Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-18 Fire Commission Regular MinutesHAWAII FIRE COMMISSION REGULAR SESSION MINUTES AUGUST 18, 2020 WEST HAWAII CIVIC CENTER BUILDING G CONFERENCE ROOM 74-5044 ANE KEOHOKALOLE HIGHWAY, KAILUA-KONA, HI CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Yamada called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m. Present: Robert Yamada, Chair Benjamin Agdeppa, Commissioner Gregory Henkel, Commissioner Corey Luke, Commissioner Merrick Nishimoto, Commissioner Daniel Paleka, Commissioner (arrived at 9:25 a.m.) Donna Payesko, Commissioner Absent: Kyle Keamo, Vice Chair A quorum was present. Also Present: Darren Rosario, Fire Chief Robert Perreira, Deputy Fire Chief Chris Honda, Battalion Chief Craig Masuda, Deputy Corporation Counsel Josie Pelayo, Secretary STATEMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS (None.) APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 8, 2020 • Regular Session Minutes: Commissioner Henkel motioned to approve the minutes. Commissioner Agdeppa seconded. Discussion: Commissioner Luke stated that regarding public testimony, he thought the commission would issue a press release for public input along with the job announcement. Chair Yamada stated that in every commission meeting, they take statements from the public. The public could have chimed in when they saw the notice for the Fire Chief. Ms. Pelayo stated that the agenda is mailed out and sent via email to those who request it. It is also posted on the county's calendar and on the commission's website. The agenda states that they take statements on any agenda items. The motion carried unanimously. Executive Session Minutes: Commissioner Henkel motioned to accept the minutes. Commissioner Nishimoto seconded, and it carried unanimously. FIRE CHIEF'S REPORT Fire Chief Rosario stated that he was going to speak on Other Departmental Activities first. He stated that he submitted a letter to the commission regarding his appointment of Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 2 Robert Perreira as Deputy Fire Chief. He asked if the commission had any questions for him or for Deputy Perreira. There were no questions. Chief Rosario stated that Chair Yamada asked that he go over things they are doing for Covid-19. He briefed the commission on a Battalion Chief at the Waikoloa station who took a routine Covid test, had a positive result, but was asymptomatic. He was put in quarantine. They did contact tracing and consultations. Two BCs, who live in the same closed quarters were placed on 14 -day quarantine. Both returned to work after two negative tests. They also looked at where the BCs had gone. All the employees in those stations were asked to do voluntary testing. Others who had direct contact with the BCs were put on mandatory quarantine. They also decontaminated the stations in Waikoloa, North Kohala, South Kohala, and Kailua. Overall, about 15-20 personnel were tested. They erred on the way of caution by doing testing that was not required by DOH. In response to questions, Chief stated that the stations are like a household. They cannot do social distancing, although they do a lot of cleaning. If the quarantine is work related, they are able to get administrative leave. If it is non -work related, it would be personal sick leave. To fill the position of someone in quarantine, they would recall off- duty personnel. It's like military activation. If they had 30 people out, it would affect them, and they would have to close down an intermediate station, and combine stations. It would be difficult for rural, outlining stations. They stress proper hygiene, social distancing, and masks. The plan is fluid. If they shut down, it will affect the community. Currently they have a 14 -day quarantine for inter -island travel, and they get tested. The Mayor stated that any employee going off island requires a 14 -day quarantine. BC Chris Honda showed and explained the PPEs they use. Screening starts with dispatch. All personnel are required to show up with a mask and eye protection. All their masks are N95 approved. They can reuse PPEs for minor cases such as stubbed toes. Right now, their inventory is good. They have protocol when responding to calls to decrease exposure to all personnel present. Lifeguards also get PPEs. BC Honda did a show and tell of their newest ambulance that was in the parking lot. Deputy Chief Perreira gave a Covid-19 education presentation. He stated that the Fire Department has been tasked with leading the Prevention and Education Task Force for the County. Their primary role is to work with businesses in the community and help them become Covid safe or help them meet the Covid requirements so they can stay open and operate. They do site visits, meet with the manager or owner and staff to educate them on mask -wearing, 6 -ft. distances, signage, and room capacity. They also follow up with complaints. The Civil Defense hotline gets about 25-40 complaints a week of different businesses. They send their team out to those businesses to educate them and mitigate the problems. They want businesses to stay open as long as they follow the guidelines. If businesses aren't following the guidelines, after a third visit, they are referred to Corporation Counsel, the Health Department, Liquor Control, or the police department. They do the education side, and let the police and other agencies do the Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 3 enforcement. They are also tasked with looking at requests for special events. They also help with setting up testing sites and providing support. Within the presumed positive case of a BC, they need to create a team to help support their employees to make sure they enough manpower to contact trace, notify, follow-up, do daily checks during quarantine, and also to do decontamination. Deputy Perreira further stated that they are in daily contact with the Department of Health and have learned of locations of positive cases on the island so they can identify what they need to do. If it's a business, basically, they will respond to that business. They will support with prevention, education, and setting up for testing. Kona Hospital was a big scare, and their team quickly responded. They tested almost 600 people in one day. They were able to identify and isolate very quickly. What could have become a cluster of 80-100 people was limited to only 2-3 personnel. They have been doing a lot of work, but it's important work for the health of our community. Commissioner Payesko asked about schools starting up. They are not being transparent about where cases are coming out in the schools. Deputy Perreira stated that schools are always on their radar. As a Hawaii island team, they wanted the Governor to push back his travel date further so that they could allow schools to open up. Initially, everything was travel related. The travel vs. community spread was about 80/20. Now, it's the opposite way. It's about 60% community spread vs. travel. It's important that they lock down travel and isolate each island so they can take care of themselves. It's definitely hurting our economy, but he thinks that's the sacrifice they have to make for a short period so they can identify, isolate, and mitigate this issue. If everybody follows these prevention practices -- handwashing, facemasks, staying distant, it's going to get better. With schools, it's hard because there's a lot of politics, and they try to stay out of it. The DOE gave each school choices. It's hard because there should be one standard, and everybody should follow that one standard. It's difficult for the teachers because they are trying to protect themselves. He has gotten numerous calls from numerous teachers about what they can do to protect themselves. The Task Force is working with different schools. It's a lot of up in the air and worrying. They're putting 15-20 kids in one room for a whole day. There will be some transmission if there's any virus in there. So, it's hard. They need to do their best to protect their community. Our Mayor is advocating hard to keep businesses open. In response to Commissioner Paleka's inquiry about the permitting process being held up, Deputy Perreira stated the Prevention Bureau is part of the permitting process and the review, but they are only one part of it. When it's held up by them, it's always because there are issues that need to be corrected. It's because they either are not meeting the code or they want a variance from the code, and so that's another process. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 4 Their Bureau transitioned to a 24-hour pilot program, and it has increased their capabilities. Commissioner Nishimoto asked if they had adequate staffing and funding and if there was a plan in place to address Covid increases. Deputy Perreira stated that he can only speak for the Prevention and Education Task Force. They have adequate staffing for the businesses they are visiting. The Fire Department is building their own internal task force so they would be ready with their policies, procedures, and guidelines internally for a positive exposure in their department. The Mayor has given approval that money is not an issue because they have $80 million Cares money to spend by December 30. When the money runs out, they'll just have a smaller team. The Mayor said about a month and a half ago that we cannot relax now. We got to be ready. When you are not getting hit in your face in a fight, you put your hands down. That's when you get hit in your face. So, they got to keep their guard up. They got to be ready right now. Chair Yamada inquired about performing the 600 tests at Kona Hospital. Deputy Perreira stated that they are there to help support the testing by setting up the area with tents and tables and temperature checks. The medical facilities, are the ones who control the actual tests. They have a sole source contract with Dr. Scott Miscovich of Premier Medical Group on Oahu. When they have something on our island that the Mayor wants ramped up, they activate their sole source contract, and within 12-24 hours, they have to be ready to test. Chair Yamada asked about training of Fire Department personnel on proper interactions with the public. Deputy Perreira state that they put out information through different forms. Some are through their Target Solutions Training Application, some through memos from the Chief's office, the EMS Bureau, or the Training Bureau. As far as conduct, Fire Department personnel are professionals, and they conduct themselves professionally. They also have officers in charge of incidents. If they see somebody not conducting themselves appropriately, they have to address that. The department also does quarterly training. Conduct and conduct in the public is always something they need to be aware of. They need to make sure they remain professional no matter how the person may be treating them or what the situation may be. Every once in a while they may receive a concern from the public. They investigate, they educate their personnel, and if they need to, they discipline. Their personnel are very professional out there, and that's why the public loves the Fire Department. They respect them. Chair Yamada asked if there was a plan or network for the schools to be proactive with the teachers and students and proper protocol instead of relying on the DOE. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 5 Deputy Perreira stated that the Task Force is working with the leadership of schools or complex areas and giving them input. They have gotten emails from teachers asking for input. They have done site visits. However, what one puts on paper and what is actually done are two different things. The plan has to match the actions. The Prevention Bureau is also working with the schools because Fire Prevention Week is coming up in October. They usually do visits at all the schools, do assemblies, take the fire truck and ambulance there, but that cannot happen this year. For the DOE, it's hard because they don't have standard guidelines and they were given options. Each school operates differently. There are different guidelines — 3 ft. vs. 6 ft. distancing; wear a mask, don't wear a mask, don't have to wear a mask when playing outside, under 5 don't need to wear a mask. That's difficult, a very big challenge. They give the schools recommendations, but they are a State agency. Chief Rosario reported that the last three weeks have been a difficult time for the Hawaii Fire Department. They lost two valuable members of the department, tragically. Fire Medical Specialist II, Jonathan Hara was killed in traffic accident in Volcano on his way to work in Hawaiian Ocean View. He was well -loved in the department. This Sunday, they are celebrating him with a pass and review past the Haihai Fire Station. Last weekend the department suffered its first line of duty death. Fire Equipment Operator Eric Hayashi became gravely ill while performing CPR on a victim. He passed away that night. He was working out of a station that they had been fighting for adequate personnel for decades. Laupahoehoe Fire Station, only has two personnel. They don't know if additional personnel would have made a difference. They were working in a very rural area. The initial ambulance came out of Honoka`a. This incident was in `O`okala. Subsequently, Fire Medic Specialist Carvalho, while working up the first cardiac arrest patient, then had to deal with a second cardiac arrest patient, a member of their own family. Basically, they had three guys there doing the best they could for two people. Two police officers out of Honoka`a-Laupahoehoe stepped up and helped out. They also sent out an additional unit from Hilo. He was given the best chance anybody could have possibly had. He was doing what he loved to do. Chief Rosario shared that he submitted testimony today against the nomination of a candidate for the Fire Commission. He did that because the candidate is the Division Chief for the Hawaii Government Employees Association. As a personal citizen, he found it a conflict that a commissioner that oversees a union would now oversee the Fire Chief that is charged with supervising and possibly disciplining union members. He submitted his personal views as a citizen, not as the Fire Chief. The second part of that is the commission will going through the process to select his replacement as the next Fire Chief. He doesn't know who the candidates are, but he heard the grapevine. He does not feel that the Mayor should make a nomination of a union official who endorsed him. His personal view is that it wasn't appropriate, and that is why he submitted the testimony. It was not to be disrespectful. He did not put anything in the testimony that Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 6 was false. Everything in the testimony was accurate. He submitted a copy to Chair Yamada through his personal email. He didn't want it to be unfair to all the candidates because there would be so much questions. Chief Rosario highlighted items on his written report: Budget: Chief Rosario reported that the 2020-21 budget has no significant update for the County. On Friday, they had to submit budget reduction to the State for 10% EMS cuts for two ambulance. It is very difficult to select what two ambulances would be shut down. It would either be call volume or geographical challenges. The lowest call volume unit is North Kohala. If you remove the North Kohala unit, the next unit would come from Waimea or Medic 14 which is at the hotels. Once tourism starts up again, Medic 14 is never at the station. All those units have to transport either to Kona Hospital or North Hawaii Hospital. That means the unit is out of district at least 2-3 hours. It is a geographical challenge. It's easy to look at on paper, but those communities need service. They continue to champion no cuts to the EMS budget and will continue with that with the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Chair Yamada stated that he recently learned from the Chief that funding for EMS comes from the State. The Fire Department mans the ambulance units. The State bills people for services rendered by the Fire Department. The State has been collecting all these monies in the past, and they come back saying they need to impose a 10% budget cut. He believes they should be provided a report showing how much money the State collected all these years vs. how much it costs the Fire Department to man these units. He questioned the 10% budget cut when the State has been experiencing a 20-30% surplus. He wants justification for the 10% cut. These are not funds coming from the County. It's coming out of the State, but the State is getting this by billing all the people who are being serviced by EMS. All these years, there has never been accountability from the State to show whether this program has been profitable or running at a loss. So, before they even consider a 10% cut, how about somebody explaining to them how this has been working all these years. • Alternative Funding and Grants: USFA FEMA Assistance to Fire Fighter's Grant submittal made for equipment for cleaning equipment. Awards and disbursements postponed due to Covid-19. Human Resources Division ✓ Internal Recruitment within Department: Ongoing internal recruitments for Fire Captain, Fire/Hazardous Materials Specialist, AC of Support Services. ✓ Internal Recruitment within the County of Hawaii: Ongoing for Account Clerk. ✓ Open -Competitive Recruitment: Ongoing for Fire Radio Dispatcher I and Fire Fighter Recruit. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 7 Emergency Operations Division ✓ East and West: Both sides responded to numerous fire incidents and rescues. ✓ Special Operations ➢ Hazmat: Kaumana in-service training rescheduled due to travel restrictions. ➢ Ocean Safety: Still no word on the status of the red Polaris that was stolen out of their locked Pohoiki container. This happened when P & R switched security from 24 hours to 12 hours. This was used to transport their jet ski which now has to be hauled to the beach every day. ➢ Sayre Foundation: The foundation will be soliciting donations through their website. The Fire Department has received $1.5-$2 million in donations. Support Services Division ✓ Training: The 48th recruit class is now on a 24-hour schedule. Two MICTs and one EMT from the 49th recruit class completed driver's training and audits. The 50th class is expected to have 20-21 recruits. ✓ Volunteer Training: More volunteers are signing up. The Active 911 app was discontinued, and they are now using the Bryx911 app. ✓ EMS Bureau: Active shooter class completed. ✓ Prevention Bureau: They conducted 83 inspections, 73 plan reviews, investigated 3 structure fires, and continue to support the Covid-19 Task Force. ✓ Auxiliary Services: BC Todd has been putting a lot of work into the Electronic WMS System Project. The Mobile Data Project is moving ahead with Medic Laptops. They had a total of 80 apparatus repairs, 20 service calls and trouble calls, and 11 contract tows. • New Projects and Business: The combined Fire and Police Radio Communications Center is still moving forward with DPW. CHAIR'S REPORT ON MATTERS OF INTEREST TO THE COMMISSION Chair Yamada acknowledged Chief Rosario's letter announcing his appointment of Robert Perreira as Deputy Fire Chief. Recess was called at 11:14 a.m. The meeting reconvened at 11:30 a.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION Commissioner Henkel motioned to meet in executive session to discuss the hiring of a new Fire Chief and to consult with Corporation Counsel on questions and issues pertaining to the commission's powers, duties, privileges, immunities, and liabilities pursuant to HRS 92-5 (a) (2) and (4) and the Hawaii County Charter Section 13-20 (b). Commissioner Paleka seconded, and it carried unanimously. Executive session convened at 11:31 a.m. Open session reconvened at 12:43 p.m. Hawaii Fire Commission Regular Minutes August 18, 2020 Page 8 ANNOUNCEMENTS Chair Yamada announced that the next monthly meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2020, at 9:00 a.m., in the Hawaii County Office of Aging Conference Room, 1055 Kino`ole St., Hilo, Hawaii. ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Paleka motioned to adjourned. Commissioner Agdeppa seconded, and it carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m. SUBMITTED BY: JOSIE PELAYO, SECRETARY APPROVED BY: ROBERT M. YAMADA, II, CHAIR