Location: Cleveland
Date: Nov. 11, 2024
Time: 1900
BCFEMSA November Meeting Minutes
Attendance:
● Representatives of each member department were accounted for: Allgood,
Bangor, Blount County Rescue Squad, Blountsville, Brooksille, Cleveland,
Dallas-Selfville, Holly Springs, Locust Fork, Mt. High, Murphree Valley,
Nectar, Oneonta, Pine Mountain, Remlap, Ricetown, Rosa, Roya, Snead,
Straight Mountain, Summit, and Susan Moore
● Member Departments not present: West Blount
● Associate Members Present: EMA, 911, 911 Board, AAC, Training, Special
Ops, Lifeguard Ambulance, BREMSS, Fire College, Coroner, Jr. FF Camp
● Associate Members not present: Forestry, District Attorney, Law
Enforcement, State Fire Marshal, Air Transport Providers, Red Cross,
VOAD
Guest
● Ryan Vidischak (Homepro)
Previous Meeting Minutes:
● Motion to Accept: S. Payne
● Second: J. Head
● Unanimous
Financial Report
● Motion to Accept: J. Head
● Second: T. Seehusen
● Unanimous
Old Business
● None
Committee Reports
Chairman
● H. Stockton standing in for C. Jones
EMA
● Fuelman for the year $88,903. October over monthly budget.
● D. Horton & D. Royal trying to get “in county” ICS 300/400 class. Contact
either if interested.
911
● Staffing at 13 dispatchers. Needed total 24
● After previously voting the decision to send Fire to all MVCs and reviewing
decision, it was determined changes needed to be made. New MVC
dispatch policies/procedures have been sent out.
● NO Fire/Ems will be sent to “No Injuries”. LEO will be sent to all crashes.
● Fire 1 VHF has been subjected to interferences, which have increased.
Email has been sent with budget to reprogram all Fire 1 associated
repeaters and outlining plan to move all dispatch to Fire 2 while
reprogramming Fire 1.
● Will have central location to have handhelds reprogrammed and some
techs will be sent to all fire houses.
911 Board: None
AAC
● Previous issues with getting data. Still having issues with compliance
calculator, will be fixed.
● Anything over 30 minutes response time gets reviewed.
● A lot of calls that are over the 30 mins do meet exclusion criteria per
contract. (System overload, zero status, distance, etc)
● Calls viewed from Oct 2023-Jun 2024 w/ 11 calls subject to penalty.
● There have been improvements in response times/variance
● Will meet in December
Lifeguard
● EMT Basic call is going well
● Advanced EMT class dates TBA
● Will have some supervisor/personnel changes coming
Training
● Forcible Entry class Dec. 2nd at Oneonta
BREMSS
● Does provide EMT of the year plaque
● Ascension St. Vincent’s are now UAB St. Vincent’s. (UAB St. Vincent’s
Blount, etc.)
● All service numbers will be the same
● As of now, all service levels will remain the same. (Stroke level, Traum
Center, etc.)
● Discussion and vote on updated 11th Edition Protocols coming
● IV Fluid shortage discussed.
Alabama Fire College
● Driver simulator available- Pump on one side/Driver on the other
● Schedule at First of the year
● Will be at Junior Fire Camp
● Drill Tower, Burn Trailer, etc are available
● Changes on some class curriculums coming at the first of the year
Coroner
● Recent calls involving younger people. Debriefing help is available if
needed. AFC also has debriefing available.
● Hand out on new drug coming into county. -M30. 20x deadlier than
fentanyl.
● FEMA AFG grants for fire departments opening Nov. 12- Dec 20, 2024.
Grant available for equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles,
training and other necessary resources. Copies of Email handed out..
Junior Fire College
● Will have Smoke on the Water again
New Business
● Discussed by J. Mikell about looking into a Tiered Dispatch system.
● Motion made to create a committee to explore the need and options for a
tiered dispatch system. No later than March 2025
-Motion: T. Seehusen
-Second: J. Mikell
● AFG opens Nov. 12th.
● Possible regional grant for radios in the amount of 1 million Dollars
● Motion made that West Blount Hosts with Oneonta being 2nd and that
county pay the 10%+ grant writer fee
-Motion: T. Seehusen
-Second: S. Payne
-Unanimous
● Motion made IF NEEDED for special meeting 1st week in Dec in regards to
regional grant.
-Motion: T. Seehusen
-Second: J. Head
-Unanimous
Special Announcements
● D. Horton has landfill checks
● Chief Paul Gilbert (St. 80 Remlap) FF of the Year 2024
Adjournment Motion
-Motion: A. Hill
-Second: S. Payne
-Unanimous