The Arizona Citizen Corps has five volunteer programs to help people help their community...

The Arizona Citizen Corps has five volunteer programs to help people help their community... 

Arizona Citizen Corps Program 

How to Volunteer

Welcome to Arizona Citizen Corps Program! This program was created to educate, train and provide volunteer opportunities to make communities safer, stronger and better prepared to respond to emergencies or disaster of any kind.

There are five partner programs of Citizen Corps. They are: Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

Fire Corps, 

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)

Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) 

and USA on Watch. 

Each program provides opportunities to expand the network of volunteers prepared to help communities respond to threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds.

How to Volunteer

For more information about Citizen Corps Councils or any of the partner programs CLICK HERE

CERT

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, allowing them to focus on more complex tasks. More Info Here

Fire Corps

Fire Corps® is a national grassroots effort to help fire/EMS departments enhance their services by engaging with community members to assist with non-emergency tasks. Whether they are conducting fire prevention and life safety education, installing smoke alarms, writing grants, managing a department’s social media, or a myriad of other activities, community volunteers can make a real difference. Utilizing community support helps departments increase their capacity and allows first responders to focus on operational duties, training, and emergencies. More Info HERE

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS)

The Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Program works to enhance the capacity of state and local law enforcement to utilize volunteers. VIPS serves as a gateway to resources and information for and about law enforcement volunteer programs. Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, VIPS is managed and implemented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. More Info Here

Medical Reserve Corps

The Medical Reserve Corps is comprised of volunteers who donate their time and expertise to prepare for and respond to emergencies, promote healthy living throughout the year, and participate in initiatives that enhance public health such as vaccination and health education programs. Mohave County Department of Public Health seeks medical volunteers

USA on Watch 

Citizen Corps and National Neighborhood Watch:

Harnessing the Power of Every Individual

Building a resilient community involves multiple sectors and engagement from each corner of the community. As active members seeking to keep our neighborhoods safe and prepared, we know how instrumental volunteers can be. A great resource working with National Neighborhood Watch to strengthen volunteerism and community resilience is Citizen Corps.

Mission

The mission of Citizen Corps is to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds through:

• Preparing the public for local risks with targeted outreach
• Engaging voluntary organizations to help augment resources for public safety, preparedness and response capabilities
• Integrating the whole community and integrates nontraditional resources to ensure disaster preparedness

The Citizen Corps program includes a national network of over 1,200 state, local, and tribal Citizen Corps Councils bring together local government, business, and community leaders who work to prepare their communities for disaster and to make them more resilient. Councils harnesses the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the hazards and threats facing their community.

Citizen Corps asks you to embrace the personal responsibility to be prepared; to get training in first aid and emergency skills; and to volunteer to support local emergency responders, disaster relief, and community safety.

We love our technology, but when it comes to medical care and human relations I think sometimes less is more

Is technology always better? 

We love our technology today, cars even drive themselves, but when it comes to human relations I think sometimes less is more...

Today when a paramedic shows up the first thing they do is hook you up to a $20,000 heart monitor, an automatic blood pressure cuff and put one of those little things on your finger to take your pulse.

I kind of like the way we did things before all the technology where we actually touched you. I think touch is important to all of us and sometimes today with all the technology it becomes very impersonal.

By actually touching you and taking your pulse I can learn so much about your condition. Simply knowing you have a radial pulse tells me your systolic blood pressure is over 80 mmHg. Is your skin warm, pink and dry, or is something wrong?

Is your pulse regular or irregular, is it weak or bounding? Does it easily disappear with a little pressure or is it hard to make disappear? 

By simply taking your pulse I get your heart rate, but I also learn about your hearts rhythm, your body's temperature, your blood pressure.

Some information like an irregular, weak or very rapid pulse are important findings that need to be addresses. If you have chest pain or shortness of breath CALL 911... 

Simply by taking your pulse I can tell so many things about your medical condition without any technology. Back to Basics..

Understanding How to Monitor the LMRFD with a Scanner

The LMRFD radio system is somewhat confusing for scanner listeners. It's made up of repeaters licensed to several different fire districts. 

On most first responder radio systems like DPS all repeaters in a district are on the same frequency. This prevents first responders from changing to the wrong frequency and losing contact with dispatch. 

The LMRFD system requires scanner listeners to change frequencies as they travel from Dolan Springs to Kingman or Meadview. 

Driving from Dolan Springs to Kingman you would start on 154.160 the Dolan Springs. As you pass Chloride you would switch to the Kingman fire frequency 155.055. If you're in the Meadview area you would switch to 155.265 

The LMRFD Frequencies 

154.160 Dolan Springs

155.055 Kingman

155.265 Meadview

155.655 MCSO District 4 Dolan Springs and Meadview

Response to a Structure Fire Why Was Engine 411 the last to Roll? UPDATED Chief Bonnee corrected me.

UPDATE

Chief Bonnee corrected me. 

See his message below

The LMRFD was paged for a structure fire in the area of 3rd and Havasu the other day. I was at Hot Diggity Dog when the chief advised dispatch he was responding with R415 and he could see smoke from station 41. 

Then the LMRFD ambulance went by followed by the chief both running lights and siren. Let me say that again, the ambulance and the chief's pickup went by, but where's the fire truck? 

Finally several minutes later engine 411 went by on it way to the fire. 

There was one or two firefighters in the ambulance and the chief in his pickup. My question is why didn't one of them drive the engine, another drive a tender, and the chief follow in the ambulance?

There were no reports of injuries so why not bring all the equipment with NO ability to put water on the fire? The ambulance doesn't carry air packs and the chief's truck may have one, but they didn't have the equipment to enter a burning building to save anyone even if they did get there in time. 

I was always taught the chief should never show up to a fire without a fire truck because people will ask what I asked, why didn't you bring a fire truck?

UPDATE

I wanted to thank Chief Bonnee for correcting me, the LMRFD ambulance does carry air packs. 

He also confirmed that Engine 411the only piece of equipment carrying water was last to respond taking approximately 3 minutes longer to arrive.

My point was with a structure fire doubling in size every minute, why leave the only piece of equipment carrying water last to respond. Getting there wasn't the problem, getting water on the fire was...

With 3 people at the station why not have one drive Engine 411, one drive the tender, and the chief follow in the ambulance in case someone gets injured? 

Email from Chief Bonnee

10:07AM August 6th

Jay,

In regards to your post on your blog you don't know the details of the call and we do have air packs on the ambulance and the fire engine showed up on scene less than 3 minutes behind me you need to get the facts before you start saying things that are not true Thank You.

Timothy Bonnee
Fire Chief
Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District

ARTICLE 5 Myths About House Fires You Probably Believe

Myth: You have about five minutes to escape a house fire
Reality: Once a fire starts, get out immediately. A small flame can turn into a major fire in less than 30 seconds. A home fire can double in size every minute. In three minutes, a fire can burn so hot that it ignites everything at once (a flashover).

Please anytime I publish incorrect information if you provide the correct information with references I will be happy to make a correction. The purpose of this blog is to provide accurate information and to educate and point out problems within the LMRFD