Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health Problem at LMRFD Continues

I see volunteer's are responding to calls again, but with what training, and at what cost?

In his response to ADOSH on complaint# 1547941 former Chief Bonnee was untruthful in his response to the Arizona Division of Occupational Safety and Health.Former chief Bonnee told ADOSH 
"Our volunteers were not issued scba respirators at all our volunteers are strictly support when it comes to fires they change air bottles, pull hose and rehab our firefighters they have not been issued scba respirators of their own."

Most people know volunteers responded alone and with other volunteers on fires all last summer. Yet some local people continue to tell the bold faced lie that volunteers never responded to fires without paid firefighters. 

Radio dispatch recordings will easily prove who was responding to what calls, as well as all of pictures of volunteers out on fires. 

We should be able to look at the fire report required to be written on every fire call, but we can't because the volunteer's I'm aware of had never been trained on how to use the computer system so they could write reports on the fire they responded to. 

It appears that volunteers are still responding to fires in violation of ADOSH regulations. These violations can cost a lot of money when violated, but nothing close to the amount of the fines if a volunteer firefighter was injured or killed in violation of ADOSH regulations. 

I know we need volunteer's but if they're not trained properly or as you'll see below not even trained in the basics.

As far as I know the volunteers are not required to have even the basic FEMA courses required of all firefighters at all levels. 

Most can simply be taken online at FEMA's ICS training page for free. How can volunteer's respond if they're not even trained in the basic command system used at every call?

We need volunteers, but they must be trained properly. 

This is a list of the required training I received at NACFD as a volunteer..

Hours        Completed         Course

                                                                  

80                    X                                 Nationally Certified Emergency Medical Responder

8                      X                                 Standard First Aid/CPR/AED

4                      X                                 BLS Provider American Heart Association 

3                      X                                 Incident Command System I-100

3                      X                                 National Incident Management System N-700

16                    X                                 Hazardous Materials First Responder-Operations

8                      X                                 Hazardous Materials First Responder Operations Decon

6                      X                                 Hazardous Materials First Responder-Awareness

2                      X                                 S-110 Basic Wildland Fire Orientation  

16                    X                                 S-130 Firefighter Training (Classroom)

8                      X                                 S-130 Firefighter Training (Field/Practical)

1                      X                                 L-180 Human Factors in the Wildland Fire Service

4                      X                                 S-190 Introduction to Wildland Fire Behavior

8                      X                                 Type 6 Engine Operations

7                      X                                 Exterior Structural Firefighting

2                      X                                 District Orientation/SAFETY

CLASS ROOM Training

Training at Station 31

2                      X                                 EVOC Emergency Vehicle Operation

Training at Station 35

2                      X                                 Incident Rehab 2 Water Tender Operations

2                      X                                 Emergency Communications

Training at Station 33

2                      X                                 Wildland Fire Orientation 11/18/17 

Mission Critical Communications will depend on interoperability between land mobile radios (LMR) and LTE cellular networks

Interoperability, the ability to link two-way radio systems and the cellular network is key for the mission critical communications first responders require today.

Two-way radio repeaters are few and far between because of costs. The coverage of two-way radio repeaters are designed for specific agencies to cover specific areas. The ability to link these two-way radio systems with the cellular network during emergencies expands the range of the two-way radio system to that of the cellular network.

The ability to link two-way radio systems and the cellular network allows interoperability between agencies. 

The ability to link smartphones to two-way radio systems in minutes with range limited only by the cellular system. 

For personal use or smaller agencies with limited budgets can find alternatives to expensive equipment on eBay. 

Equipment
For $5.00 on eBay you can get a Bluetooth shutter button for cameras. It can also work as a PTT button for your smartphone for walkie-talkie apps like Zello or HT by DWP turn smartphones into two-way radios.

Zello or HT by DWP  These apps can also connect you to the internet allowing you to link your two-way radio system. Linking your radio system can turn every smartphone on the system into a two-way radio. 

You can add people to your radio network without time consuming reprogramming. They allow you to create new secure channels on the fly adding or removing agencies or people as needed.

Ham Radio Operators
Ham radio operators are always experimenting with new equipment and technologies. One of today's new technologies is RoIP Radio over Internet Protocol. RoIP allows the linking base radios, repeaters, mobile radios, and hot spots over the internet to expand communications abilities.

New radios like Vero's VR-N7500 have the ability for Internet linking, but also use Bluetooth 5.0 to control the radio from an app.  

The image on the right shows one of the 16 channel frequency banks of the VR-N7500

Digital Hotspots for DMR
These hotspots allow you to connect your base, mobile, or handheld radio to the internet. Add a data connection to your tablet and you have mobile DMR access to the world... 

Chief Bonnee's Charges Dismissed? I really don't know what to say, so PLEASE read the police report and decide for yourself...

When I read this I was just amazed for a number of reasons, the least not being the police report reads like the definition of domestic violence.

The sheriff's office did their job on this one, but the court decision just baffles me. I really don't know what to say, so PLEASE read the police report and decide for yourself... 

This is the Mohave County Sheriff's Report on the Bonnee arrest
As you read this please remember this is a 17 year old boy against a 6' man who weighs 350 pounds or so. 

According to FEMA Effective Communications is the Greatest Logistical Problem During an Emergency Event

FEMA tells us effective communications is the greatest logistical problem during an emergency event!

Yet the LMRFD has no emergency communications plan and no people trained in emergency communications.

In a major disaster or man made event without the ability to assess our needs and tell the outside world, we're screwed....

When repeaters and cell phones go down the LMRFD will lose all communications between the fire stations in Dolan Springs and Meadview without backup communications.

Sample Emergency Communications Plan

Nobody Should Die Alone....

Kim Devine said on Facebook we should start a private fire department using the station on 19th and let people decide where their tax money goes. 

Not a bad idea, but we don't need a "fire" department, we need  EMS people. Truth is 80% of our calls are medical calls and not fires. When there is a structure fire because of response times and limited manpower they're not going to save your home, they're going to save the home next door. 

What do we need in my opinion?

It would be great to have paramedics in every neighborhood with an 8 minute average response time, but we can't. If you check the survival rate of patients treated by a paramedic and an EMT are about the same. The paramedic survival rate a little better in cardiac arrest, and EMT survival rate a little better in trauma. I assume the paramedic cardiac survival rate relies on rapid response that we don't have. One thing I beleive is nobody should die alone....

We need people trained in patient assessment to respond from home and assess the patient in a reasonable time. They don't need to be an EMT or a paramedic they just need to be trained to assess the patient and report what they find.

Take the patients blood pressure, it's not rocket science. Take their pulse, is it regular or irregular? Again not rocket science. Look at the patient's pupils, are they equal? Do they react to light?


Changes in EMS....
What an EMT or paramedic can do in an emergency and what a layperson can do hasn't caught up with changes in the law.  

There are so many things a layperson with proper training can do today to help someone in a medical emergency. In Arizona a layperson can give Narcan a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose in minutes. A layperson can also give Epinephrine in case of anaphylactic shock from a nut or other allergic reaction.

During my CPR class and my EMR training we were told over and over if you're a paramedic, EMT or EMR and stop at an accident or medical emergency off duty to ONLY do first aid and not use any of your skills above that level.

Sadly the paramedics who did the training didn't know that Arizona had passed a Good Samaritan Law some time back. The law is pretty specific that anyone including EMTs and paramedics who render aid are protected unless guilty of gross negligence.

I often wonder how many serious accidents these guys had driven by thinking this was true.... 

32-1471. Health care provider and any other person; emergency aid; nonliability
Any health care provider licensed or certified to practice as such in this state or elsewhere, or a licensed ambulance attendant, driver or pilot as defined in section 41-1831, or any other person who renders emergency care at a public gathering or at the scene of an emergency occurrence gratuitously and in good faith shall not be liable for any civil or other damages as the result of any act or omission by such person rendering the emergency care, or as the result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for further medical treatment or care for the injured persons, unless such person, while rendering such emergency care, is guilty of gross negligence.

All I hear from paramedics around here is "you can't do that". I'm sorry but in a rural area like ours we need to do, what we need to do, in order to save a live without waiting an hour for help to arrive. 
Nobody should die alone....

When your life is in danger you really don't care if it's a hillbilly in a pickup truck or a paramedic in an ambulance that shows up, as long as somebody come to help. 

We need volunteers to respond from home and do rapid patient assessment. If you can have a medical helicopter in route so transport times are less than ground transport, that makes sense.

All too often our EMS people call a medical helicopter that will take over an hour to arrive, load, and transport the patient to Las Vegas when KRMC in Kingman is 30 minutes away. 

This doesn't make sense unless the patient needs a level one trauma center. Truth is KMRC can handle most patients. It's faster transport, better patient care, and  keeping thousands of dollars in the community rather than send it to Vegas.

What You Need to Know About Bluetooth 5.0 and Public-Safety Communications

Public Safety Advocate: Bluetooth 5.0, Public-Safety Communications Report Card

POSTED BY: ANDREW SEYBOLD MAY 21, 2020

Bluetooth, developed by Ericsson and named for a Danish Warlord, has become a part of almost every wireless device. Originally, Ericsson determined it could not successfully introduce Bluetooth on its own so a deal was worked out with Intel and the first U.S. demonstration took place on December 7, 1999. I attended this demonstration and predicted Bluetooth would be a success. The interesting aftermath was that Intel decided Bluetooth would not be a significant new source of revenue and basically gave the technology to the industry. Today, Bluetooth is overseen by an industry organization with a huge number of member companies, all of which contribute to revisions of the technology. 

The premise then and now is for Bluetooth to be a short-range audio connection between devices. Most of us use Bluetooth today with Bluetooth ear buds, Bluetooth speakers within 100-150 feet of an audio source, and much more. Bluetooth also found its way into public-safety communications and today it is built into many Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and FirstNet (LTE) devices. Motorola employs Bluetooth to provide connections between its APX portable radios and LEX LTE device to enable a single device to control both the APX and LEX via a Bluetooth connection.

Enter Bluetooth 5.0

There have been a number of major upgrades since the introduction of Bluetooth. The latest and perhaps most relevant to the public-safety community was the Bluetooth organization’s release of Bluetooth 5.0 in 2016. Bluetooth 5.0 contains a number of revisions that are well-suited for the public-safety communications market. First, the range of a 5.0 device is said to be up to 800 feet, compared to 150 feet for earlier versions. Bluetooth 5.0 can also be used in a mesh network, which is described as:

“A mesh network (or simply meshnet) is a local network topology in which the infrastructure nodes (i.e. bridges, switches, and other infrastructure devices) connect directly, dynamically and non-hierarchically to as many other nodes as possible and cooperate with one another to efficiently route data from/to clients.” Mesh networks are self-creating and self-healing which means that as nodes are added or lost, the network reconfigures itself and continues to operate. This is of value mostly in the Internet of Things (IoT) world of public safety devices but could play different and interesting rolls going forward.”

Continue Reading...

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, I Think I'll Eat Some Worms!

Well it didn't take long for the LMRFD board to hire Steve Wynn as the new interim fire chief or for the new interim chief to make changes many people aren't happy with, especially in Meadview.

As far as I know the new interim chief was hired without the opening being advertised anywhere. Where do these guys come from, who told them, why couldn't anyone else apply?

Another person with far more experience and ability to do much of the training needed for volunteers did approached the board about the interim chief position. We'll never know why they didn't look at him.

I doubt the board is going to advertise the opening for a full time fire chief, they didn't last time when I wrote this May 2019 blog post "I Know We Can Find a fire Chief Here Are the Requirements for Fire Chief"

In the past when I ask why the LMRFD doesn't advertise nation wide for firefighters, I was told nobody want's to work here, nobody want's to move here. 

I'm Tired of Hearing Poor Dolan Springs, Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, I Think I'll Eat Some Worms! 
It looks to me like people do want to move here. There's over 15 new mailboxes at 9th and Pierce Ferry alone. We have great weather and lot's of recreational areas.

These part-time firefighters live and work in other fire districts. So we have a fire chief who doesn't live here, hiring his buddy firefighters who don't live here part time so they can make extra money.

From what I'm told Meadview will no longer have coverage and Mike Pettway the only firefighter who actually lives in the fire district is being "asked" to retire. Once Mike is gone we're screwed in a major event affecting the region like the recent earthquake near Reno, where roads and buildings are damage, who ya gonna call?

Where do you think the loyalty of these part time guys will be? In the town where their family lives and they work full time, or Dolan and Meadview? In a major event we might have the two part time firefighters on duty at the time. 

Earthquake Map

PS
Paramedic has NOTHING to do with someone being a fire chief. I am so tired of being told BS and rumors  rather than laws, rules, and regulations.

Just like Tim telling us EMR's can't drive the ambulance, this was BS too.

Local GMRS Emergency Communications Net

I'm turning my GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) repeater back on here in Dolan Springs. It a UHF repeater that covers from MP20 to MP52 on US93 and 15th or so to the mountains to the west.

I'm looking for a few people interested in a holding once a week emergency communications net, or EmComm net. 

Unlike ham radio that requires studying and taking a test. To get a GMRS license you fill out the application on the FCC web page, pay them $70 for the 10 year license, and within days you have your call sign. 

An EmComm Net is a gathering of people with a common interest in emergency communications who meet on the air to check the condition of their equipment and availability of stations in an emergency.

The MyGMRS web page has listings of available repeaters by state and more info on GMRS

Jay
KA7MBQ
WRFS930

Welcome Steve Winn the New LMRFD Fire Chief

Steve Winn was appointed as the new LMRFD Fire Chief. 
I don't know Steve but I hope we make him feel welcome in his new job as fire chief.

I would hope he continues to use volunteers in various roles within the fire district. The volunteers have provided a valuable service to the community, and I hope Steve continues this and expands volunteers into some type of EMS program as 80% of calls are medical and not fire calls.

Welcome Chief Winn