Hi Everyone,

 Please be sure to read the email below. I have taken some of the unnecessary stuff out. But the points made are valid and we all have to make an effort to follow them. My comments are directly below and in blue.

1)       Never-Never respond directly to a scene (report to the fire station)-whether it be JVFD OR EMS: Exception: 1 person from command on VFD incidents.

2)       Only trained EMS people on VFD or on Colleen’s Team should respond to EMS tones. If you are neither you will be asked to leave the scene (this is serious).

3)       If you are on the VFD, wait at the Fire Department and if they need you, you will get asked by EMS or dispatch to go to the scene.

4)       If you are on the VFD and want to be on EMS or respond to EMS tones-start showing up to their training or do not respond to the tones.

5)       They have different procedures-we need to respect them.

 I would also like to invite discussion and response to this from anyone who has received this email. In the future, we are looking to set up a mandatory meeting for all EMS and VFD personnel, I might attend one of their meetings here or there and the EMS Chief will be attending our training once in awhile.

 There was a serious breech of protocol by one of the fire team who is not EMS trained and not on the EMS team at the 911 on Friday-a member of the Fire Team went directly to the house-This is not supposed to be how anyone from the VFD responds. When the EMS team got there the fire person was already talking to the victim's family-If you are not a part of EMS, you should not be responding to an Incident-much less going directly to the scene. My concerns are:

  1. Safety: The 911 protocol for EMS is that the EMS Team goes to the Fire Hall and gets the equipment and radios in that they are responding. They then know who is responding. The EMS Team then goes together to the scene and responds as a team. If there are no EMS people responding then a second tone goes out. Fire Team members who are not on the EMS team do not just respond and go to the scene because they are not trained as EMS responders. Fire Team members go to the firehall to see if they can help the EMS team, not to respond as an EMS trained person. If no EMS response then they radio in to the dispatch and tell them that there are no EMS responding. When a Fire Dept. member goes to a scene on there own without the EMS Team they are breaking protocol. This is a safety and liability issue. The Friday scene was an attempted suicide. The EMS team showed up at the scene and there was a fire dept person already there. A suicide seen is very dangerous. Usually the EMS team shows up at the firehall and radios in to the dispatch to see if the scene is safe or if we need to wait at the firehall until the sheriff's officer arrives. The suicide scene may be one that the person has a gun or can harm himself or others. It is not safe. The EMS Team knows this and is trained. What was the fire dept. person thinking? I think that they wanted to help, but they are not trained and they are not covered under the Town's liability insurance as a medical responder. Their behavior could have also put the EMS Team members in danger.

2.  Any person wanting to be on the JVFD EMS Team can join the Team. Entry level volunteers must take the First Responders course and have approval by the Team to join. Interested people must contact the EMS Chief and then attend the training sessions each month. EMS members must be capable of handling emotional stress. EMS situations can be life threatening. Not everyone can handle this. EMS calls can result in victim's dying or serious trauma. Fire folks who have just trained as First Responders cannot respond as EMS unless they are part of the EMS Team and sign on as a team member. These folks are welcome to join.

3.  What to do about this? I thought that the Fire Team was instructed on their role in an EMS call. If not, then please do so. We would like to continue our partnership with the two Teams, but if this is not immediately dealt with then we will go back to just having the EMS Team respond. Anyone who breaks protocol and 'freelances" on their own should receive a letter of discipline from the Fire Team. The person is a member of the Fire Team. A letter of discipline from the EMS Team is not warranted, because the person is not a member of the EMS Team.

4. If there are no EMS Team member available to respond then the Fire Team waits at the firehall for Pridemark, they do not respond as EMS. The Fire Team does not radio in that they are responding, because legally they are not. When you radio in to dispatch on an EMS call you are telling downtown and Pridemark that an EMS team is responding and will preform EMS to the victim. If no EMS Team responds and it's only fire folks at the firehall then it would be appropriate for Fire Team to radio dispatch and tell them that no EMS is responding and that they will wait for Pridemark to escort them to the scene.

5. EMS is a separate team and functions under a seperate town ordinance. The Fire Department is made up of 2 teams: Fire and EMS. What would you think if we showed up at a fire scene before the fire team got there and starting playing fireman, even though I had no training? We could be a danger to ourselves, the victims, and the Fire Team.

 

Thanks for listening and your Support,

 Jim