WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT Loss from Fire Values Released for WB Final property loss values

Transcription

1 WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT YEARS of SERVICE ~ JANUARY BC J. Spartz...18 years MPO K. Asselin.18 years FF J. Goeldner...16 years FF T. Eichmann 14 years LT D. Peil...14 years FF R. Abel years POC FF D. Fischer..6 years POC FF P. Monroe.6 years POC FF S. Coyne.3 years POC FF J. Kraft..3 years POC FF R. Weber...3 years..acting to Save Planning to Protect......Acting to Save January 2014 Volume 2, Issue Loss from Fire Values Released for WB Final property loss values for the West Bend Fire Department have been released. Property loss is Emergency Activities Types of Calls used by fire departments to determine how much value a community lost from fire during a given period. The West Bend Fire Department calculated fire loss from January 1 to December 31 and compared it to the past 5 years. Total fire loss values for 2013 were the third highest in the five year period. The years of 2010 and 2012 were higher. A large apartment fire occurred in 2010 and accounts for half of the values. Year Total Values Total Loss Total Saved Loss values from 2013 improved by 33% over 2012 but, the percentage of fire loss actually shows a.93% increase over the past year when the numbers are compared to the total dollar valuation of all fires. This places 2013 as the fourth highest year. Structure fires accounted for the largest value loss with $429,430 and passenger vehicle fires were second with a total of $19,300. Total fires were consistent with a high of 44 in 2010 and a low of 29 in Total Percent Saved Jan-14 Dec-13 Year to Date (2014) Year to Date (2013) Fires Emergency Medical Calls Paramedic Intercepts Interfacility Transports Hazardous Conditions Service Calls/Good Intent Calls False Alarms/False Calls Other/Special Incident Types Totals Town of Barton Calls Town of West Bend Calls Total Fires 2009 $18,964,945 $333,955 $18,630, % $65,607,647 $2,715,323 $62,892, % $13,446,912 $157,015 $13,289, % $43,872,631 $689,316 $43,183, % $18,405,555 $459,490 $17,946, % 37

2 Page 2 Emergency Medical Services Bureau Battalion Chief Todd VanLangen Heart Attack and the Chain of Survival. Page 2 Captain Tom Thrash It is a new year and time to make a New Year s resolution. How about doing something that could possibly save somebody's life. How about taking a few hours to learn a potentially life-saving skill that needs no special equipment other than your two hands. the chain. If a person is to survive cardiac arrest the chain will need to be strong. For each link that is weak or missing chances of surviving will diminish substantially for a person in cardiac arrest. The first link in the chain of survival is recognizing that the person is unresponsive ambulance arrives. Crucial minutes are lost and the chances of the patient being successfully defibrillated are much less without early, good quality CPR. The third link is early defibrillation. There is a narrow window of opportunity to defibrillate a person in cardi- ful defibrillation when the ambulance crew arrives. The last two links are in the hands of trained professionals. After an emergency is recognized and CPR is initiated our department becomes the fourth link when 911 is CPR is one of the critical skills that will need to be performed on somebody who goes into cardiac arrest. It is one of the links in the American Heart Associations Chain of Survival. You as a member of the public could have control of the first two and possibly three links in and calling 911. A quick activation of EMS is always in the patient s best interest. The second critical link is starting CPR. A patient who gets early, good quality CPR, has a much higher chance of survival than a patient who does not get CPR until the ac arrest. Early, good quality CPR, expands that window. If there is a defibrillator on sight it should be used. If you work at a facility that has a defibrillator you should know how to use it. If no defibrillator is available good CPR will increase the chance of success- called. This brings paramedics who can administer Advanced Life Support skills. The hospitals provide the fifth link, Integrated Post Cardiac Care. Knowing what to do when a person goes into cardiac arrest could help save their life. Manikins Helping us train. Emergency Medical Services [EMS] have been using manikins for decades to teach people how to perform CPR. Manikins have also become an important tool in maintaining proficiency in pre-hospital medical skills. The manikins we utilize for training are life-size, durable and have realistic anatomical features. Our department has a variety of different manikins from infants to full size adults. We have manikin heads that are used strictly to practice airway skills from inserting simple airway devices to the more critical skill of intubating an unresponsive patient. We have manikin arms and legs both adult and pediatric that are used for practicing IV starts. We also use those manikin arms and legs to practice using a device that looks like a battery powered drill to insert an IV into the patients leg or shoulder bone. The nice thing about using manikins for training purposes is that you can develop training scenarios based on realistic circumstances. Scenarios are rally only limited by the instructors imagination and can be done inside or outdoors. Scenarios using mani- kins is a safe place to learn and take away positive reinforcement of critical skills. Most of these skills are not performed on patients on a daily basis and it is critical to train on manikins to maintain proficiency. Scenarios are also very important to integrate the team based approach to care that is important when responding to emergencies.

3 WBFD Paramedics : Do we make a difference? Page 3 During 2013 the West Bend Fire Department Paramedic Service had interactions with over 3000 patients. These patient medical calls require a variety of supplies, an extensive inventory of medications, an abundance of knowledge, extensive record keeping and most importantly the dedication of our personnel to always try to make a difference. We carry with us almost 40 different medications and several pieces of specialized equipment. We have these available to us on all calls. The medications may be used to help someone who is having trouble breathing, to treat a patient with chest pain or address the pain involved with some type of traumatic injury. Our paramedics deal with everything from severe head trauma and broken bones due to a motor vehicle accident all the way down to my nose is running. (Yes that is correct we have been called out to help someone who had a runny nose.) After every patient contact we document what medications were used, what interventions took place, who did the procedures and what the outcomes were. This allows us to constantly evaluate our effectiveness as an emergency medical service. We use Fire House Reporting software to record this information. The documentation becomes a private patient care report and gets uploaded to the State of Wisconsin Ambulance Run Data System or WARDS. When we look back at our records for 2013 we could see that we had almost 1000 patient encounters where our paramedics documented that we definitively im- proved the outcome of the patient. This could mean that we did things such as administered some medications to help with pain, gave a nebulizer treatment to help with breathing or stabilized an injury. This means that in 32% of our patient contacts we had measurable improvement in the patient s condition. Along with that in 68% of the medical call situations we documented that our patient s condition at least remained stable while they were in our care. (No observable change for the worse). During 2013 we only had 14 patient contacts where our patient s condition worsened. (This is less than 1% of our patient contacts.) This would be where the patient was in more pain than we could help with or the patient was in a condition that we could not improve with the efforts that were attempted. As the need for EMS continues to increase in our community we know that we are doing everything that we can to make a difference when someone is having a bad day. Using the data from our Firehouse Software Reports we can see that we are making a difference in the outcomes of our patients.

4 Page 4 Planning to Protect.. Fire Prevention & Public Safety Activities Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Tammy Lamberg January 2014 Inspections Follow-up Compliance Semi-Annual Annual Total Violations Inspections Cards Station # Station # Station # Staff Captain/ Townships Totals According to the Electrical Safety Foundation an estimated 3,200 fires originate from extension cords each year, killing over 300 people. One of the most common fire violations is the inappropriate use of extension cords. As seen in the photo at the right people can be very creative when looking for a power supply. Extension cords are meant to be used for temporary purposes. They should not be used in place of permanent wiring. Permits and Fees Extension Cord Safety Guidelines When they are used continually the insulation inside the cord can rapidly deteriorate creating the possibility of shock and fire hazard. A heavy reliance on extension cords indicates that you have too few outlets to address your electrical needs. In this situation additional outlets should be installed by a licensed electrician. * Make sure cords are rated for indoor/outdoor use and sufficient to meet the power needs of the device they are being used with. *Never fasten cords to walls ceilings or any part of a structure. *Do not use extension cords with appliances. Appliances should be plugged directly into wall outlets. *Never use a worn, damaged or outdated cord. Count Permit Type Total Fees 1 Alarm system devices $ Kitchen suppression systems $ Fire alarm system 250+ device s Sprinkler system Total= Total Permit Fees for January $

5 Fire Prevention and Public Safety Activities Page 5 National Fire Sprinkler Association Training On January 28th and 29th Captain Lamberg attended two training classes sponsored by the National Fire Sprinkler Association. The first class was Hydraulics for Fire Sprinkler Systems. It focused on determining water supply requirements and pressure requirements for new sprinkler systems. DATE OCCUPANCY TYPE ACTIVITY NOTES At times new sprinkler systems will have a demand beyond what the municipal water supply can meet. In these situations fire pumps and supplementary water sources must be figured in to the sprinkler design. When sprinkler plans are submitted to the fire prevention bureau Captain Lamberg reviews these areas to make sure hydraulics are calculated correctly. The second class was Commissioning & Acceptance Testing of Fire Sprinkler Systems. This class addressed the components of new sprinkler systems that must be performance tested before a new property is granted occupancy. Components such as piping, heads and valves must operate under high pressure for a specified duration of time to verify that the system can handle the pressures that will be 1/2 Residential Consult Met regarding firewall requirements for mechanical room 1/6 Healthcare Contractor meeting Requirements for sprinkler alarm notification devices 1/7 Business Consult Questions regarding temporary heating during remodel 1/8 Warehouse Consult Conversion of wet-pipe sprinkler system to dry-pipe system 1/9 Assembly Follow-up Follow-up on citizen complaint regarding unvented heaters 1/14 Residential Violation follow-up Concerns with electrical issues and woodworking in basement garage 1/15 Business Plan review Addition/renovation to retail business 1/16 Residential Plan review Building renovation with change of occ. and new sprinkler system 1/20 Manufacturing Follow-up Ongoing sprinkler system deficiencies 1/20 Assembly Consult Expansion of existing sprinkler system 1/21 Educational Acceptance test Hydrostatic test of second phase of renovation project applied during fire situations. All mechanisms must activate reliably when signals are given from a variety of initiating sources. All gauges must be calibrated and tested during static and operating pressures. Having increased knowledge in these areas assists in preventing performance problems that may occur in new fire sprinkler systems. This allows us to better serve our property owners who are building new facilities in the West Bend area. Occupancy Plan Reviews, Consultations and Investigations 1/23 Assembly Meeting Meeting with business owner, Bureau Capt. Chief and B.C. 1/23 Commercial Contractor meeting Factory to retail/residential conversion discussion of specific city codes 1/30 Educational Consult Met with school staff re: Evacuation routes during construction project

6 Page 6 Operations Bureau Battalion Chief John Spartz Captain Jon Coutts Incident reports are completed after each call to document the actions taken by crews to mitigate the incident. Documenting each call allows a permanent record of the call for future reference. There are other benefits to documenting calls. Departments can use the reports to determine if there are recurring situations in their coverage areas. A key component on an incident report if the Incident Type. This is Quote of the Month... It is the duty of every fire department to save lives and reduce injuries and property losses when fires occur. America Burning, 1972 Incident typing of department responses the area where calls are classified on the type of situation found when crews arrive on an incident scene. Classifications are based on a typing system developed by the National Fire Administration. There are ten major categories such as Fire, Explosions, Emergency Medical Services, Hazardous Conditions, Service Calls, Good Intent Calls, and False Alarms. These general categories are broken down to further identify situations that fire fighters encounter. An example is the fire category. There are seventeen different subcategories of fires. For example, a fire that occurs on a stove but is contained to the kettle is classified as a Cooking Fire that was contained. If the fire escaped the kettle and spread to the walls it would be classified as a Building Fire. Each classification is given a three digit number. Fire officers in charge of the call will make the determination on the incident type for their report. This data is reported to the State of Wisconsin, who in turn, reports to the National Fire Administration. The West Bend Fire department has been electronically collecting this data in an electronic format since This data allows the department to determine the frequency of the different types of problems encountered. Once a problem incident has been identified the department can address it with preventative efforts. Preventative Captain Coutts completed several preventative maintenance work orders during January. P.M.s are completed regularly on fire and medical apparatus to help reduce more expensive repairs and to identify possible problems with the equipment. Some of the tests performed on the vehicles are conducted on batteries, primer pumps for fire engines, and lubricating friction points. Captain Coutts performed 9 hours of preventive maintenance work during January. P.M.s are completed semi-annually.

7 Page 7 Fire Instruction & Training Bureau Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle Captain Tom Thrash Car Fires of Today Differ From Car Fires of Yesterday. I ve come to realize that while vehicle designs seem to continually improve these advances and improvements can make our job much more difficult. Back in the late 1980 s when I started in the fire service life was less complicated. Cars were designed simply and made of metal. I remember my first car fire as a firefighter. It was along a semi-busy highway and the engine compartment was fully engulfed with flames. As I was approaching the car I heard a loud boom. When I heard the boom I thought the whole car had blown up. (Just like in the movies.) So my first reaction was to hit the deck. Just then the veteran officer on the scene said, Boy get off the ground, because you will never put the fire out on your belly. (For the integrity of this article I did clean up some of the colorful language that he used to tell me to get up.) Remember the movie Back to the Future? Today I participated in a webinar class teaching about the interesting facts about electric cars that made me think of that movie. It brought out what we needed to watch out for and things that are over embellished and not really true at all. Example when I heard my first boom at the car fire I assumed it was blowing up, thanks to Hollywood. Today electric cars are really not any more dangerous to the passengers than the traditional gas driven cars, but they do give fire departments more to think about. The batteries that power these vehicles are not under the hood and easy to get to. We are going to find them under the passenger or storage compartment of the vehicle. This makes it very difficult to get at the seat of the fire. These fires will burn at least twice as hot as a typical car fire, close to the temperature of combustible metals. These fires will require more manpower and water. This is fine in our city setting where there is an abundance of water, but poses a problem when we get out to our rural settings. Once again, the way we approach things is forever changing in the fire service today. The main job of the Training Bureau is to make sure our firefighters are staying educated and prepared, because that is a big part of staying safe.

8 In Their Own Words... The back page of our newsletter will feature a couple of notes or cards that we receive from our customers.the people we serve. Whether it is on an ambulance call, fire call, or a public education assignment, the members of the West Bend Fire De- partment are dedicated to making their contact with us a positive ex- perience. Personnel Spotlight: MPO Jeffrey Ciriacks MPO Jeffrey Ciriacks began his career with the West Bend Fire Department as a Paid-On- Call Firefighter in 1986 after serving four years in the United States Marine Corps. He became a career fire fighter on January 25, 1989 and was certified as an EMT-Basic. Jeff served the city as a fire fighter for several years and gained experience on the fire ground as well as in the classroom. He obtained several certifications and completed several educational courses related to his role as a fire fighter. Jeff was promoted to the position of Motor Pump Operator in In 1996 Jeff advanced his emergency medical skills to the EMT-Intermediate level which was followed by the State of Wisconsin pilot program for EMT-I 99. Jeff took his EMS skills to another level by completing and certifying as a Paramedic in While MPO Ciriacks was working with the fire department he also served in the WI Army National Guard. He was called to active duty three times during his career. We would like to wish MPO Ciriacks the best of luck as he has retired from the department on February 2, WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT Planning to Protect...Acting to Save 325 N 8th Ave. West Bend, WI