ANNUAL RESPONSE TYPES 2011

 

                                                        

 

 

 

 

Over the past six years call volume has slightly increased, however, since the 1970’s, 1980’s it has increased more than 800% increase.  In 1990 the department responded to approximately 290 emergencies so there has been a drastic increase since then.  During 1997 my first year as Chief and when more detailed records began the department responded to 720 emergencies, an increase of 250% in the past 14 years.  The department has not increased its staffing since 1973 though workload and the expectations from the public on the fire department have increased dramatically.  Data differs from other emergency services in that when people call the fire department it is almost always a true emergency and peoples life are at risk verses someone requesting a report for insurance purposes or extra patrol, etc.  If the department recorded data on request other than emergencies it surly would be triple what our response data reflects.

              FIRE ALARM RESPONSES BY TYPE

                               RESPONSE BY TYPE

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medical responses continue to be a large part of our response type categories.

Since the inception of medical response in 1989 many lives have been saved through the response of the fire department.  Research has proven that through early medical intervention such as AED (Automated External Defibrillation) lives can be saved.  This has occurred repeatedly through the years with our department response and again in 2011 a victim was successfully resuscitated through C.P.R. and AED use by our firefighters. That particular resident would not be alive today if it were not for the fire department responding and immediately performing interventions.

FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAINING 2011

     The fire department prides itself on being one of the best trained in the region.  The men take training very serious because there is a direct correlation to personal safety.  The fire department currently has two employees enrolled in the required Bureau of Labor Firefighter Apprenticeship Program.  This program takes three years to complete and involves 6000 hours of training.  This is only the first step in the long process of fully training a firefighter.  The department conducts in house on-duty training three or four days per week every week of the year.  It is our goal to have the best trained firefighters in the state.  When the budget permits and scheduling doesn’t prohibit; the firefighters receive training at the National Fire Academy, as well as other state and regional training.

     In 2011 the fire department accumulated 3,355.75 man-hours of training.

Training consisted of emergency management, hazardous material, water rescue, trench rescue, firefighting tactics, incident command just to name a few.  Training is imperative to maintain the departments ISO Class 3 fire insurance rating.  There are only 4 other departments in WV of the 436 that have this outstanding rating.  This rating is used to determine homeowner’s insurance premiums.