…..Acting to Save

Planning to Protect... ...Acting to Save

October 2013 Volume 1, Issue 10

Inside this issue:

Fire & EMS 1

EMS Bureau Report 2

Fire Prevention/Public

Education Bureau 4

Operations Bureau 6

Training Bureau 7

In Their Own Words 8

WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT

YEARS of SERVICE ~ OCTOBER

MPO L. Schwechel...22 yrs

POC FF M Wolfe...20 years

FF M Benidt………6 years

Capt. T Thrash…….6 years

The West Bend Fire Depart-

ment 2013 Open House was

held on Saturday, October

12th. Over 400 residents

toured WBFD Station One

to see our apparatus, meet

our personnel and partici-

pate in fire safety activities.

Visitors experienced the

Survive Alive House, wit-

nessed apparatus demon-

strations and were able to

get inside the engines and

ambulances to see how they

work. They also saw a

smoke alarm presentation

and watched fire extinguish-

er demonstrations. Children

were able to try the fire-

fighter combat challenge

and handle hoses and equip-

ment. Many children also

watched a Disney fire safety

video in the fire department

classroom while parents

were provided information

on home fire safety. Fami-

lies were given informative

tours of the station fa-

cilities which included

explanations of the du-

ties and responsibilities

of our Battalion Chiefs,

Captains, Lieutenants,

MPOs and Firefighters.

They were able to gain

an understanding of a

typical day in the life of

a WBFD firefighter/

paramedic. Visitors also

participated in a Fire

Facts quiz and scaven-

ger hunt for a chance to

Emergency Activities

Types of Calls Oct-13 Sep-13 Year to Date (2013) Year to Date (2012)

Fires 7 5 57 79 Emergency Medical Calls 248 199 2116 2048 Paramedic Intercepts 6 13 103 106 Interfacility Transports 41 54 418 366 Hazardous Conditions 7 4 55 65 Service Calls/Good Intent Calls 3 6 93 70 False Alarms/False Calls 22 28 137 160 Other/Special Incident Types 0 0 5 17

Totals 334 309 2984 2911

Town of Barton Calls 9 8 61 76 Town of West Bend Calls 11 10 123 107

Fire Prevention Open House

When you

dial 911 for a

medical emer-

gency many

tasks are com-

pleted from

point of pa-

tient contact

to delivery of

the patient to

a medical care

facility. EMS

providers

must possess

a vast

amount of

knowledge on

patient care.

Communica-

tion with the

patient is

very im-

portant for

the EMS providers to de-

liver appropriate patient

care. The info they receive

is also communicated over

the radio to the medical care fa-

cility where the patient is being

transported. EMS providers use a

When a Med-Unit ar-

rives to deliver patient

care the patient in most

cases is taken from their

location, put into the

Med-Unit and transport-

ed to the appropriate

medical care facility.

Once inside the Med-

Unit the patient is se-

cured to a cot for safe

transportation. The cot

has safety belts and har-

nesses that hold the pa-

tient securely. The cot

can be placed in the ly-

ing flat position or ad-

justed to different levels

then the EMS personnel

may have to contend with

multiple flights of stairs.

Due to the weight and

length of the powered cot it

is not practical and at times

not feasible to carry the cot

up stairs. The picture on the

Medical emergencies and patient information.

Moving our patients— Contact point to Med-Unit.

Page 2

to achieve patient comfort

while in transportation. The

cots that we are currently

using in our Med-Units are

powered ambulance cots.

This type of cot can reduce

injuries resulting from hav-

ing to manually lift the cot

to get into the back of the

Med-Unit. Moving a patient

from their location into the

Med-Unit can be a challenge

depending on the location of

the patient. If the patient is

located on a second or third

story it is very convenient if

the building has an elevator

that our powered cot will fit

into. If there is no elevator

Emergency Medical Services Bureau Battalion Chief Todd VanLangen

Captain Tom Thrash

Page 2

standard form called Pa-

tient Information Field

Notes. This form was devel-

oped with input from

Froedtert Health St. Jo-

seph’s Emergency Room

personnel. This form is used

for all patients so that con-

sistent and pertinent infor-

mation is recorded and

passed on to other medical

care personnel. This infor-

mation becomes a part of the

patients records when the

reach the medical care facili-

ty and will be part of their

medical chart while they are

at the facility. The infor-

mation on the Field Notes

form is standard demograph-

ic information and also an

important collection of what

was occurring with the pa-

tient. EMS personnel usually

have a small window of op-

portunity to gather this info

and treat the patient appro-

priately before delivering the

patient to the medical

care facility. The oppor-

tunity for effective com-

munication of this infor-

mation can vary greatly.

Speaking with a patient

who is alert can be fairly

easy. Trying to speak

with a patient who is in

some type of distress,

severely injured, or not

fully orientated can be

difficult. Trying to com-

municate with children

can sometimes be diffi-

cult. Occasionally EMS

personnel will have a pa-

tient who does not speak

English. A patient who is

unconscious for any rea-

son has their own set of

complications that EMS

personnel must deal with.

We are fortunate to have

EMS personnel with

many years of Advanced

Life Support skills to help

them treat patients.

left shows one of the

pieces of equipment that

we have that can be used

to move patients up or

down stairs. The device

is called a stair chair and

is designed to safely

move a patient and re-

duce the chance for EMS

personnel injury. Pa-

tient handling in stair-

ways may be one of the

most dangerous patient

movement situations.

The stair chair secures

the patient with buckles

and harness and allows

for ease of movement for

the stair chair operator.

So what is a Mass Casualty

Incident? The definition of

a Mass Casualty Incident is

any type of incident that

overwhelms your normal

response capabilities with

multiple or severe casualties.

Another question that we

must ask ourselves is, are we

ready for a Mass Casualty

Incident (MCI)? The answer

to that question is yes. In

2010 Battalion Chief Todd

VanLangen worked with the

State of Wisconsin Emer-

gency Preparedness to ac-

quire grant money for an

MCI Trailer. This money

allowed our department to

purchase a trailer and equip-

ment for the sole purpose of

responding to an MCI. The

only caveat to accepting the

money was it had to be

available to anyone in the

area. So in 2010 we took

delivery of a 17 foot trailer.

BC VanLangen worked with

Rob Schmidt from the

Washington County Emer-

gency Management Office to

have the inside of the trailer

designed and built to house

all of the equipment.

The trailer has the capabil-

ity to treat 40 adults and 10

children. It carries a variety

of Emergency Medical Ser-

vices (EMS) supplies and

equipment. 40 adult long-

Mass Casualty Page 3

boards and straps and 10

pediatric longboards with

straps. 40 adult sized Cervi-

cal Collars and 10 pediatric

sized Cervical Collars.

There is a multitude of trau-

ma equipment from bandag-

ing to splinting. There is

equipment for treatment as

well, like IV’s, oxygen and

respiratory medications.

The trailer has an onboard

generator and has 3 smaller

Honda generator/scene

lights as well. The trailer

has been set up to be uti-

lized at a MCI to treat pa-

tients that are waiting to be

transported and also to re

supply those ambulances

that are treating and trans-

porting multiple patients.

The West Bend Fire De-

partment / Washington

County MCI Trailer recently

had a chance to be put into

action. In early October

there was a Mass Casualty

Drill conducted in Slinger.

This simulation took place a

church and allowed for area

law enforcement to respond

to and deal with a gunman

who had shot multiple peo-

ple. It allowed law en-

forcement agencies within

the county to work to-

gether for “the big call”

and was an excellent op-

portunity to test the re-

sponse capabilities of the

County EMS agencies to

handle “the big call.”

Law enforcement worked

efficiently to contain the

bad guy, but it was after

the bad guy had shot a

total of 28 victims. EMS

worked with Law Enforce-

ment and Slinger Fire De-

partment to quickly move

the wounded patients to a

safe area and then to have

them triaged and trans-

ported to a hospital. The

entire mock shooting only

took just over an hour. It

was pretty remarkable to

think that EMS was able

to transport 28 patients to

area hospitals. The hospi-

tals were involved in the

drill as well and prepared

to take on a surge of in-

jured people. Everyone

came away from the drill

thinking it was a positive

and provided some areas

that we need to work on.

West Bend Fire Department Mass Casualty Trailer

Inside view of the Mass Casualty Trailer

Fire Prevention & Public Safety Activities Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Tammy Lamberg

Meet Sparky the Fire Dog

Page 4 Planning to Protect…………..

October 2013 Inspections

Semi-Annual Annual Total Violations

Follow-up

Inspections

Compliance

Cards

Station #1 112 21 133 15 4 11

Station #2 41 8 49 5 1 0

Station #3 99 16 115 26 6 4

Staff Captain/

Townships

42 6 48 11 14 9

Totals 294 51 345 57 25 24

Count Permit Type Total Fees

1 Alarm System 50-250 devices $385.00

1 Sprinkler (Spray booth) $55.00

1 Fire Alarm system 1-50 device $260.00

2 Open Burning $150.00

Total= Total Permit Fees for October $850.00

The Sparky character

was developed by The

National Fire Protection

Association (NFPA) as a

mascot and animated

spokesperson to reach

out to young children.

Over the years he has

become quite a celebrity

when he shows up at

local schools, day cares

and community events.

He acts as a reminder to

Permits and Fees

children to remember what

they have been taught about

fire safety. He even has his

own web sight at

www.sparky.org where chil-

dren can play games

and interact with the

fun and lively charac-

ters. WBFD firefighter

Steve Rausch is shown

in the photo entertain-

ing children at the WBFD

Open House. Steve has

proven to be quite popular

as the well known fire dog

and he reprises his roll

each year.

Page 5

DATE OCCUPANCY TYPE ACTIVITY NOTES

10/1 Educational Consultation Review fire evacuation procedures with administration and staff

10/3 Restaurant Acceptance test Renovated restaurant with new alarm monitoring system

10/7 Residential Consultation Knox Box requirements/options for multi family condominiums

10/7 Municipal Acceptance Tests Hydro test-sprinkler; air pressure test-pre-action system

10/8 Educational Acceptance tests Alarm activation and notification devices in new addition

10/9 Municipal Acceptance tests Clean agent system activation and integrated system testing

10/15 Educational Acceptance tests HVAC detectors & air handling integration with alarm system

10/17 Business Occupancy Inspec. Initial occupancy inspection of new business

10/17 Educational Construction meeting Progress update meeting on construction project for school addition

10/17 Industrial Plan review Sprinkler system

10/24 Senior housing Presentation Fire safety and injury prevention presentation to residents

10/28 Industrial Consultation Fire lanes and apparatus access planning

with the firefighters they get

to know them and feel less

frightened. They get to see

the firefighters as they are

putting on their gear. The

children see them starting out

in plain clothes and putting

on each piece of gear one at a

time. They are able to see

that firefighters are their

friends and understand that

they are there to help in an

emergency. Most often the

children are smiling and giv-

ing the fully dressed firefight-

ers high fives and hugs by the

time they leave the fire sta-

tion.

Why is it important for

young children to see fire-

fighters in full turn-out gear

before there is an emergency?

The answer to this question

can be seen during October

when many pre-school and

day-care groups visit The

West Bend Fire Department.

Often children under 6 years

of age are frightened by the

sight of a geared-up firefight-

er. With all of the extra lay-

ers of protective clothing and

with the helmet and air pack

on the firefighter looks rather

large and intimidating. How-

ever after preschoolers visit

Fire Prevention and Public Safety Activities

Occupancy Plan Reviews, Consultations and Investigations

Geared-Up and Ready to Go!

Page 6

Operations Bureau Battalion Chief John Spartz

Captain Jon Coutts

Over the last 5 years

we have seen a large

increase in calls for our

Med Units. Along with

the increase in calls,

comes an increase in

maintenance costs.

The years of our Med

Units ranges from 2001

-2010. The oldest has

approximately 128,000

miles, and the newest

has approximately

70,000 miles, with this

unit only 3 years old.

We are looking at our

Quote of the

Month... “If you don’t have

time to do it right,

when will you have

time to do it over”

John Wooden

It is the time of year that

we prepare our apparatus,

equipment, and stations

for the upcoming winter

weather.

Our apparatus are inspect-

ed and the pumps are gone

through to insure that

there are noe leaks that

will cause ice buildup ei-

Operations Bureau Prepares for Winter Weather ther on the apparatus or fire

scenes.

Our ambulances and cars

are also checked over and

winter wiper blades are in-

stalled to prevent ice build

up and to provide clear vi-

sion when driving.

Our snow plow and truck

are checked over to insure

proper operation. We plow

our own stations, but also

have the plow truck respond

with the ambulance to calls

during major storms. This is

to assist with opening drive-

ways and sidewalks to allow

access to residences.

We work with Building

Maintenance to insure the

heating equipment in all 3

stations are operating

properly and efficiently.

Just as your personal

house and vehicle need

preparations for winter, so

does our equipment.

Med Units Seeing Increased Usage and Increased Maintenance Costs

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

2011 2012 2013

No. of Calls

Maint Costs

The chart below shows the number

of Med Unit calls for the years 2010—

2013. It also shows the corresponding

increase in mainte-nance costs for the Med Units. Data for 2013 is through Oc-

tober 31.

current 15 year rotation

for Med Units and are

considering lowering it to

12 years. Research is

showing that after this

time the maintenance

costs begin to increase

with these units.

Further research will be

done in the coming year

to insure that we are

providing the most reli-

able and up to date ve-

hicles for our Paramed-

ics and patients alike.

Page 7

Fire Instruction & Training Bureau

Changes in Firefighting

Tactics. Firefighters are

not the easiest people to get

to change. Firefighters

tend to stick with what

they know has worked in

the past and will most like-

ly work in the future. We

are generally very comfort-

able with what we do and it

becomes second nature to

us. Many times we don’t

have time to think, we just

do it. This is why we repet-

itively train. Well the time

has come for some radically

new thinking.

The International Society

of Fire Service Instructors

have put out a Press Re-

lease on October 30, 2013

stating, “The International

Society of Fire Service In-

structors (ISFSI) states its

position on the importance

of recent research in fire

dynamics and firefighting

tactics, as conducted by

the National Institute of

Standards and Technolo-

gy (NIST) and Under-

writers Laboratories

(UL). The ISFSI believes

that fire departments

should take action to ad-

just their emergency re-

sponse operations. Addi-

tionally, the ISFSI be-

lieves that professional

standards should be up-

dated to reflect the latest

information in fire dy-

namic research as soon as

possible.”

With any change in the

fire service comes push

back. The main goal is to

get everyone home safe.

These changes are work-

ing according to the graph

below put out by NFPA.

With these changes we

have seen a steady decline

in injuries since 1981.

One of the newest tactical

changes comes from an

acronym S.L.IC.E.R.S.

This replaces an acronym

R.E.C.E.O. V.S. that has

had a long history in the

fire service.

Boltonville Fire Depart-

ment, our neighbor to the

north, built a small struc-

ture they could use to

start small fires using dif-

ferent impacting factors.

Examples, windows, no

windows, small rooms,

and large rooms. They

invited us to use this

structure to drill in this

month.

We will be using this

building to practice and

perfect these new tactics.

Battalion Chief Chuck Beistle

Captain Tom Thrash

325 N 8th Ave.

West Bend, WI 53095

262.335.5054

www.ci.west-bend.wi.us

The back page of our newsletter will feature a couple of notes or cards that we receive from our custom-

ers….the people we serve. Whether it is on an ambulance call, fire call, or a public education assignment,

the members of the West Bend

Fire Department are dedicated

In Their Own Words…...

WEST BEND FIRE DEPART-

Planning to Protect… ...Acting to Save

Captain Jon Coutts began his

full-time firefighting career with

The West Bend Fire Depart-

ment in March of 1989. Jon was

promoted to MPO when he was

assigned as the department fire

apparatus mechanic in 1997.

Since then the position has

evolved and Jon is now a Certi-

fied Emergency Vehicle Techni-

cian. He is responsible for the

maintenance and repair of vehi-

cles and equipment and serves

as a liaison with other city de-

partments.

Jon serves as president of the

Wisconsin Association of Emer-

gency Vehicle Technicians and

is also the secretary of the steer-

ing committee of the Emergen-

cy Vehicle Management Section

of the International Association

of Fire Chiefs.

In the community Jon is active

as a board member and past

president of Big Brothers/Big

Sisters of Washington Coun-

ty. He also is very active in

his church and is a former

Boy Scout Scoutmaster.

In 2013 Jon’s accomplish-

ments were recognized by the

American Legion as he was

selected as the Fire Fighter

of The Year by the West

Bend Post, Washington

County Section, Second Dis-

trict and State of Wisconsin

Division

Personnel Spotlight: Captain Jonathon Coutts