White River Township Fire Department

            Senior Staff Meeting

           

            Thursday, April 1, 2004

 

 

                       

Present:       .

Chief Tibbetts

Chief Cassin

Chief Slauter

Chief Brown

Chief Thacker

Chief Young

Kim Clawson

 

 

 

  1. Lt. Hart has requested some help with the EMS division.  Lt. Alexander has not been performing his assigned duties.  Lt. Hart has already spoken to Lt. Wilson about performing run audits and he is willing to do that.  Lt. Hart stated that he needs to be relieved of these items so that he can focus on preparing a proposal for the five-year plan for having our own ambulance.  Chief Tibbetts stated that he felt this was an unnecessary thing for him to be working on at this time.  Chief Tibbetts also suggested that Lt. Hart find someone (Paramedic) from each shift to audit the reports.  He will speak with Jeff Campbell and Wayne Fletcher to see if they would be willing to help Mark with this.  Chief Cassin and Chief Slauter stated that we need to hold Lt. Alexander accountable for his assignments that are not being completed.

 

  1. Lt. Hart will send an email reminder for EKG sheet usage.

 

  1. Chief Young expressed concerns with sending only one piece of apparatus on a 10-50 “checkout”.  After discussion, everyone agreed that we should leave the responses as they currently are and trust the officer to make the appropriate call for the rescue, if needed, after they arrive on the scene and determine the situation.

 

  1. Chief Slauter reported that to equip all three battalion vehicles with head sets would be a total cost of $7,000 - $8,000 with an additional charge for installation.  It was generally felt that no OSHA regulations were being violated but that sound tests would be conducted in the vehicles with potential decibel problems.  It may be something as simple as moving speakers to allow for better audio.  Chief Slauter will follow up on this.

 

  1. An emergency hiring process (part-time) for experienced firefighters will be conducted within the next month.  Kim has already completed all the paperwork for the process and will get with Chief Slauter today to finalize everything.  Expected start date is June 1.

 

  1. After a review of the policy it was determined that reserves do not get paid to work on duty hours unless they have been cleared.  Chief Slauter will have this discussion with Maria VanHart and Ray Denson, as they are the only two reserves that this affects at this time.  All reserves are still eligible for run pay.

 

  1. Draft distributed regarding exit evaluations.  Everyone agreed with implementing this procedure and it was determined that a separate form is not needed for full time employees.  Also, the Fire Chief, Deputy Chief and that employee’s Battalion Chief should complete the form.  This will be implemented immediately.

 

  1. Discussion held on receptionist process.  Chief Tibbetts announced that he was upset with the way the process was being conducted and that he had trusted Chief Cassin to oversee this and come to him with any questions.  He also stated that he thought the cut off should have been 20 applicants and that it was a ridiculous waste of time and resources to interview every applicant.  Chief Cassin stated that he had no questions at any time during this process and that he did not feel it was inappropriate to interview all applicants.  Chief Tibbetts stated that he reviewed some of the applications that have been received and that several should not have even been given interview times.  Chief Cassin disagreed, stating that he doesn’t feel that you can significantly “weed out” candidates simply by looking at their application and resume.   Chief Tibbetts will not be sitting in on the interviews but was emphatic that he will have the final say in who is hired.  Further, he stated that he wanted a final list of not less than five candidates to make his selection from.  Chief Tibbetts ordered that all applicants who returned applications would be granted interviews, not just the first 50.  Kim stated that she will not be sitting in Andrea Cox’s interview on Monday, as they are good friends and she feels this would be a conflict.

 

  1. Chief Young distributed a copy of the SOG draft for the new traffic vests.  Once it is finalized, and training sessions have been conducted, they will be placed on the trucks; tentatively next week.  Chief Young is still working on storage solutions.  He will also be notifying Rural Metro of the OSHA requirement and asking that they provide vests for their personnel.

 

  1. Chief Young addressed recent maintenance problems with the pool car.  Effective immediately, all keys to the pool car are now kept in the lock box.  This will require that a Battalion Chief allow access to those keys, thus improving accountability on who is using the vehicle.  Steve Coover has his own set that he keeps with him and understands that he is to use the mileage log.

 

  1. The FEMA grant has been filed.  Kim has a copy of it if anyone wishes to read the narrative written by our grant writer.

 

  1. Chief Cassin gave an update on the status of the computer system and thanked everyone for their patience.

 

  1. Everyone agreed that on a crime scene, or any violent or gruesome scene, cadets and riders should be ordered to remain in the vehicle they arrived in.

 

  1. Chief Tibbetts informed Chief Slauter that Smith Valley Road will be closing soon and we will need to evaluate and modify our responses to that area affected.

 

  1. Chief Tibbetts stated that fuel prices are increasing significantly and to halt any excessive driving in department apparatus.

 

  1. No further new business and meeting adjourned.  The strategic planning session has been postponed until April 15.