Chief Dunn's 50 reasons firefighters die. more (.pdf format)
Chief Dunn's 50 ways firefighters live. more (.pdf format)
Station 4 was a one-company house that ran our main aerial apparatus prior to being closed on a regular basis beginning in February 2003 and disbanded in January 2005. The building's location is E.260 St. and Tungsten Rd. in the south-east quadrant of the city. This station provided fire suppression and EMS response 24/7 to the south-east areas in wards 3&4 and was staffed by 3 members one of which was always a paramedic.
What is response time and why is response time so important? Definition of “response time” – Most fire service leaders agree that response time is composed of a number of distinct elements: call processing time – the time it takes for dispatchers to ascertain the location and nature of the emergency and initiate the appropriate response; turnout or staffing time – the time it takes for personnel to respond to the dispatch, board apparatus, and begin traveling to the scene; and travel time – the actual time it takes to travel from the station to the scene.
To victims of fires and certain medical emergencies chances of survival or severity of disability are directly linked to the amount of time it takes for the fire department to arrive. While many fortunate citizens escaped the ravages of fire in 2004, the only fire fatality occurred blocks away from station 4. According to the American Heart Association time is brain and time is heart muscle, meaning the amount of time it takes to get medical care is directly linked to a patient's level of injury during a heart attack or stroke. If someone is trapped in a fire or a baby stops breathing, seconds also count. Irreversible brain damage and death begin in as soon as 4 minutes.
The odds of survival from cardiac arrest decline exponentially as the first few minutes go by without effective CPR and defibrillation (cardiac shocks), the only effective treatment for sudden cardiac arrest caused by a deadly heart rhythm disturbance called "ventricular fibrillation". CPR and other interventions, which are critical to the "chain of survival", can only increase the chance for successful resuscitation by paramedics or persons equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED) and "buy time".
The closure of station 4 almost guarantees the fire department cannot arrive to the scene within 4 minutes, more commonly response times to that area are upwards of 6-8 minutes according to personnel who respond to this area on a daily basis. Assuming chances of survival drop approximately 10% each minute after cardiac arrest occurs the math is simple; after about 10 minutes there is no chance of successful treatment for victims of cardiac/respiratory arrest.
Fact: a fire can double in size in a little as 2 minutes. In as little as 30 seconds a small flame can become a deadly house fire.
Station 4's area includes a dialysis center, a senior citizen high rise, a retirement community, two elementary schools, many places of assembly, interstate freeway, a busy railroad, and a variety of industry. There are also plans for a possible housing/church project in the works that could bring hundreds of new residents (young and old) and a church that seats over a thousand to one of the most remote areas of the city. At city council hearings regarding this proposed development the residents and city administration received reassurance from the former Fire Chief that it would not be a significant burden for the department to absorb. At a council meeting on October 17, 2005 the current Fire Chief reaffirmed this statement.
With station 4 is closed, not only are the citizens and businesses of that area getting short-changed, our members have to do "more with less". A Fire or EMS response to that area of the city now takes a company from another district to handle it, leaving large sections of the city un-protected at various times. A one-alarm fire in the city commits all resources to that fire. No units, except possibly one rescue squad (ambulance), are available to respond to any other emergencies that occur in the city. It is common for all fire department units to be involved in an incident and have other emergencies, even structure fires, occur. The Mutual-Aid Box Alarm System (MA
 |
BAS) is our only option when multiple incidents occur or the
needs of an incident exceed our resources. Surrounding departments,
including ours, have to be available to make the system work. If we are
busy or overtaxed chances are that other neighboring cities, who may also be
understaffed, are busy and overtaxed. Mutual Aid requests by the EFD are
made quite frequently sometimes multiple times in the same day.
The building has been officially designated as a Police Mini-Station and the signage has been changed to reflect it's current use. (Summer '06)
Regrettably, another fatal fire took place on 5-26-2007 in which a civilian was killed. The incident took place on Sidney Avenue in the neighborhood of apartments and condominiums behind the former Station 4. (Update 5/07)
Euclid Firefighters successfully rescued a man trapped in a fire on Knuth Ave. Members were alerted in the pre-dawn hours to an apartment fire with people trapped. With the assistance of the Euclid Police Department, the building door was opened and ready for our fire attack and successful search and rescue. This citizen was severely burned and suffered smoke inhalation. Any further delay, this incident could easily have been added to our list of fatalities in the neighborhood surrounding "Station 4". (Update September1, 2007)
OUR STAFFING ISSUES
Background:
Safe
Staffing Levels and Liability
Citizen.com blog (11/03/05)
National fire service staffing studies have shown that the effectiveness of a
fire fighter to carry out tasks that are critical to saving lives, controlling
fire and preventing injuries to citizens and fire fighters are directly related
to the staffing levels of their department. Fire and emergency services staffing
levels must fit the needs of the local community. Most community's level of
service is determined by the national standard of care or "expected" standard of
minimum care. When a department fails to meet the needs of its community and/or
delivers a level of service which is unsatisfactory, it opens itself and the
local government up to civil liability. The National Fire Protection
Association has formulated standards that address issues of how quickly fire
departments should respond and with how many fire fighters it should respond
with. The majority of any department's budget is personnel cost, and most chiefs
are constantly defending and justifying their budgets to the local government
and its financial management staff. Most chiefs would agree that balancing the
budget on the back of public safety can degrade the level of service that their
departments are able to provide. Harold Schaitberger, president of the
International Association of Firefighters, says, "The fact is that too many
politicians are simply willing to ignore the situation and continue to play a
dangerous game of firehouse roulette with public safety and the lives of
professional fire fighters." Fire fighters have accepted the dangers and
challenges of their noble calling. This is the career they have chosen, however
they (firefighters) should not expect and should never tolerate having to beg
for the resources and assets they desperately need to do their jobs safely and
effectively.
(Web
Link)
The GIS study conducted by the IAFF backs up Local 337's claims of understaffing and lack of service.
The minimum daily shift of firefighters in the city had been 19 since the early 90's when it dropped from 21. At the beginning of 2003 manning was again reduced by the former chief due to city budget cuts. Daily minimum shift manning now stands at 16. The current city administration and council continually state that they are unable to provide funds to open Station 4 and/or replace lost manning.
The IAFF geographical information study (GIS) conducted in 2003 states (citing recognized national standards) that the manning for Euclid Fire's combination Fire/EMS personnel should be 25. This study takes into account the size, population, deployment, and hazards of our city bolstering our position on staffing and deployment issues. While we agree that this number may be financially unrealistic the number 19 seems to be a good compromise. The GIS also reveals that the Euclid Fire Department fails to provide essential services needed by the special hazards in our city. These hazards include: Lake Erie and other bodies of water, confined space rescue, significant hazardous materials (in-transit and on-site); so significant that at least one area team made it a point to say they would not respond to incidents in Euclid, high-angle rope rescue, terrorism/WMD, and frequent high-rise building fire response.