White River Township Fire Protection District
	Senior Staff Meeting
	January 23, 2003  ~  0900 hours
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Present:    Chief Tibbetts
                Deputy Chief Cassin
                Fire Marshal Brown
                Battalion Chiefs Slauter, Thacker and Young 
                Administrative Assistant Kim Clawson. 
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1. Discussion on disposal of Crown Victoria.  Chief Tibbetts will talk with Bosma’s office regarding possible donation of this car to a charity.

2. Fire station security was addressed.  Because of our high turnover rate, everyone agreed that station locks should be re-keyed, as well as reprogramming door codes.  Eric volunteered to head this project.  It was also decided that all three stations would be keyed similarly.  Also, new padlocks for barns and trailers with same key codes.

3. House officer responsibilities are building maintenance, supplies, and serving on committees pertaining to his station.  House officers are NOT responsible for operational issues.

4. Chief Tibbetts reminded the Battalion Chiefs that the crews need to stay in their own district as much as possible and to organize their days so that miscellaneous errand running and meal details are scheduled when they go out in the district for trainings or inspections.  We are seeing excessive mileage and “wear & tear” on the vehicles. 

Also, especially in this cold weather, special considerations need to be given to the apparatus.  Make sure they have plenty of fuel, etc.

5. Don proposed that the Quartermaster system be moved back to the District and under the Health and Safety division.  Everyone agreed and he will pursue this.  Issues include:

      a)      How is purchasing handled?
b)      Define exactly what the clothing money can be used for.
c)      Need to get a better control on the expenses. 

6. Chief Tibbetts reported that he suspended Greg Maxwell yesterday for excessive tardiness.  This is effective for 30 days.  With this type of suspension, he is not to be “hanging out” on station.

Chief Tibbetts requested that Battalion Chiefs begin tracking open hours.  Scott will make a spreadsheet or will develop an area in FireHouse to track this.

7. Carey will draft a letter to all mutual aid agencies that explains our SOG for responding to their runs. 

Rescue 51, although on automatic aid with Perry Township, is not considered RIT until it is marked a working incident.  When it is automatically dispatched, it is responding for search and rescue.

Chief Tibbetts will address mutual aid issues with Chief Dhondt next week and explain to him our SOG.

Any time our crew is working on a mutual aid incident, our Battalion Chief should respond as well. 

8. If a Battalion Chief is required to ride in on a run, another Battalion Chief should respond from home to cover the district as needed.

9. Several incidents have occurred recently where Morgan County calls for ALS assistance and Battalion 5 takes the run.  Their medic assists should always receive Medic 51 when it is available.  If it isn’t, dispatch should contact Battalion 5 for further instructions on what to send.  The Battalion should always be the last resort for riding in.  Carey will talk to John Asher about this.

Eric suggested trying to recoup some of our costs on these runs.  Carey said that we should not try to bill patients directly so that we avoid Medicare/Medicaid problems.  He suggested billing a flat fee to the agency that requests our assistance.

Scott will look into the feasibility of this.

10.  Chief Tibbetts stated that emergency battalion absences during the weekday should not be filled by off duty personnel.  Either he or Chief Cassin can cover.

11. Kim gave a brief update on the Awards Banquet.

12. Chief Tibbetts stated that he had spoken with Eric Reedy, who recently went before the State Tax Commissioner on behalf of Bargersville Fire Department’s request for tax levy increase.  She stated that everyone was being denied and that they were changing the state code as soon as possible.  She used WRTFD as an example, suggesting we develop legislation to allow us to be eligible to receive emergency funding like Townships do.  She would support it.  Chief Tibbetts will be working on this.

13. Carey suggested issuing Clearcoms to officers and having pouches made for the extras on the apparatus.  Battalion Chiefs still need to hold the officers responsible when one is missing.  Don stated that it is more important to get the correct radio on the correct apparatus.  Carey will follow up on this.

14. Joel suggested implementing a training book for all personnel which outlines their basic training requirements, as well as fire, EMS and rescue.  Also to be included in this book is a place to check off annual gear inspection and uniform inspection.  He will be meeting with the training division today and will get their thoughts on this as well.