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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 Chief's Report for March MeetingCHIEF’S REPORT (03/18/2015) I. Budget • FY 2014/2015 • FY 2015/2016 II. Alternative Funding and Grant • Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant Programs • Community Development Block Grant Programs • State Highways Grant Programs • Other Federal Grant Programs • Community Grant Programs • Capital Improvement Projects III. Human Resources Division 1) Recruitments Open-competitive recruitments • Fire Fighter Recruit – Recruitment being conducted. Application period was February 1-10, 2015. • Fire Equipment Mechanic – New Hire, Fire Mechanic Jason Rowland effective February 2, 2015. Internal within department recruitment • Fire/Emergency Medical Services Specialist II – Promoted three Personnel effective March 16, 2015; Jay Kahee, Jordan Maeda and Jeremy Tekurio • Fire Rescue Specialist – Performance Assessment Exercise completed on February 9, 2015. Assessment Center completed February 27, 2015. Awaiting final scores and recommendations from Panel. • Fire Prevention Captain – Assessment Center completed. No candidate met minimum score for promotion. New Assessment Center date forthcoming. • Battalion Chief (Emergency Operations) Recruitment continuing. – Application period closed February 10, 2015. 2) Classification & Pricing • One Water Safety Officer I reallocated to Water Safety Officer II effective January 16, 2015. IV. Emergency Operations Division OPERATIONS: West Hawai‘i 1) Kaupulehu Shipwreck four day search and rescue in conjunction with USCG and volunteers. 2) Training: Foam Pro Class x 2days in District 9 and 15. 3) Brush Fire on Aloha Kona Drive in District 7, Structure fire on Bamboo lane in dist 20, Hōlualoa Structure fire with two fatalities. 4) High surf conditions starting Jan 22 and lasting approximately one week resulting in multiple rescues and high surf damage. 5) Participated in three HWMO community meetings in W. Hawai‘i. 6) February 10, 2015 Multi Fire Company and Multi Volunteer Fire Company training exercise in Waikoloa involving approximately 10 firefighting apparatus and 30 personnel. 7) Planning and coordination of UXO removal in the Waikoloa Maneuver Area I (south of Waimea Airport along Hwy 190) in conjunction with private contractors and other government agencies. 8) Two separate incidents with multi-fatalities/severe injuries from burns and the related CISD for the responding HFD and Lifeguard personnel. 9) Traffic Incident Management classes completed for Battalion 2 Company Officers and Paramedics on 2/17, 2/19, and 2/23. 10) HFD personnel from three stations participated in a dual agency drill with State Airport Crash Crews involving their annual live burn Fuel Fire Training 2/24-25/15. 11) Church structure fire and related arson investigation 2/26. East Hawai‘i 1) Ongoing Lava event. Due to severe December - January drought conditions, brush fires have plagued the Pāhoa area. Fire Breaks both reactive and pro- active have been established. Continuing to maintain emergency services while managing staffing shortages. 2) Created the foundation for a type 3 AHIMT team. 3) Developing 1st quarter recertification and retraining cycles for all personnel. 4) Completed 2014 incomplete RMS incidents. 5) HFD helicopter Chopper 1 assisted Civil Defense with Lava flow flights, Iolehaehae assessment, and West Hawai‘i High surf event. 6) 2/5/15 River rescue at Boiling Pots - 1 swimmer recovered, deceased. 7) Continuing the development of an AHIMT. Planning and Logistics section training completed. 8) AHIMT Personnel attended a Prescribed Burn, AHIMT training on Molokai 2/4 - 7/15. 9) HFD Personnel completed Web Based Course: Understanding Your Roles in Fire Incident Data 10) Attended Area T Technical Project Planning Meeting #1, Waikoloa Maneuver Area. After approval of the Work Plan, field teams will perform sampling to establish the presence, nature and extent of munitions and unexploded ordnance. SPECIAL OPERATIONS: Hazmat: 1) Equipment status – still working on funding for the replacement of obsolete equipment. Looking to possibly obtain DHS funding for this. 2) Identified specific locations near PGV to deploy our Area Rae monitors in the event of an incident at PGV. Awaiting approval and implementation of our proposed guidelines. 3) Addressing our equipment and training issues with the LEPC to request for assistance with this. 4) Captain Lyle Loyola and Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki assisted the CST with their drills on Maui in January. We will be having a similar type drill here in March and we will be working together with the CST personnel for this. 5) There will be a full scale multi-faceted all hazards exercise on July that will be conducted by the CST. The mid-planning conference for this exercise were held on February 5, 2015. 6) We will be having the CST drills on March 10-12 encompassing drills that will cover situations that will be used in the full scale exercise in June Rescue: 1) We are reviewing our response protocol for extended incidents due to some concerns during that last two major incident in West Hawai‘i. 2) New supplies and equipment just arrived for our Project Lifesaver program. We will be distributing tracking devices to other companies Island-wide and will provide training for them prior. We have begun to sign up new clients requesting this service and will continue on pending the availability of our supplies. 3) Monthly off-duty rescue training is still continuing to upkeep the skill level of our personnel. Documentation of these drill are imperative so we are addressing those who may not have participated in a drill or have not completed their documentation. 4) Along with the CST Vigilant Guard exercise in June, the National Guard will also be conducting an urban search and rescue type drill scenario. We will determine the level of our involvement as we receive more information on this Ocean Safety: 1) The new RWC and other equipment are scheduled to arrive in February or March. We will be conducting the skills assessment for the prospective candidates as soon as our equipment arrives. 2) We are continuing to pursue the implementation of our PWC program. We have begun the training with two classes held by the UH WCC giving our personnel the necessary certification and licenses to operate a thrill craft. There is USCG Boating Safety and Seamanship course that will be held in March. All of our potential RWC operators have signed up for this class. 3) A revised supplemental agreement and consultation letter was submitted to HGEA and is awaiting a reply. We are also awaiting the completion and signing of a MOA between the UH WCC and County of Hawai‘i. This will need to be in place before we can begin the training. 4) We will be starting on the replacement of the Carlsmith lifeguard tower. This project will be more labor intensive since we are replacing the base and ramp with an altered foundation and steps due to the space constraints at that location. This will be completed in March. 5) We had significant damage to the Hāpuna Beach area due to the last big swell. We almost lost the tower fronting the Hāpuna Beach Prince Hotel but were able to save it by pulling it back against the tree line. The north tower was also spared but needed to be moved to another more secured location. We are hoping that most of the sand that was lost during this big surf returns to the beach in the coming months. 6) We are in the process of planning the 2015 Drowning Prevention Ocean Safety conference on July 30 and 31, 2015. We have secured a location and are working on the program and other logistical issues. This conference will run in conjunction with the state Jr. Lifeguard championships scheduled to be on August 1, 2015 at the Hāpuna Beach. V. Support Services Division TRAINING BUREAU: 1) The 43rd Fire Fighter Recruit class has commenced with EMT Training and EMS evaluations. The 7 EMS licensed personnel have been showing great progress with their evaluations and will be finalizing their driver training and requirements for reallocation to Firefighter. The group that are attending EMT class are finishing up their classroom portion of the class and are set to start clinical rotations at various Ambulance units and Hospitals. 2) The Training Bureau has implemented a new Training Documentation Form that will provide for better documentation of the various training sessions that our personnel complete. 3) AFG for Driving Simulators status: The final approvals for funding have been approved and our County Finance Department has posted the Request for Bids. We are on track with our progress for the Simulators. 4) The Fire Apparatus Training Division has started a quarterly assigned training sessions for our operations Personnel to complete. This will provide for consistent training throughout the department as we continue to strive for that goal. 5) Our personnel from Waiakea, Waimea and North Kohala Fire Stations received training from FoamPro. FoamPro is the company that was selected to provide their equipment (Injected firefighting foam appliances) on our newly acquired KME apparatus’. VOLUNTEER TRAINING: 1) Continued boot sizing. 2) Distributed volunteer recognition award checks. 3) Completed and submitted updated Company rosters. 4) Completed and submitted Vehicle list. 5) Attended Officer meeting 01/27/15. 6) Integrated training 6B/20A/20B with Company 20 on 02/02/15. 7) Volunteer Captains Meeting 02/21/15. 8) Reallocation of apparatus for 11D Pāhala from C443 1994 Ford to S9300 Chevy. 9) Support Services meeting 02/10/15. 10) Integrated training 16B/14A/9B with BC2/L-14/E-9/Company 16. 11) Continued Driver Training (Closed course/pre-trip). EMS BUREAU: 1) Worked closely with State Legislatures to submit a Puna Medic Bill to fund additional 24hr Advanced Life Support ambulance service for the district of Puna. Call volume, response times, unit hour usage as well as the impending June 27th Lava flow were all listed justifying this much needed resource. 2) Received notification of award for the Shippers Warf’s Grant in the amount of $31,000 for Fall Prevention equipment and Street Sense software to help manage our Incident Reduction program. 3) Fire Recruits holding state EMS licenses entered the HFD EMT and MICT evaluation period in January. Four FF/Recruit EMT’s and three FF/Recruit MICT’s were assigned to various medic units in east and west Hawaii working and performing EMS skills and assessments under the close supervision of the Fire Medical Specialist. The rest of the Fire Recruit class entered the Kapi‘olani Community College EMT Class on January 5th. The class will wrap up the didactic portion of training Feb 6th and is scheduled to start their clinical training and internship on February 8th. 4) Specialized vehicle extrication tools - eDraulic and telecribbing specs were submitted to purchasing and placed out to bid. Funding for this $181,000 purchase is through the department’s 2014 State Highways Department of Transportation grant. 5) Our Medical Director approved our department’s High Performance CPR skills sheet for all of our Basic Life Support (BLS) providers. The plan is to roll out HP CPR for our entire department in the month of Feb and March. 6) Hands only CPR training continued at Waiākea and Hilo High Schools. 675 students and faculty participated in the Hands Only training. In addition, Hilo High School received three AED’s from the Alumni Association as a direct result of their participation in the Hands Only CPR program. 7) Multiple EMS refresher classes were scheduled in the month of February. A 3 day EMT refresher training, as well as Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) refresher training was held for all EMT and MICT personnel. 8) On February 25th, met with the American Heart Association (AHA) Regional Account Manager to discuss the roles and responsibilities of the Training Center Coordinator (TCC) position, as well as the status of the HFD Training Center. She was very impressed with the department’s community Hands Only CPR initiative and with the volume of people trained since inception – over 4,200 trained. 9) A C-2 Aeromedical Coordinator position meeting was held with Fire Admin staff, Chief Pilots and the Aeromedical Coordinators. Roles, responsibilities, expectations, training and equipment acquisition were all openly discussed and formalized. 10) The Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) program continues to move forward. The CISM team was activated multiple times in the month of February for a series of multiple fire and accident related incidents. The feedback from several of our personnel who participated in the debriefings was that they appreciated the department looking out for their wellbeing. PREVENTION BUREAU: 1) Fire Prevention Bureau had five fire investigations this month; unfortunately we had two fatalities at these fires. Arson K9 Kaimi was used at two of the fires. 2) Continuing to conduct maintenance inspections Island-wide. 3) The smoke detector project is continuing, a home inspection and smoke detector installation was conducted in District 11, Kau. 4) Through excess funds available in the smoke detector grant fund we were able to purchase 850 more smoke detectors which have been ordered and we will receive shortly. AUXILLIARY SERVICES Dispatch: 1) Map Flex training conducted, awaiting cutover. 2) Two FRD-I continued training 3) Four FRD-I tendered resignations 4) Vacation Policy and MOA for 2015 finalized. 5) Update: Text to 911 implementation targeted for end of 2015. Maintenance Shop: 1) Re-roof project completed. 2) Received 2 remounted ambulances. In service at Sta. 3 and 7. 3) Received 3000 gallon Peterbuilt Tanker from Maui Fire Department. 4) Interviewed candidates for Fire Mechanic Position. 5) Mechanics attended Foam Pro repair and maintenance training conducted by Dave Roll of Foam Pro. 6) 111 total repair/ service 33 service calls or trouble calls 9 contracted out and tows Warehouse: 1) Purchase and Replacement for equipment that is worn or un-repairable. 2) Continued Reroofing of Dispatch and Warehouse. 3) Attended Officer’s Staff Meeting in East and West Hawai‘i, listing and addressing concerns. VI. New Projects/Business 1) Demobilization plan in effect for Pahoa Village Fire Station. VII. Employee/Public Relations 1) Battalion Chief Lance Uchida awarded the County of Hawai‘i Supervisor of the Year award for 2014. 2) Fire Prevention Inspector I Kyle Vares to be recognized at the Aloha Exchange Club of Hilo’s annual dinner as its East Hawaii Fire Fighter of the Year. Presentation to the Fire Commission of Kaimi, HFD’s Arson Investigative Canine by Battalion Chief Robert Perreira.