Wednesday, May 28, 2008

(SAFER ) grant application period at 8:00 am EDT on May 27. Applications will be accepted through 5:00 pm on June 27.

SAFER Grant Application Period Opens Today


The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opened the FY 2008 Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER ) grant application period at 8:00 am EDT on May 27. Applications will be accepted through 5:00 pm on June 27. SAFER grants provide funding to fire departments to hire career firefighters and to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.

SAFER was funded at $190 million for FY 2008. Ten percent of the funds appropriated are designated by law to be distributed to volunteer and combination fire departments to fund retention and recruitment activities. An additional ten percent is available for volunteer and combination departments to hire career firefighters.


Departments can use retention and recruitment funds in a number of ways, including marketing campaigns to attract new members, establishing a junior firefighter program, purchasing insurance packages and/or physical examinations, reimbursing members for participating in operational activities, tuition assistance, or length of service awards. Applicants must demonstrate the link between the activities they are requesting funds for and their identified recruitment and/or retention problems or issues.

The FY 2008 SAFER program guidance is available online. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) participates in annual stakeholder meetings to provide formal input to the SAFER grant criteria development process. The NVFC also works closely with Congress, advocating for SAFER to be funded at its authorized level and ensuring that a portion of those funds are made available to help meet the staffing needs of volunteer departments.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Ambulance services to debut non-invasive breathing device

By Scott Stafford, Berkshire Eagle
Article Launched: 05/20/2008 10:18:12 AM EDT



Tuesday, May 20
WILLIAMSTOWN -- Starting today, victims of congestive heart failure and some lung ailments, such as emphysema, could be breathing easier once they're in the ambulance.
A new device known as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) will make the conventional treatment -- a breathing tube down the throat into the lungs -- largely unnecessary. It will be used in Williamstown starting today by Village Ambulance, and soon after by North Adams Ambulance and Adams Ambulance, within two weeks.

Northern Berkshire County is the first to implement this system in Berkshire County and Village Ambulance is only one of five ambulance services utilizing this device in Region 1, which consists of Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.

Paramedics and physicians are anticipating better results and fewer hospital stays as a result.

"Based on studies and patient outcomes, we felt this was a no-brainer," said Shawn P. Godfrey, operations manager and paramedic at Village Ambulance Service in Williamstown.

According to Dr. Robert Sills, an emergency room physician at North Adams Regional Hospital and medical director for pre-hospital treatment, when the blood


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pressure or the heart isn't strong enough, blood flowing through the lungs to collect oxygen is not forced back out again, and can gather there.
Using a face-mask, the CPAP system forces a large volume of oxygen and air into the lungs, opening up the capillaries and forcing fluids back into the circulatory system, dramatically improving breathing for a distressed patient.

Godfrey said two of the three Village Ambulance units will be equipped with a CPAP system.

He added that using the tubes, many patients' bodies become dependent on them, resulting in longer hospital stays to wean them off the tubes slowly. Some bodies become so dependent, the tubes must remain.

But with CPAP, the tubes are not necessary in most cases, thus avoiding the possibility of dependency and the need for longer, or any, hospital stays.

Village Ambulance invested in the system, at a cost of $600 each, out of its operating funds, Godfrey noted.

"If we can avoid putting a tube in their lungs, and keep them from staying in the hospital, then we think it must be worth it," he said. "All the physicians agree this is a great pre-hospital treatment."

The CPAP system has been getting very positive results in a hospital setting, and some ambulance services have been getting similar results in the pre-hospital setting.

"It should really improve the outcome for a lot of patients," Sills said.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Two New Self-Study Courses Offered by the National Fire Academy



Two New Self-Study Courses Offered by the National Fire Academy

EMMITSBURG, MD. – The U.S. Fire Administration's (USFA) National Fire Academy (NFA) announced today that two new self-study courses are available through NFA Online. These new courses – ICS-300: Intermediate All-Hazard NIMS ICS Review for Expanding Incidents (Q464) and ICS-400: Fundamentals Review for Command and General Staff (Q466) – can be used as pre-course modules or refresher training for the classroom-based ICS 300 and ICS 400 courses delivered nationwide by State fire training agencies.

"These new courses incorporate the most recent changes to the National Response Framework and provide an excellent review tool for firefighters," said U.S. Fire Administrator Greg Cade. "The material presented in these online courses will better prepare the participants to be successful in the required classroom portion of the NFA's Incident Command program offerings."

Completion of Q464 and Q466 alone does not satisfy the requirements for ICS 300 and ICS 400. To access these and other self-study courses, visit NFA Online and select Browse Catalog or New Student.

Twelve courses are available through .NFA Online in the following curriculum areas: Emergency Medical Services, Emergency Response to Terrorism, Fire Prevention, Incident Management, Management Science, and Public Education. In the coming weeks, several Incident Command Simulation Series courses will be released, as well as the revised National Fire Incident Reporting System Self-Study.