The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Received a $1.5 Million Grant From FEMA to Address Volunteer Firefighter Health Issues. 
http://gsnmagazine.com/node/42204 (Original Source)

The University of Texas (UT) Health Science Center at Houston has received nearly $1.5 million in preparedness funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address the health of volunteer firefighters.

The UT Health Science Center at Houston will use the FEMA Fire Prevention and Safety (FP&S) grant to assess the effectiveness of an Internet-based firefighter health and wellness program for volunteer fire departments. A national sample of volunteer fire departments will be recruited for a six-month-long study that will focus on nutrition and fitness for the firefighters. Modifications will be made to the program based on the study findings.

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) has tracked the number of firefighter fatalities and conducted an annual analysis for 36 years. Through the collection of information on the causes of firefighter deaths, the USFA is able to focus on specific problems and direct efforts toward finding solutions to reduce the number of firefighter fatalities. This information is also used to measure the effectiveness of current programs directed toward firefighter health and safety.

According to FEMA, in 2012 there were 81 firefighter fatalities in the U.S., including 28 career firefighters, 42 volunteer firefighters, and 11 members of wildland fire agencies. The 42 volunteer firefighter deaths including 21 from rural fire departments and 21 from urban/suburban fire departments. The deaths resulted during different types of duties, including training, responding to fires, fireground operations, on-scene nonfire, after the incident, returning from incident, and other on-duty responsibilities.

“Volunteer firefighters are integral to the firefighting profession and to the communities they support,” said FEMA Region 6 Administrator Tony Robinson. “We are proud to be a part of this important effort to boost their health and well-being."

A volunteer firefighter works part-time or on-call and may have other jobs. Although they are volunteers, employers may pay them as employees when they respond to an emergency or participate in training drills, according to the Social Security Administration.

FP&S grants are part of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program, grants that support projects to enhance the safety of the public and protect firefighters from fire and related hazards. The primary goal is to reduce injury and prevent death among high-risk populations. In 2005, Congress reauthorized funding for FP&S and expanded the eligible uses of funds to include Firefighter Safety Research and Development.


By Lorrie Barclay, for GSM Magazine

CHRISTOPHER COLLINS ON AUG 13, 2014 
SOURCE: ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS, TEXAS

Aug. 13--ABILENE, Texas -- On average, 100 U.S. firefighters die in the line of duty each year.

But that doesn't have to be the case, said Joel Thompson, a fire academy instructor and a chief of operations at the Haltom City Fire Department. On Tuesday, Thompson taught a two-hour seminar to volunteer firefighters at the Abilene Civic Center, part of the 60th annual Abilene Fire Control Conference.

The conference, which includes training on pump operations, hazardous material awareness and safety is put on by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service.

During the class, Thompson said that 75 percent of on-duty deaths could be prevented by using proper firefighting techniques and by staying in shape.

"I'd say many of these could have been prevented," he said.

About half of each year's deaths are from heart attacks, Thompson said, the apparent result of a unhealthy lifestyle and a bad diet.

"When I was a volunteer, our dinner consisted of something fried, bacon and gravy," he told the class.

The other half of deaths can mostly be attributed to firefighters going too far inside a burning structure and becoming trapped. He called the blind bravery and aptitude for thrill-seeking shown by some firemen "a culture" that needs to change.

"When that building's on fire, we're going to go inside," Thompson said. "But if we continue to operate this way, we'll continue to have 100 more deaths a year. That will only change when we change the culture."

Some tips he gave to prevent unnecessary death while fighting structure fires:

• Have knowledge of the structure, know if other structures are in proximity
• Have an action plan for how to fight the fire
• Make sure someone competent is in command
• Communicate effectively
• Identify the most significant problem -- don't get "tunnel vision" and only focus on the fire
• Have sufficient staff to fight the fire
• Use enough water

With the completion of the course, volunteers gained 70 hours of training and earned a level one firefighter certification. About 90 firefighters attended.

Twitter: @ChrisCollinsARN

Copyright 2014 - Abilene Reporter-News, Texas

“There’s a lot of attention for line of duty deaths. Firefighters who die in a burning building, in a collapse—the funerals are on television. The truth is the number of us dying with our boots off is far greater."

CBS4 in Miami recently published an article highlighting the silent killer known as cancer and how strong of an effect it has on putting firefighters' lives in danger. The article, which we highly recommend reading, can be read here: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2014/04/29/cbs4-investigates-silent-killer-claiming-lives-of-firefighters while the video report is embedded above.

Cancer is unfortunately a disease that should be on the minds of all individuals involved in emergency services. And unfortunately, many have no coverage under an Accident and Sickness program and limited, if any coverage, available through Workers’ Compensation.

However, with the VFIS Critical Illness Insurance Program, your emergency service personnel can receive a lump sum cash benefit when diagnosed with a heart attack, stroke or life threatening cancer. Coverage is provided on a 24 hour on and off duty basis. Of course like all insurance policies, there are certain conditions of coverage among them:

Conditions of Coverage:

• The coverage must be in effect for a Covered Person for at least 90 days prior to the diagnosis of the condition
  
• The Covered Person must survive for a period of 30 days after the diagnosis (The VFIS Group Term Life Insurance Policy is intended to provide survivor benefits in the event the Covered Person does not survive)
  
• The Covered Person is under age 75 when first diagnosed with cancer
  

Who is eligible?

• All members of an emergency service organization whose name appears on the roster submitted at policy inception will be considered Covered Persons. New members are eligible for coverage at the next anniversary date upon receipt of an updated roster. Coverage terminates on the policy expiration date when a member is no longer with the organization and therefore not listed on the renewal census.

Learn More: CRITICAL ILLNESS FLYER

The International Association of Fire Chiefs Foundation (IAFC Foundation) is accepting applications for its educational scholarships from qualified first responders.The deadline is June 1, 2014.

Scholarships provided by the IAFC Foundation help improve the fire service by assisting first responders advance their college level educations so they are better prepared to face the ever-increasing and complex challenges of today’s fire service.             

Available 2014 scholarships include:

• Motorola Future Leaders Scholarship Awards
• Chief Charles “Chet” Henry Memorial Scholarship Award
• Garry L. Briese Scholarship Award
• The Heather Westphal Memorial Scholarship Award
• IAFC Federal Military Section Award
• John M. Buckman, III Award
• Company Officer Leadership Symposium (COLS) Scholarship
• Fire Explorers (14-20 years of age)

Any person who is an active member with a minimum of three (3) years as a volunteer, two (2) years paid, or a combination of paid and volunteer of three (3) years with a state, county, provincial, municipal, community, industrial, or federal fire department is eligible to apply.

The scholarship application form can be found here.

For additional information please email Sharon Baroncelli or call 703.896.4822.

Leading by example is the best way to ingrain health and safety practices in firefighters

By Linda Willing - Shared from www.firerescue1.com

There were many big questions in the air at the recent Tampa2 Summit on the 16 Life Safety Initiatives. How can firefighter suicide be prevented? What is the connection between organizational culture and firefighter life safety?

What is the actual instance of firefighter cancer, and how can these illnesses be prevented? Are some casualties inevitable among those who do an inherently dangerous job?

Ten work groups were formed, each creating recommendations on specific topics from behavioral health to wildland firefighting. All of the recommendations were on point and valid, but I could also sense a little frustration among conference participants.

Of course it's important to talk about and plan for the big issues, but what can one person do right now to make a difference?

Immediate impact
This question was on my mind during one lunch break when I happened to share a table with two company officers from a large metropolitan department. They were talking about the problem of firefighters failing to always wear their air packs during overhaul, and how this exposure can lead to a number of long term illnesses.

"When I was a new firefighter, I took off my mask the minute my officer did," said one. "I didn't want to look weak in his eyes."

Others at the table echoed this attitude, reinforcing that the example set by the company officer often establishes the standard for health and safety during an entire emergency response.

Follow my lead
So the first obvious thing an individual can do is set a good example. It is critical that officers do this, but others — the senior firefighter, the highly respected engineer — should not underestimate their influence either.

Then another firefighter at the table recounted a system they had developed on his department for encouraging firefighters to stay on air longer.

"We use Scott masks, and you have to put your palm over your face to unscrew the regulator," he said. "So now when you put your hand over your mask to take it off, we look at it as if someone were holding a hand up in front of your face to stay 'Stop.' And then we look at the five fingers of the glove, and that means, wait five more minutes before you take off your mask."

Simple tools
I don't know who came up with this idea, but it's brilliant. It's not a sweeping policy that says firefighters must stay on air from the minute the get off the engine at the fire until the moment they step back on the rig to return to quarters. Certainly requiring firefighters to wear SCBA 100 percent of the time at fire calls would reduce toxic exposures, and that's a good thing.

But realistically, firefighters are not going to adhere to such an all-or-nothing policy. They will make decisions along the way about when to remove their breathing protection. And systems like the one I heard about in Tampa over lunch are great tools to assist every firefighter in making incrementally better decisions.

There are hundreds of ways individual firefighters can come up with reminders, rules of thumb, or individual systems for making firefighting a safer profession.

Conferences like the one last month in Tampa are great for talking about the big ideas, but may be even more valuable for sharing these smaller, more specific ideas in an informal way: over lunch, over beers, while riding the shuttle back to the airport.

Most importantly, whether the conversation centers on a nationwide study about cancer or a trick of the trade to get firefighters to use their protective gear more effectively, leadership always comes from example.

If officers want their crews to do something or to value something, then they must set the example in their actions and continue to live those values both on and off the emergency scene.

Original Source Article - http://www.firerescue1.com/firefighter-safety/articles/1878655-1-easy-step-to-get-firefighters-to-follow-safety-rules/

About the author

Linda F. Willing worked for more than 20 years in the emergency services, including 18 as a career firefighter and fire officer. For more than 15 years, she has provided support for fire and emergency services and other organizations through her company,RealWorld Training and Consulting. Linda's work focuses on developing customized solutions in the areas of leadership development, conflict resolution, diversity management, team building, communications and decision making. She is the author of "On the Line: Women Firefighters Tell Their Stories." Linda is also an adjunct instructor and curriculum advisor for the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. She has a B.A. in American Studies from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.S. from Regis University in Denver in Organization Development, and is a certified mediator. To contact Linda, e-mail Linda.Willing@FireRescue1.com.

The start of the Volunteer Retention Study sponsored by the Texas Emergency Services Retirement System in partnership with VFIS of Texas and SFFMA has been postponed.  According to Michelle Jordan, Executive Director for TESRS, the start date for data collection has been postponed because not enough departments have signed up for a statistically valid sample.  Currently, 47 departments have agreed to participate, which is short of the goal by about 120 departments.  We’re hoping that a strong push in February will enable a March 1 start date.

In addition to a late start, the monthly reporting has been eliminated.  The data to be collected has been revised to include current roster numbers and demographics, as well as year-end numbers from the previous five years, and retention strategy information.  By eliminating the monthly reporting, the time and effort required to participate has been greatly reduced.

Any volunteer fire department in the state can participate, as well as combination departments (only information on the volunteer side will be reported). This study will predict statewide and regional declines over the past five years, as well as provide demographic information that may be helpful.  In addition, retention strategy information will be collected and shared.

This is an important study to determine whether or not pension programs and other incentives help to retain volunteers in Texas.  If you have any questions or would like to participate in this study, please contact TESRS at study@tesrs.texas.gov for more info.

Thank you for your interest!

The Affordable Care Act requires that an employer with 50 or more full-time employees offer affordable and adequate health care coverage to its employees.  For this purpose, full time means 30 hours or more per week on average, with the hours of employees working less than that aggregated into full-time equivalents.  Employers that do not fulfill this obligation may be required to make a payment in lieu of meeting their responsibilities, which are described in what are called the employer shared responsibility provisions.  An important question arises about how the hours of volunteer firefighters and other volunteer emergency responders should be taken into account in determining whether they are full-time employees and for counting toward the 50-employee threshold.  Treasury is acting to ensure that emergency volunteer service is accorded appropriate treatment under the Affordable Care Act.

Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations on the employer shared responsibility provisions (Section 4980H of the Tax Code) in December 2012 and invited public comments.  Numerous comments were received from individuals and local fire and Emergency Medical Service departments that rely on volunteers.  The comments generally suggested that the employer responsibility rules should not count volunteer hours of nominally compensated volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel in determining full-time employees (or full-time equivalents).  In addition, Treasury heard from numerous members of Congress who expressed these same concerns on behalf of the volunteer emergency responders in their states and districts. 

Treasury and the IRS carefully reviewed these comments and spoke with representatives of volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency personnel to gain a better understanding of their specific situations.  Treasury and the IRS also reviewed various rules that apply to such volunteer personnel under other laws.  These include the statutory provisions that apply to bona fide volunteers under Section 457(e)(11) of the Tax Code (relating to deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt organizations) and rules governing the treatment of volunteers for purposes of the Federal wage and hour laws.  As a result of that review and analysis, the forthcoming final regulations relating to employer shared responsibility generally will not require volunteer hours of bona fide volunteer firefighters and volunteer emergency medical personnel at governmental or tax-exempt organizations to be counted when determining full-time employees (or full-time equivalents).

These final regulations, which we expect to issue shortly, are intended to provide timely guidance for the volunteer emergency responder community. We think this guidance strikes the appropriate balance in the treatment provided to traditional full-time emergency responder employees, bona fide volunteers, and to our Nation's first responder units, many of which heavily rely on volunteers.

Mark J. Mazur is the Assitant Secretary for Tax Policy at the United States Department of the Treasury.