Introduction
As the holiday season begins, so arrives cold weather, snow and a little blowing and drifting.  Attention turns to ensuring that the pumps on the trucks are dry and that the hazards of cold air and slippery driving and walking surfaces are acknowledged as we respond to calls—both for responder and patient safety. 

Personnel

• The department received a letter of resignation from Jack Ferris, long time volunteer and former EMS Director for the department.  Jack also served as a firefighter this past year or so, until moving away from the community.  His resignation has been acknowledged by letter from the Chief.  We thank Jack for his many contributions to the Department.
• Also resigning was Marcie Ferris.  Marcie served as an EMT for the Department for several years, and was an instigator of activities for the Department’s annual holiday party.  
• Interviews to establish a hiring list for Firefighter-EMT’s were held near the end of November.  A position posting had been on the Munson website for over a month and garnered 30+ applicants.  These were pre-screened down to 10 finalists to be interviewed, who were ranked and placed on a hiring list.  This activity was undertaken: to enable us to readily address personnel vacancies as they occur; to accommodate the potential for future decreases in available part-paid staff members; to prepare for the possibility of needing additional staffing should Empire agree to engage in a contract for fire services.  Having a hiring list does not commit the Department to hire all those that were interviewed, but it does position it to address staff vacancies quickly. 

Training

• Two scheduled training sessions were held in November.  The first was a review of pediatric equipment carried on the ambulances and practice in its use as well as a discussion and practice of various therapies specific to pediatric patients.  Twenty-two people attended this training.  Annually, pediatric emergency care is reviewed and, every other year, a prehospital pediatric emergency care certification course is scheduled.  One will be held in 2008.  
• The second scheduled training session was a re-familiarization with fire equipment, and the location of that equipment on various fire apparatus.  This training was done utilizing teams in a “scavenger hunt” format.  The worksheet used to guide this activity included the location and quantity of the various pieces of equipment.  A completed version was posted on the hallway bulletin board for all to review the next day.  Seventeen people attended this training session.  Formal Department photos were taken while teams worked on the scavenger hunt activity. 
• Two make-up sessions for Special Programs (AED, Combitube use and Basic Pharmacology) were held in November.  All EMT’s that provide care in this Medical Control region are required to refresh on this information twice a year.  This provided another opportunity to practice using new AED’s.  A total of 10 individuals participated in the make-up sessions, including four non-medical personnel from the Empire Fire Department who were briefed on the operation of the new AED’s. 
• The final week of duty crew training was held in November and it was on the topic of ventilation.  Earlier this fall, a schedule was set for the rotation of full time staff members, each to be responsible for a training topic each week.  Participation in the training activities are required of full time staff and are open for part-time staff participation.  The sessions generally consist of foundational information, an activity and a final evaluation of knowledge.  The training usually takes about an hour to complete and may be done independently or with others.  The responsibility to generate another round of weekly training will again rotate among the full time staff members after the first of the new year. 
• At all scheduled training sessions, the Chief generally takes the opportunity to provide a brief update of department activities and also encourage members to stay informed (get the facts) about department issues through conversation with him and participation in departmental activities rather than strictly through newspaper articles. 

Administration

• Work began on updating and fully developing the use of all facets of the FireHouse software program that is currently used to track and report fire/EMS calls, record staff information and compile staff time allocated to various projects.  This program has significant capability and also will aid in tracking equipment, inventory control, record-keeping, and vehicle maintenance. 
• Negotiation continues relative to obtaining reimbursement from the utility companies for extended stand-by time spent at wires down, etc. This has required a significant amount of staff time to retrieve data from the software database used by the Department.
• Work has begun on updating the contacts in the pre-incident plan books kept in fire apparatus.  Several individuals have made phone calls to business-owners to check contact information and generally update these important documents. 

Apparatus

• Quint 331 and Engine 311 now have modified ALS jump kits which will complement the cardiac monitors that will serve as AED’s for those units.  Training to document the competency of all members in the use of the cardiac monitors as an AED will be done in December.
• Ryan Deering removed the spot light from 382, sanded and painted it and re-mounted it. 
• Several of the apparatus have been scrubbed of bugs, waxed and buffed to protect the finish for the winter. 
• The winch on Engine 312 has been tested and is in good working order.  The control has been placed on the shelf in the forward passenger side compartment. 

Facilities

• Bryan Ferguson took the lead in preparing wheel stops placed in the apparatus bays for each piece of apparatus.   This project permits the vehicles to be parked in a uniform way and offers a safety mechanism to ensure vehicles are parked far enough from the bay doors, yet not so far that they are a hazard in the middle of the apparatus bay area.  Thanks go to Northwood Home Center for providing lumber for the project and to Elmer’s for providing conveyor belt material. 
• Andrew Anthony has done a considerable amount of work on the building public address and alerting system.  A loudspeaker that can actually be understood is now present in the apparatus bay, as well as a buzzer that goes off when tones are set. 
• Work continues on establishing easy-to-use documentation for water point identification and use.  Eric Dubord is entering this information into software that will permit the generation of a map that will contain all necessary information and will be easy to use on-scene.  It is anticipated that there will be training in its use after the first of the year. 
• A traffic light has been placed in the northeast corner of the apparatus bay.  The purpose of this light is to advise crews of the passage of time when preparing to respond on calls.  The traffic light is activated by the Department’s response tones.  The green light stays on for one minute; the amber for one minute; and the red for three minutes.  The goal is to be clear of the station with the appropriate initial apparatus within the first minute following alert tones. 

Equipment

• Since the arrival of pediatric defibrillation pads, new AED’s have been placed on the following pieces of apparatus:  393; 312; 321; 322; 384; and Empire 251.  AED’s will be on the following vehicles until all are checked-off on the use of the monitors as an AED:  392; 311; 331.  After the placement of cardiac monitors on these units, the additional AED’s will go to 382, 300 and to special services.
• All equipment owned by the Fire Department is being inventoried and property-tagged.  The list is being entered into the FireHouse software, which will assist in the process of sorting and labeling.
• New reflective coats have been received and distributed, along with uniform belts.  Both items were purchased in conjunction the capital expense plan for replacement fire gear and will provide additional safety (not to mention warmth) for crews working outside. 

Programs and Additional Services

• The Department again assisted the Township by placing lights on the Township’s Christmas tree and attended the annual tree lighting.
• The duty crew provided a ride to Santa Claus for his annual appearance in Glen Arbor.
• The Department has a number of fire extinguishers for sale.  They are nice, rechargeable extinguishers that are being offered at a low price.  Two sizes are available.  This sale is being advertised through flyers that were developed and distributed by Steve Hooper. 

Acknowledgements Received

• Donations received from the following individuals in the name of Gilbert Warnes:
  

• Donations received from the following in the name of Scott Hanna (Sue Nichols’ Brother)
• Susan E. Cohen
• Al Cohen

• Donations received from the following in the name of Bill Olson
• Sandra and John Hatch
• Bill and Peggy Dotterweich

• A very nice thank you was received from the Glen Arbor Chamber of Commerce and the Department was very kindly mentioned in Letters to the Editor of the Leelanau Enterprise acknowledging our contributions toward lighting Glen Arbor’s Christmas tree. 

Submitted by:

John A. Dodson
Chief of the Department