’Run card system’ is credited in helping to handle recent fires

By Jenn Smith
Posted: 05/20/2010 09:16:07 AM EDT


Thursday May 20, 2010
New England Newspapers

CUMMINGTON -- The town’s fire chief is crediting a newly activated mutual aid system with helping firefighters respond to a pair of structure fires this week.

Bernard Forgea said the system was key in helping firefighters from the hilltown departments respond to and put out the two blazes that could have been potentially devastating.

Also known as a "run card system," this network includes volunteer fire departments from 10 towns and four dispatch centers between Berkshire, Hampshire and Franklin counties. It currently covers an approximate 35-mile radius.

Fire chiefs from the towns of Ashfield, Chesterfield, Cummington, Goshen, Hawley, Peru, Plainfield, Savoy, Windsor and Worthington have been meeting monthly for more than a year to develop and tweak the plan, which, they say, still has its glitches.

"Basically, we took a compass and drew a circle around each community. If you’re in the circle, you’re going to be called to help. This way, each request for help will receive equal amounts of support from their surrounding towns," Forgea said.

The system functions as a highly organized pre-plan of attack on fires. The hilltowns have two sets of run cards, one to help dispatch a response to structure fires and another set of instructions to manage forest fires.

A dispatcher can issue one alarm to various fire stations. The responders can then look at a flow chart and see


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which teams will be sent where, who will bring what equipment, and how the fire can best be fought.
"So far, so good," said Savoy Fire Chief Lawrence Ordyna of the run card system. He noted that other Berkshire County fire chiefs have become interested in setting up a run card system in their areas, such as the North County hilltowns.

"We’re still ironing out the problems, but in the long run, we’re conserving time and resources. Our concern in the hilltowns is that we’re very understaffed during the day," Ordyna said. Savoy and Cummington, for example, only have 12 firefighters each.

The run card system was tested on Monday night when a blaze broke out at the home of Kevin and Bobbie Ann Higgins on Bush Road in Cummington. Forgea said about 50 mutual aid firefighters from seven towns were called to assist either on scene or being on standby. A machine workshop located about 20 feet from the main house was engulfed in flames. Though firefighters weren’t able to save the shop, they were able to prevent the fire from spreading, and no one was hurt.

Shortly after 1 a.m. on Wedenesday, firefighters found themselves in Cummington again facing a chimney fire on West Cummington Road. The flames traveled down into the walls of an attic, but again, the firefighters were able to save the home.

"Everyone has done a really great job this week," Forgea said.

County EMS Workers Recognized At Awards Dinner

By Patrick Ronan
iBerkshires Staff
11:20AM / Sunday, May 16, 2010
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Ann Marie Larson, left, and Warren Larson, right, were very grateful for the actions taken by Deputy Sheriff Lucas Alibozek, center.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Television and film portray "super heroes" as people who possess uncanny abilities when responding to a crisis.

In real life, the superheroes aren't wearing masks or capes. On Friday night, however, they were adorned in suits, ties and dresses for the 20th Emergency Medical Services Corp. of Berkshire County Dinner and Awards Recognition. The banquet, which was held at the Elks Lodge, welcomed representatives from every EMS agency in the county.

"Everybody deserves credit for what they do because it's a job where you don't get a lot of thanks on the street," EMSCO President Brian K. Andrews, who is also president of CountyAmbulance in Pittsfield, said. "This our way of trying to recognize our team, and it kicks off EMS Week."

EMS Week, which is nationally recognized, starts Sunday and runs through May 22. EMSCO continued its "kick-off" festivities Saturday with its first EMS Expo at the Berkshire Mall.

Thirty-seven awards were presented Friday night in two categories: Save Awards for 2009 and six Western Massachusetts EMS Recognition Awards. The county logged 17 saves in 2009, including when EMS personnel played a role in bringing a patient back to life. Dr. Ronald Hayden, director of Berkshire Medical Center's emergency department, said under specific parameters — taking into account the population served and emergency-call volume — the county's life-saving statistics are "tops in the state" and they are "getting a lot of recognition at the state and national levels."

Gerald Cahalan, Dalton firefighter/EMT (Firefighter of the Year)


The recognition awards, which were presented by Shawn Godfrey, operations manager at Village Ambulance in Williamstown, were divided into six categories, including two new awards added this year. The winners were: Lester Trufant (Educator of Excellence); Kevin Hamel, EMT-paramedic at North Adams Ambulance (Advanced Life Support Provider of the Year); Gerald Cahalan, Dalton firefighter/EMT (Firefighter of the Year); Craig DeSantis, Lee Police Department (Law Enforcement Officer of the Year); and Susan Chipman, County Ambulance (EMS Communication Specialist of the Year). Village Ambulance took home the EMS Agency of the Year award.






Kevin Hamel
Hamel, who turns 70 on Tuesday, began his EMT career in 1977 and has worked for several ambulance services in the county. He has also served on the National Ski Patrol at Brodie Mountain and Jiminy Peak for the last 40 years. He has received save awards at past banquets, but this was his first regional honor.

"I've attended just about every one of [the award dinners] they've had, and every year it gets a lot better," said Hamel, who was one of more than 130 people who attended the event. Hamel was profiled by iBerkshires three years ago.

DeSantis, the law enforcement award recipient, was involved in one of the more dramatic rescues from last year. On March 10, 2009, he was working a traffic detail in Lee when a helicopter crashed into a hillside. DeSantis rushed to the scene and discovered three people inside the wreckage — one of whom, the line mechanic, was unconscious. With fuel pouring our of the aircraft and the engine still running, DeSantis pulled the mechanic out of the helicopter while the other two were able to exit on their own.

All three are alive today.

"If you see something tragic, you respond," DeSantis said. "That's the job."

When asked about his efforts, DeSantis deflected credit to the other providers for their quick response times.

"It was a team effort. It wasn't anything I did as an individual," he said. "I had brother officers who responded from multiple police agencies, the fire department, the ambulance, the EMS. ... That's the kind of community that we live in."

On Sept. 12, 2009, Lanesborough native Ann Marie Larson was working out at Retro Fitness in Pittsfield, just three days before her 72nd birthday. Deputy Sheriff Lucas Alibozek was running on a treadmill near her. That was unusual; Alibozek said he never goes to the gym on Saturdays unless he misses a workout during the week.

Because Alibozek missed a day, Larson is still alive.

"I heard a noise behind me, and I looked back to see Mrs. Larson on the ground [after she had gone into cardiac arrest]," Alibozek said. "I cleared a path around her and asked some bystanders to help get her on her back so I could check her vitals. She was unresponsive, and that's when I started CPR."

Alibozek said, when looking back, the experience is "kind of a blur," but because of his efforts, which included calling for an automated external defibrillator and requesting that a bystander call 911, Larson was able to turn 72 and celebrate the holidays with her family.

Larson, who was accompanied by her husband, Warren, met Alibozek (while conscious) for the first time Friday night. She was thankful, to say the least:

"I'm happy to be here, happy to be alive."