White River Township Fire Department

                                                Senior Staff Meeting

           

                                                Thursday, January 4, 2007

 

 

                       

Present:

Chief Tibbetts

Chief Brown

Capt. Hart

 

Chief Cassin

Chief Thacker

Capt. Arkins

 

Chief Slauter

Chief Engmark

Capt. Settles

 

Chief Wilson

Capt. Skipper

Crystal Young

 

 

 

  1. Meeting called to order at 0810.

 

  1. Old Business
    1. Personnel Issues – Chief Thacker

                                                              i.      Chief Thacker will be checking with Lt. Cox about gear and MSA masks for the Part-time spots.  If any new gear is needed he will make sure an order gets placed.

                                                            ii.      Andrew Roy is back on shift after his six month leave, some of his gear has been re-issued and he will need some replacements.

                                                          iii.      Both C & B shifts need one part-time firefighter which will be filled soon.

                                                           iv.      Eric Wiseman has been called to go to PERF.  It is assumed that he will be leaving soon and Woehlecke, who is next on the list, will be offered his position.  Once that has occurred the Department can start the process of a new full-time list.

1.      Chief Tibbetts stated that approximately 46 firefighters are due to retire this year at IFD.  IFD’s next class will include 45 recruits and once that class is complete they will begin another class of 45.

 

  1. New Business
    1. Chief Brown

                                                              i.      There has been a lot of heat put on both police and fire as of late concerning the building of the new CVS on the North corner of Smith Valley and SR 135.  CVS wants access onto Smith Valley so Chief Brown has been putting pressure on them to complete the frontage road from in front of Menards to Smith Valley.  There has been a lot of negative press over this plan so Chief Brown would appreciate it if anyone is questioned about this topic to back him up on extending Marlin Dr.

                                                            ii.      Also the Target incident is considered a terrorist attack.  There was some debate with the officers on the scene, but Chief Brown was aware of the situation and realized the process should go through Homeland Security.

1.      Police and Fire both had jurisdiction over the incident.  Fire has jurisdiction over the scene and Police has jurisdiction over the investigation.  The person responsible for the incident has been charged with eight counts of battery, eight count of terrorist acts, and five counts of disorderly conduct.

2.      Capt. Arkins asked if our guys dressed appropriately in which Chief Brown responded “no.”  Capt. Arkins believes that an air pack should at least have been used once vomiting was reported.  Chief Thacker believes that guys get complacent and since no one knew what was sprayed no one wanted to make a big deal about it.

3.      Capt. Arkins believes that in this situation since no one knew what the substance was it should have been considered a level A entry until a determination could be made.  He suggested that training on this issue would be ideal.  Chief Thacker agrees and will deal with it next week during the over all safety and year in review training.

    1. Annual Retreat Syllabus Review – Chief Thacker

                                                              i.      Chief Thacker sent out a syllabus for everyone to review; Capt. Hart has also added some topics for discussion.

    1. Recognition Dinner Overview – Chief Thacker

                                                              i.      Everything is starting to come together.

                                                            ii.      Mike Methini will be presenting an award to Lt. Joe Green concerning his Paramedic class graduation.

                                                          iii.      The Honor Guard will be receiving the Chiefs’ Award.

                                                           iv.      Kim Clawson will be mentioned in the “Year in Review” and should receive a plaque or award for her years of service to the Department.

                                                             v.      There will be no training award this year since so many took advantage it would be difficult to choose just one.

                                                           vi.      Chief Brown would like to present an award to North Pointe and Meijer for their help during the toy drive.

    1. Employee Performance Appraisals – Chief Thacker

                                                              i.      Chief Thacker has attached a copy of the form in an e-mail to the Battalions since access has been tricky.  Everyone in the Senior Staff should also have access to the evaluation form.

                                                            ii.      Some of the evaluations due in October and November are still in need of completion.

                                                          iii.      Lt. Scholl will be completing Greg Hedge’s evaluation since he worked with him.

                                                           iv.      Chief Thacker looked through everyone’s file and only 25% are completed and placed into the personnel files.

    1. River Walk Development – Chief Tibbetts

                                                              i.      This development will contain only single family dwellings, a retention pond, and sidewalks.  (734 home sites)

                                                            ii.      Chief Brown questioned whether there will still be a lot open for the Fire Department.  He will call and find out.

    1. Hometown Matters – Chief Tibbetts

                                                              i.      There was an article in today’s Star concerning this legislation.  Some cities and towns will be hurt as a result of the legislation but it might help us.  This may give us the power to create our own tax.

                                                            ii.      The desire of the legislation is to hit the people who visit the area.  Greenwood Mall could establish a 1% tax that could create millions for the city.

                                                          iii.      People will loose jobs and they don’t even know it.

                                                           iv.      On February 6th there will be a legislative get together in the Rotunda.

    1. EMS Issues – Capt. Hart

                                                              i.      The new E Series monitor blew up yesterday when the update card and software was installed.  The Engine is currently using the M Series.  This will be fixed at no charge to us. 

                                                            ii.      Capt. Hart is working with Tracy Mavery on renewing the contract with Rural Metro.  One issue is house dues of which they will pay one year in full for each of the employees who work at 52.  Also the Department will have final say on who will be working the ambulance.

                                                          iii.      Two people have shown interest in the paramedic class both of which are part-time.  (Ladd and Klinger)  Capt. Hart does not know Ladd but believes Klinger would do well.  He will have to sign something and pay for a portion of the class.  Capt. Skipper asked if there were a clause concerning their departure from the department at the conclusion of the class.  Capt. Hart will look into it.

                                                           iv.      There will be protocol changes as of March 1st.  These will be far more aggressive than current protocol.  He will be questioning allergic reaction dosage.  He would like to have the option of using 50 for more serious reactions.

                                                             v.      EMT update for DSE guidelines, they are in the process of dropping intermediate.

                                                           vi.      Chief Tibbetts inquired about another ambulance in Greenwood.  Capt. Hart is trying to set up a meeting with Stacy to discuss either a 12 hr. or 24 hr. truck.  They plan on looking at key times within a 24 hr period to decide which option would work best.  The next question would be where it would be placed.  Once we move to Greenwood Dispatch Medic 52 will be working into 92 territory.  94 will likely have one; the decision is between 93 and 91.  Bargersville is also looking to place an ambulance at Station 202.

                                                         vii.      Perry is currently waiting on consolidation before removing Rural Metro.  No one knows how Marion County EMS will work until then.  There are only seven pages concerning EMS in a 100 page document outlining the consolidation.  EMS is 70% of their runs and it is being treated as an afterthought.

    1. Greenwood Dispatch – Chief Tibbetts

                                                              i.      Dispatch should go into effect February 1st.  A couple more issues are being ironed out.

                                                            ii.      One small problem is that Greenwood is hiring Johnson County dispatchers part-time but once they are at Greenwood there will be better supervision. 

 

  1. Meeting called at 0904.