At long last, Luke Carpenter is pager-less and sleeping in. Until about 4:30 a.m., even. That’s pretty late by his standards, though one of his immediate goals is, understandably, to improve that situation. But relaxation takes practice and while he’s an expert at many things, the ability to chill out remains a glaring omission on the man’s otherwise impressive curriculum vitae.
- PUB DATE: 4/28/2018 2:49:01 PM - SOURCE: Bainbridge Island Review

Pierce Manufacturing today introduced the expansion of its Command Zone™ advanced electronics architecture with the unveiling of CZConnect™, a fully-integrated telematics system featuring a free, customized vehicle readiness report containing vehicle performance data and maintenance interval information.

APPLETON, WI—Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation has expanded its Command Zone™ advanced electronics architecture with CZConnect™, a fully integrated telematics system on display at FDIC International. CZConnect joins the existing CZControl and CZDiagnostics branches of the Command Zone system as the first fully integrated WiFi-based telematics solution available in the fire industry. With CZConnect integration, a free customized vehicle readiness report containing vehicle performance data and maintenance interval information is emailed to up to five addresses chosen by the customer.

“CZConnect provides the opportunity to give fire departments access to data that can improve their performance, while at the same time, allowing Pierce to build-out long-term value propositions such as predictive maintenance and total cost of ownership,” said Jason Anibas, senior chief engineer, Pierce Manufacturing. “We’re proud to be the first in the fire industry to offer a fully-integrated telematics solution and look forward to incorporating customer feedback in the expansion of the system’s analytic capability.”

The on-board telematics control unit (TCU) continually monitors the engine, transmission, brake systems, fluid levels, system voltage, operating hours, vehicle location, and status of Command Zone I/O while the apparatus is performing its daily activities. Apparatus and GPS data is pushed from the vehicle each time it auto connects to a known WiFi network. Data analytics is performed, and a customized report is generated and designed to be viewed on mobile devices. A vehicle readiness report can also be requested at any time from the vehicle display.

Activating the customized vehicle readiness report is as simple as navigating to the Report Menu on the vehicle display, entering up to five e-mail addresses, and connecting to a minimum of one of a possible ten WiFi networks. The customer can modify e-mail addresses and WiFi networks at anytime.

“Our goal was to make the vehicle readiness report simple and intuitive, while still adding value,” said Anibas. “Each of the report category headers provide a visual indication if there is an action item contained within. Each category can be expanded or compressed to reveal the amount of information desired by the customer.”

The CZConnect fully-integrated telematics system and vehicle readiness report is available on any Pierce fire truck equipped with the Command Zone Advanced Electronics System. For a comprehensive review of CZConnect, visit www.piercemfg.com for system highlights, video and images.

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PSTrax, a technology service that helps fire departments across the country automate their apparatus, equipment and inventory checks, has rolled out a new program that provides total trackability and auditing of fire department drug supplies.

Early adopter fire departments are discovering the benefits of the program’s flexibility to “structure customization” fully to their tracking, chain of custody, auditing and reporting needs without investing extensive upfront time and resources.

Based on department requirements, PSTrax does all the setup of a complete reporting and tracking system accessible from any smartphone, desktop, tablet, laptop, and Toughbook.

Increased concerns about narcotics, consequent chain-of-custody pressure from the DEA and other government agencies, and paper-based tracking protocols that leave a lot of room for error drove development of the new program. In addition, when agencies such as the DEA come calling, they want immediate and comprehensive reports, an often-difficult challenge for paper systems.

Not only will this system provide a highly sophisticated and reliable chain-of-custody overview, it provides those in charge easy ability to see a daily report about everything from discrepancies to restocking issues. Given their responsibility for irregularities of any kind around drugs, command personnel want to run an extremely tight ship in this area.

“Automating, maintaining, and updating drug inventories without a hiccup are musts for today’s fire service, which is administering these drugs with ever-increasing frequency. This also can help EMS, private ambulance services, prisons and other organizations responsible for stocking and rapid replacement of heavy-duty drugs,” notes PSTrax Principal Scott Bergeron.

He adds that often third-party physicians are involved in fire department paramedic programs. Given that their license is on the line, they too have a huge stake in making sure everything is accounted for and administered properly.

The PSTrax Drug Module program also helps the fire service:

• Efficiently track down missing drugs. Unusual patterns or occurrences are much more subject to fast detection because the accountability system is so complete and current;
• Maintain stocks at proper levels. Reporting shows understocking, often due to being on calls, and alerts will let the next shift know what to restock during their arriving check;
• Identify any anomalies, deficiencies or problems, as anything out of whack shows up in red on the log sheet;
• Meet any tracking and reporting demand, such as daily reports requested by the DEA and/or the chain of command;
• Develop a much more robust and secure system around drug accountability and chain of custody—including tightening controls on system access to specifically authorized users.

More: www.pstrx.com

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The Yakima Fire Department says a house fire that started early Friday morning is arson. Fire crews responded at approximately 12:30 am to the fire on the 1400 block of Fairbanks Ave. Firefighters arrived to a boarded up and vacant building that had burned nearly a year ago. Fire crews describe the scene as the home completely on fire on the back side and flames venting out the windows on the front of the house.
- PUB DATE: 4/27/2018 9:31:08 AM - SOURCE: KIMA-TV CBS 29 Yakima

By Derek Rosenfeld

FDIC International 2018 continued its high-level, high-information classroom sessions with "Managing Risk in the Volunteer Fire Service," a high-energy presentation from retired Uxbridge (MA) Firefighter Joe Nedder.

What are the differences in risk today as opposed to past generations? Proper fireground management cannot exist with proper risk management, and this is no less an issue in the volunteer fire service. Despite advancements in technology and firefighting in general, changes in building construction, building materials, and fire behavior, the number of responsibilities an incident commander and fire officer nows has on the fireground has never been greater.   

In this segment, Nedder talks about the importance of proper personal protective equipment decon and the dangers of unwashed gear:

"As I developed and began teaching my volunteer officers classes, I wanted to include a segment on risk management," Nedder said. "Because it is a topic of 'discussion' in the fire service, I quickly realized two things: First, how important risk management was to all firefighters, especially we as volunteers, and second, how little we—myself included at the time—know about it, how little we understood it, and how little we cared about it!"

Here, Nedder discusses the increasing responsibilities of the incident commander on the fireground including radio communications, the need for thermal imaging cameras, and the tactics used in hose management:

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As volunteers, we truly put a lot on the line every time we respond. Not only are we at risk, but so are our families. We face death or serious injury, and our families face loss of our income and emotional trauma. The thought of leaving our families survival to the generosity of the community should, for all of us, be terrifying! Because of this, we need to be even more aware of the risks we take, work to minimize them, and learn to avoid or better control them.

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Nedder continued, "The fact that we have really not paid the attention that we should to this important area of knowledge needs to change. Some of our injuries and deaths are avoidable!

Here, Nedder goes indepth on the importance of situational awareness on the fireground:

 

"Risk management, in its most simplest terms, is something that every firefighter can practice. Let's apply common sense, accept that we are not immortal, and change some of our attitudes," Nedder said. "Our actions and decisions matter to everyone operating at a emergency scene and do affect lives.

 

Nedder concluded, "FDIC 2018 is my 22nd consecutive year attending and my eighth consecutive year teaching at the conference. Even though I am retired from active service, I continue to teach, and as such, I need to keep my knowledge sharp and very current. In addition to taking some classes