We Need to Be More Prepared

It's no secret the LMRFD needs more volunteers if they hope to have any coverage in the 144 square mile fire district when LMRFD firefighters are out covering the 2200 square mile area covered by the ambulance Certificate of Need.

Until that happens we need to be prepared to take care of our family, friends, and neighbors for a minimum of three days. The upcoming Emergency Preparedness Presentation at the Dolan Springs Community Council Hall this coming Saturday is a good place to start. INFO BELOW

BUT we need to do more. Everyone should be trained in CPR/AED and first aid. It can cost $25 per person to take a CPR/AED course. I know many people in the Dolan area don't have $100 for the family to take CPR. 

First Aid for Free is a great web page that teaches CPR/AED, first aid, and other classes like how to recognize and treat anaphylactic shock. First Aid for Free Web Page As you and your kids complete the classes you can print certificates for them showing they know what to do, and something cool to hang on their wall.

The last week or so at least twice there were no ambulances available in Kingman and ambulances needed to come from Lake Havasu City. Kingman has numerous EMS resources to respond and stabilize a patient until an ambulance can arrive.   

Recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters has been a challenge for many departments across the country and in Arizona. The vast majority of firefighters in the United States are volunteers, they comprise 69% of firefighters. Of the total estimated 1,140,750 volunteer and paid firefighters across the country, 786,150 are volunteers who save billions of dollars a year for their department.

An article on FireRescue1 has three ways to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.

In the past the LMRFD had quite a few volunteers. We need to identify what changes were made that caused the decline in volunteers, and what can be done to bring volunteers back.

These are the three things the FireRescue1 article recommends. My Comments in Italic 

• A lack of marketing on the part of the department leading to the perception that the local fire and EMS department is staffed full-time. 
• COMMENT: I have not seen any advertising in local media to recruit LMRFD volunteers.
• A weakening sense of community among the population in part because the department may not adequately reflect the diversity of people it serves. 
• COMMENT: We need more local people who represent our community.
• The ratio of men versus women in the fire service giving a misconception that a department is a “good old boys club.”
• COMMENT: As long as the LMRFD ambulance and the fire service remain one in the same requiring all volunteers to be firefighters rather than allowing women or people with no interest in becoming firefighters to volunteer as EMR's or EMT's on the ambulance volunteers will be difficult to recruit. 80% or more calls to the LMRFD are medical calls that could be managed by Basic Life Support providers like EMR's and EMT's.
• A lack of available or convenient entry-level fire and EMS training opportunities.

COMMENT: The LMRFD needs to do in-house training for volunteers. I've been with NACFD since August and I've received 90 hours of fire training, and 32 hours of EMS training to date.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PRESENTATION

Saturday February 3rd, 2018
11am to 1pm (Free Admission)

Dolan Springs Community Council Hall
15195 N Pierce Ferry Road

Facilitated By:

Emergency Preparedness & Response Coordinator Paul Pitts & Introduction by LMRFD Chief Tony DeMaio