Funding Alternatives for Emergency Medical and Fire Services has been revised to include the most recent information on funding for local level emergency medical services (EMS) and fire departments. Federal funding and other new and innovative funding sources not previously covered in the publication are included. Additional information on the U.S. Fire Administration’s EMS research initiatives may be found at www.usfa.fema.gov.
Miflex high-pressure diving hoses recalled
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada, in cooperation with XS Scuba, Inc., Santa Ana, California, is voluntarily recalling Miflex High-Pressure Scuba Diving Hoses, manufactured by Miflex 2, Villasanta, Italy. The hose can rupture, reducing the available air supply to the diver, posing a drowning hazard. About 17,000 hoses are involved. XS Scuba has received reports of 189 hose failures. There have been no reports of injuries. The high-pressure hose is used to monitor cylinder pressure for the air supply in tanks for scuba diving. The hoses were sold as individual replacement gauge hoses, as cascade hoses, and as part of the following kits and model numbers at scuba diving retailers and online between May 2009 and April 2012:
- Deluxe Cylinder Equalizer w/ Miflex HP hose P/N AC366.
- Miflex Two-Gauge Console HL300/HL300M.
- Miflex Rebreather Kits MRB-EVO-LG, MRB-EVO-MD & MRB-ISP-POST-LG.
Consumers should immediately stop using the hoses and contact XS Scuba to receive instructions for obtaining a free replacement hose: toll free at (888) 249-5404 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. PT Monday through Friday; Web site, www.xsscuba.com.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
April 12. Chief John Earl Wilkinson Jr., 44, Lake Dreamland Fire Department, Louisville, KY: apparent heart attack.
April 12. Captain John C. Winkelman, 54, Huntley (IL) Fire Protection District: motor vehicle accident.
April 15. First Lieutenant George Marshall Sanford, 67, Redding (CT) Fire & Emergency Medical Services Company #1: unknown medical causes.
April 16. Lieutenant Richard A. Nappi, 47, Fire Department of New York: apparent heart attack.
April 18. Firefighter Adam Longo, 31, Natrona County Fire Protection District, Casper, WY: stroke suffered on April 12.
Source: USFA Firefighters Memorial Database
Minimum training standards for public safety diving
Seven United States-based public safety diving training agencies held a roundtable meeting at the Diving Equipment Manufacturing Association show in Orlando, Florida, in November 2011 to form the Water Response Training Council (WRTC). This new council’s charter is to improve the safety of public safety divers and consumers through the development of minimum training standards.
The following agencies are founding members of the new council: Dive Rescue International, Emergency Response Diving International, International Association of Nitrox and Technical Divers, Lifeguard Systems, Professional Association of Diving Instructors, Public Safety Diving Association, and U.S. Water Rescue.
The WRTC was established to meet the growing concerns regarding a lack of national standards for public safety diving training certification agencies. Additional information on this organization and its goals are at http://bit.ly/IHgzbJ.
FDIC 2012 Award Recipients
Firefighter Larry McCormack: Ray Downey Courage and Valor Award
Firefighter Larry McCormack, Chicago (IL) Fire Department, Squad Company 5, rescued Firefighter Gerald Carter, of Engine Company 54, at a residential fire on August 25, 2011. McCormack reentered the hostile environment of the attic that he and other interior firefighters had just been ordered to evacuate to perform the rescue, without the protection of a hoseline. Carter was trapped in the thick, acrid smoke and intense heat. McCormack, using Carter’s activated PASS alarm as a guide, located Carter—unconscious, lying still, and barely breathing, his face piece dislodged. (Carter is expected to return to duty.)
McCormack, a 16-year veteran of the fire service, “exemplified the highest traditions of the fire service when he employed quick thinking and executed courageous actions to rescue a fellow firefighter,” said PennWell Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Biolchini in presenting the medal and a cash award of $35,000.
Jack Murphy: Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award
Jack Murphy, fire marshal (ret.)/former deputy chief of the Leonia (NJ) Fire Department, is the 2012 recipient of the Tom Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award.
A fire service instructor for 27 years, Murphy developed a program that fostered a good working relationship between New Jersey school districts and their local Bureau of Fire Prevention. He is a 29-year veteran of the fire service and the principal official of JJM & Associates, LLC. He is a certified State of New Jersey fire official/fire inspector. He has been involved with codes for more than 25 years and served for two and a half years on the New York City Model ICC Building and Fire Codes Program. He is the New Jersey state deputy fire coordinator (Bergen Region), the vice-chairman of the Fire Safety Directors Association (New York City), and a member of the National Fire Protection Association committees for High-Rise Building Safety and Pre-Incident Planning.
Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo: Fire Engineering/George D. Post Instructor of the Year Award
Deputy Chief Anthony Avillo, North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire and Rescue, is the 2012 Fire Engineering/George D. Post Instructor of the Year.
A fire service instructor since 1990, Avillo began the instruction segment of his career at the Bergen County (NJ) Fire Academy. He served as the training officer for the Weehawken (NJ) Fire Department and has been involved in numerous training programs with North Hudson (NJ) Regional Fire and Rescue. He is also an instructor at the Monmouth County (NJ) Fire Academy and operates a company that trains firefighters and officers for promotion. He is pursuing a master’s degree at New Jersey City University and looks forward to joining its fire science faculty. Avillo has been teaching at the FDIC since 1999.
Full coverage on these and other FDIC events is at www.fireengineering.com/fdic.html.
USFA report addresses residential building fires
An estimated 365,500 residential building fires are reported to U.S. fire departments each year, according to Residential Building Fires (2008-2010), a special report by the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Data Center. The study covers one- and two-family dwellings, multifamily buildings, manufactured housing, hotels and motels, residential hotels, dormitories, assisted-living facilities, and halfway houses.
The report identified also the following findings:
- These fires cause an estimated 2,560 deaths, 13,000 injuries, and $7.4 billion in property loss annually.
- Cooking is the leading cause of residential building fires (45 percent).
- Forty-seven percent of nonconfined residential building fires extend beyond the room of origin.
- The leading causes of these larger fires are electrical malfunctions (16 percent), unintentional or careless actions (16 percent), intentional (12 percent), and open flame (11 percent).
- Smoke alarms were not present in 22 percent of the larger, nonconfined fires in occupied residential buildings.
The report is part of the Topical Fire Report Series and is based on 2008 through 2010 National Fire Incident Reporting System data. For additional information regarding other topical reports, visit www.usfa.fema.gov.
USFA, FHA manual resource for fire and EMS providers
The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration, in conjunction with the International Fire Service Training Association, updated the 2008 edition of the Traffic Incident Management Systems manual.
The revised publication provides current technical information, training programs in traffic incident management, and guidance for local fire departments on how to comply with the latest edition of the DOT Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. It includes case studies of roadway incidents that have taken the lives of firefighters, highway scene safety survival basics, incident command for roadway incidents, and examples of effective traffic incident management programs.
Information about this study and other roadway safety projects may be found at www.usfa.fema.gov.
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