[HFDlist] Department update

[Russ Hall]

All:

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:

INCIDENTS 2578
FIRE - 37
EXPLOSION/ OVERHEAT - 4
EMS - 2031
HAZMAT - 40
SERVICE CALL - 98
GOOD INTENT - 123
FALSE ALARM - 235
NATURAL DISASTER - 1
SPECIAL/ OTHER - 9

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.


Just a few quick updates on some items within the department:

*_Vehicles - _*

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.

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.

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.

4. Engine 2 TIC Charger - The new part for the charger was installed 
this morning and it is back in service.

_*Equipment - *_

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.

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.

_*Stations -
*_

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.

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.

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.
**_**_

_*Operations -
*_

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.

2.   Reminder to get patient signatures when transporting.  We need 
these signatures to bill the patients insurance or Medicare/Medicaid.

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.


Have a great weekend!

Chief Hall

-- 
Russ Hall
Fire Chief/EMD
Holden Fire Dept.
1370 Main Street
Holden, MA 01520
508-210-5650
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