Suburban Edition 10/24/16

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A bright light See page 19

M

Oregon fire department

Day shift recommended By Kelly J. Kaczala Press News Editor kkaczala@presspublications.com

John Gallagher, and fellow volunteers from Home Depot rebuild the ramp at Christ Dunberger Post 537. Team Depot Foundation provided the labor after Dunberger Post received a grant for the repairs. Other projects will include new lighting fixtures and remodeled restrooms. The volunteers use their day-off, or take a day off for the labor. (Press photo by Ken Grosjean)

War library exhibit

In the words of those writing home By Larry Limpf News Editor news@presspublications.com War, as seen through the letters of veterans and their families, is the subject of an exhibit at the Main Library, 325 Michigan St., Toledo. “War Comes Home: The Legacy” features the personal correspondence from most major conflicts in U.S. history – from the Civil War through the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – displayed on 13 interpretive panels. The exhibit will be at the library through Nov. 20. Special programs and workshops are scheduled while the exhibit is at the library:

• A workshop for researching military ancestors will be held Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the McMaster Center in the library for those with veterans in their family tree. The workshop will be conducted in four sessions and there will be a break for lunch. • A workshop to preserve personal stories will be held Nov. 5 from noon to 4 p.m. in the Huntington room. Library staff will help those attending digitize up to 10 pages or photos. • “Salute our Veterans: The Paws Forces” will be held Nov. 5 from 1-2:30 p.m. in the Wintergarden. The Paws Forces is a new program of the Maumee-based organization, “The Arms Forces.” The program helps veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Continued on page 2

Gap in response Currently, the fire department consists of 88 volunteer personnel and 10 full-time firefighter/paramedics who are assigned to Lucas County Life Squad 8, which is housed and operated by Oregon. The volunteer force is also referred to as “part-time paid on call” because they are paid a specific rate for responding to calls The department’s response perfor-

If we don’t think it’s working, we’ll try another approach. We want to listen and be aware as we go.

Volunteers for vets

Oregon officials are proposing a day shift in the volunteer fire department in an attempt to improve response times. The Ohio Fire Chief’s Association (OFCA) conducted a study this summer that looked at fire department service delivery and demands of service, as well as an examination of the condition of the three fire station facilities. Based on the study, the city will make recommendations on personnel and fire station upgrades that are expected to be implemented next year. Fire Station 41 is located at 5002 Seaman Road; Station 42 is located at 1102 S. Wheeling Street; and Station 43, at 4421 Bayshore Drive. Although the study showed the stations were outdated and in need of upgrades, City Administrator Mike Beazley said the top priority is to make personnel changes to improve response times. The fire station improvements, which may include the construction of a new fire station, will come later. “We think we need to invest in stations,” said Beazley. “We don’t see that as important as some of the personnel things we want to tackle first.” Beazley said the city will address immediate needs of the fire stations “to responsibly meet the community’s needs.” “We won’t wait a year on some of those things,” he said. “There will be money in this year’s budget to help keep the stations at an appropriate minimum service level.” A fire station location analysis was also conducted to strategically site future fire stations to maximize service delivery. “On the station side, we don’t think that it’s the greatest obstacle to the best possible service,” said Beazley. “It’s something we have to deal with long term. We still have some important decisions to make as a community. But we think we have the luxury of time because we don’t think the stations really degrade the service for now, though it’s something we can’t ignore. The really big questions are going to be `Do we need two stations or three stations? Are they in the right location? Could Station 43 better serve the community if it was put in South Shore Park?’ Those are things we’re going to have to grapple with. There’s options available to us.” Fire Chief Paul Mullen told The Press last week that “you’ll see us working towards one new station” soon. “It all depends on the budget and our availability of funding. That’s on my wish list,” he said.

mance was analyzed as part of the study. Response data was reviewed and analyzed for the department’s fire and EMS responses from 2013 and 2014. The analysis revealed that a performance gap exists between the department’s actual response performance and baseline performance criteria established by national organizations such as The Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). Performance gaps also existed between the department’s performance and internal response goals. At a recent Safety Committee meeting, Mullen said the average response time – the time from when the fire dispatcher tones out a call for service until fire and rescue personnel arrive at the scene and come into contact with a patient - is 14 minutes and 30 seconds, much longer than the national standard of eight minutes. Mullen said the period from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday is the most difficult time to get enough volunteers to respond to calls. Lifestyle changes, he said, have limited the availability of volunteers, not only in Oregon but in volunteer fire departments across the country. “Few people do shift work anymore. They work 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. They have more family commitments, are in two income households. They do not have the time to commit to the fire department,” he said. Two shifts The department has experienced an increase in emergency calls for service over Continued on page 4

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Burstein-Applebee sold a telephone answering system for $299.95 John Szozda See page 8


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