For the Record 5/18

NFFF Taps Tippett to Head Fire Service Programs

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) has named Chief John Tippett to serve as the Foundation’s Director of Fire Service Programs. The position is responsible for execution and oversight of all Foundation outreach programs in support of the national fire service community related to line-of-duty death (LODD) prevention, firefighter survivability and efforts to support departments should an LODD occur. Included in these duties is the management of the Foundation’s Everyone Goes Home Program, the 16 Firefighter Life Safety Initiatives and the Local Assistance State Team.

“We are very pleased to have Chief Tippett join the Foundation team and we look forward to the knowledge, insights and experiences he will be bringing with him,” said Chief Ron Siarnicki, NFFF’s executive director. “Chief Tippett has served the citizens of Montgomery County and Charleston in an outstanding fashion, and we are excited that he is committed to addressing firefighter safety on the national level.”

Tippett, a member of the Firehouse Editorial Advisory Board, served 35 years with the Montgomery County, MD, Fire and Rescue Services, working his way up through the ranks from firefighter to battalion chief. In 2009, he retired from Montgomery County and went to the Charleston, SC, Fire Department to serve as the deputy chief of operations for eight years and interim fire chief this past year. Tippett has a master’s degree in emergency services management from Columbia Southern University.

FDSOA, Drexel University Partner on Fire Service Safety Survey

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) and the Center for Firefighter Injury Research & Safety Trends (FIRST) at Drexel University have partnered to create the Fire Service Organizational Culture of Safety (FOCUS) survey. Developed through the FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) R&D program specifically for the fire service, FOCUS is a tool that will provide fire departments with objective data to assess safety culture.

Now through an AFG Fire Prevention & Safety grant, FIRST is administering the FOCUS survey on a first-come, first-served basis to 500 fire departments—career and volunteer—at no cost.

After administering the FOCUS survey, fire departments will receive:

·        Customized data showing their safety culture at department and station levels

·         A comparative analysis of their safety culture related to similar participating departments

·         Objective evidence to inform safety-related policy decisions

For more information on how to participate in FOCUS, visit the FIRST Center website: drexel.edu/dornsife/FIRST.

FirstNet Platform Launches Nationwide

The FirstNet network packet core has been launched, giving first responders access to a specialized communications system. FirstNet is the country’s first nationwide public safety communications platform dedicated to first responders in times of need. Built with AT&T, in public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority, FirstNet is bringing public safety a much-needed technology upgrade.

“The launch of the network core comes a year into the FirstNet public-private partnership,” said Chris Sambar, senior vice president, AT&T – FirstNet. “It’s been a non-stop 12 months. And we’re proud of the quick progress we’ve made in this short timeframe, consistently delivering on or ahead of schedule. But bringing the FirstNet network core to life is one of the most exciting milestones yet.”

The launch of the FirstNet evolved packet core is said to be a major breakthrough for public safety. Built on physically separate hardware, it gives first responders their own separate, nationwide broadband network.

The FirstNet network core will serve as a springboard for ongoing innovation and advanced functionality, delivering value-added capabilities and benefits such as:  

• First Priority—This turns FirstNet’s always-on access to priority and preemption up a notch, giving first responders two more priority levels. With three options at their fingertips, public safety agencies will have the ability to assign priority levels based on their command structure or shifting needs.
• Incident Management Portal—This puts public safety in control of their network resources. Depending on the event or emergency, public safety may need to uplift critical users to the highest priority levels. Using the Incident Management Portal, they can make these adjustments in near real-time to help first responders stay safe and save lives. Public safety can also temporarily uplift other non-first responder users that are essential to managing the incident—like utilities or transportation.
• Next-Generation Public Safety Capabilities—First responders can look forward to future technologies like mission-critical Push-to-Talk, z-Axis location-based services and more.

For more information, visit firstnet.com.

Line-of-Duty Deaths

13 U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty. Five deaths were health-related, four deaths occurred during firefighting operations, and three deaths were the result of motor vehicle accidents. This edition of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.

DRIVER-ENGINEER DARYEL RICHARDS, 58, of the Hollywood, FL, Fire Rescue & Beach Safety Department, died on March 9 while on duty at the fire station. Richards succumbed to a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be reported.

FIREFIGHTER M.V. HUDSON, 86, of the New London, TX, Volunteer Fire Department, died on March 10. Hudson was injured in a fire tender (tanker) crash on the evening of Feb. 28. He and two other firefighters were responding to a grass fire when the apparatus left the right side of the roadway and rolled over, badly damaging the cab and injuring all three occupants. The three firefighters had to be extracted from the vehicle and were rushed to the hospital. Two firefighters were subsequently released, but Hudson died while in the hospital.

FIREFIGHTER STACEY LEIGH BOULWARE, 44, of Cobb County, GA, Fire and Emergency Services, died on March 12. Boulware collapsed while on duty at Cobb County Fire Station 5. She was reported to have responded to two emergency calls and completed a fire department physical agility test in the hours prior to her falling ill. Boulware was treated by fellow responders, then transported to Kennestone Hospital where she succumbed to a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be determined.

ASSISTANT CHIEF RODNEY D. BAKER, JR., 47, of the Madison Township-Kunkle, OH, Fire Department, died on March 16. After attending an earlier fire department training meeting, Baker responded to a late-night grass fire. The following day, while attending a family event, Baker became ill and collapsed. He was transported to the hospital where he later passed away from a reported cardiac event.

FIREFIGHTER-OPERATOR ALLEN HEADLEY, 31, of Plaquemines Parish, LA, Fire District #2, died on March 16. While on-duty at the fire station, Headley was found unresponsive in the station dayroom. He was treated by fellow responders and transported to the hospital, but succumbed to a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be determined.

FIREFIGHTER MICHAEL R. DAVIDSON, 37, of the FDNY, died on March 22. Davidson was killed and two other firefighters were seriously injured in a five-alarm fire that broke out in a former jazz club that was being used as a film set. Davidson was operating the firehose nozzle in the basement of the building when fire conditions intensified and he became separated from the other firefighters. Davidson was removed from the structure and taken to a hospital where he was declared deceased. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by authorities.

FIREFIGHTER ZACHARY ANTHONY, 29, and FIREFIGHTER IVAN FLANSCHA, 50, of York City, PA, Department of Fire/Rescue Services, died on March 22. Anthony and Flanscha were killed from a collapse at the scene of a multi-alarm fire that began the previous day. Fire crews were still on scene putting out hot spots that were flaring up nearly 24 hours later. The firefighters were transported to the hospital where they succumbed to their injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by authorities.

FIREFIGHTER LARRY MARUSIK, 68, of the Ellinger, TX, Volunteer Fire Department, died on March 23. Marusik passed away at the Brooke Army Medical Center from injuries sustained while battling a large grass fire on March 10.

LT. TOM CRAIGO, 40, and ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF MICHAEL EDWARDS, 46, of the Pratt, WV, Volunteer Fire Department, died on March 24.Craigo and Edwards were killed and three other firefighters were injured when, for a cause still under investigation, the apparatus they were in left the narrow roadway and crashed into a rock wall. At the time, the firefighters were responding to a multiple fatality motor vehicle crash on the West Virginia Turnpike.

SECOND ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF TIMOTHY WAYNE ROYCE, of the Mapleton, MN, Fire Department, died on March 30. Royce died from an apparent heart attack several hours after responding with his fire department to a motor vehicle crash and a medical call, as well as participating in fire department training at the station.

FIREFIGHTER-PARAMEDIC RICHARD L. GARNER JR., 29, of the Madison, WI, Fire Department, died on April 1. Garner had completed a 48-hour shift earlier in the day during which he responded to 19 emergency calls. Later that day, Garner collapsed at a private residence. He was treated at the scene by local EMS and transported to the hospital where he passed away from a nature and cause of fatal injury still to be determined.