HomeMy WebLinkAbout_021214 February Chief's ReportCHIEF’S REPORT (02/12/2014)
I. Introduction of new hire and promote
• Assistant Fire Chief of Operations
• Accountant IV
II. Budget
• FY 2013/2014
• FY 2014/2015
III. Alternative Funding and Grant
• FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant application
• FY 2012 Assistance to Fire Fighters Prevention Grant Application
• FY 2013 CDBG Grant for Waiakea Quint
• Capital Improvement Projects: A current overview of ongoing projects may
include but not limited to:
IV. Goals and Objectives update
o Ocean Safety Division Meetings scheduled
o Officers meeting
V. Human Resources Division
1) Recruitments
a) Internal Recruitment within the Department
• Assistant Fire Chief – Temporary promotion effective January
16, 2014 not to exceed September 11, 2015.
b) Internal Recruitment within the County
• Human Resources Assistant (temporary not to exceed
September 20, 2015) – received referral list; pending interview
and selection process.
c) Open-competitive recruitments
• Water Safety Officer I – hired two new employees effective
January 16, 2014.
• Fire Equipment Mechanic – interviews conducted on January
27 & 28, 2014; pending selection.
• Fire Fighter Recruit – performance agility examination
scheduled on February 1, 2014. 82 applicants were scheduled;
one applicant that qualified is on military deployment and will
be scheduled for the agility examination upon return from
deployment in May or June.
• Accountant IV – hired effective January 16, 2014.
2) Labor Relations
a) Arbitrations:
• Arbitration (WSO suspension of 10 work shifts or 80 hours) –
currently providing arbitrator’s request for information to
Corporation Counsel.
• Arbitration (WSO suspension of 15 work shifts or 120 hours) –
currently providing arbitrator’s request for information to
Corporation Counsel.
b) Grievances:
• Step 1 meeting for WSO was held on November 18, 2013. Issue
involved requiring a doctor’s note for an absence of less than
five consecutive days; proceeding to Step 2.
VI. Emergency Operations Division
OPERATIONS:
1) Filled the vacancy of the Assistant Fire Chief of Operations position on
January 16, 2014.
2) Assisted in the coordination and development of a disaster and emergency
road closure plan with HPD, CD, DOH, ACE (Army Corps of Engineers), and
HFD surrounding an on-going project to locate unexploded ordinance along
Waikoloa road and Queen K hwy.
3) 2198 Emergency Fire/ EMS calls.
4) HFD assisted in the coordination and development of an “active shooter” drill
with HPD, DAGS, and the State Sheriff’s office. This will be an inter-agency
drill that will set a base-line for actual response to an incident of this nature.
The idea is to have policies, procedures, and communication protocols derive
from this. Next meeting is February 12, 2014. Tentative drill site is at the State
building.
VII. Support Services Division
1) A successful Preconstruction Meeting was held for the Aerial Fire Apparatus
targeted for the Waiakea Fire Station. KME is the selected manufacturer.
Estimated completion August 1, 2014.
2) We were also updated on the construction of two pumpers that are being built
at KME with an estimated completion date of May 9, 2014. Station 9 and 15
replacements.
3) We continue to work with PW’s on the repairs to the Ocean View Fire Station
due to leaking water pipes. We are trying to coordinate with ADA upgrades to
avoid costly duplication of work.
4) Waiting on bids for the reroofing of the Mechanic Shop from Public Works.
TRAINING BUREAU:
1) 42nd Recruit class returned to 40 hour schedule; attended a twod week EMT
Prep class to include NAEMT EMS Safety Course. They are currently
attending EMT Training at KCC via EMS Training Center at HCC.
2) Captain Okinaka and FEO Chris Carvalho had the opportunity to visit
Honolulu Fire Departments Training Bureau on January 22. They spent the
day interacting with mainly the Driver Training, Recruit, EMS, and Battalion
Chief of Training. The visitation was set up to allow our Training Staff the
opportunity to see what the other departments are doing with regards to
program management, training sessions, documentation, and record keeping.
It was a valuable opportunity for our guys and they learned a lot from the
experience.
3) Captain Okinaka assisted the EMS Bureau with another Hands Only CPR
class at Waiakea High School. Approximately 80 faculty were training with
the assistance of students from their Health Pathways class.
4) The Access database that our Training Bureau has recently started utilizing
for employee records is up and running, FEO Carvalho continues to adjust the
program to the Bureaus needs and has made big strides in effort to
transitioning to electronic documentation. The use of the RMS system is a
continuing challenge due to the minimal support from the County IT
department. We still hope to one day utilize the program to its capacity and be
able to document all of our departments’ personnel training records on there.
This is what the program was initially designed for and after visiting our
respective Counties, we found that both Honolulu and Maui Fire are using it
in that manner.
5) FEO Carvalho continues to update our Driver Training Manual and Program,
we are currently about 90% complete but are moving slowly due to the
addition of new procedures and requirements in the program that we’d like to
ensure is structured appropriately. The goal is to have it complete and
introducing it with our upcoming 43 FFR class.
VOLUNTEER TRAINING:
1) Welcome aboard Captain Mike Ichimura who will be taking over for recently
retired Captain Henry Desa as our West Hawai‘i Volunteer Training Captain.
At this time Captain Clyde Komatsu is orientating Mike to the position and
introducing him to the volunteer personnel.
2) We were recently notified by Chief Michael Krug of the Catalina Fire
Department that they will soon be receiving their new fire apparatus and will
be able to make a donation of their old truck to the Laupahoehoe Volunteers.
Donation has gone through resolution and the arrangements for shipping are
completed. Hopefully be end of February.
EMS BUREAU:
1) Conducted two weeks of extensive EMT Prep training for our FF Recruit
Class, as well as for two civilians who were enrolled in this EMT Class. During
those two weeks, the NAEMT Safety Certification course was also conducted.
By the end of the two weeks, all students were well prepared for class. EMT
Class started on January 21st.
2) MICT Students will wrap up their didactic and clinical training on January
30th. Students are scheduled to enter into their next phase of training on Oahu
effective February 3rd. On Oahu, they will do clinical rotations at the Queens
Medical Center and Kapiolani Children’s Hospital. Following the clinical
rotations, students will start their internship and will complete three out five
internship rotations under the guidance of the City and County of Honolulu
EMS. Students are scheduled to return on June 15th to complete the last two
rotations internship under the mentorship of our FMS personnel.
3) Our two Remount Ambulances have been shipped as scheduled. The medic
units came in nearly $9,000 under budget. The acceptance inspection is set
for February 3rd. During the time of delivery, the Braun rep will also look over
the next two ambulances that have been pre-identified to be remounted. This
process will help facilitate and expedite our next remount project. The
realized cost savings from this project is roughly $175,000 comparatively to
purchasing two brand new ambulances.
4) Submitted proposals and testimony in support of House Bill 1722 and Senate
Bill 2348 for two additional ambulances for the district of Puna and Makalei.
A strong testimony was submitted by our department and did receive
favorable support in the Health Committee. We acknowledge the fact that the
funding of our proposal will be challenging however, well worth the effort as
our critical EMS demands of the community need to be exposed and
addressed.
5) Conducted an EMS Bureau presentation for Hilo Medical Center during their
in house “Education Week” for their medical staff. The presentation
highlighted the training, qualifications and capabilities of our pre-hospital
providers. The target audience was primarily nurses from different units of
the hospital. The group as a whole appreciated the information and were
unaware of how well trained and capable our EMS personnel are. The overall
goal for these presentations is to improve inter-department relations and
patient care.
PREVENTION BUREAU:
1) Inspector Kyle Vares and Palani Kurashige have both passed their
probationary period and are now permanent Fire Inspectors.
2) Captain Todd instructed a three day “Introduction to Fire Investigation” class
based on Kirks, 921, and NFA R206 with a practical field examination and test
for our two newest investigators.
3) Left over fireworks from New Years was burned on the 15th as part of a fire
department program to collect unused and potentially hazardous explosives.
4) Started process of inspection of Hilton Waikoloa, and meetings with them
over phase three of the Fire Alarm upgrade. Full site inspection has been
tentatively scheduled for the third week of March.
5) While no meetings occurred in January, state code amendments the 2012
NFPA 1 have been completed up to Chapter 18 by the state fire prevention
committee.
DISPATCH:
1) Akimeka updating Positron information regarding district boundaries and
mapping of New Saddle Road.
2) On January 28 we were without 911 service for 30 minutes. Intrado, the new
911 vendor for Hawaiian Telcom, experienced statewide problems and
Hawaiian Tel was able to get the system back up within about 30 minutes.
Intrado, Hawaiian Tel and all of the affected dispatch centers (PSAPS) will be
engaging in a phone conference on Monday (February 10, 2014) to discuss the
incident.
3) Unfortunately, two Fire Radio Dispatcher I trainees were terminated due to
not passing probation; they were unable to meet minimum qualifications to
move on to FRD II’s. Their inability to perform dispatcher duties
independently was the primary reason for their release.
AUXILLIARY SERVICES/WAREHOUSE
1) FASO attended “How to Handle Personality Clashes in the Workplace”
Webinar. These are County hosted trainings that we are seeking to send our
supervisors to attend.
2) Renewal of FCC License (KVC 491) for Fire Radio.
3) Receiving and distribution of equipment and supplies. Island-wide weekly
delivery system has been successful with the EMS Bureau and Warehouse
partnership. Very consistent and efficient delivery of supplies to all fire
stations.
MAINTENANCE SHOP
1) Roof deterioration and water leak in Maintenance Shop reported. Per Public
Works, walking and working on roof to do repair will cause more damage.
2) Mechanic Shop computer failing and continue to have connectivity issues.
3) Beam where electrical wire attached to building deteriorated is of safety
concern.
4) Apparatus and equipment repair:
78 total repair/ service
9 service calls or trouble calls
10 contracted out and tows
New Projects/Business
Employee/Public Relations