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They only Love us, when they need us
Posted
On: May 12, 2012 (20:09:11)
SCITUATE —
Town officials have started moving around money in this year’s budget to chip away at an estimated $350,000 that an arbitration board recently awarded in additional wages to Scituate’s firefighters union, whose members had been working without a contract for three years.
Scituate’s advisory board Thursday night authorized the transfer of $97,000 from the police department budget, $15,000 from snow and ice and $9,000 from the unemployment account to pay some of the arbitration award. The selectmen approved the same transfers Tuesday.
Scituate Firefighters Local 1464 had been working without a contract since July 1, 2009. That ended April 13 when an arbitration panel representing the state’s Joint Labor Management Committee levied its decision.
The panel awarded the firefighters no wage increases for fiscal year 2010, a 1.5 percent raise for FY 2011, a 2 percent raise for FY 2012 and another 2 percent for FY 2013, which starts July 1. The fire department’s wage increases match the percentage changes given to Scituate’s clerical workers union over the past three years, and they are comparable to the police union’s raises during that same period.
However, unlike other unions in town, the firefighters will have their weekly EMT stipends rolled into their base wages. The arbitrator decided that these stipends, which range from $25 to $128 per week, will be rolled into the FY 2012 salaries, which will be increased by 2 percent beginning July 1.
“It will take some serious calculation to determine how that will affect our fiscal year 2013 budget,” Scituate advisory board Chairman Mark Sandham said.
On April 9, town meeting voters approved an operating budget for FY 2013 with no money set aside for increases in the fire department budget. As a result, officials said the town will likely request more budget transfers at the fall special town meeting.
“Potential departmental surpluses are being reviewed now, as we must project needs through June 30, and variables such as overtime are not exact,” Scituate Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi wrote in an email.
Vinchesi said the recent surplus in the police budget mostly came from money that had been set aside to hire two new police officers this year. Those slots were not filled.
Rich Yanosick, president of the Scituate firefighters union, could not be reached to comment about the arbitration award.
Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com.
READ MORE about this issue.
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x775168154/Scituate-tries-to-find-350-000-for-firefighters-pay-hike#ixzz1uhh2tASX
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Firefighter Health and Safety
Posted
On: Apr 29, 2012 (08:11:20)
Aug 4, 2010
By Michael G. Hamrock, M.D.
The fire service does very admirable work in supporting and caring for cancer-stricken firefighters, but it needs to do a much better job on prevention, since cancer continues to take a devastating toll on U.S. firefighters and their families. In Boston, firefighters have two and a half times the risk of developing cancer than other residents of the city. In the past two months alone, three Boston firefighters were diagnosed with lymphoma, throat cancer, and a lung tumor while two more have started treatments for prostate cancer.
A strong commitment from the fire service on cancer prevention is needed now to reverse these troubling trends. This can be accomplished by establishing local and national firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs. Promotion and implementation of early screenings, healthful lifestyles, and more effective training will dramatically reduce cancer cases in firefighters.
Chronic exposure to heat, smoke, and toxins put firefighters at very high risk for developing cancer. The by-products of combustion of ordinary household items such as cabinets, mattresses, curtains, insulation, and porch materials can be very carcinogenic. Inhalation, ingestion, and absorption of these toxic substances that make their way into the bloodstream of the firefighter are transported and stored in fat cells and organs. It is here where cell damage occurs that may lead to cancer. To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, stand next to a firefighter three days after fighting a fire--you can still smell traces of smoke emanating from the firefighter’s body.
Daily exposure to diesel exhaust in the firehouse can also precipitate cancer. Analysis of the kitchen and bunk room walls and furniture in firehouses reveals a tremendous amount of diesel exhaust particles. These dangerous particles are inhaled and absorbed every shift and cause significant harm to firefighters.
All of these exposures do contribute to the elevated rates of cancers of the brain, lung, colon, prostate, kidney, and skin found in Boston firefighters. At times, the medical office at the Boston Fire Department resembles an oncology clinic where every three weeks a Boston firefighter is diagnosed with cancer. There are currently 16 active-duty Boston firefighters unable to return to firefighting assignments because of the effects of cancer. Many firefighters, unfortunately, do not last longer than five years after their retirement dates because of malignancies.
Firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs will address and curtail these high cancer rates through medical surveillance, fitness promotion, nutrition counseling, lifestyle modification, quality training, and research.
Medical Surveillance
Firefighters need to be screened more early and often than the general public because of their higher risks for cancer. Every firefighter should obtain a thorough and confidential firefighter physical exam and undergo screening tests for prevention and early detection of these specific cancers annually. These recommended comprehensive exams are outlined below and should be given to the primary care physician to follow closely.
Recommended Firefighter Physical Exam and Screening Tests
Annual Exam Annual Labs and Screening Tests
Blood pressure, pulse
Comprehensive metabolic and chemistry panel
Respiratory rate, temperature
Liver function tests
Oxygen saturation
Hepatitis profile
Weight and body fat index
Complete blood count
Thorough skin exam
Thyroid panel
Eye exam and hearing testing
Hemoglobin A1c (for diabetes monitoring)
Oral exam
Fasting lipid profile and blood glucose
Heart and lung exam
Urinalysis and urine biomarkers
Abdominal and testicular exam
EKG
Prostate and rectal exam
PSA (begin at age 40 for prostate cancer screening)
Fecal occult blood testing
Pulmonary function test every 3 years
Pelvic and Pap for females
Chest X-ray every 3 years
Vascular and neurological exams
Colonoscopy (begin age 40 and every 5 years)
Mental status exam
Exercise stress test (begin age 40 and every 3 years)
Musculoskeletal exam
Mammograms for females (begin age 35)
Recently, several Boston firefighters have had cancers found early and in treatable stages by their physicians who followed these screening protocols. In addition, health insurance companies have expressed more interest in working with municipalities to cover these additional screening tests for certain high-risk workers because they understand early detection not only saves lives but is financially advantageous for the health plan and taxpayers as well.
Fitness Promotion
Excess weight and inactivity put firefighters at additional risk for cancer. A structured exercise program for firefighters will improve overall health and job performance and help to reduce cancer and should include doing the following:
Develop a mentality that firefighters are “athletes” and should train as such.
Set aside 45 minutes per shift for all members to engage in a firefighter fitness workout.
Workouts should consist of job simulation-type activities that focus on core muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, and aerobic conditioning.
Encourage firefighters to do three additional similar workouts every week on their own.
Set long-term goals of maintaining a healthy weight not exceeding five percent more than when they entered the fire academy.
Nutrition Counseling
The firehouse meals that contain large portions of red meat, saturated fats, and calories that far exceed the USDA total recommended daily allowances contribute to cancer in firefighters. A firefighter can easily gain one pound before leaving the kitchen table and responding to the next call. Some helpful dietary cancer prevention tips include
Adding more vegetables, fruits, whole grains to your diet and reducing saturated fats.
Emphasizing antioxidant and detoxifying phytonutrient-rich foods like spinach, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, and onions.
Limit meat intake to one serving per week; substitute with more baked or grilled fish.
Increase intake of calcium, vitamin D, fish oil, fiber, and folate supplements.
Practice better portion control. An adequate serving of meat should resemble the size of a hockey puck instead of a Frisbee.
Avoid raiding the fridge after midnight calls; eliminate second helpings.
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
Eliminate 500 calories a day by avoiding soda, chips, pizza, donuts, and ice cream.
Quality Training
Firefighters need to be continually educated about their occupational health risks, and training programs should be ramped up to include instructions in
Placing more emphasis on fireground training operations to better prepare and protect firefighters while working in smoky and hazardous environments.
Monitoring for better compliance with breathing apparatus use, especially during overhauling operations after the fire has been knocked down.
Regular cleaning of bunker gear.
Full compliance with the apparatus exhaust-removal systems in the firehouse.
Benefits of taking a steam or sauna, antioxidant foods and supplements, and a vigorous aerobic workout within 24 hours after a fire to hasten the elimination of toxins from the body.
Lifestyle Modification
Firefighters need to take more responsibility for their own health and cultivate lifestyle changes that will lessen their risks for cancer including:
Quitting smoking. The combination of smoking with years of inhalation of toxic smoke and gases at fires is a recipe for cancer development.
Regular use of sunscreen.
Limiting alcohol intake. Excess alcohol consumption along with smoking greatly increases the risk for throat, esophagus, and gastrointestinal tumors.
Showering immediately after returning from a fire to help remove the cancer-causing soot from the body.
Being up to date on the Hepatitis B vaccinations, to lessen the risk for liver cancer.
Performing monthly testicular self-exams or monthly breast self-exams for female firefighters.
Research
Fire departments need to partner with local teaching hospitals and academic centers to perform research into reducing cancer in firefighters. This partnership should include
Offering firefighters the latest in cancer screening tests.
Undertaking a cancer registry for the fire service to better identify and track potential carcinogenic exposures and monitor regional cancer trends.
Research into improving the technology of firefighter gear to help prevent the absorption of harmful chemicals through the skin.
Investigating ways to eliminate or neutralize the toxins from the body before they can do their damage.
Many cancers in firefighters can be prevented with these measures. Although it is impossible to eliminate all of the health risks inherent in firefighting work, these escalated rates of cancer are unacceptable. The firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs will improve the overall health and fitness of all firefighters and reduce cancer on the job. A much more fervent commitment to cancer prevention is needed now.
This article is dedicated to Boston Firefighter Dave Galloway, of Tower Ladder 3, who died at the age of 42 on April 2, 2010 after a long and spirited battle with pancreatic cancer.
Michael G. Hamrock is a marathoner and a former Boston firefighter. He is the Medical Examiner for the Boston (MA) Fire Department and a primary care physician at Caritas Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston. He is a board member of the Kenney-Quinn-Ford Foundation for Brain Tumor Research.
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Standard on Two-Way, Portable Land Mobile Radios
Posted
On: Apr 19, 2012 (18:18:39)
April 5, 2012 – The IAFF is asking members to contact the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards Council regarding the fire service's need for portable radios that have been designed and tested for use in the fire fighting environment. The IAFF recently petitioned the NFPA to initiate the development of a standard that will identify the operating environment parameters, as well as the minimum requirements for the design, performance, testing and certification of two-way, portable (hand-held) land mobile radios for use by emergency services personnel during emergency incident operations without compromising compatibility with field emergency services communication networks. At its March 2012 meeting, the NFPA Standards Council reviewed the request and voted to solicit public comments on the need for the project, information on resources on the subject matter, persons interested in participating (if established) and other organizations actively involved with the subject.
The purpose of this standard is to establish minimum requirements for the proper function of the electronics embedded in or associated with emergency services electronic safety equipment when exposed to hostile, thermal, immediately dangerous to life and health, and non-hostile emergency scene environments.
The IAFF informed the NFPA that land mobile radios are a critical safety tool that every responder at every emergency scene needs. Land mobile radios must meet the unique demands of the job of fire fighting. Fire fighters need to communicate in cold and hot temperature extremes and in wet and humid atmospheres full of combustion byproducts and dust while under or above ground, inside and below buildings and in rubble piles. Other environmental challenges include loud noise from apparatus, warning devices, tools and the fire itself.
Most first responders’ land mobile radios are currently manufactured to military specifications (Mil Std 810 C, D, E, F) which are not representative of the fire fighting environment. As part of this project a definition of the fire fighting environment needs to be established and performance and design criteria developed to ensure operability.
For more information, refer to the IAFF/FEMA Voice Communications Guide for the Fire Service, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Technical Note 1477, Testing of Portable Radios in a Fire Fighting Environment and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Technical Report TR-08-453, Intelligibility of Selected Radio Systems in the Presence of Fireground Noise.
Comments regarding this matter or interest in participating should be directed to the NFPA Standards Council in care of Ms. Mary Maynard at any of the addresses below.
Email: stds_admin@nfpa.org or mmaynard@NFPA.org
Fax: 617-770-0700
U.S. mail:
Codes and Standards Administration
NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA 02169-7471
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Boston.com, article
Posted
On: Feb 29, 2012 (11:31:07)
By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent
Scituate officials may have some last minute budget appropriations to figure out if labor negotiations between the town and the firefighter’s union occur on schedule.
After almost three years of dispute about the contract, arbitration between the town and Scituate Firefighters IAFF Local 1464 is expected to conclude in early April.
The deadline comes close to budget finalizations, which will be voted by the town at Town Meeting on Monday, April 9. Presently there is no appropriated money to fund an increase in the fire union’s budget.
“The arbitration judge doesn’t mandate an increase, they issue a decision on the merits of the proposals and decide which will be awarded and which wont,” said Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi. “There is a cost associated with that. At the present time, there is not funding in the FY13 budget to accommodate any increases, cause we don’t know what they are.”
Although a contingency plan may be in place, Vinchesi said she could not speak about how they might fund an increase until they see the potential award.
“I think it’s fair to say the town’s proposals are affordable, and we went to arbitration because there was a difference of opinion of what the town could afford and what the union desired,” Vinchesi said.
Scituate officials have been attempting to resolve a new contract since the old one expired on June 30, 2009.
According to Vinchesi, the Fire Department has the second largest town budget, next to the school department. They are currently seeking benefits that are not in keeping with the other four union contracts that have been settled in the town, she said.
“They have gone to every length possible, and they just met with an arbitrator within the last several weeks,” said selectmen chair Anthony Vegnani.
Union President and Scituate Firefighter Richard Yanosick said the union's main concerns stem around manpower issues.
"Up until Jan. 17 we ran at a 10 man minumum on the floor…so we have a buffer zone of one man for time off. In January, we dropped down to nine men on duty, so the ladder became unmanned. If there is a building fire, we take a guy off the ambulance and put him on the ladder truck if the ambulance is in town. If the ambulance isn’t in town, there is no ladder truck till the truck in Hummarock comes and takes it. There is a significant delay on the matter," Yanosick said.
It is a significant safety issue for the public and the firefighters, Yanosick said, and a main part of negotiations.
Yet Vinchesi disagrees that the town is at risk.
“That’s completely untrue. That is pure [myth],” she said when asked if the town was dropping manpower or taking a ladder truck out of service. “It’s reflective of the current status of the waiting arbitration decision. But in no way would I want it to be conveyed to the public that there is any compromise of safety being discussed.”
If anything, Vinchesi said, the town has increased their commitment to the department.
From FY12 to FY13, there will be an increase in $50,000 in the overtime budget – approved last town meeting as part of the $2.2 million override.
Although the overall budget is down, from $4,043,658 in FY12 to $4,032,432 in FY13, that is mainly due to people retiring and newer people coming in at a lower rate.
Additionally, this year the town will refurbish an ambulance and purchase a defibrillator. In FY14, the town is looking to purchase a new ladder truck with the help of the Federal FIRE act grant.
“They also have a new ambulance and new pumper coming online that was approved in capital last year. Despite what folks may think, the town has been very supportive of the department,” Vinchesi said.
Yanosick said the union is gathering to put specific complaints in writing. In the meantime, manpower will continue to be an issue, he said.
"It’s a big thing of staffing. Men still have to go to the fire and put the fire out. You can't do it without manpower. It has to be done with manpower," he said.
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Maybe something the town and Chief need to think about
Posted
On: Feb 10, 2012 (18:19:18)
2012 SAFER GRANT APPLICATION PERIOD
NOW OPEN
January 26, 2012 – The FY 2011 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant application period will open on Monday, January 30, 2012 and run until Friday, February 24, 2012 at 5:00 P.M. EST. Congress has approved $742.5 million in SAFER funding to rehire and retain fire fighters, in addition to hiring additional personnel. The SAFER program has already put more than 5,000 fire fighters back to work, giving a much-needed boost to public safety in countless struggling communities.
Municipalities with fire departments facing reduced emergency response capabilities in particular should apply for SAFER funding. The IAFF urges affiliates to work with their fire chiefs and local lawmakers to file for the grants. City management must submit the application, but the IAFF is available to assist your community in applying for the grants.
The FY 2011 SAFER grant Guidance and Application Kit is posted on the Assistance to Firefighters web site. All SAFER applicants should read the new Guidance to fully understand the FY 2011 award criteria, funding priorities and important special application instructions for completing the application.
Highlights of the FY 2011 SAFER grant program include:
• Salary limits: There are no annual salary limits.
• Grantee cost share: There is no prescribed cost-share.
• No retention commitment: Grantees that are hiring fire fighters — whether they be rehires, new hires or retained fire fighters — do not have to commit to retaining the SAFER-funded fire fighters beyond the period of performance. However, no fire fighter layoffs are permitted — of either SAFER-funded or non-SAFER fire fighters — during the grant's period of performance.
• Period of performance: For the Hiring of Firefighters Category grants, the period of performance has been reduced to two years.
• Attrition of fire fighters: FY 2011 grantees who are unable to back-fill fire fighting positions that are vacated due to documentable economic hardship may petition the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a waiver of staffing maintenance requirements. To qualify for this waiver, the economic hardship must affect the entire public safety sector in the jurisdiction and not only the fire department.
• Hiring of Firefighters Category: The priorities for funding will be as follows:
1. First priority: Rehiring laid-off fire fighters
2. Second priority: Retention of fire fighters who face imminent layoff or filling positions vacated through attrition but not filled due to economic circumstances
3. Third priority: Hiring new fire fighters
For more information or instructions, the SAFER Help Desk and Fire Program Specialists will be available throughout the application period to answer questions about the SAFER program Guidance and the online grant application. The Help Desk can be contacted at 1-866-274-0960 or at firegrants@dhs.gov. The Help Desk hours of operation during the application period are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. All times listed are eastern daylight times.
The grant application process requires a significant amount of time to properly complete, therefore, the IAFF recommends that affiliates submit a draft version of their grant application to the IAFF Grants Department well in advance of the application deadline.
For more information, contact the Grants Administration Department at (202) 824-8631 or email grants@iaff.org
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They only Love us, when they need us
Posted
On: May 12, 2012 (20:09:11)
SCITUATE —
Town officials have started moving around money in this year’s budget to chip away at an estimated $350,000 that an arbitration board recently awarded in additional wages to Scituate’s firefighters union, whose members had been working without a contract for three years.
Scituate’s advisory board Thursday night authorized the transfer of $97,000 from the police department budget, $15,000 from snow and ice and $9,000 from the unemployment account to pay some of the arbitration award. The selectmen approved the same transfers Tuesday.
Scituate Firefighters Local 1464 had been working without a contract since July 1, 2009. That ended April 13 when an arbitration panel representing the state’s Joint Labor Management Committee levied its decision.
The panel awarded the firefighters no wage increases for fiscal year 2010, a 1.5 percent raise for FY 2011, a 2 percent raise for FY 2012 and another 2 percent for FY 2013, which starts July 1. The fire department’s wage increases match the percentage changes given to Scituate’s clerical workers union over the past three years, and they are comparable to the police union’s raises during that same period.
However, unlike other unions in town, the firefighters will have their weekly EMT stipends rolled into their base wages. The arbitrator decided that these stipends, which range from $25 to $128 per week, will be rolled into the FY 2012 salaries, which will be increased by 2 percent beginning July 1.
“It will take some serious calculation to determine how that will affect our fiscal year 2013 budget,” Scituate advisory board Chairman Mark Sandham said.
On April 9, town meeting voters approved an operating budget for FY 2013 with no money set aside for increases in the fire department budget. As a result, officials said the town will likely request more budget transfers at the fall special town meeting.
“Potential departmental surpluses are being reviewed now, as we must project needs through June 30, and variables such as overtime are not exact,” Scituate Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi wrote in an email.
Vinchesi said the recent surplus in the police budget mostly came from money that had been set aside to hire two new police officers this year. Those slots were not filled.
Rich Yanosick, president of the Scituate firefighters union, could not be reached to comment about the arbitration award.
Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com.
READ MORE about this issue.
Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/topstories/x775168154/Scituate-tries-to-find-350-000-for-firefighters-pay-hike#ixzz1uhh2tASX
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Firefighter Health and Safety
Posted
On: Apr 29, 2012 (08:11:20)
Aug 4, 2010
By Michael G. Hamrock, M.D.
The fire service does very admirable work in supporting and caring for cancer-stricken firefighters, but it needs to do a much better job on prevention, since cancer continues to take a devastating toll on U.S. firefighters and their families. In Boston, firefighters have two and a half times the risk of developing cancer than other residents of the city. In the past two months alone, three Boston firefighters were diagnosed with lymphoma, throat cancer, and a lung tumor while two more have started treatments for prostate cancer.
A strong commitment from the fire service on cancer prevention is needed now to reverse these troubling trends. This can be accomplished by establishing local and national firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs. Promotion and implementation of early screenings, healthful lifestyles, and more effective training will dramatically reduce cancer cases in firefighters.
Chronic exposure to heat, smoke, and toxins put firefighters at very high risk for developing cancer. The by-products of combustion of ordinary household items such as cabinets, mattresses, curtains, insulation, and porch materials can be very carcinogenic. Inhalation, ingestion, and absorption of these toxic substances that make their way into the bloodstream of the firefighter are transported and stored in fat cells and organs. It is here where cell damage occurs that may lead to cancer. To gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, stand next to a firefighter three days after fighting a fire--you can still smell traces of smoke emanating from the firefighter’s body.
Daily exposure to diesel exhaust in the firehouse can also precipitate cancer. Analysis of the kitchen and bunk room walls and furniture in firehouses reveals a tremendous amount of diesel exhaust particles. These dangerous particles are inhaled and absorbed every shift and cause significant harm to firefighters.
All of these exposures do contribute to the elevated rates of cancers of the brain, lung, colon, prostate, kidney, and skin found in Boston firefighters. At times, the medical office at the Boston Fire Department resembles an oncology clinic where every three weeks a Boston firefighter is diagnosed with cancer. There are currently 16 active-duty Boston firefighters unable to return to firefighting assignments because of the effects of cancer. Many firefighters, unfortunately, do not last longer than five years after their retirement dates because of malignancies.
Firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs will address and curtail these high cancer rates through medical surveillance, fitness promotion, nutrition counseling, lifestyle modification, quality training, and research.
Medical Surveillance
Firefighters need to be screened more early and often than the general public because of their higher risks for cancer. Every firefighter should obtain a thorough and confidential firefighter physical exam and undergo screening tests for prevention and early detection of these specific cancers annually. These recommended comprehensive exams are outlined below and should be given to the primary care physician to follow closely.
Recommended Firefighter Physical Exam and Screening Tests
Annual Exam Annual Labs and Screening Tests
Blood pressure, pulse
Comprehensive metabolic and chemistry panel
Respiratory rate, temperature
Liver function tests
Oxygen saturation
Hepatitis profile
Weight and body fat index
Complete blood count
Thorough skin exam
Thyroid panel
Eye exam and hearing testing
Hemoglobin A1c (for diabetes monitoring)
Oral exam
Fasting lipid profile and blood glucose
Heart and lung exam
Urinalysis and urine biomarkers
Abdominal and testicular exam
EKG
Prostate and rectal exam
PSA (begin at age 40 for prostate cancer screening)
Fecal occult blood testing
Pulmonary function test every 3 years
Pelvic and Pap for females
Chest X-ray every 3 years
Vascular and neurological exams
Colonoscopy (begin age 40 and every 5 years)
Mental status exam
Exercise stress test (begin age 40 and every 3 years)
Musculoskeletal exam
Mammograms for females (begin age 35)
Recently, several Boston firefighters have had cancers found early and in treatable stages by their physicians who followed these screening protocols. In addition, health insurance companies have expressed more interest in working with municipalities to cover these additional screening tests for certain high-risk workers because they understand early detection not only saves lives but is financially advantageous for the health plan and taxpayers as well.
Fitness Promotion
Excess weight and inactivity put firefighters at additional risk for cancer. A structured exercise program for firefighters will improve overall health and job performance and help to reduce cancer and should include doing the following:
Develop a mentality that firefighters are “athletes” and should train as such.
Set aside 45 minutes per shift for all members to engage in a firefighter fitness workout.
Workouts should consist of job simulation-type activities that focus on core muscular strength, endurance, flexibility, and aerobic conditioning.
Encourage firefighters to do three additional similar workouts every week on their own.
Set long-term goals of maintaining a healthy weight not exceeding five percent more than when they entered the fire academy.
Nutrition Counseling
The firehouse meals that contain large portions of red meat, saturated fats, and calories that far exceed the USDA total recommended daily allowances contribute to cancer in firefighters. A firefighter can easily gain one pound before leaving the kitchen table and responding to the next call. Some helpful dietary cancer prevention tips include
Adding more vegetables, fruits, whole grains to your diet and reducing saturated fats.
Emphasizing antioxidant and detoxifying phytonutrient-rich foods like spinach, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, and onions.
Limit meat intake to one serving per week; substitute with more baked or grilled fish.
Increase intake of calcium, vitamin D, fish oil, fiber, and folate supplements.
Practice better portion control. An adequate serving of meat should resemble the size of a hockey puck instead of a Frisbee.
Avoid raiding the fridge after midnight calls; eliminate second helpings.
Drink at least eight glasses of water a day.
Eliminate 500 calories a day by avoiding soda, chips, pizza, donuts, and ice cream.
Quality Training
Firefighters need to be continually educated about their occupational health risks, and training programs should be ramped up to include instructions in
Placing more emphasis on fireground training operations to better prepare and protect firefighters while working in smoky and hazardous environments.
Monitoring for better compliance with breathing apparatus use, especially during overhauling operations after the fire has been knocked down.
Regular cleaning of bunker gear.
Full compliance with the apparatus exhaust-removal systems in the firehouse.
Benefits of taking a steam or sauna, antioxidant foods and supplements, and a vigorous aerobic workout within 24 hours after a fire to hasten the elimination of toxins from the body.
Lifestyle Modification
Firefighters need to take more responsibility for their own health and cultivate lifestyle changes that will lessen their risks for cancer including:
Quitting smoking. The combination of smoking with years of inhalation of toxic smoke and gases at fires is a recipe for cancer development.
Regular use of sunscreen.
Limiting alcohol intake. Excess alcohol consumption along with smoking greatly increases the risk for throat, esophagus, and gastrointestinal tumors.
Showering immediately after returning from a fire to help remove the cancer-causing soot from the body.
Being up to date on the Hepatitis B vaccinations, to lessen the risk for liver cancer.
Performing monthly testicular self-exams or monthly breast self-exams for female firefighters.
Research
Fire departments need to partner with local teaching hospitals and academic centers to perform research into reducing cancer in firefighters. This partnership should include
Offering firefighters the latest in cancer screening tests.
Undertaking a cancer registry for the fire service to better identify and track potential carcinogenic exposures and monitor regional cancer trends.
Research into improving the technology of firefighter gear to help prevent the absorption of harmful chemicals through the skin.
Investigating ways to eliminate or neutralize the toxins from the body before they can do their damage.
Many cancers in firefighters can be prevented with these measures. Although it is impossible to eliminate all of the health risks inherent in firefighting work, these escalated rates of cancer are unacceptable. The firefighter cancer awareness and prevention programs will improve the overall health and fitness of all firefighters and reduce cancer on the job. A much more fervent commitment to cancer prevention is needed now.
This article is dedicated to Boston Firefighter Dave Galloway, of Tower Ladder 3, who died at the age of 42 on April 2, 2010 after a long and spirited battle with pancreatic cancer.
Michael G. Hamrock is a marathoner and a former Boston firefighter. He is the Medical Examiner for the Boston (MA) Fire Department and a primary care physician at Caritas Saint Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston. He is a board member of the Kenney-Quinn-Ford Foundation for Brain Tumor Research.
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Standard on Two-Way, Portable Land Mobile Radios
Posted
On: Apr 19, 2012 (18:18:39)
April 5, 2012 – The IAFF is asking members to contact the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standards Council regarding the fire service's need for portable radios that have been designed and tested for use in the fire fighting environment. The IAFF recently petitioned the NFPA to initiate the development of a standard that will identify the operating environment parameters, as well as the minimum requirements for the design, performance, testing and certification of two-way, portable (hand-held) land mobile radios for use by emergency services personnel during emergency incident operations without compromising compatibility with field emergency services communication networks. At its March 2012 meeting, the NFPA Standards Council reviewed the request and voted to solicit public comments on the need for the project, information on resources on the subject matter, persons interested in participating (if established) and other organizations actively involved with the subject.
The purpose of this standard is to establish minimum requirements for the proper function of the electronics embedded in or associated with emergency services electronic safety equipment when exposed to hostile, thermal, immediately dangerous to life and health, and non-hostile emergency scene environments.
The IAFF informed the NFPA that land mobile radios are a critical safety tool that every responder at every emergency scene needs. Land mobile radios must meet the unique demands of the job of fire fighting. Fire fighters need to communicate in cold and hot temperature extremes and in wet and humid atmospheres full of combustion byproducts and dust while under or above ground, inside and below buildings and in rubble piles. Other environmental challenges include loud noise from apparatus, warning devices, tools and the fire itself.
Most first responders’ land mobile radios are currently manufactured to military specifications (Mil Std 810 C, D, E, F) which are not representative of the fire fighting environment. As part of this project a definition of the fire fighting environment needs to be established and performance and design criteria developed to ensure operability.
For more information, refer to the IAFF/FEMA Voice Communications Guide for the Fire Service, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Technical Note 1477, Testing of Portable Radios in a Fire Fighting Environment and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Technical Report TR-08-453, Intelligibility of Selected Radio Systems in the Presence of Fireground Noise.
Comments regarding this matter or interest in participating should be directed to the NFPA Standards Council in care of Ms. Mary Maynard at any of the addresses below.
Email: stds_admin@nfpa.org or mmaynard@NFPA.org
Fax: 617-770-0700
U.S. mail:
Codes and Standards Administration
NFPA, 1 Batterymarch Park
Quincy, MA 02169-7471
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Boston.com, article
Posted
On: Feb 29, 2012 (11:31:07)
By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent
Scituate officials may have some last minute budget appropriations to figure out if labor negotiations between the town and the firefighter’s union occur on schedule.
After almost three years of dispute about the contract, arbitration between the town and Scituate Firefighters IAFF Local 1464 is expected to conclude in early April.
The deadline comes close to budget finalizations, which will be voted by the town at Town Meeting on Monday, April 9. Presently there is no appropriated money to fund an increase in the fire union’s budget.
“The arbitration judge doesn’t mandate an increase, they issue a decision on the merits of the proposals and decide which will be awarded and which wont,” said Town Administrator Patricia Vinchesi. “There is a cost associated with that. At the present time, there is not funding in the FY13 budget to accommodate any increases, cause we don’t know what they are.”
Although a contingency plan may be in place, Vinchesi said she could not speak about how they might fund an increase until they see the potential award.
“I think it’s fair to say the town’s proposals are affordable, and we went to arbitration because there was a difference of opinion of what the town could afford and what the union desired,” Vinchesi said.
Scituate officials have been attempting to resolve a new contract since the old one expired on June 30, 2009.
According to Vinchesi, the Fire Department has the second largest town budget, next to the school department. They are currently seeking benefits that are not in keeping with the other four union contracts that have been settled in the town, she said.
“They have gone to every length possible, and they just met with an arbitrator within the last several weeks,” said selectmen chair Anthony Vegnani.
Union President and Scituate Firefighter Richard Yanosick said the union's main concerns stem around manpower issues.
"Up until Jan. 17 we ran at a 10 man minumum on the floor…so we have a buffer zone of one man for time off. In January, we dropped down to nine men on duty, so the ladder became unmanned. If there is a building fire, we take a guy off the ambulance and put him on the ladder truck if the ambulance is in town. If the ambulance isn’t in town, there is no ladder truck till the truck in Hummarock comes and takes it. There is a significant delay on the matter," Yanosick said.
It is a significant safety issue for the public and the firefighters, Yanosick said, and a main part of negotiations.
Yet Vinchesi disagrees that the town is at risk.
“That’s completely untrue. That is pure [myth],” she said when asked if the town was dropping manpower or taking a ladder truck out of service. “It’s reflective of the current status of the waiting arbitration decision. But in no way would I want it to be conveyed to the public that there is any compromise of safety being discussed.”
If anything, Vinchesi said, the town has increased their commitment to the department.
From FY12 to FY13, there will be an increase in $50,000 in the overtime budget – approved last town meeting as part of the $2.2 million override.
Although the overall budget is down, from $4,043,658 in FY12 to $4,032,432 in FY13, that is mainly due to people retiring and newer people coming in at a lower rate.
Additionally, this year the town will refurbish an ambulance and purchase a defibrillator. In FY14, the town is looking to purchase a new ladder truck with the help of the Federal FIRE act grant.
“They also have a new ambulance and new pumper coming online that was approved in capital last year. Despite what folks may think, the town has been very supportive of the department,” Vinchesi said.
Yanosick said the union is gathering to put specific complaints in writing. In the meantime, manpower will continue to be an issue, he said.
"It’s a big thing of staffing. Men still have to go to the fire and put the fire out. You can't do it without manpower. It has to be done with manpower," he said.
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Maybe something the town and Chief need to think about
Posted
On: Feb 10, 2012 (18:19:18)
2012 SAFER GRANT APPLICATION PERIOD
NOW OPEN
January 26, 2012 – The FY 2011 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant application period will open on Monday, January 30, 2012 and run until Friday, February 24, 2012 at 5:00 P.M. EST. Congress has approved $742.5 million in SAFER funding to rehire and retain fire fighters, in addition to hiring additional personnel. The SAFER program has already put more than 5,000 fire fighters back to work, giving a much-needed boost to public safety in countless struggling communities.
Municipalities with fire departments facing reduced emergency response capabilities in particular should apply for SAFER funding. The IAFF urges affiliates to work with their fire chiefs and local lawmakers to file for the grants. City management must submit the application, but the IAFF is available to assist your community in applying for the grants.
The FY 2011 SAFER grant Guidance and Application Kit is posted on the Assistance to Firefighters web site. All SAFER applicants should read the new Guidance to fully understand the FY 2011 award criteria, funding priorities and important special application instructions for completing the application.
Highlights of the FY 2011 SAFER grant program include:
• Salary limits: There are no annual salary limits.
• Grantee cost share: There is no prescribed cost-share.
• No retention commitment: Grantees that are hiring fire fighters — whether they be rehires, new hires or retained fire fighters — do not have to commit to retaining the SAFER-funded fire fighters beyond the period of performance. However, no fire fighter layoffs are permitted — of either SAFER-funded or non-SAFER fire fighters — during the grant's period of performance.
• Period of performance: For the Hiring of Firefighters Category grants, the period of performance has been reduced to two years.
• Attrition of fire fighters: FY 2011 grantees who are unable to back-fill fire fighting positions that are vacated due to documentable economic hardship may petition the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a waiver of staffing maintenance requirements. To qualify for this waiver, the economic hardship must affect the entire public safety sector in the jurisdiction and not only the fire department.
• Hiring of Firefighters Category: The priorities for funding will be as follows:
1. First priority: Rehiring laid-off fire fighters
2. Second priority: Retention of fire fighters who face imminent layoff or filling positions vacated through attrition but not filled due to economic circumstances
3. Third priority: Hiring new fire fighters
For more information or instructions, the SAFER Help Desk and Fire Program Specialists will be available throughout the application period to answer questions about the SAFER program Guidance and the online grant application. The Help Desk can be contacted at 1-866-274-0960 or at firegrants@dhs.gov. The Help Desk hours of operation during the application period are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. All times listed are eastern daylight times.
The grant application process requires a significant amount of time to properly complete, therefore, the IAFF recommends that affiliates submit a draft version of their grant application to the IAFF Grants Department well in advance of the application deadline.
For more information, contact the Grants Administration Department at (202) 824-8631 or email grants@iaff.org
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