Oshkosh Chief Receives Fire Hero Award
Chief Michael Stanley of the City of Oshkosh, WI, Fire Department received the Firefighter Hero Award from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and MAGLITE for his leadership in addressing the root causes of falls among older adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among adults who are age 65 and older.
Stanley created a grant-funded community collaborative effort that aimed to understand how older adult falls could be prevented. He also helped reopen the local homeless shelter during the pandemic, initiated a peer support team in the fire department to improve mental health, and created a Recruitment Task Force of community stakeholders to improve diversity and inclusion within the fire department.
For more information, visit firehero.org.
NFPA Program Receives FEMA Grant
The NFPA received a $526,000 grant from FEMA’s Fire Prevention & Safety program in support of reducing fires and falls among older adults, a key high-risk population. The funding will help to broaden the reach and scale of “Remembering When: A Fire and Fall Prevention Program for Older Adults” through the development of updated digital training and resources, which are used by public health and safety officials for implementation in their communities.
Developed in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Remembering When program is based on 16 core fire and fall prevention messages that support behavior change, with related public education materials for distribution. The grant funding will allow NFPA over a two-year period to: create new educational assets and a process to monitor local program activity and collect key data; and to develop online learning modules that deliver training to greater numbers of fire and elder/public health professionals.
For more information, visit nfpa.org.Â
Fire Heritage Center Announces Hall of Fame Class
The 2021 HLLL induction class is the largest in the 11-year history of the program and is the second class to include a woman—City of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Fire Rescue Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr. Longtime Firehouse Magazine contributors Dr. Burton Clark and Charles Werner (who also is a member of the Firehouse Hall of Fame) were also inducted.
For the full list of inductees, visit fireheritageusa.org.
Online Course for Basement Fires
The UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute (FSRI) partnered with the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) to release the new “Understanding and Fighting Basement Fires” online course. The course explores the results of fire experiments that were conducted as part of a collaborative effort between UL FSRI and ISFSI to reduce risk and to improve firefighter effectiveness when fighting below-grade fires.
The course is dedicated to the memory of Capt. Matt LeTourneau, of the Philadelphia Fire Department, and all of the firefighters who were injured or killed as the result of a basement fire. LeTourneau was involved in planning, preparing and conducting the ISFSI Study on Understanding and Fighting Basement Fires.
For more information, visit training.ulfirefightersafety.org.
Sutphen Pumper Shatters GPM Record
The new Sutphen Industrial Solutions pumper smashed the industry’s record with a third-party rating of 6,000 gallons per minute (gpm) from draft. Although officially rated at 6,000 gpm from draft, the industrial pumper can flow more than 6,500 gpm from draft.
Built on a Sutphen extreme-duty Monarch chassis, the #304 stainless steel industrial body was manufactured for the extreme conditions that are found on an industrial fireground. The rig includes a Double Thunder Hale 6,000-gpm mid-ship pump and a direct-inject foam system.
For more information, visit sutphen.com.
VR Training for Pediatric Emergencies
Health Scholars and the American Academy of Pediatrics will co-develop virtual-reality (VR) training applications to equip first responders with skills that are vital to assessing and treating pediatric medical emergencies.
The goal of the partnership is to leverage VR technology to deliver more active and impactful training opportunities for first responders. As a result, EMS providers will have the first-ever capability to continuously train on real-to-life pediatric emergency encounters using deliberate practice. The use of VR makes rich, experience-based training accessible to all first responders in a low-cost/high-yield model.
For more information, see HealthScholars.com.Â
Free Ambulance Decon White Paper
Demers-Braun-Crestline (DBC) released a 16-page white paper titled “Ambulance Decontamination: Information, Resources, & Considerations for High-Risk Infection Control in an Ambulance.” Fire/EMS professionals can download the free white paper to learn more about best practices and recommended solutions to integrate into their own strategic plans, as they continue to combat infectious diseases.
The 16-page white paper answers several important questions but centers on one primary topic: What feature and design considerations should be reviewed inside an ambulance? Identifying five key areas, each section educates readers on ambulance options and features that assist in limiting the spread of viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi. From plexiglass dividers to HEPA filters, from chemical fogging systems to self-disinfecting surfaces and everything in between, the white paper outlines a variety of solutions that every emergency response organization should consider for enhancing safety inside of their ambulances.
For more information, visit DBCAmbulances.com.
Petzl Launches Technical Partner Program
Petzl’s Professional Division introduced an innovative new partnership program in the United States and Canadian markets. The Petzl Technical Partner (PTP) Program formalizes close working relationships with experts in vertical environments demonstrate a thorough understanding of their industry, contribute to the development of industry best practices, and integrate Petzl products and solutions into their teaching curriculum.
Petzl’s vision is to partner with respected training companies to support their educational efforts and to deepen Petzl’s understanding of these industries and their use of Petzl PPE.
For a complete list of partners, visit petzlsolutions.com/ptp.
Correction
In the October 2020 issue of Firehouse Magazine, in the section that recognized the recipients of the “2019 Valor & Community Service Awards,” the department where Award of Valor recipients Christopher J. Reynolds and Michael C. Rohlfing serve should have been identified as Lower Providence, PA, Fire Department. We regret the error.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
6 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Three firefighters died from health-related issues, one died from injuries that were sustained during training drills, one was shot and killed by an arson suspect and one died from complications related to COVID-19. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters. For the latest on COVID-19-related LODDs, visit firehouse.com/covid-19.
FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC DYLAN CUNNINGHAM, 29, of the South Holland, IL, Fire Department, died on Sept. 30. Cunningham was participating in a dive-training exercise at the Haigh Quarry in Kankakee, IL, when he was found by fellow firefighters in distress. He was taken to AMITA Health St. Mary’s Hospital Kankakee and later transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he died a short time later. The cause of his death hasn’t been determined, and the incident is under investigation.
FIREFIGHTER EDWARD “GARY” MINNICK, 65, of the Colmar, PA, Volunteer Fire Company, died on Oct. 1. Minnick was responding to an oil leak at a gas station. While in the utility truck at the fire department, he suffered a medical emergency. Paramedics attempted life-saving measures, but Minnick died from an apparent heart attack.
FIREFIGHTER /PARAMEDIC JASON CORTEZ, 42, of the San Francisco Fire Department, died on Oct. 7. Cortez was participating in a drill at the Mission District Training Facility when he was injured. Paramedics transported him to the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, where he succumbed to his injuries. An investigation into the accident is underway. The cause of death hasn’t yet been determined.
ARSON INVESTIGATOR LEMUEL BRUCE, 44, of the Houston Fire Department, died on Oct. 16. Bruce and other members of the Arson Division tracked down a possible lead to fires being set in the Houston area. When they arrived in the Lazybrook/Timbergrove neighborhood, a suspect fatally shot Bruce. The suspect later was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
CAPT. KEITH WILLIAMS, 54, of the Camilla, GA, Fire Department, died on Oct. 17. While on duty, Williams was found unresponsive by fellow firefighters at the station. Life-saving efforts were unsuccessful. The nature and cause of Williams’ death haven’t been determined.
FIREFIGHTER HAROLD BOONE, 49, of Monroe County Emergency Services in Forsyth, GA, died on Nov. 2. While on-duty at the fire station on Sept. 17, Boone contracted COVID-19 from fellow firefighters who had subsequently tested positive for the virus. He died eight weeks later.
