<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>All:</p>
<p>It has been a very busy start to 2022, as of this moment we have
responded to 183 calls for service since 1/1. Last year we saw
the largest growth in call volume over any historical period.
Call volume increased by 21% over 2020 and has increased 39% over
the 10 year period from 2011. Great work by everyone adapting to
the increased volume all while still dealing with a worldwide
Pandemic. Calls were broken down in the following categories:</p>
INCIDENTS 2578<br>
FIRE - 37<br>
EXPLOSION/ OVERHEAT - 4<br>
EMS - 2031<br>
HAZMAT - 40<br>
SERVICE CALL - 98<br>
GOOD INTENT - 123<br>
FALSE ALARM - 235<br>
NATURAL DISASTER - 1<br>
SPECIAL/ OTHER - 9<br>
<p>Last Thursday we responded to a fire in Rutland on the Holden
line while the on duty crew was all out of town. Not only were we
busy but the Rutland and Paxton duty crews were also tied up out
of town on EMS calls. Luckily we were able to staff E4 with an
officer and 3 FF. We were not immediately called to the scene and
with some communication with Chief Knipe, we self dispatched to
assist. I plan to start working with our mutual aid partners to
start progressing to a more standard form of automatic aid in the
future, that will take the time delay of waiting for a call out of
the scenario. This will wrap in nicely with the updating of our
alarm cards by Captain Poznanski and work with our the WRECC
regional towns on standardizing the run card formats.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Just a few quick updates on some items within the department:</p>
<p><b><u>Vehicles - </u></b><br>
</p>
<p>1. Tower - The Tower received its annual testing of the aerial
device and assorted systems and passed without a problem. Some
mechanical items were found that needed attention and the vehicle
was sent to the Sutphen Dealer, Shipmans equipment in
Connecticut. We have found some hydraulic leaks and body items
that need to be addressed, but nothing that needs to take it out
of service. We are working with the town and DPW to finish up a
punch list of items to get a grand total of the needed repairs and
then we will determine a timeline for it to be taken back to
Connecticut for the work to be completed.</p>
<p>2. Ambulance 1 - Currently, the vehicle is at Rodman Ford in
Walpole having the Ford body work done. Once completed, it will
need to return to Greenwood for the Horton portion of the repairs
to be started.</p>
<p>3. Ambulance 3 - Currently, the vehicle is at Greenwood awaiting
replacement parts for the inverter, hopefully we will have it back
at some point next week.</p>
<p>4. Engine 2 TIC Charger - The new part for the charger was
installed this morning and it is back in service.</p>
<p><u><b>Equipment - </b></u><br>
</p>
<p>1. New TIC's - We have ordered the new FLIR thermal imaging
cameras awarded on the DFS grant and they should be delivered next
week.</p>
<p>2. CO Meters - We have ordered 3 new single gas CO meters for the
EMS first in bags. These are 2 year disposable units to be on the
bags to alert you to any CO in a residence when responding to an
EMS call for service. Thank you to Ryan Casper for doing the
research on these meters.</p>
<p><u><b>Stations - <br>
</b></u></p>
<p>1. The ice melt pad in front of the apparatus bay was not working
recently. Control tech has ordered new temperature sensors for
both ours and the main entrance to the PSB. In the meantime, the
pad has been forced on through the computer system so hopefully it
is operational. If there are any issues with it, please let us
know.</p>
<p>2. One of the groups found an odor in station 2 when reporting
for duty in the morning. The cause of the odor appeared to be the
trap in the bathroom drying out. Please try and put some water
down the drains once a week to keep them from drying out.</p>
<p>3. I met with some town officials regarding the future of
Station 2 once the DPW moves out. We are in the process of
putting together a feasibility study for a new station paid for
through a state grant. I will keep you posted on the process.<br>
<b></b><u><b></b></u></p>
<p><u><b>Operations - <br>
</b></u></p>
<p>1. Just a reminder during the cold weather, make sure that the
overhead doors at both HQ and the station 2 annex building are
closed when leaving on a call.</p>
<p>2. Reminder to get patient signatures when transporting. We
need these signatures to bill the patients insurance or
Medicare/Medicaid.</p>
<p>3. Holden Nursing has roughly 7 COVID cases currently but treat
the whole facility as COVID positive as they do not have a COVID
section anymore.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Have a great weekend!</p>
<p>Chief Hall<br>
</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Russ Hall
Fire Chief/EMD
Holden Fire Dept.
1370 Main Street
Holden, MA 01520
508-210-5650</pre>
</body>
</html>