett, Division Chief of Training Other Officers: 6 captains, 12 lieutenants Number of Members: 78 Paid: 78 Volunteer: Address: 151 S. Spring St. Spartanburg, SC 29306 Website: www. cityofspartanburg.org/public-safety/ fire-department Phone: 864-596-2083 Community Outreach: Our motto is “Preservation Through Prevention”. We have many
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programs to reach out to our citizens, including: smoke and CO alarm program, fire extinguisher prop/training, fire safety house, senior fire safety, juvenile fire setter program, and station tours. During Fire Prevention Week, we visit every third grade classroom in the city with our safety house along with a large open house at the end of the week. Our last open house broke over 800 attendees in three hours. Top Two concerns in your community: As with every fire department in the county, COVID and finances impact the entire community. Our city and fire department reflect a microcosm of the community in dealing with these issues, from staffing to budgeting. What are you doing for fundraising? As a municipality, we do not fundraise for any operational needs. What upgrades will you make in your department this year? We will see the up fit of our new main station. Presently, administrative staff have moved to an existing building and architectural design is ongoing to covert the remainder of the building into a fire station. This will provide a maintenance facility, dedicated training area, a large 80+ seat training room, individual bedrooms, office space, and storage space and will replace an over 60-year-old building. In addition, we are slated to replace an engine and our battalion vehicle. What special hazards or unique businesses in your community? We have a broad array of businesses, from a 17 story high-
rise to a large level 1 trauma center to a shopping mall to a downtown business district. We have a large high school, Wofford and Converse Colleges, a chemical manufacturer, many rail lines, and an explosion of multifamily dwelling construction not seen in decades. As the county seat, we have city and county government offices, a jail annex, and a soon to be built seven-story judicial center. In short, we have a little of everything. What problems in your department that you would like feedback from others? Recruitment and retention of
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firefighters is an ongoing issue, particularly for underrepresented demographics in our community. Any programs or success stories you may have is greatly appreciated. What makes you special? We are proud to be both a Class 1 ISO department and accredited through the Commission on Fire Accreditation International. Our Training Division has gained some notoriety and has been asked to help other departments out with ideas. We have gotten a lot of help from other departments, but it is rewarding to help others as well. Our firefighters have been very active in designing custom PPE, testing and selecting a hose and nozzle package, and designing our next generation engines. Having input from all levels of the organization on items that affect ground level operations is very important to our department.
Winter • 2021 43
Crossword Puzzler By Caroline M. Schloss
ACROSS 3 Building _____ may be the most important component to the preplanning of a hostile incident 7 Among Public Safety Divers the most commonly reported injuries are _____ problems.
9 Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) exposure to has been linked to an increased risk of contracting many different types of ______.
10 This substance has the highest thermal conductivity of any (with the exception of helium and ammonia) which allows heat to be transferred to human flesh faster than dry skin.
11 FEMSA advises,“Be constantly alert to the possibility of exposure to radiant, _____, or conductive heat and other hazards.” 14 Mutual Aid can be defined, simply, as reciprocal aid and cooperation among organizations and _______. 15 First Responder Tactical Beyond Visual Line of Sight (TBVLOS) Waiver allows public safety to fly beyond line of ______ (BVLOS) 16 Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (abbr). 17 High angle emergencies are defined as those that present angle requirements of 60 degrees or _________. DOWN 1 TPP stands for Thermal Protective _____. 2 Deploying a rapid intervention team into the Hot Zone on a hazardous materials event to rescue an injured team member is definitely a high _____/ low frequency type of event. 4 GROOM; Graduate, Recruitment, Operational, Opportunity and _____. 5 It been shown that people can be infectious with COVID-19 and not have _____. 6 A process in which one adapts well in the face of adversity, traumatic situations, tragedy and significant sources of stress. 8 Whether looking at a bill of lading in highway transportation or a consist in rail transportation, hazardous ______ are required to be listed by their basic description. 11 Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (abbr). 12 A firefighter’s P.P.E. reduces their risk of burns and injuries by absorbing and releasing _______. 13 Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (abbr).
Answers on Page 50 C aroline M. Schloss is a current member of the Knotts Island Volunteer Fire Dept., Currituck County Fire/EMS, Virginia Beach CERT VA., Currituck County CERT, National Association of Search and Rescue, Project Lifesaver VA.
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HINDSIGHT
Cont’d from page 27 to receive a monthly lifetime benefit at retirement. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the Department of State Treasurer and the Boards of Trustees (Board) overseeing the FRSWPF announced that preliminary estimates indicated significant increases in the funded ratios of the FRSWPF pension plan.These funded ratios are the percentage of its actuarial accrued liabilities that cover the asset value. By law, the Retirement Systems’ consulting actuary performs an annual valuation of each pension plan to monitor and adjust the plan’s progress toward its funding goals. At 92.3 percent, the FRSWPF is funded significantly higher than the 88.7 percent just eight years ago. So, how did we work towards strengthening this pension fund? Historically, this plan has been underfunded and in 2017 LGERS adopted a contribution stabilization policy for the FRSWPF. The North Carolina General Assembly responded to the Boards’ recommendations by appropriating contributions that significantly exceeded the actuarily determined contribution. For example, the FRSWPF appropriated contribution for the fiscal year ending June 30,2022 is $19,352,208, over 27 percent more than the actuary determination. Volunteer fire departments protect 75 percent of North Carolina’s landmass. And all fire departments have to take on the “business” of protecting and serving the citizens of North Carolina. We must continue to preserve and protect the FRSWPF for current and future firefighters and rescue squad workers. I am proud of the work we have done together to strengthen this pension fund and its administration.The Department of State Treasurer, Retirement Systems’ Board of Trustees, and staff have collaborated with the organizations representing firefighters and rescue squad workers and their employers to improve operations and accuracy of information provided to the consulting actuary so we can continue to maintain strong funding levels. FRSWPF has approximately $459 million in assets and over 55,000 members. Currently, there are 24,994 actively contributing FRSWPF members and 15,225 people who formerly contributed and may resume contributing in the future.The FRSWPF provides benefits to all paid and volunteer certified firefighters and rescue squad workers. I couldn’t be prouder of the staff here at the Treasurer’s Office. At the end of the day, we are in the check delivery business and everyone has stepped up to the plate to make sure that those who teach, protect and
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otherwise serve the citizens of this state can rely on their pension. The Retirement Systems Division listened to the firefighters and rescue squad communities and has worked diligently to create systems of support for the submission of rosters and contributions to the FRSWPF. In the past, turnaround documents were submitted on paper, by mail.This was a cause for concern due to the tedious task of filling out the paperwork, as well as not meeting required deadlines due to possible delays in mail service. To make the move from paper turnaround documents to an online submission process was a team effort. Currently, the Online Agency Contribution is in a trial implementation phase with a small group of fire departments around North Carolina testing and providing feedback.This program will continue to roll out as we move into 2021. With this new tool, fire departments can add new members, provide updates, categorize members that have max contributions or who do not contribute through a specific department and, most importantly, view and create contributions.This new process eases the burden on those that are protecting North Carolina’s communities and greatly improves the efficiency and quality of service rosters and contributions. In addition to the continued strength of the North Carolina Pension Plans, we have one of the largest defined contribution plans in the United States.The North Carolina Supplemental Retirement Plans consist of the NC 401(k) and NC 457 Plans and 403(b) Program. Participating in these plans, if eligible, contributes to a total retirement that is also made up of your pension, social security and other savings. Some of you may be eligible for the NC Supplemental Retirement Plans through your state or local government employer. Other volunteers may also have an employer retirement
savings plan option. I would encourage you to take advantage of a payroll deduction for a supplemental retirement plan. It is an easy way to continue to save for your retirement. I remain a staunch supporter of those that teach, protect and otherwise serve, along with Department of State Treasurer staff and the Board of Trustees. I encourage you to bolster your own retirement by contributing to a supplemental savings plan and being proactive in your engagement with your eligible
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pension(s). One of the best things you can do in preparing for your retirement is to understand your pension and savings. Thank you for all you do. View your service credit and contributions: https://orbit. myncretirement.com/ Learn about your retirement system: https://www.myncretirement.com/ Enroll or learn more about the NC Supplemental Retirement Plans: https:// ncplans.retirepru.com/ Discover the Department of State Treasurer: https://www.nctreasurer.com/
Winter • 2021 45
Robinson Volunteer Fire Department
2020 Ford F550 Super Duty Custom Flatbed Brush Truck, Diesel engine, Waterous E511-C with Kubota Engine 24.8 HP pump, 400 gallon UFP tank, Custom extended front bumper, Akron Front Forestry Monitor System, Pump and Roll, Winch system, Extendable Scene Light. Delivered by Anchor-Richey EVS, Inc.
COURTESY
Cont’d from page 29
Keep Your Word Courteous leaders are reliable and keep their word. Be slow to make promises and keep the ones you do make. One thing I have learned through the years is that people don’t care how much you may know until they know how much you care. By keeping promises you show people that they are important and you care about them. Reasonable people understand that circumstances change and things come up that you didn’t anticipate. Leaders who keep their word will find ways to keep their word or communicate why they can’t promptly. Failure to keep your word should be rare and require an understandable reason. Often times I have witnessed leaders that made lots of promises that they could not keep or were well out of their scope. Many of these were a quid pro quo concept of I will do this for you if you support me. When these fail you have lost the respect of those people and it is usually obvious to others. By keeping your word consistently over time you will become well respected. In John C. Maxwell’s book “How Successful People Lead” he describes the five levels of leadership. When you reach level five,“The Pinnacle” or respect level, people follow you because of who you are and what you represent. Keeping your word is one of the most important components of showing courtesy.
Just Be Nice How many times have you heard a parent, grand parent or leader state to you to just be nice? Something that should take little effort and be a common trend. However, far too often we see individuals in leadership positions not being nice.They speak rudely to people, they engage in
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taunting and harmful communications towards the individual and the organization often speaking way too authoritative and unprofessional when it is not necessary. Not being nice is an instant killer of respect in interpersonal dynamics. The late Chief Alan Brunicini always stated,“Be Nice,” when he was speaking about leadership. He believed, as do I, that this is the easiest and most critical one of the ways to show courtesy. A courteous leader is kind, considerate and helpful to others — the basis of being nice. It’s the little things you do as a leader that make a big difference. It begins with common courtesy so remember — Be Nice! Fire service leaders in world-class organizations demonstrate by example their organization’s commitment to exceptional courtesy by executing these traits above. It was apparent from listening to and watching fire service leaders that apply courtesy into their leadership are responsible for creating, communicating, exemplifying and reinforcing the organization’s and their commitment to courtesy. Douglas Cline is Chief of the Training and Professional Development Division with Horry County Fire Rescue. He is the Executive Editor for The Fire Officer and Executive Director for the Command Institute in Washington D.C. A 36 year fire and emergency services veteran as well as a well-known international speaker, Cline is a highly published author of articles, blogs and textbooks for both fire and EMS. As a chief officer, Cline is a distinguished authority of officer development and has traveled internationally delivering distinguished programs on leadership and officer development. He also has a diverse line of training videos on leadership, rapid intervention team training, vehicle fires, hose line management, and emergency vehicle operations and fire ground safety and survival.
SLOW YEAR
Cont’d from page 31 Later we got a little more serious as we experienced our first firefighter quarantines. We still wanted to remain upbeat and acknowledge the pandemic’s effect on our firefighters while also demonstrating our members’ dedication to the mission of the fire department and our community. In our quarantined firefighter post we shared some COVID and community-related hashtags. Remembering that COVID-19 wasn’t a trending hashtag — but a pandemic, and a crisis affecting many people throughout the world.The purpose of the post was to show solidarity around a positive trend that was happening within the community — support for frontline healthcare workers and first responders — while instilling the “hope” we were eagerly looking for. Regardless of what friends, family or even members of your agency may feel about the validity of the pandemic, we must make sure that we (our agency) stays out of the debate.Your agency’s social media accounts should not be a platform to challenge but a platform of support, preparedness and readiness. We let our community know that we were equipped to respond. Our posts remained in line with the belief that this is a global health crisis and one that’ll affect hundreds of thousands to millions of people, some of them much more severely than others — and maybe those are within our community. We also identified that all COVID-19 messaging that was released should be compassionate and understanding and that the pandemic isn’t simply an inconvenience or a disruption but something that affected us all. So, we focused on the positive and we celebrated and participated within the
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support shown by our community! My PIO recommendation, consistently, from previous articles has been: build trust, build rapport, be accessible and NEVER avoid bad/ negative news. Address it immediately and own it, counter with positivity. You will find the community and (hopefully) the media happy that you did. Always remember that timely, accurate and actionable information to the public and the media is a primary responsibility of the PIO.That could mean having to acknowledge a negative event (or a negative year). If you, as the PIO, release the unfortunate, negative information first, you’re transparent to your audience which is a very important reputation to have. It builds trust. Being first can be difficult, especially during the 24hour news cycle, but you need to be timely in addressing bad/negative news. It makes you transparent. It’s what we should do. Our customers expect it. Negativity is not a weakness, but failing to directly address a weakness is. First responders are not weak individuals — don’t be weak. Your job is to represent the frontline heroes. DO.YOUR. JOB. BE. A. PIO. Bill Suthard is a Firefighter/EMT and Public Information Officer (PIO). He works part-time for the Huntersville Fire Department, a four-station, combination fire department covering 62 square miles in northern Mecklenburg County. The department, just north of Charlotte, includes two lakes (Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake) and serves a population of just over 60,000 residents. Suthard works fulltime for the Charlotte Fire Department where he is currently assigned as the Operations Manager for their Communications Division. Web: http://huntersvillefd.com Twitter: @huntersville_fd Twitter: @BPSuthard Twitter: @CarolinaBhood Twitter: @CFD_Alarm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ HuntersvilleFireDepartment
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
East Rivanna Fire Company
Earlysville Volunteer Fire Co.
Pierce Velocity Pumper PUC w/DDC DD13, 1850 lb-ft engine, TAK-4 front suspension, 12,000 lb. front fixed Warn winch, side roll and frontal impact protection, Pierce 1500 GPM single stage pump. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Arrow XT Ascendant 100’ Aerial Tower w/DDC DD13, 525 HP, 1850 lb-ft engine, 76,000 lb. GVWR, TAK-4 front suspension, FireTech HiVix LED lighting, seating for five. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
New Hanover County Fire - Rescue
Town of Cary Fire Department
Christiansburg Fire Department
Greenville Fire/Rescue Department
Augusta County Fire - Rescue
Boger City Fire Department
Pierce Velocity Pumper PUC w/DDC DD13, 525 HP, 1950 lb-ft engine, 50,000 lb. GVWR, TAK-4 front suspension, Pierce 1500 GPM single stage pump, 22” extended bumper. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Enforcer Heavy Duty Rescue w/Cummins L9, 450 HP,1250 lb.-ft engine, Oshkosh TAK-4 front suspension, Allison 5th Gen, 3000 EVS P w/Prognostics, 46,500 lb GVWR, non walk-in. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Velocity Tiller w/Cummins X15, 600 HP, 1850 lb-ft engine, Waterous S100 1500 GPM single stage pump, 40” Tiller pump house, Oshkosh TAK-4 front suspension, 60” cab w/10” raised roof. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Enforcer Tractor Drawn Aerial w/DDC DD13, 525 HP, 1850 lb-ft engine, Oshkosh TAK-4 front suspension, FireTech HiViz LED lighting, Waterous S100 1500 GPM single stage pump. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Enforcer Pumper w/Cummins L9, 450 HP, 1250 lb-ft engine, Hale QMAX-200 GPM single stage pump, 45” side control pump house, 19” extended “Chicago” style front bumper, 70” cab. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
City of Manassas Volunteer Fire Company
Pierce Velocity Ascendant 100’ Aerial Tower w/Cummins X15, 600 HP, 1850 lb-ft engine, Oshkosh TAK-4 front suspension, Waterous S100 2000 GPM single stage pump, 36” side control pump house. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
Pierce Enforcer Pumper w/DDC DD13, 525 HP, 1850 lb-ft engine, Waterous CSU 2000 GPM single stage pump, 52” side control pump house, 1000 gal. poly tank, 26” extended bumper. Delivered by Atlantic Emergency Solutions
New Deliveries Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
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Winter • 2021 47
Amelia Volunteer Fire Dept.
Bladenboro Fire Dept.
Lilesville Fire Department
Millingport Volunteer Fire Dept.
North Chatham Fire/Rescue
Nutrien Auroa Phosphate
Pearce’s Mill Fire Dept.
Pitt County Emergency Management
Pantego Volunteer Fire Dept.
Colfax Volunteer Fire Dept.
Forest City FD
Green Spring Volunteer Fire Dept.
Rosenbauer FX, Ford F550 4x4 two door chassis, Harrison 25kW 81,283,074 generator, Command Light “Shadow” light tower, Bauer breathing air fill station, (2) Hannay electrical cord reels. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Rosenbauer “Maverick” Side Mount Pumper/Tanker, Waterous with Pump & Roll 1,250 GPM pump, Harrision 10kW 81,283,074 generator, Command Light light tower. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Rosenbauer MP# Custom Side Mount Pumper w/ Cummins 450hp engine, Waterous CSU 1500 GPM pump, Newton 10” electric quick dump, Hannay booster reel. Delivered by C. W. Williams
2020 Rosenbauer FX, Rosenbauer Commander Chasis, w/ Cummins 450hp engine, Waterous CSU 1500 GPM pump, Three (3) 10” Newton quick dumps, HiViz, Insta-Chain automatic tire chains. Delivered by C. W. Williams
48 Winter • 2021
Rosenbauer “Maverick” 350hp engine, Freightliner M2 106 chassis, Hale 1500 GPM pump, Newton 10” Dump, electric Zico Quic-Lift drop tank rack. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Rosenbauer “Cobra” Rosenbauer w/ Cummins XL15 600hp engine, and a “Commander” chassis, Waterous 2,000 GPM pump, IMMI RollTek System. Delivered by C. W. Williams
PL Custom Type III Medallion Ambulance, Ford E-450 Super Duty chassis, “Medic-in Mind” body layout, Super insulation package, flat seam upholstery, Super Cool climate control, Stryker Performance PowerLOAD mounts. Delivered by C. W. Williams
2020 Rosenbauer King Cobra w/ Cummins engine, and a “Commander” chassis, Waterous 2,000 GPM pump, “Green Star” Idle reduction system, “Smart” aerial controls, self leveling platform. Delivered by C. W. Williams
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Rescue 1 Heavy Rescue 20’ Walk-Around with Spartan Metro Star Chassis, Cummins L9 with 450 HP engine, Weldon Multiplex Electrical System with Vista Touchscreen Display, 2 Bank SpaceSaver Cascade Fill Station System. Delivered by C. W. Williams
PL Custom Ambulance Type 1 on a Dodge Ram 4500 4X4 chassis, “Super” insulation package, Vanner 1050W inverter, Auxillary HVAC with digital controls. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Rosenbauer FX Commercial Top Mount Pumper w/ 350hp engine, Freightliner M2 106 chassis, Newton 10” dump with swivel chute, plumbed hose well in extended front bumper., internal storage for drop tank. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Rescue 1 Light Duty Rescue with Cummins engine and a Dodge 5500, 4 door chassis, Body Lifetime Structural warranty, Weldon V-MUX with Vists screen, locking roll up doors. Delivered by C. W. Williams
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
New Deliveries Safe Industries
City of Asheville Fire Department
Boiling Springs Fire Department
FES Tanker, Freightliner M2 112 w/ Cummins L9/450HP engine, Waterous CX 1250 GPM pump, Zico Two Arm Hydraulic Portable Tank Storage, Hiviz Scene Light Package. Delivered by Safe Industries
FES pumper/tanker, International HV-607, Cummins L9/450 HP engine, Hale Q-Max 2,000 GSM pump, FRC InView 360 video system, Akron electric deck gun and bumper turret. Delivered by Safe Industries
C & B Fire Department
Isle of Palms Fire Department
E-One 75’ Aerial Typhoon custom cab, Cummins L9/450HP engine, Hale Q-Max 1,500 GPM pump, Stainless steel body, high-water feature to increse the vehicle’s water fording capabilities. Delivered by Safe Industries
North Spartanburg Fire District
E-ONE Typhoon Custom Low Hose Bed Engine w/ Cummins L9/450HP engine, Firetech Scene, Compartment, and underbody lights, Whelen Warning light package. Delivered by Safe Industries
Nags Head Fire & Rescue
City of Waynesville, Saunook Fire District
Surfside Beach Fire Department
Wade Hampton Fire Department
Walhalla Fire Department
West Johnston Fire Department
KME 103’ Tuff Truck w/ Cummins X12 engine, Hale Q-Max XS 1500 GSM pump, 12’ Jack Stance, 227” Wheelbase, Tapered Rear Body Edges, Pull Down Ladder, 500lb Tip Load Wet or Dry. Delivered by Safe Industries
E-ONE Typhoon / Rescue-Pumper w/ Cummins L9/450HP engine, Hale Q-Max; Single Stage pump, HiViz scene lighting, Throughthe-tank ladder storage with full-heigth/full-depth compartments. Delivered by Safe Industries
KME Predator Custom Pumper w/ Cummins engine, Hale QMAX 1,500 GPM pump, 750 Gallon Tank, 42” Wide Lowered Hosebed with Full Depth Compartments on Driver Side. Delivered by Safe Industries
Ferrara Ladder Truck HS-77 with Cinder Cab, Cummins L9/450HP engine, Hale Q-Max 1,750 GSM pump, HiViz Light package. Delivered by Safe Industries
Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
KME F550 Mini Pumper on a Ford F550 chassis, Hale DSD 1,250 GPM pump, Preconnected 2.5” Auxiliary Suction in Officer Side Hosebed. Delivered by Safe Industries
FES side mount pumper, Freightliner M2 106/ Rescue Pumper Body, Cummins L9/350HP engine, Class One 2.1a Foam System, Backboard Storage in Ladder Bank. Delivered by Safe Industries
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C & B Fire Department
Ferrara Custom Rescue Pumper, Model Cinder MVP, Cummins L9/450HP engine, Cinder cab, Blackout F-Shield package with Red F-Shield on Upper Body Side Sheets. Delivered by Safe Industries
KME Predator Pumper, w/ Cummins X12 500 engine, Hale QMAX150 1,500 GSM pump, Wil-Burt Nightscan Light Tower, 10k Onan Generator. Delivered by Safe Industries
Winter • 2021 49
Entry Briefing
Advertiser’s Index
Cont’d from page 7
part of the briefing. Who better to explain what conditions are down range than the team that just came out of the Hot Zone? Even if the Back-Up/Rapid Intervention Team is being deployed in the event of an emergency, they must be given the most up-to-date information available.They must not be sent down range unless they have some idea of what happened, where they are going and what kind of conditions they can expect to find. The Entry Briefing is by no means difficult to conduct. Its length will depend on the complexity of the incident. Entry Briefings can easily be practiced in quarters just like incident size-ups. Officers can make up an incident or choose one from the headlines. Assignments can then be made — Entry Officer, Research Officer, etc. — and the briefing can be prepared and presented. It is much easier to practice beforehand and work the bugs out as opposed to making mistakes in the field when an Entry Team is depending on you for the information, they need to not only successfully mitigate the incident, but also make it safely back from the Hot Zone. Until next time, stay safe out there. Mark Schmitt is a Captain/HazMat Specialist for the Greensboro Fire Department assigned to the Foam/ARFF Task Force and a veteran of 25 years in the fire service. The majority of his career has been spent in Special Operations. He holds a Master of Public Administration in Emergency Management and is a graduate of the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program. He has taught numerous hazardous materials courses for the Greensboro Fire Department, local community colleges and the North Carolina Office of the State Fire Marshal in addition to serving as a contract instructor with the National Fire Academy.
Valuable Asset Cont’d from page 6
Splash Protective Ensembles — soon to become a part of NFPA 1990. In addition, manufacturers of splash protective suits usually require an annual inspection of each suit to ensure no imperfections or damaged areas exist. Suit manufactures may also stipulate service life intervals for hazmat suits, at which point the suit is required to be taken out of service. As with our discussion on respiratory equipment, OSHA or our state agency can cite us for non-compliance again through the General Duty Clause. In short, the discussion above was not designed to leave a negative impact in terms of the breadth and depth of the plethora of occupational safety regulations and standards that we must abide by as hazmat responders and response teams — and our discussion just scratched the surface in terms of those regulations and standards —
50 Winter • 2021
6
A- Fast/Haven South
DR Reynolds
38
NC State Firefighters Association
45
NCAREMS 2021
14
Newton’s
17
AB Tech
28
Easy Lifts
18
AEST
23
FDIC
IBC
Air Cleaning Specialists
34
Fire Hooks Unlimited
13
Anchor-Richey
33
Fire Station Outfitters
34
Fox Manufacturing LLC
42
Garner Brown Architects
28
North Greenville Fitness & Cardiac Rehabilitation Clinic 44
Insta Chain
16
Reyco Granning
Atlantic Emergency Solutions IFC, 6,9, 47 Biofire
7
Blanchat Mfg.
8
Bobbitt
31
International Association of Fire Chiefs
29
Bulldog Hose Company
42
Keiser University
32
CCPA
10
Kimtek Corporation
19
Chappell Smith & Arden, P.A 35
Liberty Artworks
Civic Federal Credit Union BC Cleveland Community College 33 10, 43
Code 3 Insurance
Columbia Southern University 30 26
Crestar
Custom Truck & Body Works 45 11,21,48
CW Williams Davidson County Community College
but rather to underscore the importance of looking out for our personnel in terms of their safety and well-being. A byproduct of continued compliance with the regulations and standards we discussed above should also keep you in the good graces of OSHA or your state occupational safety agency so that you can avoid costly fines and bad publicity for your hazmat team. As always, stay safe out there and be sure to visit the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders website at www.nchazmat.com.
12
North Carolina Sheriffs’ Association
Roll N Rack
20
4 25
Safe Air Systems
5
Safe Industries
15
44
Stewart-CooperNewell Architects
36
Magnegrip
26
SVI Trucks
13
Marion Body
22
Syntex Industries
14
MedCenter Air
16
Temptime
37
Midwest Fire
39
This End Up Furniture
40
MINERVA Bunker Gear
12
TLC Tri State
Mountain Tek
24
Ward Diesel Filter Systems 40
NAFECO
27
Ziamatic Corp. (Zico)
NAFI Orlando
18
4
41
Crossword Puzzle Answers From Page 44
Glenn Clapp is a past president of the North Carolina Association of Hazardous Materials Responders and has over 22 years of fire service and emergency management experience. He is currently an Improvement Specialist with the Industry Expansion Solutions Division of North Carolina State University and is a volunteer firefighter with the Fairview Fire Department. He is also a Technician-Level Hazmat Instructor, an Executive Fire Officer, a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager and a Certified Fire Protection Specialist.
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Carolina Fire Rescue EMS Journal
APRIL 19-24, 2021
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