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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19.01.03 - Minutes, Emergency Services Advisory Council Emergency Services Advisory Council Washington County, Maryland Page 1 of 5 REGULAR MEETING Date: Thursday, January 3, 2019 Attending: R. David Hays, Director, Emergency Services, Ex-Officio Bob Moncrief, President WCVFRA, Ex-Officio Kingsley Poole, Chairman, Citizen-at-Large Dick Hopkins, Co-Chairman, Association Dwayne Lunsford, Citizen-at-Large Ron Horn, Chief, Emergency Support Services, Citizen-at-Large Michael Hosier, Citizen-at-Large Brian Albert, Citizen-at-Large Gary Ferrell, President, Funkstown FD, Association Bonnie Keltner, Administrative Assistant Absent: Oley Griffith, Chief, Boonsboro FD, Association Brooke Grossman, Citizen-at-Large Guests: Steve Lohr, Chief, HFD Ward Fleger, Assistant Chief, Smithsburg EMS Randall Wagner, County Commissioner Jeff Kline, President, County Commissioners Sam Anderson, Operations Manager, Fire Operations, DES William Ball, Chief, Williamsport FD Emily Keller, City Council Member Jonathan Hart, Asst. Dir. Fire Operations, DES CALL TO ORDER: • Chairman Poole called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm and introductions were made. Minutes: • MOTION: On a motion by Gary Ferrell and seconded by Ron Horn, the ESAC members accepted the minutes of December 6, 2018 as presented. CARRIED Washington County, Maryland Emergency Services Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, January 3, 2019 Page 2 of 5 New Business: DES Director’s Report – Director Dave Hays • Discussion about Community VFC of District 12 (Fairplay) not meeting the 95% response. • Dir. Hays passed around the volunteer apparatus insurance plan at last month’s meeting. We briefed the County Commissioners and the WCVFRA meeting. At this point we don’t have any real issues with the document. We conversed with each department to make sure the insurance coverage is adequate and we’re hearing for the most part that it is acceptable. • We’re up and operating on the state 700-megahertz system. WCVFRA Report – President Robert Moncrief • The ESS (Emergency Services Support) which use to be the Emergency Air Unit and Rehab Unit have joined together as of January 1, 2019. There has been no major feedback yet. • We have advertised again for our Recruitment & Retention Coordinator position and we expect to interview candidates after applications are received. Hagerstown Fire Department Report (HFD) – Chief Steve Lohr • Chief Lohr thanked everyone who was involved in the S. Burhan’s Blvd. fire. He said it was very labor intensive. • We’ve established a two-year eligibility list for recruiting firefighters – 35 people made it thru this process. • We have 12 candidates on a captain’s list for future promotion that will also last two years. • We expect to take delivery of our first chassis for the multi-year pumper order the week of February 19th. ESAC Responsibility – Chairman Poole • Chairman Poole commented that the council has not had the ability to report to the County Commissioners. • Commissioner Jeff Cline commented that the ESAC has done a tremendous job in overseeing the Community Volunteer Fire Company of District 12. • Commissioner Cline said “it was his opinion that the ESAC was to give the commissioners regular reports to update them and act as an advisory board including making recommendations to the commissioners.” Commissioner Cline strongly supports the ESAC appearing before the County Commissioners quarterly (or whatever the council feels they need to make a report) and get on the agenda. Washington County, Maryland Emergency Services Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, January 3, 2019 Page 3 of 5 Board Resignation – Chairman Poole • Brooke Grossman, Citizen-at-large, sent Ms. Keltner an e-mail on January 3rd stating that she is resigning from the ESAC. Video on Civility Training • All members of the ESAC were asked to stay after tonight’s meeting to watch the Civility Training video which is required viewing by Washington County Health & Human Services / Safety Compliance. Each member was asked to sign a form which provides documentation that they viewed the video. VFIS Study - Chairman Poole • Chairman Poole asked for the ESAC voting members to list their top 5 priorities from the VFIS study which had been previously e-mailed to them. Kingsley Poole 1. Establish a funding source; probably an emergency services’ tax covering fire, rescue, and EMS – specifically for staffing, but later to include apparatus and equipment (this will be most difficult to present to the taxpayers). 2. County level personnel staffing should be provided to any station that requests it and any station that does not meet established staffing criteria. These personnel should be county employees. 3. Integrate career and volunteer into a command system. 4. Use single source purchasing system to minimize expenses. 5. Evaluate and continually re-evaluate response and staffing levels throughout the county. Dwayne Lunsford said we’ve been talking about 18-06 for the last two years and I think that any time you get into 18-06 you’re going to need 18-03 (some sort of reorganization). NOTE: THESE NUMBERS ARE IDENTIFYING ITEMS FROM THE REPORT. 1. 18-06 – funding 2. 18-03 - structure of county wide services & responsibilities & 18-28 - recommendation plan suggested in the MIEMMS SWAT analysis 3. 18-27 - strategic operations guide line Mike Hosier said that he found the report hard to follow. He thought some of the items seemed like they were advertisements for other services that VFIS provides. 1. Standard of Response Cover – put some type of metrics in place to measure what would be considered “good” service. This should be a priority based on whatever is measured; good or bad performance - this could lead us into other avenues. 2. 18-05, 21, 23, 24, possibly more – it seems to focus on county wide volunteer recruitment and retention, which we have talked about in the ESAC meetings. Washington County, Maryland Emergency Services Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, January 3, 2019 Page 4 of 5 3. County wide standards – this especially should be focused on. 4. 18-10 – Several large vehicles in excess of 30 ft. / rollover prevention. The report doesn’t say if this is a problem; but if it is, there should be more training. Brian Albert – reading through the report, a lot of it seems repetitious. 1. 18-03 - structure of county-wide services & responsibilities – I’ve talked to volunteers across the county and they are doing book work, i.e. injured worker’s compensation, etc. The county needs to consolidate (purchasing, equipment, insurance, salaries). 2. Funding model – if we’re accountable for how we’re spending money, this would be a better sell to the public. 3. 18-07 Dick Hopkins 1. 18-03 & 18-06 - structure of county wide services & responsibilities – having a county system in place. Both of these, somewhat, come together, but 18-03 needs to be there before 18-06 is implemented. 2. 18-04 - Standard of Response Cover to make sure you have affective staffing response. If you look at a hazmat response, you have to look where you have enough people – two inside / two outside to act as a rescue team (per nationally recognized standards). 3. 18-05 – countywide application system for department/company memberships. 4. 18-16/18-17 – monitoring the fire stations’ alarm systems and carbon dioxide detectors; possibly putting sprinklers in the stations. Ron Horn 1. Restructure of the system – I feel this is a priority. To have someone responsible for the physical examinations – in order to be more accountable. Gary Ferrell 1. Funding - is going to drive a lot, whether it’s apparatus purchase, staffing levels or workman’s compensation. 2. Staffing – with the number of driver only / light responses in many areas increasing, we feel that staffing is a big priority for us. 3. Recruitment / Retention / Volunteers – we think the system wouldn’t survive without volunteers to help supplement some of the staffing issues and to see a system with both paid and volunteer. 4. Saving money – consolidate some of the services. 5. Single source application process to restructuring. Washington County, Maryland Emergency Services Advisory Council Meeting Thursday, January 3, 2019 Page 5 of 5 Adjournment • MOTION: With no other business brought forward, a motion was made by Dick Hopkins and seconded by Brian Albert to adjourn the meeting at 8:05pm. CARRIED. Next Meeting: • February 7, 2019 – 7pm Location: Div. of Emergency Services 16232 Elliott Parkway Williamsport, MD 21795 Respectfully submitted by, Bonnie Keltner, Administrative Assistant Washington County Div. of Emergency Services, Kingsley Poole, ESAC Chairman, & Richard Hopkins, ESAC Co-Chair