F A L L 2 0 1 2

News

Medford Rural

Fire Protection District #2

Cardiac Resuscitation Excellence– Fire Chief Dave Bierwiler

MRFPD#2 Board Members

President– Robert Sheets

Vice President– Bill Riggert

Sec/Treas- Duane Venekamp

Director– Jack Tait

Director– Dan Marcisz

Community CPR Training Medford Fire-Rescue offers several American Heart Association CPR classes for business or community groups that are taught by our certified EMT's and Paramedics. Classes offered are:

• Healthcare Provider • Heartsaver First Aid CPR/AED

Each class is certified by the American Heart Association, and each student will receive the appropriate CPR card upon suc-cessful completion of the course. Courses typically have an in-structor ratio of eight students per instructor. All training equip-ment is provided, and we may be able to come to your facility.

For individuals, there are Saturday classes every other month. Additionally, Providence Medical Center and the American Red Cross offer local CPR classes.

For more information on Medford Fire-Rescue Community CPR classes, please call 541-774-2300.

We are pleased to announce that Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Machines go live on the MFR fire en-gines in November 2012. Following nearly a year of field trials with two of the leading manufacturers of automated CPR machines, Fire Dis-trict #2 authorized the purchase of five devices. One will be placed on each of the Medford Fire-Rescue (MFR) front line engines to be utilized on daily re-sponses. These devices provide automated CPR compressions on patients whose heart has stopped. Research shows that high performance CPR is critical to the survival of cardiac arrest patients. These machines provide consistent and constant CPR at optimum efficiency during patient resuscitations. Manual, human delivered CPR, often loses some of its effectiveness after just a few

minutes of performing CPR. Sometimes CPR must be stopped while moving a patient. Chest compressions in a mov-ing ambulance are also improved with this device. During the third quarter of 2012, MFR performed CPR on 17 patients in the field. Six of those arrived at the hospital with a spontaneous pulse and two were later discharged and returned home to resume their lives. Our goal is to improve this outcome even more. In addition, the device enables im-proved safety. Our paramedics can re-main seat belted in a moving ambu-lance enroute to the hospital.

This is an example of MFR’s Best Practice approach to optimiz-ing each tax dollar spent for the best re-sults.

• Heartsaver CPR/AED • Heartsaver Pediatric

P A G E 2

“Training Program Manage-ment” in Emmitsburg, MD. Prior to working at MFR, he worked at McMinnville Fire Department and at the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety. As the Chief of Operations, he is responsible for the daily department activities includ-ing coordination of firefighting crews and equipment.

In August, all Medford Fire-Rescue personnel had the opportuni-ty to train on sev-eral school buses that were donated by the First Student bus company. Crews practiced remov-ing student actors from a simulated bus accident using the vehicle extrication equipment they carry on each fire en-gine. The buses were tipped on their side to add more realism to the training.

Spotlight on Deputy Chief Justin Bates– Pam Webber

School Bus Extrication Training– Deputy Chief Bates

Deputy Chief Justin Bates has worked for the Medford Fire-Rescue since 1998. He is the Deputy Chief assigned to Operations. DC Bates earned his Asso-ciates degree in Fire Science from Chemeketa Community College, and his Fire Admin-istrators Degree from West-ern Oregon. He completed the National Fire Academy’s

The training included numerous sce-narios to prepare for situations that could happen in real emergencies. This training was timely in that it was scheduled just before school started and the buses hit the road across the Rogue Valley. Medford Fire-Rescue encourages drivers to review the school bus traffic laws and to use caution around school buses on the road in an effort to prevent accidents and keep school age kids safe.

He steers the Emergency Medical Service Committee, Peer Fitness, and the Awards Committee. DC Bates and his wife, Chandra of 18 years have four children, ranging in age from seven to fifteen. When not at work, he enjoys spending time with his family, and he is in-volved in his church.

Deputy Chief

Justin Bates

The Fire and Life Safety Division applied and successfully obtained a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to replace the Hazard House. The Hazard House is an interactive prop that is used in a variety of pub-lic education events throughout the year, but it is used primarily in local schools. The current Hazard House was heavily used over the past six years was in need of replacement.

Each year the Fire and Life Safety Division vis-its every 4th grade class within our jurisdiction. The Hazard House is used to teach kids about fire and life safety, smoke alarms, and home escape planning/drills.

Since the inception of this program in the 1990’s, tens of thousands of kids have been educated through this program. With the award of the grant, the program will continue to be an important part of what we rep-resent. Our goal is to prevent life loss and injury, with the hope that everyone that attends the Hazard House presentations will remember and share what they are taught.

Grant Awarded to Department– Fire Marshal Kleinberg

Training Chief Jason Blount

Chief Blount grew up in the Rogue Valley where he was a graduate of Phoenix High School. He obtained his AS degree in Fire Science from RCC. He worked the past 21 years for the City of Hillsboro Fire where he was the Battalion Chief of EMS and Special Operations. Jason and his wife Sarah have been married 18 years and have three chil-dren ranging in age from eight to 11. He appreciates the culture of the Rogue Valley and enjoys local outdoor activities, including hiking, biking and fishing.

Administrative Assistant Jill Hull Jill was hired in October to working as an as-sistant to the training Chief and as the backup payroll clerk. She has lived in the Rogue Val-ley for the past fourteen years and worked at Medford Schools for the last five years. While not at work she enjoys spending time with her husband and four daughters. She also enjoys cooking, reading and camping.

New Employees

Captain Sean Fey

Personnel Promotions

Captain Kevin Watt

Battalion Chief Erin Sawall

Engineer Graham Payer

Inspector Samantha Metheny

Chaplain Fred Saada Chaplain Saada began working with Medford Fire in 2012. He serves as the Chaplain for the MFR personnel as well as assisting local citi-zens that need emotional support immediately following an emergency incident. Chaplain Saada co-founded the RV Chaplains Associa-tion in 2008 that serves multiple public safety agencies. He resides in Grants Pass with his wife of twenty years and their two sons.

Captain Sean Schmidt

Winter Home Fire Safety

Portable Heaters Responsible annually for an average of 62,200 fires, 670 deaths, 1,550 civilian injuries, and $909 million in

property damage

Safety measures: • Keep heaters a minimum of 36” away from combus-tibles. • Plug directly into a wall outlet. Don’t use an exten-sion cord. • Use only heaters with built-in high temperature and

tip-over shutoff features. • Do not use un-vented fuel-fired heaters indoors. • Do not hang combustible items to dry over a heater. • Turn off portable heaters when family members are

sleeping or leave the house. • Keep heaters out of high traffic areas and exit paths.

Gas Appliances Safety measures: • Ensure proper clearances to combustibles. • Inspect the exhaust venting. • Have a technician check the appliance if there is any

doubt that it is working properly. • Install a carbon monoxide (CO) detector.

Candles Responsible annually for an average of 23,600

home fires, 165 deaths, 1,525 civilian injuries, and $300 million in property damage

Safety measures: • Blow out candles before leaving the room. • Keep candles away from items that can burn. • Always use sturdy metal, glass or ceramic holders. • Place candles out of reach of small children and pets.

News

Medford Rural Fire Protection District #2 200 South Ivy, #180 Medford, OR 97501

Medford Rural

Fire Protection

District #2

Fire Dept Web Site: www.medfordfirerescue.org