June - Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department

Omnis Cedo Domus
June 15, 2010
Special points of
Interest:
 Fit 4 Duty
 Firefighter Wedding
Announcement
The
Metro Insider...
 Message from Chief
Parker
 Message from Chief
Flynn
 Public Education
Schedule and Events
 Fire Prevention
History
Phone Extensions:
Chief Pat Parker
1235
Asst Chief Flynn
1228
Asst Chief Schnaidt 1226
Brian Belcher
Robert Casey
Mike Lince
Kathy Fordyce
1232
1233
1238
1236
Robin Ehardt
Mary Griggs
Marcia Schwind
Meredith Hawes
1227
1222
1221
1234
Dave Lather
Randy Agruda vm
Mike Vaughn
1229
1240
1225
Troy Holliday
Brian Bloom vm
Tony Posey vm
1231
1241
1242
Admin Fire Office 3000
231-947-3000
Station One
3814
231-947-3814
Station Eight
****
231-938-9533
Station Nine
0299
231-947-0299
Station Eleven
7682
231-941-7682
As in past years, the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department will be participating in the
2010 Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week (Safety Week) during the week of
June 20-26, 2010.
This annual event aims to improve firefighter safety and health to give all a better chance
of survival in emergencies and in the long-term. Fire departments across the U.S. will take
time during the week to go over the messages and resources that will help achieve that
goal.
The theme for Safety Week this year is “Fit for Duty,” which encourages all fire/EMS personnel to focus on health and wellness issues. With more than 50 percent of fire fighter
line-of-duty deaths caused by health and fitness-related issues, it’s imperative that there be
a concentrated effort in implementing wellness and fitness programs.
The Health and Wellness committee would like to prepare our firefighters for what
Fitness for Duty evaluations will consist of. The firefighter agility test will be set up at
each station on the following dates and times:
Station 8
Station 9
Station 11
Station 1
Monday, June 21st
Tuesday, June 22nd
Wednesday, June 23rd
Thursday, June 24th
1400 to 2000 hrs
1400 to 2000 hrs
1400 to 2000 hrs
1400 to 2000 hrs
All members are encouraged to participate. This is for you and your health as we prepare
for the future. This is open to the entire department and their families. We will have
some light refreshments and other information for you and your family on health and
wellness. Read more information on the last page of The Metro Insider.
Juvenile Fire Setter vm 1240
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org
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The Metro Insider...
Page 2
Wedding Announcement…
Nick and Jess Lemcool
May 22, 2010
Nick Lemcool is the son of Ron and Cindy Lemcool. Ron is a former Lieutenant of the Station 11 family.
Nick started with GTMFD in June of 2005 after he graduated high school in Metro Detroit. He was hired as
full time firefighter in January of 2009 assigned to Station 11. His favorite part of working for Grand
Traverse Metro is the chance he gets to help people in their time of need and the people he gets to work
with.
He attended Lake Superior State University for fire science, where he met his new wife Jessica. Jessica is a
math/science teacher who is currently subbing while looking for a full time position. He is currently working
on finishing his degree at NMC.
In his spare time Nick enjoys relaxing on Long Lake and spending time with family, friends, and Nermal. He
also volunteers for the National Cherry Festival as the Junior Royal Parade Director.
Congratulations Nick and Jess!
July 2010
Training Topics
Message from the Chief …
Hello from the Chief’s Office!
Medical Training
Monday July 12, 2010 @1900
@Station 8 TBA
Fire Training
Monday July 5, 2010 @1900
@Station 8 Truck Operations
Wednesday July 14, 2010 @ 1900
@ Station 9 Hose Lead Outs
(Required)
Thursday July 15, 2010 @ 1900
@ Station 1 Apparatus Pump
Operations (Required)
Wednesday July 21, 2010 @ 1900
@ Station 11 Truck/Ladder
Operations Training
Finally we got some good news from FEMA and they have given us the green to commence with construction of Station 12. We now are finishing up some loose ends and we hope to sign a contract with a general
contractor next week at our Metro Board meeting. It is our hope that we can have a ground breaking sometime in very early July. Unfortunately, we probably will not be in the new station until late April or early
May. We will let you all know as to the date of the groundbreaking! Thanks for your patience. It’s been driving me crazy as well.
Your health, wellness and fitness committee has been meeting regularly. We decided to participate in the
fire service’s 2010 Fire/EMS Safety, Health and Survival Week which is June 20-26. The theme this year is
Fitness for Duty. Because the department is going to be evaluating all employees’ Fitness for Duty in the
future, we thought it would be fun to set up the agility test at all of the stations. See the schedule attached.
Also we will be having some information on health, wellness, and fitness at your station. Oh yes, there will
be some healthy refreshments there as well. Please bring your families and have them see what we do. Give
us your opinion on how we should potentially evaluate each other’s fitness levels in the future. Some areas
that we would like to stress are:
* General Health and Wellness
* Food and Nutrition
* Fitness
* Infectious Diseases
* Smoking and Smokeless-Tobacco Cessation
* Alcohol and Other Drugs
* Stress Management
* Suicide Prevention
We have been working on many new policies lately. We will be putting these on the intranet as well as the
members only page. FF Cory Ellis and Capt. Troy Holliday are working on an electric signature that will
document that you have read them. More to come in the next Metro Insider.
If any of you may be thinking about purchasing a home, there is a local program called Homes for Heroes.
Military personnel, firefighters, police officers, EMS all qualify for this program. They offer some significant
discounts on selling costs and financing. Check out this web site if you are interested.
www.HomesForHeroes.com or call Christine direct at 409-4140. She lives in the Metro district and was a
fire chief in Arizona.
Visit www.gtmetrofire.org for
Current Training and
Public Education calendar.
Be Safe out there!
Pat
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org
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Page 3
Note from Chief Flynn ...
Congratulations to those members coming off probation: Darren Mansfield, Bill Brodin, Marcus Plessner, Keith Bugai, Tim Newton, Chris
Kolinski, Shawn Stinson, and Mike Courson. Nick Haines will be coming off probation shortly.
Recently, the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) has issued a “stand down” due to two recent incidents involving attempted
rescues in confined spaces. These rescue attempts almost took the lives of several firefighters and it has been suggested nationally that all nonessential training be delayed for fire departments to focus on critical safety training. GTMESA will be meeting with GT County DPW management to identify all confined spaces in the Metro area. These sites will be plotted and their hazards identified for all members to be aware.
New polices will be developed on responding to emergencies involving victims in these hazardous areas along with completing pre-incident
surveys. The events involving confined spaces are high risk and low frequency which means all members will often forget the procedures
which allows for mistakes and perhaps injuries.
Roles of first responding personnel include:







Size up
Deny entry
Control hazards
Focus on procedures
Lock-Out tag out
Air monitoring- Ventilate
Call required assistance
Soon, all GTMESA will be reviewing procedures at confined space sites
around the district. County DPW will be assisting in this review.
Above —
A special thank-you to one of our fellow first responders.
Here Deputy Chris Halleck is receiving an Honorary GT
Metro helmet for his help at the woods fire at the Crown
Golf course in May.
Left —
Here GTMESA members from Station 1 and 8 are performing
hose lead-out training last week.
Below Right — Stations 1 and 11 responded to a truck fire on South
Airport Rd on Saturday.
Below Left — This picture seems like a simple car over the bank.
A patient in this vehicle on a wet day can cause several problems. Do we
have the equipment to handle a patient in this vehicle? This week
Station 11 handled just such a call with some complications.
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org
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Page 4
Public Education ...
The B.A.S.A. (Bay Area Senior
Advocates) Sr. Expo, held at the Howe
arena in May was attended by over 1,100
local residents.
Grand Traverse Metro Fire Dept was
there to hand out home Fire Prevention
materials and also Slip and Fall
Prevention information. Thanks to Tim
Newton and Darren Mansfield for their
help!
Left / Below photos are from the Grand Traverse Area Parkinson’s Support Group’s Annual Summer Forum and 25th
Anniversary Dinner featuring Rasheda Ali. Both events were
a success reaching over 400 plus people in total.
Special thanks to Grand Traverse Metro Fire Dept for their
partnership, Chief Parker for his attendance, Nick Trahair for
photos, and also the following Firefighters who helped out at
the events; Marcus Plessner, Joe Byrne, Tim Newton, Cory
Ellis, Kyle Clute, and Nick Lemcool.
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org
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Page 5
Who and/or What is the Metro Fire Prevention Bureau?
By Asst Chief Brad Schnaidt
This question has been asked by several members of the department and this article will be the first installment to
introduce the Fire Prevention Bureau to those of you who may not have a good understanding of who we are and what
we do.
The Metro Fire Prevention Bureau was started in December of 1991 with the hiring of Brad Schnaidt who is our current
Assistant Chief of Administration and Fire Marshal for the Department. At the time of his hiring, Brad was a StateCertified Fire Inspector who was working for the Commerce Township Fire Department located in Oakland County,
Michigan. Along with his duties as a full-time firefighter with Commerce Township, Brad also performed Building Plan
Reviews and inspections on new construction projects as well as annual fire prevention inspections on existing business
occupancies in the township. He also was “loaned out” to surrounding departments for his inspection expertise and
assistance on larger commercial and/or industrial occupancies that had specialized fire hazards or fire suppression
systems.
When Brad came to work here, the make-up of the department was much different than what we see today. Although
Metro Fire was created in 1980, it was previously part of a County-Wide fire department that included what we now know
as the Rural Fire Department. Both the Metro Fire Department Administration and the Rural Fire Department
Administration was located at the current Metro offices on Parsons Road. Both departments shared certain functions
such as supply purchases, office administrative staff (secretaries), fire origin and cause investigation and several other
operations. The Fire Prevention Bureau was the newest function which was to be shared between the two departments.
Although the Metro and Rural departments were separate entities; each having it’s own Board of Directors and each
having it’s own Chief of Department; essentially they were run as one department and the public’s perception was that
they were one department run by the County. This was even more emphasized with the fact that there was an
Administrative Board of Directors that was made up of a representative of the Metro Fire Board, the Rural Fire Board,
The County Board of Commissioners, the Battalions Chiefs, etc. So, when the two departments decided that they wanted
to start a Fire Prevention Bureau it was natural that this Bureau be shared between the two agencies. Consequently, Brad
was working for two different departments and two different fire chiefs with two different fire boards and one
Administrative Board. Talk about confusing!
When he first started work here, Brad found that the only piece of the puzzle that was in place was a county-wide
enactment of the 1990 BOCA Fire Prevention Code as a County Ordinance. There were 2 code books and an old set of
NFPA standards that were outdated by about 7 years. So, the work was begun in earnest to establish and set up the office,
get some procedures in place and get some inspections underway on the existing businesses.
End of Chapter 1. Chapter 2 in the next edition.
If you have any information or articles that you
would like to submit to The Metro Insider…
Please e-mail them to Capt. Troy Holliday by the 15th of the month.
tholliday@gtmetrofire.org
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org
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Page 6
Are you Fit For Duty???
The International Association of Fire Chiefs has designated 2010's, Fire/EMS Safety Health and Survival Week, to be
themed Fit For Duty. Their goal is to bring focus upon the fact that firefighters and EMT's need to be fit for duty in order
to preserve their most valuable asset, and hold to the "Everyone Goes Home" motto. To be a truly effective leader in the
fire and emergency sector, chiefs must take a genuine interest in the health and wellbeing of their members. Being
medically fit is one thing. Being fit for duty is entirely different. That is where Wellness Programs come in, and should be
established to promote healthy living, and avail resources to allow their members access to the programs and education
needed to create healthy living and wellness.
Grand Traverse Metro has already taken the steps to create a Wellness Program. Annual medical physicals have been
centralized within an Occupational Health Department. Wellness Assessments, with standards and recommendations for
goal achievement, have become mandatory for full time members and are available up to twice annually. Free access to
Station 1's fitness room/equipment, as well as discounts at surrounding area fitness facilities. Wellness Challenges,
In-services, and health and wellness related educational newsletter articles and materials have been readily made available.
The next step in the development of GT Metro's efforts to commit to its' members longevity of service and quality of life,
is coming this fall with the first mandatory Fit For Duty Assessment for fulltime members.
With the most common cause of on-duty death for firefighters being cardiovascular disease ( 40-50%, affecting 1 in 1000
firefighters); and the most common reason for lost time work days being back injuries (EMT's and Paramedics having the
highest rate of musculoskeletal strains, with over 40% back strains/sprains, and 45% of those being from overexertion), it
seems only prudent that a Fit For Duty focus be taken in the interest of reducing injury and increasing the overall well
being of our firefighter organization.
June 20th through June 26th is Safety, Health and Survival Week for 2010. GT Metro is putting in the works, the
opportunity for firefighters and their families to run through the Firefighter Agility Test, that assesses an individuals' ability to carry out the work demands of a firefighter on site at a fire emergency. This will be a fun way for family members to
realize what kind of efforts and conditions our brave firefighters face at a fire emergency, but will also afford our current
members, in a more relaxed atmosphere, a chance to test their skills and fitness before the mandatory testing in the fall.
There will be many other health and wellness topics being presented, and resource materials available, such as Nutrition,
Healthful and flavorful alternatives for food preparation, Fitness, Tobacco Cessation, and others.
Take this opportunity in a fun and family friendly atmosphere to take a reality check on your Fit For Duty Status. Take
the challenge to make your body and mind stronger and sharper, so that your odds of a longer and more enjoyable life,
and the safe return from the brave and proud service you provide to your community are not cut short in any way.
Look for more information to follow with specific details of events, at your home station.
Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org