Omnis Cedo Domus

Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org

August 15, 2010

The Metro Insider...

Special points of

Interest:

New Baby Arrivals

Update: Station 12

Message from Chief

Parker

Message from Chief

Flynn

Health: Whole Grains

Phone Extensions:

Chief Pat Parker 1235

Asst Chief Flynn 1228

Asst Chief Schnaidt 1226

Brian Belcher 1232

Robert Casey 1233

Mike Lince 1238

Kathy Fordyce 1236

Robin Ehardt 1227

Mary Griggs 1222

Marcia Schwind 1221

Meredith Hawes 1234

Dave Lather 1229

Randy Agruda vm 1240

Mike Vaughn 1225

Troy Holliday 1231

Brian Bloom vm 1241

Tony Posey vm 1242

Admin Fire Office 3000

231-947-3000

Station One 3814

231-947-3814

Station Eight ****

231-938-9533

Station Nine 0299

231-947-0299

Station Eleven 7682

231-941-7682

Juvenile Fire Setter vm 1240

Above — Firefighter Mike Wilkins (Sta. 9) and his wife Lisa welcomes Tyler James Wilkins who was born on August 12th,

2010 at 9:03 pm. He weighed 5lbs 10oz. 19" long. Mom and dad are doing great just a little tired.

Below — Probationary Firefighter Jake Frank (Sta. 11) and his wife Angie welcomes Piper Hana Frank who was born on July 7th, 2010 at 10:34 am. She weighed 7 lbs. 18 inches long.

PAYROLL INFORMATION You can now access your own payroll info online through our payroll company. All of your paystubs, so far this year, are available for review and/or printing. Your W-2’s will be available starting at the beginning of next year. Follow the link http://www.gtmetrofire.org/members/forms/ to get instructions from Metro’s secured members area on the website on how to set up your account so you can begin to access your info

or contact Marcia Schwind at the Fire Office.

Omnis Cedo Domus

Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org

September 2010 Training Topics

Visit www.gtmetrofire.org for Current Training and

Public Education calendar.

Medical Training

Wed September 1, 2010 @1900 @ Sta. 11 Trauma (1L, 1P)

Mon September 13, 2010 @1900 @ Sta. 8 Patient Assessment (2L)

Wed September 22, 2010 @1900 @ Sta. 9 Respiratory Emergencies

(1L)

Fire Training

Wed September 8, 2010 @ 1900 @ Sta. 9 SCBA Training

(Required)

Thurs September 9, 2010 @ 1900 @ Sta. 1 Vehicle Fires

Wed September 15, 2010 @1900 @ Sta. 11 Hose Testing

(Required)

Mon September 20, 2010@1900 @ Sta. 8 Hose Testing (Required)

Sat September 25, 2010 @ 0900 @ Sta. 1 Hose Lead-outs / Pump

Ops (Required)

* Check August Schedule for Additional Required Trainings

Page 2

The Metro Insider...

It has been quite a summer. After spending 2 weeks at the National Boy Scout Jamboree, I will never com-plain about the Traverse City weather again. We had 9 days straight of the heat index over 110. As we told the scouts, stay hydrated. The same goes for us and that doesn’t mean drinking soda pop. The highlight of the Jamboree was seeing Mike Rowe talk about the 11th point of the Scout law, which is a Scout is clean. He for some reason had a problem with that. So he settled with the fact that a Scout can and should be clean, but only if he is willing to get dirty! http://www.mikeroweworks.com/2010/08/on-stage/

Boy Scouts in Defense of Dirt

THIS JUST IN FROM THE 2010 JAMBOREE: Mike’s proposing these 6 Simple Tenets in Defense of Dirt:

1.) I believe the willingness to get dirty is a fundamental requirement of civilized society. 2.) I believe that God created dirt – not cleaning products. 3.) I believe that a clean mind and a dirty body can walk around in the same skin. 4.) I believe that honest work looks an awful lot like dirt. 5.) I believe that without dirt, we don’t eat. 6.) I believe that it’s absolutely, positively essential to play in the mud.

Enough on me, Station 12 is progressing nicely (see the pictures in this issue). We hope to have it boxed in before the first snow. Stop by and take a look the next time you are in the Silver Lake area. Captain Holliday is busy picking out colors and looking at furnishings. If you are interested in Station 12 and what it looks like, please get a hold of him.

The bids are in for new Tanker 12. They were all over the map, so we are trying to do an apples to apples comparison. It should be delivered sometime in May if everything works out.

Thanks for all of your hard work this summer. We have had some interesting calls and we are all pulling together as one big TEAM.

Be Safe! Pat

Message from the Chief …

Station 12 One Month into Construction… August 13, 2010

STATION 12 STAFFING

Captain Troy Holliday is accepting serious letters of interest for Lieutenant positions and any personnel interested

in transferring to Station 12.

Turn letters into Capt Holliday before October 1st.

Omnis Cedo Domus

Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org

Page 3

Note from Chief Flynn ...

All members should be advised of the new format for Monthly training announcements which will include Pub Ed. Meredith has indicated that some members are forgetting the pre-arranged Pub Ed events. From 702- An interesting article in this month’s Fire Engineering online tells about Survivability Profiling: How can Victims Survive in a Fire? There are some interesting items including this data table.

The following are numbers of fatalities in structure fires

FF Deaths in fires Civilian Deaths in the same fires

2007 47 2 2008 31 3 2009 24 0

Sunday July 25th at 1500 hrs a lieutenant and a firefighter were killed in a house fire in Bridgeport Connecticut. No one else died in the fire. They were given orders to pull ceiling on the third floor and look for extension. What is the moral of this story; we in the fire service are sending our people in to save …….? What? When the decision is made to make an attack into a burning structure, please weigh the risk and the benefit before we place our lives on the line. Remember; Risk a Little to Gain a Little, Risk a Lot to Gain a Lot!

Another item of interest - I have visited The Village at Bay Ridge (3950 and 3850 Scenic Ridge) with our Public Educator Meredith Hawes in an attempt to review evacuation plans at each of the buildings with the occupants. We are finalizing these plans and they will be shared with the stations as we complete them.

Right — Dive team call on East Bay. This vessel was seen unmanned which led to a search for its rider. It was found to be only a loose mooring at one of the nearby resorts.

Left — Some say this is a picture of the Station 1 personnel training but it really is the neighbors next door taking a morning stroll.

Reminder that shift bids need to be requested between the 1st and 16th of every month. The shifts are filled the morning of the 16th each month. Some members often ask how the shifts are filled. They are filled by a combination of several factors. Some of them include department seniority, training attendance, call attendance and past evaluations and recent observations by officers. Those members who are constantly showing up to stations during busy periods to back fill the duty shift are given extra points in determining selection pref-erence. The GT Metro Fire Department will remain successful with our current system only if all members regardless of where they reside respond in some capacity in the event of heavy call volume or a large incident.

Metro has received a $2500.00 grant for Wildland Firefighting jumpsuits. They will be made of fire resistant 100% cotton and will be red in color with yellow reflective striping and ―Metro‖ on the back and the GT Metro logo on the front. We will purchase 3 samples for trial and everyone will have the chance of trying them for size before we order.

Right — Station 11 personnel responded to this car fire behind Bortz Healthcare.

Use caution… You never know what might be in the trunk.

Left — The Metro All-Call was used on this house which was hit by lightening in Acme. Twenty-five Metro Firefighters worked hard to extinguish this fire.

Omnis Cedo Domus

Grand Traverse Metro Emergency Services Authority 897 Parsons Rd, Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone (231) 947-3000 www.gtmetrofire.org

Page 4

Thinking About Going To The Dark Side? Contributed by Beth Pryde, BSES GT Metro Wellness Coordinator

So you've been thinking about maybe switching to whole wheat bread, or brown rice, because you've heard it is better for you. Or maybe not! You like your white bread and rice, you have since you were a kid. That brown stuff tastes like dirt or grass! Well here are a couple of great reasons to reconsider the latter and take the next steps to the former. With diabetes, and it's related illnesses on the rise as leading causes of death for men and women, and more children being diagnosed at earlier ages, it's time to face the truth about some of our eating habits, and why they need to change. Plus, you'd be surprised at how much variety there is in good whole grain foods, with nutty, bold and aromatic flavors that really add to a creative palate. Dr. Mirkin's E-zine articles touch the surface of the need to switch to whole wheat, brown rice and other whole foods. But there is much more information in his archive articles and references that are convincing from scientific medical studies. Take the time to read and learn. And then make gradual steps to switch from white to brown. Go "halvsies" with your white rice and pasta's with whole wheat and brown. Then gradually decrease the amount of white until you are at 100% brown. It won't take long to get used to, and you won't want to go back to white. It's good and good for you! Reference: Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health E-Zine June 20, 2010

Brown Rice Reduces Diabetes Risk Researchers at Harvard Medical School report that replacing 50 grams of white rice daily with the same amount of brown rice lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 16 percent, and replacing the same amount of white rice with whole barley or wheat lowers diabetes risk by 36 percent (Archives of Internal Medicine, published online June 14, 2010). Those who ate five or more servings of white rice per week were 17 percent more likely to become diabetic than those who ate less than one serving per month. Those who ate two or more servings of brown rice per week were 11 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those eating less than one serving of brown rice per month. White rice causes a much higher rise in blood sugar than brown rice does. The higher the rise in blood sugar, the more insulin is released by the pancreas. Excessive insulin production can eventually stop the pancreas from making insulin which increases risk for diabetes. A high rise in blood sugar also causes sugar to stick to the surface membranes of cells. Once stuck on a cell, sugar cannot get off and is eventually converted by a series of chemical reactions to sorbitol that destroys the cell to cause all the side effects of diabetes: heart attacks, strokes, blindness, deafness, kidney damage and so forth. White rice is "refined" by removing the bran and germ portions of brown rice, which removes fiber, vitamins, magnesium and other minerals, lignans, phytoestrogens, and phytic acid. All of these nutrients may help to prevent diabetes. All whole grains are seeds of grasses which have a thick outer capsule that requires extensive cooking to make them palatable. Removing the outer coating or grinding whole grains into flour makes the sugars readily available for rapid absorption and higher rises in blood sugar levels.

Sugar Cravings and Carbohydrate "Addiction" Diana Mirkin

Sugar cravings can be caused by the high rises and rapid drops in your blood sugar which occur when you eat any refined carbohydrates, not just sugar. If this is a problem for you, try eliminating all flour products (bread, pasta, bakery products) and other refined grains (white rice, tortillas or other refined corn products) and cereals made with refined grains. Instead, eat whole grains, fruits, vegetables and beans. Whole grains provide the nutrients you need and keep you full and satisfied for a long time, without sharp rises and drops in blood sugar. You will find lots of information on using whole grains in place of refined grains in the Nutrition section of DrMirkin.com, and recipes in the Recipe section. Use of the term "addiction" should be reserved for destructive chemical dependence on substances which are toxic to your body. Addictions can only be cured by total avoidance of the substance involved. "Carbohydrate Addiction" is a catchy phrase but unhelpful because carbohydrates are certainly not toxic; they are the most readily-available food source of energy and no one should try to avoid them completely. In nature, carbohydrates are always packaged with vitamins, minerals, fiber and thousands of phytochemicals which our bodies use to stay healthy and fight diseases. These wonderful packages are called fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. We cause problems when we take these foods and strip them of their nutrients and fiber. If you are trying to lose weight or control diabetes, avoid refined carbohydrates such as white flour, white rice and milled corn; added sugars of all types; and juices that have had the fiber removed. Everyone should eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and other seeds.