Inside this issue:

Fire & EMS Run Review 1

Fire Department Operations 2

EMS Bureau Report 3

Fire Prev./ Public Safety 4

Maintenance Bureau 6

Training Bureau 7

In Their Own Words 8

Planning to Protect... ...Acting to Save

December 2018 Volume 7, Issue 12

WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT

Planning to Protect…..Acting to Save

We Kept The Wreath Green in 2018

The West Bend Fire Depart-

ment’s annual “Keep the

Wreath Green Program” is

utilized to remind residents to

stay safe during the Holiday

season.

A red bulb is placed on the

wreath every time the fire de-

partment responds to a fire.

This year there were not any

red bulbs placed onto the

wreath!

This made 2018 one of the fire

safest holiday seasons on rec-

ord.

We would like to complement

all of our residents on their ef-

forts to make this a safe holiday

season.

YEARS of SERVICE ~ December

Lt Alan Hefter……....12/28/88

Bat Chief J Spartz…..12/28/88

Lt. A Whitmore……..12/03/95

POC J Schwieso……..12/04/01

FF J Kammueller…...12/14/15

Emergency Activities

Types of Calls

December 2018

December 2017

Year to Date

(2018) Year to Date

(2017)

Fires Calls 33 37 463 400 Emergency Medical Calls 267 263 3184 3077 Paramedic Intercepts 12 10 135 156 Interfacility Transports 32 31 437 435 Community Paramedics 0 1 33 14

Totals 344 342 4252 4082

Town of Barton Calls 8 12 108 135 Town of West Bend Calls 17 7 137 139

Page 2 Fire Department Operations By Battalion Chief John Spartz

Leadership West Bend spent a few hours at Station

#1 on December 13. The group learned about the

different jobs performed by firefighters and what a

day at the fire station entails. The session begins

with Lunch and followed by four different learning

stations that include; fire prevention, emergency

medical services, daily routines, and a fire fighting

protective clothing challenge.

Future Community Leaders Learn About the Fire Service

2017 Fire Experience By The Numbers:

There were 14,670 civilian fire injuries. This may be low as most civilian injuries aren’t reported.

Of these, 12,160 (83%), of all civilian fire injuries occurred in structure fires.

Home fires were responsible for 10,600 (72%), of all civilian fire injuries.

Another 1,370 (9%) civilian injuries occurred in highway vehicle fires.

Nationwide, a civilian fire injury occurred every 35 minutes and 37 seconds.

Source: National Fire Protection Association

Page 3

The West Bend Fire

Department finished

2018 with another rec-

ord year for number of

calls answered.

On the EMS side of the

Fire Department Oper-

ation we responded to

over 3,700 calls for ser-

vice and transported

almost 3,000 people to

area hospitals.

Our average time for an

ambulance call is over

47 minutes, while our

average time for an in-

ter-facility transport is

1 hour and 36 minutes.

We responded to 135

Paramedic Intercepts

with an average call

time of 1 hour and 7

minutes.

Our Paramedic Inter-

cept program sends 2 of

our Paramedics to re-

spond to and assist one

of our neighboring de-

partments to provide

paramedic level skills.

All of our dedicated per-

sonnel do their best to

continuously provide

the highest quality pre-

hospital care to our resi-

dents and visitors of the

West Bend area.

Emergency Medical Services Bureau Battalion Chief Tom Thrash

EMS for 2018

Page 4

Fire Prevention & Public Safety Bureau Fire Safety Education, Code Enforcement and Fire Investigation

Deputy Chief Chuck Beistle and Captain Kenny Asselin

2018 Fire Prevention Review

The West Bend Fire De-partment spends countless hours conducting fire pre-vention activities as part of an aggressive Commu-nity Risk Reduction (CRR) program. The pre-vention activities include but are not limited to: fire inspections, fire sprinkler system acceptance tests, fire alarm acceptance tests, cooking hood sup-pression acceptance tests, Fire Prevention Week school visits and open house, smoke detector installations, witnessing of school fire drills, assis-tance with evacuation plans for multi-family res-idential and business oc-cupancies, as well as presentations to different community groups.

Fire Inspections

The West Bend Fire De-partment conducts fire inspections on every busi-ness and multi-family res-idential building in the City of West Bend as well as the fire coverage areas in the Town of Barton and the Town of West Bend. These inspections are re-quired per Chapter 101.14 of the Wisconsin State Statutes. In 2018, West Bend Fire Department personnel conducted 2,769 annual and semi-annual fire inspections in those occupancies

where they are required. The fire inspections found 1186 fire and building code violations. The most common deficiencies found during fire inspec-tions include:

Exit lights and emer-

gency lighting not il-luminated or non-functional per the test buttons (back up bat-teries that needed re-placement.

Fire extinguishers that

were in need of annual testing and mainte-nance

Blocked exits

Fire alarms requiring

an annual test

Sprinkler systems re-

quiring quarterly tests and annual inspections

Extension cords run-

ning under rugs, through walls, over ceiling tiles, or through doorways

Other Activities

Many of the other activi-ties that were conducted throughout the year in-clude 30 residences where one or more smoke detec-tors were installed. Bat-tery operated smoke de-

tectors are donated by the American Red Cross. We were also able to install hard wired interconnected smoke detectors as part of a grant from State Farm Insurance. That grant also allows us to install carbon monoxide detectors in homes.

We were able to visit eve-ry public and private grade school for Fire Pre-

vention Week in the month of October. Chil-dren in kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades were taught about the history of Fire Prevention Week and also taught how to prevent fires. We will continue our aggressive campaigns to help reduce the amount of loss from fire to save lives and keep property loss at a minimum in the future.

MPO/Paramedic Larry Schwechel installs a smoke detector in a residence as part of an aggres-sive Community Risk Reduction Program

Page 5

Fire Prevention & Public Safety Bureau Fire Safety Education, Code Enforcement and Fire Investigation

by Deputy Chief Chuck Beistle and Captain Kenny Asselin

BURN AWARENESS WEEK National Burn Awareness Week, the first full week of February, is a window of opportunity for burn care organizations, burn survivor support groups, public safety professionals and injury prevention ac-tivists to increase aware-ness among the general population of the frequen-cy and causes of burn in-jury in America, and the advances in and sources of burn care available to-day. The theme for the 2019 campaign is Scalds. A scald is an injury to the layers of the skin from hot liquids or burns. Scald injuries are very painful and very costly.

According to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3134932/,

*The majority of burn in-juries in children are scald injuries resulting from hot liquids, occurring most commonly in children aged 0 to 4 years old.

*Scalds resulting from hot liquids are most common (80%), occurring five times more frequently than those resulting from flame in the first three years of life.

*Scalds also result in inju-ries of greater severity as

reflected by nearly 25% of cases requiring hospital admission compared to less than 1% of thermal burns requiring admission following initial treat-ment.

*Scald injuries can be caused by any type of hot liquid including tap water, tea and coffee, and thicker liquids such as soups, grease, and tar.

The American Burn Asso-ciation has several tips to help prevent scalds from occurring:

Set the water heater to no higher than 120 degrees, or just below the medium setting

Create a “no kid zone”

in the kitchen around stoves, ovens, and hot items

Keep hot drinks away from the edge of ta-bles and counters

Use a travel mug with a tight-fitting lid for all hot drinks

Place pots and pans on the back burner with handles turned away from the edge of the stove

The American Burn Asso-ciation also has some ad-ditional tips of what not to do to help prevent scald injuries.

DON’T leave a child unattended in the bathtub; if you must

leave, take the child or children with you

DON’T allow young children to adjust the water temperature or sit near faucet handles

DON’T set anything hot on tabletops with-in reach of young chil-dren who can pull them down

DON’T allow appli-ance cords (slow-cookers, deep-fryers, coffee makers) to dan-gle over the counter edge.

For more information on scald or burn injuries, vis-it the American Burn As-sociation website, www.ameriburn.org

Page 6 Maintenance Bureau Battalion Chief Jeff Gustafson

Keep Area Around Fire Hydrants Clear The arrival of cold

weather means that fire-

fighters will be in a con-

stant battle with slippery

roads, frozen hose lines

and buried or hidden hy-

drants due to snow.

To help insure your own

safety and allow us to act

quicker, the West Bend

Fire Department is re-

questing residents to help

keep the areas around

fire hydrants free of snow

as well as any other ob-

structions such as weeds,

shrubbery or trees.

If the unthinkable does

happen, it is extremely

important for us to be

able to locate the fire hy-

drant and be able to get

water from the hydrant

as fast as possible. Being

able to access water

quickly can mean the dif-

ference in saving a life or

a structure.

Large amounts of snow

or other obstructions

that are impeding our use

of the hydrant can take

several valuable minutes

for firefighters to clear

the area to do their job.

Residents with a fire hy-

drant located in front of

or near their home are

asked to clean snow away

from the hydrants when

they clear their sidewalk

or driveway.

Please also consider as-

sisting others in your

neighborhood who are

unable to do this on their

own.

When clearing snow or

other obstructions from a

hydrant please follow the

guideline below and

THANK YOU FOR

YOUR ASSISTANCE!

· Remove the snow from all connections on the hydrant. (Melting snow may freeze the connec-tion).

· Clear the front of the hydrant all the way to the street

· Clear an area at least 3 feet away from the hydrant in all directions.

Fire Instruction & Training Bureau Deputy Chief Chuck Beistle & Captain Bob Monday

Page 7

Winter Safety Tips Winter comes as no sur-

prise in Wisconsin, yet

many of us are not

ready for its arrival.

Storms and cold tem-

peratures can be dan-

gerous, especially when

traveling, but you can

stay safe and by plan-

ning ahead.

About 70% of winter

deaths related to snow

and ice, occur in auto-

mobiles. Travel by car

in daylight, do not trav-

el alone, keep others

notified of your sched-

ule and stay on the

main roads. Avoid back

road short cuts.

‘Winterize’ your car

with a battery check,

antifreeze, wipers and

windshield washer fluid,

lights, flashing hazard

lights, heater, defroster,

and snow tires, snow

tires with studs, or

chains. Keep your car’s

gas tank full.

When a blizzard traps

you in your car:

•Pull off the highway or

road. Turn on your haz-

ard lights and hang a

distress flag from the

radio aerial or window.

Remain in your vehicle

where rescuers are most

likely to find you.

•Do not set out on foot

unless you can see a

building close by, where

you know you can take

shelter. Distances are

distorted by blowing

snow. A building may

seem close but be too

far to walk to in deep

snow.

•Run the engine and

heater about ten

minutes each hour to

keep warm. When the

engine is running, open

a window slightly for

ventilation. This will

protect you from possi-

ble carbon monoxide

poisoning. Periodically

clear snow from the ex-

haust pipe.

•Exercise to maintain

body heat, but avoid

overexertion. In ex-

treme cold, use road

maps, seat covers, and

floor mats for insula-

tion. Huddle with pas-

sengers and use your

coat for a blanket.

•Take turns sleeping.

One person should be

awake at all times to

look for rescue crews.

•Drink fluids to avoid

dehydration.

•Be careful not to waste

battery power. Balance

your electrical energy

needs.

•At night, turn on the

inside light so work

crews or rescuers can

see you.

Stay home. If you real-

ly don’t have to go out,

don’t.

325 N 8th Ave.

West Bend, WI 53095

262.335.5054

www.ci.west-bend.wi.us

In Their Own Words…...

WEST BEND FIRE DEPARTMENT

Planning to Protect… ...Acting to Save

The back page of our newsletter features a note or card that we have received from our customers….the

people we serve. Whether it is during an ambulance call, fire call, or a public education as-

signment, the members of the West Bend Fire Department are always dedicated to

making their contact with area residents a positive experience.

Personnel Spotlight: MPO Jim Goeldner

Congratulation to MPO James Goeldner. Jim was promoted to MPO on December 30th. MPO Goeldner came to us from the Town of Brookfield Fire Department on January 4, 1998

and is now a 21 year veteran here at the WBFD. He earned his Asso-ciate degree in Fire Science in 1997, became and Inter-mediate EMT in 2001, and has been a registered Para-medic since 2009. Jim spends his off-

duty time staying active in the com-munity. He has been in-volved with West Bend Youth Foot-ball for 12 years as a head coach for the West Bend East Suns. He has met a lot of our communi-ty while coaching

and is know as "Coach Goldy". It isn't uncommon for kids he coached to say hello while he is out serving our community.