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February 28, 2013

In This Week's TRADENET

1. Honor Guard SOP/SOG request

2. Helmet camera request

3. Recruitment and retention: "lost wages" request

A Teaching Moment: Ozark EMS Crew Deserves Special Praise

National Fire Academy to Host 1st National Professional Development Symposium 

NEMSMA Recommends FTEP for EMS

Live-Fire Training: What Do You Train On?

Free Leadership Failitator Training Seminar Announcement 

Member Requests for Information

If you have a question or comment for inclusion in the weekly TRADENET newsletter, please send it and your contact information to FEMA-trade@fema.dhs.gov. Please be sure and include your Department or Organization name, your e-mail address, and your preferred method of receiving feedback. USFA reserves the right to edit content or reject any material submitted.

Fire Services Page

1.

I am a firefighter/Paramedic and I am currently in the process of rebuilding our department Honor Guard team.  I am looking to see if any departments out there have any SOP’s SOG’s on how what when and where they use their honor guards plus any information on what the is department uniform is for the Honor Guard members. Any information would greatly help.

 

Steven R. Diehl

Firefighter/paramedic

South Elgin & Countryside Fire Protection Dist.

150 W State Street

South Elgin, Illinois 60177

847-531-8641

sdiehl@southelginfire.com

 

2.

Westminster Fire Department > Westminster, Colorado

 

Westminster Fire is looking at purchasing a helmet camera for each of our front line apparatus.  Before we proceed I want to learn from your experiences; if you have helmet cameras in use on your departments.

 

Thank you in advance for your reply's to my questions: 

 

Reply to:  dbishop@cityofwestminster.us           

 

Please include any information you think is pertinent: I know my questions don't cover all of the bases.

 

Questions:

  • Do any of your units/personnel have helmet cameras
  • Are the cameras department issued or personal
  • If they are department issue > who wears them > or does everyone have one
  • Do you use the recordings for anything other than the obvious > Training > After Action Critiques
  • How do you manage security of the images to insure ethical use and protection of the organization > protect HIPPA etc
  • Do you have an SOP/SOG covering the specific use of the recordings, or do you have a general Social Media policy that address usage; if so if you don't mind please attach your SOP/SOG
  • If you have helmet cameras in use > how long have you been using them.  If possible include Pros/Cons of having the cameras

 

Thank you

 

Dennis Bishop- Captain

Training Coordinator

Westminster Fire Department

(303)658-4531

dbishop@cityofwestminster.us

 

3.

Our department received a volunteer recruitment and retention grant. I am looking for assistance with the issue of “lost wages.”

Our grant specifically describes providing lost wages to volunteers who take training that keeps them from doing their regular job.

 

We have a general contractor who volunteers with us. He has a work rate of x dollars per hour. If we send him to training and pay all the costs, we want to also compensate him for his “lost wages” or the amount of money he would have made during that time as a contractor.

 

If you have dealt with this type of issue, please reply back to

dcowan@arcatafire.org

 

Thank you

 

Desmond Cowan, EFO

Asst. Chief/Fire Marshal

Arcata Fire Protection District

631 9th Street

Arcata, CA 95521

707-825-2000 (o)

707-498-5781 (c)

707-822-7951 (f)

www.arcatafire.org

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Emergency Medical Services Page

There are no EMS related requests this week

A Teaching Moment: Ozark EMS Crew Deserves Special Praise

Recovered from JEMS eBlog at www.jem.com

A.J. Heightman, MPA, EMT-P | | Tuesday, February 5, 2013

 

The 5-year-old boy who was being held hostage in an underground bunker in Alabama for nearly a week was handled in a highly professional manner by the crew of Ozark Ambulance on Monday. The ambulance, operated by the city of Ozark, was on standby throughout the ordeal.

However, the way in which the crew handled the care and transport of the young child, rescued from his abductor—now dead—deserves special recognition. State Rep. Steve Clouse, who represents the Midland City area, had reported that the boy has Asperger's syndrome, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.  

The National alliance on Mental Illness notes that Asperger Syndrome involves several social impairments and restricted interests. A diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome is given to individuals who experienced no speech or cognitive delay as children—they were talking on time and have at least a normal IQ—but who nevertheless display a range of autistic-like behaviors and ways of taking in the world. Hallmark characteristics of Asperger’s include emersion in an all-consuming interest and a one-sided, self-focused social approach. Not everyone who is eccentric has Asperger’s and not everyone with Asperger’s is a genius. Each person is differently able across several areas of challenge and giftedness.(1)

READ MORE: http://www.jems.com/article/training/teaching-moment-ozark-ems-crew-deserves

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Featured This Week

National Fire Academy to Host 1st National Professional Development Symposium  

For many years the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has hosted the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) Professional Development Conference and the Training Resources and Data Exchange (TRADE) Conference on the campus of the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Representatives from fire-related degrees programs, State and local fire service training agencies, State training fire training directors and national fire service organizations have attended the three-day conferences.

The modern era has caused us to re-examine our ability to deliver these conferences in a robust yet cost-effective manner. FESHE and TRADE are all about reducing the redundancies found in our pursuit of professional development. Where better to exemplify this than with our own seminars?

The National Professional Development Symposium (NPDS) is a result of the collaboration of both TRADE and FESHE initiatives. While the focus is on career enhancement for emergency responders it does not represent any diminishment of the awesome responsibilities of either entity. Instead the NPDS honors the commitment of both initiatives by providing a forum for training and education workshops, professional development matrix discussions, succession planning and national professional development standards recommendations.

See Attached Announcements

See Attached Preliminary Agenda

 

NEMSMA Recommends FTEP for EMS

 

Skip Kirkwood, MS, JD, EMT-P, EFO, CMO | From the September 2012 Issue | Friday, August 31, 2012

In the government sector, there’s a concept known as “the plenary police power of the state.” This means that the state has the authority to do things to generally protect the well-being, and health and safety, of its citizens.

One of the ways states use this is through the enactment of laws and regulations. The “police power standard,” as seen in licensing statutes and rules, is “the minimum level of knowledge and skill needed so that the regulated profession doesn’t constitute a threat to public health and safety.” It’s a floor. It’s a minimum standard. In the academic sense, it’s a grade C- (or 1.7 on a 4.0 scale).

Unfortunately, in the world of EMS, these minimum standards often turn into a maximum, or a ceiling, once they leave the state capitol. If the minimum number of hours for a paramedic course is set at 1,000 hours, then paramedic programs at educational institutions often get a budget for 1,000 hours and not a minute more.* Therefore, the floor becomes the ceiling. So take a 1.7 standard, graduate a 1.7 student, you’ve got a 1.0 new licensee. Is that person really ready to staff your ambulance? Do you want that person showing up at your house when a loved one is critically sick or injured? Probably not. If you’re a responsible EMS agency leader, you’re aware of this gap and understand that your agency must do something about it.

Filling the Gap
So what should we do to fill the gap between the knowledge, skills and effective traits that EMS providers have when they first arrive, and those we’d want them to have when they staff a unit in service on their first shift?

Does your organization approach this question in a manner that will help the new employee? Do you teach the needed (and missing) knowledge, skills and behaviors necessary to protect the provider and your organization, and help to ensure compassionate, clinically excellent care for the patients being served?

READ MORE: http://www.jems.com/article/training/nemsma-recommends-ftep-ems

 

Live-Fire Training: What Do You Train On?

Live-Fire Training: What Do You Train On?

By Mark van der Feyst

Recovered from Fire Engineering eBlog 

02/21/2013

 

In my previous article, we discussed all the important factors to consider when setting up any live-fire training exercise. Whether it is conducted in an acquired structure or a fixed facility, there are a number of items to be completed before the first set can be lit. So why do we conduct live-fire training exercises? What are we training to do? This is a good question to ask whenever setting up any live-fire training, or any training for that matter. Setting out specific objectives will only aid in making the exercise successful.

Let’s first consider some things that we do not want to practice at any live-fire training exercise. When using an acquired structure or a fixed facility, we do not want to be training on pump operations. An experienced pump operator needs to be assigned to each of the apparatus that is being used for your primary and secondary water supply. This will ensure no interruption in your water flow and will maintain an adequate amount of pressure in the handlines. Using the live-fire training exercise as an opportunity to practice pumping skills for inexperienced firefighters will only lead to the beginnings of failure for the entire drill. This is especially true with acquired structures, where fire conditions can change quickly and need to be controlled with proper amounts of water at adequate pressures. This is not as critical in a fixed facility, since there is a high safety factor built into the structural integrity of the building; the only combustible items will be the burn set for class-A fires. Practicing operating a pump during a “roll-in” drill would be sufficient as long the secondary source of water is established and ready.

READ MORE: http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/2013/02/live-fire-training--what-do-you-train-on-.html?cmpid=EnlFireEngWeeklyFebruary222013

 

 

Free Leadership Failitator Training Seminar Announcement 

The International Public Safety Leadership and Ethics Institute (IPSLEI) will be presenting a Facilitator Training Seminar to train and certify prospective facilitators in the use of IPSLEI’s nationally-recognized curriculum in leadership and ethics development at the conclusion of the National Fire Academy’s 1st Annual National Professional Development Symposium (Formerly the TRADE and FESHE Conferences). The 40-hour Facilitator Training Seminar will be held June 3-7, 2013 at the National Emergency Training Center, Emmitsburg MD.

See Attached Flyer

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National Events Calendar 

  • Campus Safety Expo. - Columbus OH: March 4-5, 2013
  • Center Fore Public Safety Excellence Conference - Henderson, NV: March 4-7, 2013
  • International Public Safety and Leadership Ethics Institute (IPSLEI), Emmitsburg, MD: June 3-7, 2013
  • EMS Today Conference and Exposition - Washington, D.C.: March 5-9, 2013
  • FESHE Higher Institution Recognition application window closes:  March 29, 2013
  • FDIC - Indianapolis, IN: April 22 - 27, 2013
  • Fire-Rescue Med Conference - Las Vegas, NV: May 3-7, 2013
  • National Professional Development Symposium - Emmitsburg, MD, May 30 - June 1, 2013
  • ImageTrens EDS Conference - Minneapolis, MN, July 17-19, 2013
  • NAEMSE National Symposium - Washington D.C.: August 5-10, 2013 
  • Fire Rescue International - Chicago, IL: August 13-17, 2013

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TRADE Regional Pages

Region I

Maine Fire Safety Institute Bi-Weekly Newsletter

SEE ATTACHED

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TRADE Regional NFA Course Calendar

NFA Sponsored 2-Day Off-Campus Courses

2-day off-campus course descriptions, schedules, and application information

 

A strong partnership exists between NFA and State and local Fire Training Systems to advance the professional development of fire service personnel. This partnership has resulted in the ongoing development and delivery of the Academy's distance delivery curriculum.

Many volunteer and career fire service personnel cannot take time to attend resident programs, so these off-campus delivery courses, most of which are 2-days in length, provide training opportunities within the State and local communities. Courses are selected and cosponsored jointly by NFA and State and local fire training systems. States have the option of electing to use some/all off-campus deliveries as Train-the-Trainer Programs Course materials will be handed off in digital form to the State Training Systems hosting Train-the-Trainer deliveries.

For information on hosting a Two-Day Off-Campus course, e-mail the NFA Off-Campus Program Manager for your state.

See NFA Sponsored 2-Day off-campus Course List: http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/nfacourses/catalog/search?courseDeliveries=2&&forget=true

NFA Sponsored 6-Day and 10-Day Off-Campus Courses

6- and 10-day off-campus course descriptions, schedules, and application information

6- and 10-day deliveries are developed because of limited space at the Emmitsburg campus. These courses provide the fire service and allied professionals the opportunity to attend NFA on-campus courses within their geographical region. They mirror 6- and 10-day courses normally taught at NFA's resident facility. Although minor modifications sometimes are required, basic course content and materials are the same as on-campus courses. NFA provides two instructors per course, paralleling on-campus delivery, plus all training materials.

See NFA Sponsored Off-Campus 6-Day and 10-day Course list: http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/nfacourses/catalog/search?courseDeliveries=4&courseDeliveries=6&&forget=true

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Important Links 

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The objective of TRADENET is to provide a forum for members of Fire Service organizations to maximize performance through quick and easy information sharing. The information provided here must be non-commercial and non-copyrighted. None of the material shared should be incorporated into any copyrighted programs.