Too Many ShortCuts at LMRFD Things the FIRE DISTRICT SHALL Do Under the Law

Is the LMRFD taking too many shortcuts with volunteers? 

The one thing almost unanimous on Facebook when talking about volunteers for the LMRFD was Background Checks and the Arizona Revised Statutes 48-805 agrees. 

When I volunteered for the NACFD the first thing the chief did was send me down to the sheriff's office to have fingerprints taken for a background check. 

When I volunteered for the LMRFD 

No background check was done 

I asked Chief Bonnee about background checks. He said he "didn't do a background check on me because he knew me". At that time I had met the chief about 5 times, he knew nothing about me except what he read on Facebook and much of that he disagreed with before deleting posts.


The Law says the FIRE DISTRICT SHALL: 
Require probationary employees in a paid sworn firefighter position, a reserve firefighter, or a volunteer position to submit a full set of fingerprints to the fire district for the purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check. §48-805

ARS 48-805 Require all current and prospective employees and volunteers to submit a full set of fingerprints to the fire district, joint powers authority, fire authority, fire and medical authority or fire and ambulance authority that is formed with that fire district pursuant to section 48-805.01.  

48-805.01, fire authority, fire and medical authority or fire and ambulance authority shall submit the fingerprints to the department of public safety for the purpose of obtaining a state and federal criminal records check.

It doesn't say what the fire district is required to do once they obtain the background check. The chief said "everybody deserves a second chance". I believe as long as the crime doesn't violate the public's trust, people deserve a second chance. 

Drug Testing
When I joined LMRFD as a volunteer I told Chief Bonnee I used medical marijuana, he said, "I don't care what you do at home".

I drove fire trucks for the LMRFD as a volunteer for many months. But because 80% of our calls are medical and not fire calls I pushed to use my Emergency Medical Responder so I could drive the ambulance when we need a second ambulance.

After months of driving fire trucks now I had to take a drug test to drive the ambulance because the Bureau of EMS & Trauma System required it.

Again the chief doesn't understand the law. 
Actually the only mention of drug testing in the Bureau of EMS & Trauma System Statutes and Rules is in ARS 36-2204.02. Emergency medical services providers will do investigations after an allegation of illegal drug use. 

Drug testing today is a policy matter and many agencies including DEA have changed their policy and are choosing to find employees.  
  
As an Emergency Medical Responder I could have been driving the second ambulance since I joined months ago. Then middle of November the chief said he would have EMR protocols by Christmas so I could drive the ambulance. Christmas came and went. 

Email to Chief Bonnee January 4th
Tim

Did you get the EMR Protocols done?

Chief's answer January 6th

Jay,
I am still putting them together I was in phoenix for training and was out sick I am still working on it I haven't forgot about you and I'm not sure what continued education you are looking for but river medical puts on a BLS refresher 

He forgot to mention he was gone hunting rather than writing protocols so our second ambulance could be in service.

I think LMRFD had a $10,000 for training should the "chief" know what continuing education was needed for his people?

I never got any of the required continuing education from the LMRFD and I guess it's moot now since Chief Bonnee fired me a couple weeks ago. I guess you be a yes man because if you don't agree with the chief you get fire as a volunteer...

Firefighters have a long history with alcohol use and abuse. I believe firefighters should have a choice to use medical marijuana. I said so when interviewed in this 2013 CBS News Investigation Medical marijuana rules unclear for First Responders 

Physical Examinations
While at NACFD I saw doctors two times for a firefighter physical. A doctor in a 5th wheel came to Kingman to do the physicals for fire departments. 

When I joined the LMRFD nothing was ever said about taking a physical. In the 9 months since joining nothing has been said about taking the annual physical.  

This is very important because we have several firefighters who weigh over 300 pounds and if they have a heart condition we need to know. 

In the case of a firefighters death resulting from heart attack or stroke, after participation in emergency response or training activity within the 24-hour timeframe before the cardiovascular event it's considered a LODD Line of Duty Death. 

Background checks and physicians need to be done on all new LMRFD employees and volunteers. 
Because they had a background check years ago when joining another fire district doesn't mean anything. The law is pretty specific The Fire District Shall require all current and prospective employees and volunteers to submit a full set of fingerprints 

Grass Roots Radio Solves Rural Community’s Disaster Communication Quandary

Grass Roots Radio Solves Rural NorCal Community’s Disaster Communication Quandary

Residents living in one rural Northern California community were tired of feeling helpless during recent wildfires and public safety power shutoffs. They didn’t have the ability to communicate with friends or loved ones because cell service, land lines and interest were all down. So, they took it upon themselves to solve the problem, at least for their own community. They gathered their neighbors, communications experts and first responders and came up with a plan. Their solution was GMRS: General Mobile Radio Service. See the Video Here

In a disaster the LMRFD will have no way to communicate. When our public safety repeaters and cell phones go down LMRFD's communications will be limited to a few miles line of sight and they will have no way to communicate to the outside world.
Without communications lives and property will be lost.

The LMRFD Will Have No Way to Communicate.....
No Way to communicate with fire trucks more than a few miles
No Way to communicate with outside agencies
No Way to gather damage and casualty information
No Way to disseminate that information with outside agencies
No Way to ask for help when were left with only two firefighters

Chief Bonnee has told me that in a major disaster Mohave County Emergency Services and Kingman Fire will come to our rescue. 

Mohave County Emergency Services has told me in a major event not to expect help from them because of limited resources. 

The Dispatch Agreement LMRFD has with Kingman Fire says they will provide dispatch services and record all radio traffic, that's it. 

MARK MY WORDS
In a disaster the LMRFD will have no way to communicate. Why?Because we hired a chief with THREE years experience as a firefighter. There's a lot more to two-way radio communications than push the button. 

Just yesterday 02/27/2020 the chief responded on an ambulance on fire at milepost 15 on US93. When he arrived dispatch couldn't 
here his radio traffic because he was in one of many bad spots. Good thing he didn't have a firefighter down and need to call for help...

Chief doesn't understand the basics... When the chief got his new truck I told him he should replace his 1/4 wave antenna with a gain antenna to increase range. He ignored me, that simple change would have doubled his radios power. 

A transmitting antenna with a gain of 3 dB means that the power received far from the antenna will be 3 dB higher (twice as much) than what would be received from a lossless isotropic antenna with the same input power.

Without ham radio the LMRFD is screwed. 
Even Cal Fire with their 2 billion dollar (2016) budget relies on ham radio for California's emergency communications. 

OES Auxiliary Communications Service

Look What We Have to Work With? More Belittling Volunteers?

I don't know if Chief Bonnee doesn't filter what pops in his head before it comes out his mouth or if he doesn't realize what he's saying?


I asked Chief Bonnee why we only use the
Active911 app as a pager when it could do so much more, he said "look what we have to work with". 
Sounds like more belittling of volunteers like the instructor who refused to teach a BLS class to our volunteers. A class that anyone can take and any 16 year old kid can be an instructor.
Now I'm not sure if he meant the volunteers wouldn't understand how to use the app or if he didn't understand how to use the app?

Why Don't We Use What We Pay For? What Could the Active911 App do for the LMRFD
Active911 can do so much more than just notify firefighters about calls and give them a map. It can show who's responding and most importantly provide situational awareness for every firefighter on the call.

When a call come in the CAD system at fire dispatch sends out an alert to firefighters like this accident at Willow Beach

If we used Active911's potential Firefighters would choose one of the apps buttons like........ 

Responding

Arrived 

Cancel

Available

or

UnAvailable

to show their response status. 

Active911 does currently provides additional information on the call as LMRFD firefighters respond.... In this case it was one car rollover with the driver trapped

The LMRFD does use Active911 map and directions on how to get to the call. It right most of the time.
Once in a while it sends us to the Canadian Border on Highway 93.

We don't use the buttons to show the response type for each of our
firefighter's so the Response Type always says Watch.

It seems like knowing if a volunteer was responding to the station would be important so another volunteer doesn't leave with the fire truck two minutes before he arrives. 

Simply using the apps buttons would show who's responding, 
who's available or unavailable,
and who's arrived.

The chief could switch to the map and actually watch each firefighter respond to the fire station and then respond to the scene.

At fireground it would give everyone situational awareness of where other firefighter's were located in a wildland fire or around a building fire especially at night.

It appears the chief has no interest in advancing our communications because "look what we have to work with"

The Coronavirus

Our little community of Dolan Springs has tourists from around the world travel through it on a daily basis. Those visitors bring a lot of tourists dollars, but they also bring risks like the Coronavirus at the speed of a jet plane. 


Coronavirus Map

Why “Yes Men” Are Dangerous, and How to Easily Spot Them

We find peace in being supported by others.

When expressing our ideas to the people around us, we more often look for acceptance rather than criticism of our thoughts. This innate desire for our thoughts and ideas to be accepted by the world around us drives us to surround ourselves with people who think and act like us.

Our friends are more likely to agree with our ideas than strangers on the street; which is a major reason for why we surround ourselves with them. They are more likely to go with you to your favorite restaurant, see the movie you want to watch, and support you in your career goals.

Having people who support what you do and say in life is critical. You need to know when to pull the trigger on your ideas and having people who support your decisions often serves to take a weight off your shoulders.

You become less anxious with supportive people in your life, and you become more confident in the general direction your life is taking. Spending life alone and making decisions without the support of anyone around you is a scary thing to do, it is not conducive to good decision-making habits.

A problem arises however, when the people around you become so supportive that they shy away from providing criticism when you deserve it. Having people around you to put a stop to your potential in making bad decisions is just as important as having people who support your good ideas.

This quick article hopes to explain why having “yes men” around you is a dangerous thing, and proposes one simple way you can know if you’re in fact surrounded by such individuals.

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You Need Someone To Protect You From Yourself

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You will make bad decisions in your lifetime. They may even be terrible. Catching bad ideas prior to their execution via action is an obviously good method of alleviating the stress which they may cause in the future. Our confidence is often misguided in the many things that we do.

Bad decisions are often seen clearer from the third-person perspective. Surrounding yourself with people who do not automatically say, “Yes,” to everything that you propose is critical in saving yourself from the ideas that seem so right until they go wrong.

You should fight the urge to surround yourself with people who tend to only agree with you. Look for trusted companions who are not afraid to disagree with you, and do not automatically label them as jealous, envious, or uneducated on the subject when they do. You should take criticism from those close to you with utmost seriousness, and try to align your view of the decision making process with an objective, third person perspective.

A circumstance in which those around you think twice about disagreeing with your obviously incorrect methods of doing and thinking will result in bad news down the line. Though it feels good in the height of your power around such “yes men,” those same individuals will help cultivate a hellish experience for you as you realize the mistakes you made whilst being encouraged to make them.

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What Will Happen If the Yes Men Run Amok

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As you begin to realize that others encouraged you to act and think in ways which hurt you in the long run, you won’t know who to direct your anger toward. Likelier than not, you’ll direct that anger at yourself at first. You’ll regret surrounding yourself with individuals who propagate your every move without auditing it with any sort of care. You’ll feel as though you need to change who you surround yourself with, and may begin going down a spiral of distrust and paranoia.

What you sacrifice by not hearing the painful truth in the moment, you’ll pay back with regret down the line. You’ll be unable to fix mistakes which result from your overconfidence in your own perception. You won’t be able to control the variables which surround bad decisions, such as time going by and the public’s perception of those mistakes. You’ll feel trapped. You won’t be able to take back words you said and actions you committed whilst under the hypnosis of those who always propped you up.
Do not fall in love with hearing how good your ideas are from those around you. You are a human being, and you will be wrong. Looking at a situation from all angles requires the unbiased opinions of others – including the ones who tell you how terrible your decision-making skills tend to sometimes be.

They will save you from regret-filled sleepless nights in the future. Most of all, disagreeable people save you from the invisible, numbing, blade that the overly agreeable stab you with. Any opponents you have in life will have an advantage if your decisions are not properly vetted by those around you. Making preventable mistakes stemming from your own overconfidence in things is a painful way to lose.

Continue Reading How to Spot a “Yes Man” in the full article

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS When Selecting a Fire Chief What You Need to Know, What We Didn't DO

When looking for a fire chief candidate the fire district board should:
1. When necessary, call AFDA at: 1-888-511-AFDA (2332). AFDA has people willing to help you with understanding your board responsibilities.
2. Agree on qualifications and put them in writing.
3. Agree on duties and put them in writing.
4. Agree on pay and benefits and put them in writing.
5. Advertise: a. AFDA Newsletter b. Newspaper c. Ask other fire districts
6. Send out questionnaires and job applications with a list of qualifications, duties, pay and benefits. 
7. Set up a review board made up of a combination of local and out of district people. Call AFDA for help reviewing the information you get back.
8. Complete a background check on potential candidate (See Chapter 7, Section 1).

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education/Experience: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's Degree or better in public administration, political science, fire sciences or other related field.

In addition, ten years of experience in the fire protection field including a minimum of five years of administrative, management and supervisory experience. Any equivalent combination of experience and training which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

Fire District Handbook

Reply to Comment by Unknown about "I Think We Made A Mistake Not Choosing Mike Pettway

First if you're going to comment please tell us your name so we know if you even live in the LMR fire district.
From this point on comments by Unknown users will be deleted unless they prove they live in the LMRFD

COMMENT by Unknown

Unknown <noreply-comment@blogger.com> Unsubscribe	Feb 9, 2020, 9:02 PM (11 hours ago)
to me

Unknown has left a new comment on your post "I Think We Made A Mistake Not Choosing Mike Pettwa...":

So do you have proof of these calls Jay. And I have been in this area for 30 plus years and I have been an emt/firefighter and I think our department is doing the best it has ever done. We have a medic and an met on 24/7of everyday. Tim has done a great job with this department. And yes Mike does know the area very well. Maybe instead of complaining we should have mike teach these medic the area. Could mike do the job as chief. Yes he could. But Tim is doing a good job.and Tim is medically trained where mike is not.

The comment response section limits the size of the reply, so her is the answer to your question Here is a list of calls.

LMR Calls Nov 15^th to 20^th 

RE Comment there wasn’t enough room for reply in comments so here’s my answer

YES here are the LMRFD Calls Nov 15th to 22nd

……..…………………… November 15th …………………………………

13:44           Chest Pain Meadview N Driftwood Dr 70 yo male

18:35           Two Vehicle Accident Stockton Hill Rd / Lucy Ln Meadview

19:30            415 Clear in route quarters..

26 Minutes Later……….

19:56             Medical Call Dolan N. Linda Dr 415 in route from last call

20:23            R415 on scene Linda Dr Dolan Springs 27 Minute Response

20:33           R415 in route KRMC 37 miles 39 minute travel time

22:30           ESTIMATE R415 Back in Quarters 

Approx 45 Minutes Later

23:15           Heart Problem Meadview N Diamond Dr R435 in route from Meadview, 415 in route from Dolan

23:50           ESTIMATE On scene 

UNKNOWN if transported

..…………………… Saturday November 16th ………………………

18:29           Meadview Heart Problem North Diamond Creek Dr 

18:29           R435 in route

18:??           415R on scene didn’t check out only 2 miles

18:29           R415 in Route

19:07           R415 on scene

19:26           R435 clear returning

19:27           R415 transporting to KRMC 60 miles around 1 hr 11 minutes to KRMC

18 Minutes later 2nd call

19:45           FALL 8 month old baby 2nd Ambulance call 415 busy transporting a patient to KRMC

19:45           R435 in route…  call on an 8 month old baby being transported to PF and Stockton Hill by POV to meet ambulance

19:49           R435 to Alarm See if AMR has a unit

19:52           R415 to R435… R415 stopped for 2nd Patient…I stopped at the corner of PF and Stockton Hill and checked on patient he has a cut on his head but is responding appropriately… After R415 stopped and checked on the 8 mo old child, they left the patient to continue their transport

NOTE: The LMRFD transports multiple patients on occasion, why didn’t they transport in this case?

19:54           Alarm R435 AMR has a unit in route from Kingman.

20:05           R435 on scene 20 minute response time

20:09           R435 Clear Cnx AMR this is a public assist being transported by POV

When 415R arrived he couldn’t transport because only one person on ambulance. The parents  they would have t to wait for R415 ambulance to go to Kingman and return to transport their child. Public Assist if they transported the child to KRMC

Dolan will still be without coverage until 415 gets back around 22:00 hrs That’s no Dolan coverage 18:35 to around 22:00 hrs 3.5 hours or so

……………………….Sunday November 17th……………………………….

NO Firefighter in Meadview Today?

09:48           Meadview Sick person N Rose Road Meadview 

2nd Call 47 Minutes Later NO Firefighter in Meadview

10:35           Meadview Call Heart problem Whitmore Dr Meadview 

10:35           R415 see if AMR can respond

10:42           Alarm Pages Chief 401 call dispatch… ? 

10:46           Alarm R415 AMR can’t respond and just took an additional call in Meadview

10:46           R415 to Alarm Call Peach Springs see if they have somebody who can respond

10:52           Alarm to R415 Peach Springs can’t respond

Two calls in Meadview R415 busy and no ambulance available from LMRFD, AMR, or Peach Springs

11:27           R415 out at KRMC Rose Rd Patient 

11:38           R415 clear KRMC in rt Meadview call 60 miles 1 hr 11 min KRMC to 440 Whitmore Dr Meadview

12:08           R415 Have helicopter launch to Station 43 in Meadview 

12:38                    R415 on scene Whitmore) (2 Hours to Respond)

12:43           R415 Clear Whitmore in route Diamond Ck Rd

12:44           R415in route W Diamond Ck Rd

12:45           R415 on scene W Diamond Ck Rd

12:58           R415 in rt KRMC 

13:59           R415 out at KRMC

14:12            R415 clear KRMC

15:45           ESTIMATED R415 in quarters

R415 was out of service 6 hours on calls from 9:48 AM until 3:45 PM

……………………Monday November 18th 2019………………………………

17:08           Dolan Call Sick Person 7th Street Dolan Springs

17:09           R415 in route

SECOND CALL 7 Minutes Later 

17:15           2nd Call…. R435 Meadview Call Fall 80yo female N. Glenwood Dr Meadview

No FF on in Meadview 

17:17           Paged Chief 401

17:30 APROX     R415 in route KRMC from 7th Street Call

17:45           R415 call dispatch

17:58           R415 Out at KRMC 

17:59           Chief 401 responding Meadview call 

18:07           R415 clear KRMC in route Meadview 54 miles KRMC Stockton Hill Rd to N. Glenwood Dr Meadview

18:43           Chief 401 on scene… 17:59 to 18:43 44 min

18:55           R415 on scene 1 hr and 28 minutes 18:07 to 18:55 48 min

19:08           R415 in route KRMC

19:08           Chief 401 clear

…Tuesday November 19th 2019………………………………….

19:11           Structure Fire Oak Dr Dolan

19:19           Brush fire Nolan

21:45           Accident call MP15 US93 R415 in route from fire on Oak

22:00           Alarm Chief 401 taking a call for a fall on Stirrup Circle Dolan 415R in route

22:14           Chief to R415 respond on other call with 4315R

22:24           415R on Scene Oak

22:50           415R to R415 ETA 4 minutes out.. Tell medic to bring drug box

22:55           Should be at call by now,

11:05           R415 in rt KRMC

11:05           415R clear

………………Wednesday November 20th 2019………………………………….

Two Accidents

05:12           Alarm Accident semi blocking roadway MP10

05:15approx      R415 in route accident MP10

05:32           Alarm R415 Accident MP36 US93 One car rollover vehicle on its side

05:32           R415 to Alarm Page R415 accident MP32 R415 advised page 415R

05:33           Alarm 415R accident MP36 US93

05:??            R415 Alarm have GV respond 

05:41           415R in Route Accident rollover MP36 US93 415R in route from Meadview

05:57           R415 on scene MP15 driver walking around expedite DPS

05:58           R415 continue Tac115 RADIO UNREADABLE 

06:07           Bat 1 on scene mp37 one vehicle in medium on its side. 

06:10           Tac115 on scene 

06:10           Bat1 Nobody around vehicle

06:14           Alarm Bat1 cancel AMR