Chief’s Message………………………………………... 3 Department Overview………………………………….. 4 Vision and Promise…………………………………….. 7 Emergency Management Division…………………….. 11 EMS Division………………………………………….. 34 Fire Division…………………………………………… 56 Recruitment, Retention, & Marketing …………………. 82 Station Information……………………………………..104

2 I am pleased to present the 2007 Annual Report for Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue. This report will provide you with insight into the operations and functions and demonstrate that we strive to meet the needs and expectations of the people we protect. It’s ever important that we respond quickly, competently, and compassionately. As you review the pages of this annual report I trust that you will be impressed with the depth and degree of the fire, rescue, and emergency services available to the people of Bedford County at the lowest attainable cost. As is illustrated in our Bedford County Community Promise, we are committed to providing quality services to the Bedford County community.

I am proud of the accomplishments of all fire and rescue providers within Bedford County and you should be also. The members of these agencies not only provide outstanding emergency service but contribute to the welfare of the community in numerous ways as you will see in this report. The pure gift of service in hours by our most dedicated and professional fire and rescue volunteers is phenomenal. The vast array of service areas that are provided are the nuts and bolts of the system; training, recruitment, retention, fire investigations and administration all come together as a cohesive program to build up and support the community safety net that is expected by our citizens.

A true concept of our service delivery is the concept of neighbor helping neighbor in their most desperate moment of need. Most Warmly, 3 Department Overview

Bedford County Department of Fire & Rescue is currently lead by Chief Jack Jones, Jr. He has held this position for 6 years, and reports directly to the County Administrator. In this position he is responsible for all career members and over 750 volunteer members in all facets of Fire and EMS operations. The current organizational structure has a Deputy Chief for the Fire Suppression Division, EMS Coordinator for the EMS Division, Administration Manager and Administrative Assistant for the Administration Division, Fire Marshal, Chief Haz-Mat Officer and a Wild Land Fire Coordinator- Battalion Chief, as well as Recruitment–Retention and Marketing Specialist in administration; each of these people report directly to the Chief on a daily basis.

The Emergency Management Division is responsible for overall coordination of non Law Enforcement Emergency Services for Bedford County. Emergency Services include volunteer fire services, volunteer rescue services, and other non governmental agencies such as the American Red Cross and Faith Based partners. In addition, this department coordinates countywide Fire and EMS training, pandemic planning, hazardous materials response and management, mass evacuation situations, nuclear biological & chemical emergency response and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) management. By county code it is designated the lead agency in response to all natural and man-made disasters in Bedford County. Other areas of responsibility include administration of the County volunteer Fire and EMS insurance policy, retention and recruitment of volunteers, performing fire scene investigations and liaison with other agencies and jurisdictions regarding emergency management.

Bedford County is served by eleven land based fire companies and one marine based fire company. In addition, these agencies operate eight satellite stations to provide broader fire services coverage and an improved Insurance Service Office (ISO) fire protection rating. Bedford County provides funding for apparatus, equipment, operations, and training to ensure the highest level of readiness to the various communities of Bedford County. Property, vehicle, accident, health, and liability insurance are provided by a blanket policy sponsored by the County of Bedford for all agencies and members. Fire Apparatus is included in the capital improvement program (CIP).

4 Department Overview (continued)

Bedford County has eleven rescue squads based in the County and is served by the Campbell County Rescue Squad, which provides primary EMS services to a portion of eastern Bedford County. These 12 squads provide basic and advanced life support to the citizens and are dispatched through the joint City/County E-911 Center which initiated Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) in February 2006. Bedford County provides funding for apparatus, equipment, operations, and training to ensure the highest level of readiness to the various communities of Bedford County. Property, vehicle, accident, health, and liability insurance are provided by a blanket policy sponsored by the County of Bedford for all agencies and members. A standardized ambulance replacement program is included in the capital improvement program (CIP).

Bedford County Fire & Rescue is in it’s infancy in regards to development. Historically each of the 24 Fire & Rescue agencies worked independently of one another with little coordination or direction and control from the county government. Minimal standardization in training, equipment purchases or SOG existed. We now have standardization in major purchases such as apparatus, bunker gear and cardiac monitoring and equipment replacements are addressed in a master improvement plan. Annual fire academies are conducted and a system wide medical director is in place. A common communication system is in place and Standard Operating Guides are routinely developed and span the entire system.

5 Fire & Rescue Administration Jack Jones, Jr., Chief H. Lee Day, III., Deputy Chief Seth Mowles, FF/Paramedic - EMS Captain Janet Blankenship, FF/Paramedic - Recruitment & Retention Michelle Crumpacker, Administrative Manager Shelley Tillman, Administrative Assistant

6 Vision Statement To be leaders in our profession and serve as a role model for other Fire & Emergency Medical Services, and to be an organization that people are proud to be part of.

BCoFR Community Promise WE SERVE WITH HONOR & INTEGRITY

WE TREAT EVERYONE WITH FAIRNESS & RESPECT

WE PROVIDE FRIENDLY & EFFICIENT SERVICE

WE VALUE THE PUBLICS CONFIDENCE & TRUST

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR ACTIONS

WE PURSUE EXCELLENCE

WE WORK AS A TEAM

WE MAKE BEDFORD COUNTY 7 A NICE PLACE TO LIVE NIMS Compliance

In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5), the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the Department of Homeland Security Grant Program has mandated that at the local level all government departments and agencies adopt as well as promote National Incident Management System (NIMS) Compliance. Bedford County is working to comply with these mandates. It is the goal of Bedford County to achieve 100% compliance with the mandates.

Thus far, Bedford County has complied with a majority of the mandates. However, we are continuing to strive for 100% compliance. Bedford County’s 100% compliance plan is as follows:

• The Bedford County Board of Supervisors adopted the NIMS on October 24, 2004. We are continuing to work toward increasing the awareness of the Private sector agencies / Nongovernmental agencies (NGA) to NIMS.

• Bedford County has and will continue to manage all emergency incidents and preplanned events using the Incident Command System as defined by NIMS to include an Incident Action Plan and Common Communications Plans.

• Bedford County currently coordinates and supports emergency incident and event management through the development and use of integrated multi-agency coordination systems. We have the appropriate facilities and equipment to coordinate with local command posts and Emergency Operations Centers (EOC), 911 Centers, and the State EOC.

• Bedford County has a designated Public Information Officer that implements processes and procedures to communicate timely and accurate information through a Joint Information System.

• Bedford County has established a community NIMS baseline and has coordinated and leveraged all federal preparedness funding to help implement the NIMS. 8 NIMS Compliance (continued)

• Bedford County will continue to seek support in updating our mutual aid agreements with all of the necessary agencies and municipalities that will be needed to promote intrastate (via statewide mutual aid) and interagency agreements and cooperation.

• Bedford County has and will continue to incorporate ICS 100 and 200, IS-700 and IS-800 in our training courses to ensure our personnel will be familiar with and have working knowledge of the NIMS.

• Bedford County has and will continue to incorporate NIMS/ICS in all of our local, state and regional trainings and exercises, as well as having active participation in all-hazard exercise programs to include multiple discipline and multi- jurisdictional responders.

• Bedford County has also incorporated corrective actions into our preparedness and response plans.

• Bedford County will continue keeping an inventory of community response assets.

• Bedford County will ensure that relevant national standards and guidance are utilized in equipment acquisitions; communication and data interoperability are all incorporated into local acquisition programs.

• Bedford County also applies standardized and consistent terminology in our communication through the system by use of plain English communications across the public safety sector.

It is the primary intent of Bedford County to continue to ensure the adequacy of the mandates.

We are dedicated in our goal of achieving 100% compliance as outlined throughout the mandates. 9 10 Each year as the CIP Budget allows, fire and rescue Minitor pagers are ordered. Once received, each fire and rescue company receives them on an as needed basis by request. Once a fire and rescue agency requests them, they must first go to Jeff Johnson, E-911 Center Manager to be programmed. Once they are programmed, a form is generated for them to sign showing receipt of the pagers and chargers. If an agency has a broken pager, they bring them to Fire & Rescue Administration and pager is sent out to Motorola or Complete Wireless Technologies for repair; the repair process usually takes approximately two weeks.

Each year, each fire and rescue company receives five (5) radio batteries from Fire & Rescue Administration. Currently we order 150 batteries at a time at a cost of $35.00 each for a total of $5,250.00. Once the batteries are ordered, we notify the fire and rescue companies. To pick them up, they must sign a form verifying they have received them for accounting purposes.

11 Some of the current grants that Bedford County Fire & Rescue have been working with this current fiscal year are as follows: 2005 Homeland Security Grant – The 2005 Homeland Security Grant provides funding for planning, equipment, training, exercises, and program management and administration for emergency prevention, preparedness, and response personnel. The award amount for this grant was $101,330 and as of August 3, 2007 this amount has been spent and the grant has been closed out.

OEMS Consolidated Grant – This grant was for the purchase of a Medium Duty Crash/Rescue Truck for Moneta Fire Department. Funding for this grant came from Moneta Fire Department, Moneta Rescue Squad, and FY 2006- 2007 Fire & Rescue funds. The Medium Duty Crash/Rescue Truck was received in June 2007 and the grant was closed out on August 1, 2007.

Be Fire Safe Grant – In October 2006 the Department of Fire & Rescue was one of 38 jurisdictions to be considered for an award of Smoke Alarms as part of the Be Fire Safe, Virginia Smoke Alarm Installation and Education Project sponsored by the Virginia Fire Services Board, and the Department of Fire & Rescue received 203 smoke alarms for installation within our jurisdiction. As of October 2007, all 203 smoke alarms have been installed in homes of Bedford County and the recipients of the smoke alarms have also received fire safety educational information and materials as part of this grant project.

VA Fire Services Board Mimi Training Grant - This grant is for a Concrete Trench Training Simulator. This grant was completed in November 2007.

OEMS Grant (2006 RSF Grant – Recruitment & Retention) – On July 1, 2006 Bedford County Fire & Rescue was awarded funding from the OEMS Consolidated Grant Program for a Simulaids Stat Manikin, Simulaids Stat Baby Manikin and a Recruitment Trailer. To date, both manikins have been purchased and are currently being used for training and the Recruitment Trailer has been purchased. Currently we are working to purchase recruitment and retention items to fill the trailer. This grant does not close out until June 30, 2008.

Be Fire Safe Grant – On August 1, 2007 the Department of Fire & Rescue was one of 39 jurisdictions to be considered for an award of Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarms as part of the Be Fire Safe, Virginia Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm Grant Program sponsored by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs (VDFP), the Virginia Fire Services Board (VFSB), and the Sate Fire Marshals Office (SFMO), and the Department of Fire & Rescue received 200 carbon monoxide alarms for installation within our jurisdiction. We have until August 2008 to complete this grant project. 12 Fully Involved The Official Newsletter Of Bedford County Fire & Rescue

The Fire & Rescue Newsletter “Fully Involved” is written, designed, printed, folded, sealed, sorted and mailed approximately four times a year. Currently we are sending out about 870 newsletters each time. The last issue was sent out October 2007 and the cost for this was $1,331.04 (printing $1,017.60 + postage $313.44).

13 Campbell Insurance provides property, vehicle, accident, health, and liability insurance as a blanket policy sponsored by the County of Bedford for all agencies and members.

The current insurance coverage runs from March 1, 2007 through March 1, 2008 and the current coverage amount is $250,525.

As of November 1, 2007 there have been: 20 Insurance Claims (see following report) 14 Vehicle Change Request (Adding/Deleting Vehicles) 62 Reported Insurance Changes due to adding/deleting members

14 (continued)

15 (continued)

16 (continued)

17 The 2nd year renewal for enrollment in the LOSAP Program has been completed and we are happy to report that there were 24 members who reached entitlement age and met the necessary requirements to begin receiving a monthly benefit effective July 1, 2007. During the renewal period we added 41 new members to the LOSAP program which brings our enrollment total to 347 eligible members for this current LOSAP period. The current LOSAP period runs from April 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008.

There are requirements for eligibility in the LOSAP program:

• Volunteer Members of the plan must be active in his/her independent fire company or rescue squad as defined by the criteria (by-laws, protocols, operating procedures, etc.) established and followed by that company or squad and completion of 12 full months of service as an active member.

• Membership criteria for retirement benefits is not intended to affect the administration or operation of any independent company or squad; however, it is mandatory that for retirement benefits, all participants be active and in good standings with their company or squad.

• Volunteer members of the plan must actively participate in company or squad activities, including but not limited to: responding to and completing emergency calls, duty assignments, business meeting attendance, training opportunities, work details, stand-by requests, maintenance requirements, raising funds, community relations.

• Volunteer members of the plan must earn points at a minimum of 100 points each plan year with minimum point requirements for running calls; attending business meetings; and attending training meetings.

18 (continued)

• Volunteer members of the plan must comply with:

Rescue Division •VA OEMS continuing education requirements to maintain at least EMT-B Certification. While upgrading to or maintenance of an ALS level is desired, EMT-B is necessary.

•BREMS and BREMS Regional OMD protocols (Western Virginia where applicable).

•Bedford County Fire & Rescue protocols, directives, and/or Standard Operating Guides.

•Squad OMD protocols as they may differ from regional as well as OMD directives such as skills review (QA).

Fire Division •Virginia Department of Fire Programs Certification Requirements.

•Bedford County Fire & Rescue protocols, directives, and/or Standard Operating Guides.

•Company OMD protocols as they may differ from regional as well as OMD directives such as skills review (QA).

19 (continued)

Point Values For Rescue Are As Follows: Point Values For Fire Are As Follows:

ACTIVITY POINTS ACTIVITY POINTS Response To A Call 1 Per Call Response To A Call 1 Per Call (Scene) (Scene) Running Call 2 Per Call* Running Call 2 Per Call* (Prolonged Incident) (Scene To Hospital)

Upgrade Certification 25 Per Upgrade Upgrade Certification 25 Per Upgrade

Meeting Attendance 1 Per Meeting** Meeting Attendance 1 Per Meeting**

Stand-By 1 Per Hour Stand-By 1 Per Hour

Company/Squad Training 1 Per Hour*** Company/Squad Training 1 Per Hour***

Raising Funds 1 Per Hour Raising Funds 1 Per Hour

Maintenance 1 Per Hour Maintenance 1 Per Hour

Administration 1 Per Hour Administration 1 Per Hour (Paperwork) (Paperwork)

* 48 Points Minimum * 48 Points Minimum ** 6 Points Minimum ** 6 Points Minimum *** 12 Points Minimum *** 12 Points Minimum 20 (continued)

Explanation of LOSAP Criteria Response To A Call – Is defined by a member of a Bedford County agency being dispatched/responding to a call. The member needs to have the intent of completing the call when responding.

Running A Call – Rescue Division – Is defined as not only being dispatched/responding to the call but either obtained the patient refusal or transporting to the hospital and ensuring that the unit is back in service for the next call. Fire Division – Is defined as participating in the prolonged incident.

Upgrade Of Certification – Is defined as the successful completion of a course to advance in certification higher than previously trained. Rescue Division – If and EMT- B attends and successfully completed an EMT-EN certification, or attending and successfully completing an ACLS class where the provider has never been previously certified. This does not include recertification of a current certification. Fire Division – Obtaining the next level of certification.

Meeting Attendance – Is defined as individual company/squad monthly business meetings that are attended and are attended with a 12 month period.

Stand-By – Is defined as any activity that a company/squad is requested to support. Examples: high school football games, drag races, community event, etc.

Company Or Squad Training – Is defined as any training that is attended and approved by your company or squad. It will include recertification, training meetings, county wide training events or teams.

Raising Funds – Is defined as any department sanctioned fund raisers. Examples: chicken dinners, ham dinners, etc.

Maintenance – Is defined as the amount of time a member puts into providing maintenance to any equipment or apparatus that is in need. It will be documented on a department level.

Administration – Is defined as any member that accepts the responsibility to be in charge of administrative duties of the department. Examples: department officers, skills review committee, recruitment and retention officer, PPDR reporting, VFIRS 21 reporting, etc. "First Responder to the First Responder" Who is a Fire & Rescue Chaplain? A fire and rescue chaplain is a minister who seeks to meet the life needs of all fire and rescue service personnel and their families, who honors all faiths, and who is also able to care for community victims impacted by fire or assisted by fire and rescue service personnel. The Fire & Rescue Chaplain deals with the traumatic experiences of loss and grief, as well as, the areas of Critical Incident Stress (CIS).

What do Fire & Rescue Chaplains do? Fire & Rescue Chaplains respond to the following needs: · Provide for the Spiritual needs of emergency services Bedford County Fire & Rescue personnel and their families. Chaplains · Crisis situations involving emergency services personnel. · Crisis situations involving families of emergency services • Pastor David Huffman, Chief Chaplain personnel. · Visiting emergency services personnel that are sick or injured • Father Steve McNally at home or in the hospital. · Crisis intervention involving victims of emergencies that • Reverend Travis Witt require fire response. · Assist emergency services personnel with stress management. · Crisis intervention involving emergency services personnel who seek family guidance. · Serve as a part of the CISM process. · Assist the IC at an emergency as directed. · Serve as a liaison with local clergy. · Perform or participate in wedding ceremonies, funerals, dedications, and baptisms for emergency services personnel and their families. · Provide a listening ear and keep what is heard confidential. 22 The Wildland Division proactively works to prevent wildland fires by educating the public on the real threat of wildfire, reducing the threat of wildfire to the community, and assisting homeowners in the creation of defensible space on their property.

23 Fire Investigations Fighting to prevent and investigate the devastating effects of fire, fire marshals serve as the law and code enforcement arm of the fire service. After receiving extensive training, fire inspectors and investigators are responsible for the fire prevention, inspections and investigations. Fire Investigators duty is provided on a weekly call rotation with a Duty Fire Marshal being available 24-7. The Fire Marshal reports to an Incident Scene within one hour of the request. On large or complex incidents, multiple members of the Fire Marshal staff will report. Bedford County Fire Marshal’s have numerous certifications and are trained in Post Blast Investigations by the US Department of Justice ATF&E; and several are in the process of achieving Certified Forensic Fire Investigator Certificates. Fire Marshal Staff

• John Jennings (Part-time Employee) • Chief Jack Jones, Jr. • Deputy Chief H. Lee Day, III.

• Chief Jeff Shifflett (Volunteer Member) 24 16% Fire Investigation Hours = 418

Administrative Hours = 114.5 1% Inspection Hours = 48 40% Code Review Hours = 100 13%

Vehicle Maintenance Hours = 38.5

Training Hours = 131 4%

Instructing Hours = 10.5 10% Plan Review Hours = 170.5 5% 11%

Number of Plan Review s = 40

Number of Investigations = 24 Number of Investigations Number of Plan Reviews

25 -

Hazardous Material (hazmat), a dangerous good is any solid, liquid, or gas that can harm people, other living organisms, property, or the environment. Dangerous goods may be radioactive, flammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, biohazardous, an oxidizer, an asphyxiant, a pathogen, an allergen, or may have other characteristics that render it hazardous in specific circumstances. Mitigating the risks associated with hazardous materials may require the application of safety precautions during their transport, use, storage and disposal.

Types of Haz-Mat Responses • Spills Haz-Mat is also responsible for serving on the local • Smells emergency planning • Lake contamination commission (LEPC) and for handling all tier II reports • Radiation investigation • Training & education Haz-mat Staff

• todd styles, chief haz-mat officer (Part-Time Employee)

• scott burnette, Haz-Mat Officer (Volunteer Member)

• russell stevens, Haz-Mat Officer (Volunteer Member) 26 • warren peters, Haz-Mat Officer (Volunteer Member) -

27 On Saturday, March 24, 2007, Bedford County Fire & Rescue hosted a Leadership Roundtable Meeting at Goode Rescue Squad for all Fire Chiefs, Rescue Captains, Presidents, Treasurers, Secretaries, and Board of Directors of all Fire & Rescue agencies.

The account managers of our insurance program presented information on our insurance program, Randy Krantz, Commonwealth Attorney gave a presentation on Ethics and Financial responsibility in volunteer agencies, and Janet Blankenship gave a presentation on Recruitment and Retention.

After each presentation, we were able to share in some guided roundtable discussion to see if our current needs are being met or if we as officers and directors can determine areas of improvement or potential reduction of our work and liability. This exciting event gave us an opportunity to join together with our emergency service peers from all parts of Bedford County to learn about several important issues, and to ask questions and receive the benefit of hearing the same material all at once.

28 On Saturday October 27, 2007 Bedford County along with all other cities and counties in the Central Virginia Health District participated in a Regional Pandemic Influenza Table Top Exercise and Drill. This event titled “Unified Response 07” was the culmination of well over 12 months of planning and preparation.

The purpose was to enable participants to gain an understanding of the issues and challenges that the public health, emergency management, medical, legal and public safety communities could face during a response to a pandemic influenza outbreak in the Central Virginia Health District.

This 6 hour exercise began Saturday at 9:00 a.m. at Rustburg High School with a table top exercise structured to identify elements of the overall response and decision making process dealing with a pandemic influenza event in the Central Virginia Health District. By design the areas of assessment were to be improving knowledge, identifying capabilities, coordinating the media, making decisions regionally, validating local plans and continuity of operations (COOP) during a pandemic event.

Recognizing that incidents of this nature will impact all segments of our population as well as all areas of service provided by Bedford County, the County Administrator, Chief of Fire & Rescue, Director of Community Development, E-911 Center Manager, Sheriffs Office, Information Officer and several senior and administrative staff members of the Department of Fire & Rescue attended the Table Top Exercise. Similar staff configurations from CVHD localities participated in this exercise allowing for peer to peer participation much as would be required in a region wide event.

Following the Table Top Exercise members participated in the Point of Distribution (POD) exercise at the Forest Middle School. This exercise allowed the Health Department and local emergency responders to quickly open a facility to perform a brief assessment and dispense medication to citizens in the event of pandemic. This Bedford operation ran concurrently with one at Rustburg High School in Campbell County.

The follow up to “Unified Response 07” will be the development of an after action report by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and CRA, its exercise vendor. Included will be a list of lessons learned as well as an improvement plan benchmarked for implementation. This exercise and program documents were provided by a grant from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. 29 (continued)

Background Information:

The following communities make up the Central Virginia Health District: Counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell, the Towns of Appomattox, Pamplin, Amherst, Altavista and Brookneal, and the Cities of Bedford and Lynchburg.

Pandemic Influenza: A pandemic occurs when outbreaks appear globally and humans have little to no immunity. If the H5N1 virus becomes able to infect people and spread easily from person-to-person, an influenza pandemic (worldwide outbreak of disease) could begin. Past pandemics in the 20th century have occurred in 1918, 1957, and 1968, and resulted in significant morbidity and mortality.

At this time, humans who contracted the H5N1 virus from direct exposure to infected poultry have experienced symptoms that have ranged from typical flu-like symptoms (e.g., cough, fever, sore throat, muscle ache) to eye infections, pneumonia, severe respiratory diseases (such as acute respiratory distress), and other severe and life- threatening complications. As with other infectious illnesses, one of the most important preventive practices is careful and frequent hand washing. Cleaning your hands often, using either soap and water or waterless alcohol-based hand rubs, removes potentially infectious materials from your skin and helps prevent disease transmission. A genetic mutation will need to occur in the H5N1 virus in order for it to become efficiently transmissible among humans; it is impossible to predict the exact mutation that may occur. Consequently, a vaccine specific for that virus cannot be manufactured until that mutation occurs. In the meantime, development activities are under way to enhance influenza vaccine capabilities. Also, studies suggest that some of the antiviral prescription medicines approved for human flu viruses (Tamiflu® and Relenza®) currently work in preventing H5N1 infection in humans, and in reducing the severe effects of the virus in those who have been infected. However, viral resistance to these drugs has been reported. Consequently the CDC recommends focusing on nonpharmaceutical interventions (i.e., conscientious hand hygiene, limiting or restricting travel and social distancing measures, such as cancellation of mass gatherings and closure of schools).

30 (continued)

31 (continued)

32 33 On February 1, 2006 Bedford County Communications Center initiated their Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Protocol. With this new protocol they are dispatching calls at three levels. An Alpha Response are those responses that meet Advanced Life Support (ALS) criteria on the EMD Alpha Response cards. This is the most critical / life threatening of the calls as determined by the EMD protocol that was approved by Dr. Cohen and the volunteer Fire & Rescue EMD Committee.

A Bravo Response are those calls that do not meet the Bravo Response Alpha criteria and are less critical than the Alpha Response criteria. They are not life threatening as determined by the EMD protocol. This level of response still requires an emergency response but is not life threatening.

A Charlie Response are those calls that do not meet the Alpha or Bravo criteria. These calls should be non- Charlie Response emergency calls as determined by they EMD protocol. This level of call should not require an emergency 34 response. Dear Friends,

Your Fire and Rescue volunteers recognize that it is never easy to be sick or injured and you truly have our sympathies at this most trying time. In our attempts to provide you with the best care possible, Bedford County has initiated an EMS Fee for Service Program. This program will bill your private insurance company to cover the cost of the services that you have received. This method allows us to provide the most benefit to people in need of ambulance service and not place additional burden on the local tax dollar, certainly a plus in these difficult times.

Funds collected from your insurance will be used to support the twelve Volunteer Rescue Squads serving Bedford County; as you may know the cost of vehicles , fuel and equipment continue to increase while monies collected through donations are at an all time low. Additionally, portions of collected funds will be used to support the career staffed ambulances that are in-service to the people of Bedford County as a safety net and back up to the dedicated volunteer units.

It is imperative that all of our citizens understand that no person will be denied service, Period!

Please remember to donate to your local volunteer fire department and rescue squad. The monies generated from this program will never be enough to repay them for all that they do to make Bedford a great place to live. Warmly,

Jack Jones, Jr., Chief 35 Bedford County Fire & Rescue To the Citizens and Visitors of Bedford County:

The Bedford County Board of Supervisors in its desire to support the citizens, visitors and fire and rescue volunteers of this great community has authorized the implementation of an Emergency Medical Services Fee for Service Program. This program will bill individuals’ insurance for ambulance services provided by our EMS system. The immediate benefit will be our ability to sustain a system that places a high priority on the health and safety of our citizens. The financial benefit received from this program will decrease the burden placed on the local tax dollar and decrease the amount of time required for fundraising activities by our dedicated volunteers, allowing them to enjoy the many benefits of life.

Please understand that no person will be denied ambulance service and that the delivery of timely and appropriate care is our prime focus and concern.

Most Sincerely,

Chuck Neudorfer, Chairman Bedford County Board of Supervisors

36 Fee For Service Questions & Answers

What is Fee for Service? A fee will be billed to your private insurance carrier for ambulance service rendered.

Will I receive a bill ? No, Taxpayers of Bedford City/County will not receive a bill or have to pay for ambulance services; however, you may receive an EOB (Explanation of Benefits) from your insurance carrier.

Will I need to provide my insurance information to the ambulance staff? Insurance information will not be required before being transported to a medical facility.

What if I do not have insurance? No taxpayer of Bedford City/County will be denied service or receive a bill.

Will I receive calls from telemarketers? No, all information obtained will be confidential.

Will I receive any phone calls in regards to my claim? You may receive a call from the billing company verifying insurance information. Phone: 1.800.814.5339 37 For Billing Inquiries Contact: Website: www.emsbilling.us The Bedford County Board of Supervisors in response to continued requests for career staffing from Volunteer Fire and Rescue agencies in Bedford County directed the Department of Fire & Rescue to develop a program to place up to four Advanced Life Support ambulances in service to respond to emergency calls in Bedford County.

Personnel hired from this process are assigned to an Advanced Life Support ambulance in any area of Bedford County and may be required to work any shift. Currently the shifts are staggered shifts that operate Monday through Friday from the hours of 0600 hours to 2000 hours. The shifts are ten hours in length and a full time employee works four days per week.

On July 1, 2007 Bedford County Fire & Rescue held an Orientation Class for the providers that are assigned the Career Medic Units. Nearing six months of successful enhanced service levels to the citizens of Bedford County behind us we will be reviewing the operation of the Career Medic Units. Each career field provider was rotated to a new area of the County on October 1, 2007; this allows for them to learn as much of the county as possible and become more familiar with as many of the local volunteers as possible.

The timely and appropriate response to citizen callers was clearly what so many of our squads and companies asked for assistance with. We all recognize the great partnership that we have. The Volunteer Rescue Squads that have hosted the career staff could not have been more gracious or accommodating; part of this was easy as they have worked with most of the career staff for years as fellow volunteers and neighbors.

Several things have aided us in making this transition seamless, the fact that local volunteers recognized the crisis in the ability to cover calls during certain times of the day and requested assistance from the Board of Supervisors; we responded with a community sensitive system approach; the use of local buildings and vehicles to limit the financial impact; and the use of a great group of providers who are members of our community.

No system is perfect and we all recognize that; however, if we all continue to focus on the patient and the needs of this community we can build a system that meets the needs of the community as well as the hopes and desires of all of our members. 38 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS START DATE END DATE April

Newspaper Advertisement – Roanoke & S M T W TH F S 04/01/2007 Lynchburg 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Newspaper Advertisement – Bedford Bulletin 04/04/2007 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Application Deadline 04/16/2007 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

st Schedule 1 Interviews 04/17/2007 04/20/2007 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

BOS Adopts Budget – Determine Career Staffing 04/23/2007 vs. Carilion 29 30

1st Interviews 04/23/2007 04/24/2007 May Skills Assessment 04/30/2007 05/01/2007 S M T W TH F S

Schedule 2nd Interviews 04/30/2007 05/01/2007 1 2 3 4 5

2nd Interviews 05/02/2007 05/03/2007 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Schedule 3rd Interviews 05/04/2007 05/07/2007

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 3rd Interviews / Make Offers 05/10/2007 05/14/2007

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

39 27 28 29 30 31 Scott Hawkins Rickey Wright Mark Carter David Scoggins Rick Cofer Frank Leonard Alvin Gable Diana Rainville John Hobbs Bryan Weeks Shannon Zimmerman Brad Glidden Daniel Williams Robert Myers Russ Sprinkel Tamara Dennis Jon Ohlinger Chad Helms David Greer Pam Evans Eddie Witt Bryan Byrd Reannon Davis Scott Williamson Richard Downey Brian Bucolla Danny Brown Burke Konen Jason Morgan 40 41 Campbell County Squad 5 0600-1600hrs Stewartsville Squad 13 0600-1600hrs Montvale Squad 9 0800-1800hrs Moneta Squad 8 1000-2000hrs

42 Number of Calls Report July 1, 2007 through November 30, 2007

Calls By Hour Of Day

120 113

100 97 96 85 80 74 74 75 62 60 45 44 41 40 30 26

20 10 13 1 0 567891011121314151617181920

Calls By Day Of Week

195 194 190 185 180 180 180

175 172 170 165 160 160 Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 43 180 Countywide Number of Calls Report 160 July 1, 2007 through November 30, 2007 140

120 161 160 149 140 137 138 100 129 129 129 126

S 121 113 LL 80 110 A

F C 83 O 60 ER 58 40 NUMB

20 0 M M M M M M N M M M M M 6A 7A 8A 9A 0A 1P 2PM 3PM 4P 5P 6PM 7P 8P 1 11A NOO HOUR OF DAY

400 Total Calls / Day of Week 390 397 380 380 382 370

367 360 357

Call Volume Call 350

340 1

330 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 44 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Class Date: January 18, 2007 - April 26, 2007 Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) Number of Students Completed: 17 Date: May 19 – 20, 2007 EMT Refresher Class Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Date: January 18, 2007 Number of Students Attended: 16 Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Students Attended: 20 Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) Date: June 9 – 10, 2007 Advance Life Support (ALS) Recertification Program Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Date: January 29, 2007 – April 18, 2007 Number of Students Attended: 18 Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Students Attended: 20 Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Class Date: September 13, 2007 – December 3, 2007 ST to E – CT to I Transition Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Date: January 29, 2007 – April 18, 2007 Number of Students Attending: 22 Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Students Attended: 25 Pediatric Education for Pre-Hospital Professionals (PEPPS) 5th Annual Rescue Institute Date: October 13 – 14, 2007 Date: April 14, 2007 Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Location: CVCC Bedford Campus Number of Students Attended: 16 45 Number of Students Attended: 41 Skills Review is an annual process that was developed to evaluate each providers basic skills as well as give them an opportunity to ask any questions about situations they may have experienced over the past year and any skills they have questions about or have not used in the field over the past year.

Skills Review Dates May 5, 2007 July 10, 2007 September 19, 2007 November 4, 2007 BLS STATIONS ALS STATIONS Pediatric Trauma Assessment Pediatric Trauma Assessment Allergic Reaction/Anaphylaxis Allergic Reaction/Anaphylaxis CPR/AED 12 Lead Monitor Behavioral Problems Behavioral Problems 46 Reimbursement for Intermediate and Paramedic The Bedford County Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads in the past has provided a financial stipend to local volunteer members upon completion and certification of Intermediate and Paramedic training. Due to the lack of Association funds, it is now necessary to provide this much needed program from the Department of Fire & Rescue budget. When faced with the great need for Advanced level providers, this reimbursement program would be a sound manner to obtain the best volunteers. A partnering with the volunteer community, county leadership, private sector, and foundations is a method that will continue to support this endeavor.

47 For the past 3 years there has been an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class held at the Bedford Science and Technology Center (BSTC) for high school students. Last year we expanded the program to have a first year program and a second year program. The first year program is for any Juniors or Seniors that are age 16 or above. This program puts the students through a 520 Hour EMT class; the State requirement is 110 hours for this class. The students also on average have 50 hours of clinical time compared to the State requirement of only 10 hours. This first year program includes CPR, and ability to gain state certification as an EMT-Basic at the completion of the course. The students are also required to attend some clinical and externship hours so they can put the skills they have learned to use with the supervision of a certified provider. This program supports the students furthering there education past high school by providing dual enrollment credits at both the Central Virginia Community College and the Jefferson College of Health Sciences and any accredited college.

The Second Year program is for those seniors that have successfully completed the first year program and have become certified as an EMT-Basic. This advanced practice allows for the students to expand there clinical knowledge by attending more clinical and extern rotations that will assist them and fine tune their basic skills before they go forward to the Advanced Life Support level after high school graduation. This provides the opportunity to learn additional skills that are not taught before they become a certified provider. The students are afforded the opportunity to get an expanded knowledge by taking additional certification classes that will assist them to become a better provider. Some of those classes include, National Incident Management System (NIMS), Computerized Documentation, Vehicle Extrication, and Regional Protocol Class.

There has been an increasing demand by the students for this program and the BSTC faculty is considering having to limit the amount of students they can accept into the program. They are currently developing some selection criteria in the event that there is a need to limit the amount of students.

48 Number of Students in the First Year EMT Program

School Year # of Students 2005 – 2006 17 2006 – 2007 17 Number of Students in the 2007 – 2008 18 Second Year EMT Program 2008 – 2009 20* School Year # of Students * Max allowable 2006 – 2007 4 2007 – 2008 10 2008 – 2009 10*

49 Memberships & Offices

• Chief OMD for Bedford County Fire & Rescue • Member of the Board of Directors for BREMS • Follows the Operational Medical Director Requirements under Virginia Medical Services Regulations 12 VAC 5-31-590.

Current Certifications • Commonwealth of VA Department of Health Certified OMD • Advanced Cardiac Life Support • Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation

• Advanced Trauma Life Support 50 “Infection Control” - Inhibiting the spread of infections throughout the healthcare field.

• CDC Mandated

• Required Annual Training, offered at agency and county level.

• Bloodborne Pathogen Education - handwashing, cleaning/disinfecting

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Vaccination – Hepatitis B, TB screening

• Investigation and management of communicable disease exposures.

• 20 Designated Infection Control Officers representing 22 out of 24 agencies

• Hepatitis B vaccines, series of 3 vaccines

• Flu vaccines available to all Fire & Rescue personnel

• TB screenings rolled out this year 51 Chamblissburg Rescue Squad October 23, 2007

Bedford County Administration Building Health Fair - October 24, 2007 (9am – 3pm)

Bedford Life Saving Crew October 26, 2007 (6pm – 7:30pm)

Bedford County Fire & Rescue Office October 29, 2007 (9am – 11am & 1pm – 3pm) October 31, 2007 (9am – 11am & 1pm – 3pm) November 2, 2007 (9 am – 12 noon)

Boonsboro Rescue Squad November 5, 2007

Goode Rescue Squad November 13th 6pm – 7pm 52 What is MRSA? Understanding MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus)

A MRSA Educational Class was held October 25, 2007 at the Fire & Rescue Educational Complex to educate providers on how to care for patients with MRSA and to inhibit transmission of MRSA.

The guest speaker was Missy Hobbs, R.N., Infection Control Carilion Bedford Memorial Hospital.

53 During EMS Week volunteers from the agencies spent time greeting the community at Applebee’s Restaurant. Emergency Service Placemats were designed and used to recruit new volunteers and also give information on cardiac emergencies.

54 55 Firefighter I VDEM Terrorist Bombings Date: January 10, 2007 – May 24, 2007 Date: February 26, 2007 Location: Bedford Fire Department Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Hours: 130 Number of Hours: 4 Number of Students Completed: 29 Number of Students Completed: 8

Vehicle Rescue Awareness & Ops Driver / Pump Operator Date: January 19 – 21, 2007 Date: March 14 – 25, 2007 Location: Big Island Location: New London Number of Hours: 16 Number of Hours: 48 Number of Students: 18 Number of Students: 13

NFA PICO HTR Confined Space Awareness Date: February 10 – 11, 2007 Date: March 21, 2007 Location: Shady Grove Location: Stewartsville Number of Hours: 12 Number of Hours: 4 Number of Students: 16 Number of Students Completed: 19

VDEM Terrorism Awareness EVOC Date: February 25, 2007 Date: March 24 – 25, 2007 Location: Big Island Location: Montvale Number of Hours: 8 Number of Hours: 16 56 Number of Students: 9 Number of Students Completed: 25 ICS Overview Rural Water Supply Date: March 26, 2007 Date: May 19 – 20, 2007 Location: Boonsboro Location: Huddleston Number of Hours: 2 Number of Hours: 16 Number of Students Completed: 27 Number of Students Completed: 7

Haz-Mat Awareness VDEM IS 400 Class Date: March 31, 2007 Date: May 24 – 25, 2007 Location: Big Island Location: Bedford County EOC Number of Hours: 8 Number of Hours: 16 Number of Students Completed: 7 Number of Students Completed: 24

ARFF for Structural Fire Departments Fire Instructor I Date: April 21 – 22, 2007 Date: May 30 – June 3, 2007 Location: New London Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Hours: 16 Number of Hours: 40 Number of Students Completed: 15 Number of Students Completed: 14

VDEM IS 300 Class Small Boat & Marina Fires Date: April 25 – 26, 2007 Date: June 9, 2007 Location: Bedford County EOC Location: Smith Mountain Lake Number of Hours: 16 Number of Hours: 8 57 Number of Students: 34 Number of Students Completed: 23 Farm Machinery Safety & Extrication Firefighter II Date: June 9 – 10, 2007 Date: August 29 – October 24, 2007 Location: Big Island Location: Bedford Fire Department Number of Hours: 16 Number of Hours: 45 Number of Students Completed: 10 Number of Students Completed: 11

VFIRS MAYDAY Firefighter Down Date: June 16, 2007 Date: September 29 – 30, 2007 Location: CVCC Bedford Campus Location: Hardy Number of Hours: 8 Number of Hours: 16 Number of Students: 7 Number of Students: 25

Haz-Mat Awareness Large Diameter Hose Date: August 18, 2007 Date: September 30, 2007 Location: Brooks Food Group Location: Shady Grove Number of Hours: 8 Number of Hours: 3 Number of Students Completed: 17 Number of Students Completed: 8

Haz-Mat Operations Fire Officer III Date: August 18 – 26, 2007 Date: October 1 – 16, 2007 Location: Bedford Fire Department Location: Fire & Rescue Educational Complex Number of Hours: 32 Number of Hours: 40 58 Number of Students: 19 Number of Students Completed: 14 NFA Incident Safety Officer Date: November 3 – 4, 2007 Location: Moneta Number of Hours: 12 Number of Students Completed: 14

EOC Management & Operations Date: November 28 – 30, 2007 Location: Bedford County EOC Number of Hours: 16 Number of Students: 14

VDEM Training Weekend Date: December 1 – 2, 2007 Location: Saunders Number of Hours: 16 Number of Students Completed: 10

59 The 2007 Firefighter I Program began on January 10th, classes were held every Wednesday evening and every other Sunday at the Bedford Fire Department. The partnership between the Department of Fire & Rescue and the Bedford Fire Department made it possible for this program to be conducted in a modern training facility that is conducive to a positive learning environment, which provided each student enrolled with a quality educational experience.

The program originated with forty students and ended with a total of twenty-nine students taking the final written and practical test on Wednesday evening, May 23rd. On Wednesday evening, May 30th, a graduation ceremony was held at the Bedford Elementary School for these students and their families. This ceremony was well attended and was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.

For the majority of the participants, this is the end of a long journey that started the last Wednesday in January and ended the last Wednesday of May. From there, most of these students proceeded right into the Haz-Mat Operations program, which was held in August.

For those who have chosen to stop at the Firefighter I level, we encourage each of them to take stock of their training. The Department of Fire & Rescue, along with its cadre of highly skilled instructors encourage every one of our fire and rescue members to continue with their training, obtaining as much knowledge as they can, along with the “honing” of their skills and abilities. With that in mind, being able to apply their skills and abilities to their utmost potential is what it is all about. The citizens and visitors to our community, along with our own families depend on the emergency services responders of Bedford County to provide the safest, most effective and professional services that we have to offer.

Congratulations to our newest group of firefighters as we have welcomed them into our emergency services family!

60 61 The 2007 Firefighter II Program sponsored by the Department of Fire & Rescue along with the support of equipment and facilities of the Bedford Fire Department began on August 29th. Classes were held every Wednesday evening and every other Sunday.

The program originated with eleven students and ended with a grand total of eight students taking the final written test on Wednesday, October 24th. At the completion of this program these students endured over one hundred fifty hours of classroom and practical training.

By continuously training to be the best and applying acquired knowledge, skills and abilities on each emergency scene that is responded to, this is where the proverbial “rubber meets the road”, meaning that you are a highly trained professional delivering the best in customer services to our citizens, families and visitors to our area.

The Firefighter I Program for 2008 will begin in January, followed by the Haz-Mat Operations and Firefighter II Program. The Department of Fire & Rescue will continue to follow this pattern as it has shown to be successful, as we go into our sixth year of this program.

62 What began as a plan on paper has quickly become a reality as the Bedford Emergency Services Training Center is coming together. The City of Bedford donated an area near the old city landfill on Orange Street to be used. Bedford County Fire & Rescue volunteers worked to clear the site and construct training simulators for May Day Firefighter Down, Confined Space, Building Collapse and Trench Rescue training. In the fall of 2005, the City of Bedford and Bedford County were awarded a grant to construct a burn building on the site to be used by Bedford County Fire & Rescue departments. The total grant amount was $400,000 for construction of the building and $30,000 for architectural and engineering services. The project officially began in July 2006 and was sent out to bid in early 2007. It was awarded to C & L Contractors of Burke, VA. The building is a 2 ½ story residential structure with an attached (4) story tower capable of burning Class A materials with a smoke generator system piped to all floors. The building has a 1st floor burn annex, a 2nd floor burn room measuring 12’0” X 12’0” and a small burn area in the attic. It will also have a Fire Department Connection on the rear of the tower and a sprinkler system on the 1st and 2nd floors. The building will also have a 2nd floor inset balcony and a 4th floor corner balcony to simulate condos and garden style apartments that are becoming prevalent in our area. The building will have temperature monitoring with download capabilities and features such as a forcible entry door and ventilation simulators that we currently do not have access to for training. The structural steel components arrived on November 28th and final completion is expected by mid- January. This great addition to our training facility will eliminate the need for local fire and rescue members to travel to Lynchburg and Roanoke to gain the most current realistic firefighting experiences. 63 108 106 106 104 104 102 102

100

96 95

94 Number of Firefighters of Number 92

88 Nationwide Line Of Duty Deaths

Year = 2004 Year = 2005 Year = 2006 Year = 2007

2007 Nationwide Line of Duty Deaths

Other Causes, 11

Asphyxiation, 15 Heart Attacks, 43 Heart A ttac ks Traumatic Injuries Asphyxiation Other Causes

Traumatic Injuries, 33 64 Data Provided By: US Fire Administration 2005 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

With the successful award of this grant for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), five organizations within our county were able to upgrade their antiquated and mismatched equipment with the most current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliant model. This award also enables all county departments to attain 100 % standardization of SCBA countywide. Each of the five organizations can now pass along their older units to organizations in other jurisdictions that are less fortunate. We now have, as stated above, NFPA compliant models with integrated Personal Alert Safety System (PASS) devices, which in the past have been out of our financial realm. We were utilizing several different models of SCBA that in some organizations had been donated to them by other organizations that had received Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) awards before we were as fortunate.

All SCBA is now interchangeable, as the county has an automatic-aid system in place that enables all county departments to respond and work together in a seamless fashion. We can now enhance our resource sharing capabilities among all county organizations. Each of the five organizations that received the new SCBA have a unit for each riding position, ensuring that all responding firefighters on a particular apparatus have full personal protective equipment.

Our demand for services is always increasing, as we have a diverse mixture of requests for service, which increases on a daily basis. We also have a diverse mixture of response demographics, going from wildland urban interface areas to residential villages, mobile home parks, churches, businesses and also recreational areas, thus attracting a tremendous amount of visitors to our area every year. With an area of 764 square miles to cover within our county, we are one of the largest in the Commonwealth. We also participate in an aggressive mutual aid system with the surrounding jurisdictions, where we have first due response areas.

65 2005 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

Companies Receiving SCBA Number of Units

Big Island Volunteer Fire Company 15 Boonsboro Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 18 Huddleston Volunteer Fire Company 22 Shady Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 6 Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Volunteer Fire Company 24

Total Number of Units 85

66 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

With the successful award of this regional grant for Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) / Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) Packs, Air Compressors, Large Diameter Hose & Appliances, Personal Protective Clothing and a Cascade System, every organization in the Bedford County system benefited by being able to upgrade their equipment in these areas. Each of these organizations now have the most current National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliant equipment, both personal protective equipment and apparatus supplied equipment to better benefit the citizens of the county.

With the award of this grant, the final fire company in the county now has the most current SCBA in service. This organization was utilizing a low pressure unit, but now is aligned with every other organization in the county. The distribution of the RIT Packs enabled our Rapid Intervention program, which was established in 2003, to be enhanced, enabling our RIT companies to now have two pieces of apparatus completely equipped to run as a RIT company. There have been times when a RIT company was also designated as a second or third due fire company on calls of any major significance.

The acquisition of the three (3) Air Compressors has expanded the capabilities of the county to provide SCBA and SCUBA refilling capabilities throughout the county. With the installation of these units in geographical areas that had previously lacked refilling capabilities, we now have this capability within a perimeter that allows for less travel to utilize these much needed services. The purchase and installation of the Air Cascade Unit on a recently purchased Heavy Rescue Vehicle has ensured that each of the county’s Heavy Rescue’s now have Cascade Units, thus being able to refill depleted SCBA units on the emergency scene, eliminating travel time and hours spent refilling depleted cylinders at another company.

67 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

Continued… The purchase of five inch Large Diameter Hose and Appliances has allowed all county organizations to be up to date, as we had initiated Large Diameter operations in the county several years ago. There were several organizations that were unable to afford the purchase of this hose and with this acquisition and a training program developed by the county, all organizations now will operate as one seamless group. The award of Personal Protective Equipment has allowed each organization to upgrade their existing personal protective clothing for their members.

The demand for services is ever increasing, as we serve a very diverse clientele. Our response demographics are of a diverse mixture also, going from wildland urban interface areas to residential villages, mobile home parks, churches, businesses and also recreational areas, thus attracting a tremendous number of visitors to our area on a daily and yearly basis. Our coverage area is 764 square miles, which is protected from or serviced by twelve fire companies and twelve rescue squads. We participate in an aggressive mutual aid system with the jurisdictions that surround us, where we have first due response areas in these neighboring jurisdictions.

68 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

Companies Receiving SCBA Number of Units Big Island Volunteer Fire Company 2 Hardy Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 2 Huddleston Volunteer Fire Company 5 Moneta Volunteer Fire Company 6 Montvale Volunteer Fire Company 18 Shady Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Co. 4 Total Number of Units 37 Companies Receiving Number Breathing Air Compressors of Units Forest Volunteer Fire Company 1 Hardy Volunteer Fire Company 1 Montvale Volunteer Fire Company 1 69 Total Number of Units 3 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

Company Receiving Breathing Air Cascade System Moneta Volunteer Fire Company 1 Unit

Companies Receiving RIT PACS Number of Units Bedford Volunteer Fire Company 1 Brookville-Timberlake Vol. Fire Company 1 Forest Volunteer Fire Company 1 Hardy Volunteer Fire Company 1 Moneta Volunteer Fire Company 1 Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Vol. Fire Co. 1 Total Number of Units 6 70 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

All 12 Volunteer Fire Companies Received The Following Large Diameter Hose & Appliances 12 - 100’ Sections of 5” Large Diameter Hose 1 – 50’ Section of 5” Large Diameter Hose (Pony Section) 1 – 25’ Section of 5” Large Diameter Hose (Pony Section) 1 – 5” x 2.5” Clappered Siamese Appliance 1 – 5” Piston Intake Relief Valve 1 – 5” Multiple Outlet(s) Manifold 1 – 5” Discharge Gate Valve

71 2006 FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant Award Program

Companies Receiving Fire Coat & Pant Set Number of Sets Big Island Volunteer Fire Company 3 Boonsboro Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company 3 Forest Volunteer Fire Company 10 Hardy Volunteer Fire Company 10 Huddleston Volunteer Fire Company 8 Moneta Volunteer Fire Company 8 Montvale Volunteer Fire Company 11 Saunders Volunteer Fire Company 8 Shady Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Co. 13 Smith Mountain Lake Marine Fire & Rescue 4 Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Vol. Fire Co. 8 Bedford County Fire & Rescue Career Staff 18 72 Total Number of Sets 104 MISSION Highly Orchestrated Response to specialized rescue and life hazard events that are out of the traditional Fire & Rescue service delivery arena. Rescue of life during a period that has routinely been accepted as incompatible with life.

The Special Operations Command (SOC) is a composite team made up from the 24 volunteer ASSIGNMENTS Fire & Rescue agencies of Bedford County. Trench Rescue Confined Space Structure Collapse High Angle Rescue Swift Water Rescue Hazardous Materials Urban Search & Rescue 73 74 January Breaching & Breaking February Annual Confined Space Entry March Collapse / USAR April Swift Water Drill May Haz-Mat Overview June Rope Rescue Scenario July Swift Water Recertification August Training Facility Clean-Up September Boat Operations October Annual Trench Scenario November Annual Rope Scenario December Collapse / USAR

75 76 77 78 DRY FIRE HYDANT GRANT PROGRAM

A dry hydrant is a non-pressurized pipe system permanently installed in existing lakes, ponds and streams that provides a suction supply of water to a fire department tank truck.

In rural areas, a lack of water mains and pressurized fire hydrants can sometimes impair a fire department's ability to do its job quickly and efficiently. The success of a fire departments operation hinges on the distance a truck must travel to fill-up and return to the fire. In many cases these fill-up points are often long distances from the fire and the firefighters are unable to maintain an uninterrupted water source at the scene.

The instillation of a non-pressurized pipe system into local water sources provides a ready means of supplying water to fire engines.

Planning for dry hydrants involves several considerations and should involve all those affected so a coordinated effort can take place.

Some factors to consider are: •Current and future population and building trends. •Property values protected. •Potential for loss. •Fire history of the area protected. •Current water supply systems. •Other potential water sources. 79 DRY FIRE HYDANT GRANT PROGRAM

2007 VDOF Bedford County Dry Hydrant Projects

New Dry Hydrant Installation Dry Hydrant Repair Location: 43 North / Karnes Road Location: 2734 Charlemont Road (Old City of Bedford Reservoir) Big Island Volunteer Fire Department Bedford Volunteer Fire Department

New Dry Hydrant Installation Location: Medicine Rock Trail / Murrell’s Gap Road Bedford Volunteer Fire Department Montvale Volunteer Fire Department

New Dry Hydrant Installation Location: 3619 Airport Road Saunders Volunteer Fire Department

New Dry Hydrant Installation Location: 112 Beechnut Lane 80 Moneta Volunteer Fire Department 81 Get Alarmed, Virginia!

In October 2006 the Department of Fire & Rescue was one of 38 jurisdictions to be considered for an award of Smoke Alarms as part of the Be Fire Safe, Virginia Smoke Alarm Installation and Education Project sponsored by the Virginia Fire Services Board, and the Department of Fire & Rescue received 203 smoke alarms for installation within our jurisdiction by October 2007.

We are happy to report that all 203 smoke alarms have been installed in homes of Bedford County and the recipients of the smoke alarms have also received fire safety educational information and materials as part of this grant project.

Thank you to all Fire & Rescue members who assisted us with this grant project.

82 Get Alarmed, Virginia!

83 Bedford County Fire & Rescue was one of 39 considered for an award of carbon monoxide alarms as part of the Be Fire Safe, Virginia Carbon Monoxide (CO) Alarm Grant Program sponsored by the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, the Virginia Fire Services Board, and the State Fire Marshals Office, and Bedford County Fire & Rescue was approved to receive 200 carbon monoxide alarms for installation within this locality by August 2008.

According to the United States Fire Administration, each year in America, carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning claims approximately 480 lives and sends another 1,500 people to the hospital emergency rooms for treatment. In 2005, the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner reported 6 carbon monoxide related deaths. In addition, fire departments throughout the Commonwealth responded to approximately 635 CO exposure-related incidents, according to the 2006 Virginia Fire Incident Reporting System.

Often called the “invisible killer”, carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

The “invisible killer” does not discriminate. Everyone is at risk for CO poisoning. However, medical experts believe that unborn babies, infants, children, senior citizens and people with heart or lung problems are at greater risk for CO poisoning. 84 85 AdvancedAdvanced SkywarnSkywarn ClassClass

On Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 Tornado Preparedness Day, Bedford County Fire & Rescue hosted a Skywarn II Advanced Class at Central Virginia Community College - Bedford Campus. This class was sponsored by the National Weather Service. Phil Hysell, Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg, conducted this session to citizens and current Weather Spotters , teaching advanced skills on “ How to Read the Sky”. This year Bedford was the second leading area for attendance having 36 participants from Bedford and surrounding communities. Doug Eggleston, Disaster Service Coordinator with the American Red Cross - Bedford Chapter, discussed information on disaster preparedness and how to make your own disaster kit. The Bedford County Life Safety Trailer was also used to conduct tornado/storm simulator demonstrations. A special thanks goes out to Diana Rainville with Moneta Fire Company for her assistance with the Life Safety Trailer.

86 Recruitment Events Bedford Centerfest - September 29, 2007 New London Tractor Pull – August 25, 2007 87 Moneta Farm Supply – Moneta Rescue Squad Recruitment Event State Recruitment & Retention Network Meeting

On April 26, 2007, Bedford County Fire & Rescue hosted the State Recruitment & Retention Network Meeting at the Bedford Welcome Center. The guest speaker was Randy Krantz, Bedford County Commonwealth Attorney who spoke on the “Bedford Leadership Academy”. There were 25 participants in attendance from Fredericksburg, Dale City, Roanoke, Richmond, Hanover County, and Bedford County.

88 for 2 to Ground Zero including travel and hotel accommodations

Contest begans January 2007 and ends December 1, 2007. Who will be the winning volunteer to recruit and retain the most people???

89 Stewertsville = 9

Shady Grove = 8 Bedford = 26 Bedford = 26

Boonsboro = 14 Montvale = 7 Campbell Co. = 25

Chamblissburg = 5

Goode = 17 Moneta = 17 Boonsboro = 14 Hardy = 1

Huddleston = 6

Moneta = 17 Huddleston = 6 Montvale = 7 Hardy = 1 Shady Grove = 8 Campbell Co. = 25 Goode = 17 Stewertsville = 9 Chamblissburg = 5

Data As Of: 12/18/2007 90 Shady Grove = 8 Bedford = 9 Bedford = 9

Boonsboro = 8

Boonsboro = 8 Forest = 3

Hardy = 3

Stew/Chamb = 19 Moneta = 10 Forest = 3

Huddleston = 4 Hardy = 3 Montvale = 5

SML Marine = 6

Moneta = 10 Stew/Chamb = 19 SML Marine = 6 Shady Grove = 8 Montvale = 5 Huddleston = 4

Data As Of: 12/18/2007

91 Awards & Recognition Ceremony

The 2nd Annual Fire & Rescue Awards & Recognition Ceremony was held on Saturday, June 2, 2007 at Bedford Baptist Church. This ceremony was held to recognize the many accomplishments and achievements of the members of the fire and rescue organizations of Bedford County. The ceremony was attended by fire and rescue members and their family members, community leaders, constitutional officers, and elected officials. The ceremony included special music by the Hendry Family, the guest speaker was Billy Altman, Assistant Chief - Roanoke Fire & EMS, and was followed by a light reception.

2007 Awards Recipients Highest Response Record Chief’s Awards for Excellence Lynch Manley ~ Bedford First Aid & Life Saving Crew Dr. Glen Mayhew, D.H.S. Bill Busch ~ Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad Bedford County Sheriff’s Office Carol Cook ~ Montvale Volunteer Rescue Squad Firefighter of the Year ~ Company Level Kathleen Powers ~ Stewartsville First Aid & Rescue Squad Bedford Volunteer Fire Company ~ Kevin Musgrove Larry Whorley ~ Big Island Volunteer Fire Company Big Island Volunteer Fire Company ~ Danny Brown Ernie Powers ~ Smith Mtn. Lake Marine Volunteer Fire Dept. Boonsboro Volunteer Fire Company ~ Jason Coleman Thank You Certificates Forest Volunteer Fire Company ~ Monty Coleman Todd Styles ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Huddleston Volunteer Fire Department ~ Todd Krantz Nick Thomas ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Moneta Volunteer Fire Department ~ Jeremiah Calhoun Charmin Thomas ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Montvale Volunteer Fire Department ~ Bernard Dooley Jessie Callahan ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company SML Marine Volunteer Fire Department ~ Jack Gautier Bud Russell ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Hardy Volunteer Fire Company ~ Lewis Marshall Reed Harris ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company S/C Volunteer Fire Company ~ Ed Gajderowicz Above & Beyond Certificates Countywide Firefighter of the Year T.R. Goff, Jr. ~ Big Island Volunteer Fire Company Jeremiah Calhoun ~ Moneta Volunteer Fire Department Patrick Williams ~ Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad Rescue Squad Member of the Year ~ Company Level Steve Hypes ~ Stewartsville First Aid & Rescue Squad Bedford Life Saving & First Aid Crew ~ Mike Hansen Meritorious Award Big Island Emergency Crew ~ Rickey Wright Monty Coleman ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Boonsboro Volunteer Rescue Squad ~ Ben Whitehouse Scott Hudson ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Chamblissburg First Aid & Rescue Crew ~ Jessica Coleman Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad ~ Vicki Lantrip 41 Year Service Award Huddleston Life Saving & First Aid Crew ~ Paul Mitchell Lewis Nunn ~ Forest Volunteer Fire Company Moneta Volunteer Rescue Squad ~ Micki Singer Telecommunicator of the Year ~ Devon Jackson Montvale Volunteer Rescue Squad ~ Don Farley Stewartsville First Aid & Rescue Squad ~ Kathleen Powers BSTC EMT Student Recognition Brittney Abbott Kaylynn Albertson Bethany Ayers Countywide Rescue Squad Member of the Year Cindy Choate Brooke Davis Amanda Hudson Ben Whitehouse ~ Boonsboro Volunteer Rescue Squad Corie Slade Emily Weeks Chelsie Woods BSTC EMT Student of the Year ~ Cindy Choate 92 Awards & Recognition Ceremony

The Hendry Family Chief Jack Jones, Jr. Mr. Chuck Neudorfer, Chairman Bedford County Board of Supervisors

41 Years of Service Award BSTC EMT Student of the Year Lewis Nunn - Forest Fire Department Telecommunicator of the Year Cindy Choate Danny Brown - E-911 Supervisor

Countywide Firefighter of the Year 93 Countywide Rescue Squad Member of the Year Jeremiah Calhoun– Moneta Fire Department (not pictured) Ben Whitehouse - Boonsboro Rescue Squad Bedford County Health Fair On October 24, 2007, Bedford County sponsored a Health Fair for all county employees and fire and rescue volunteers. There were Health Screening offered along with representatives from numerous health and well-being organizations around the county.

94 Bedford County Leadership Academy “Be” Bedford County has teamed up with Central Virginia Community College to provide leadership training to Fire & Rescue personnel. There are 3 phases each being 8 hours classroom session “Know” and 8 hours of self study. Each participant will receive 2 college “Do” credits for each class completion. No time limit to complete each phase. Upon Completion of all 3 phases each participant will graduate from the Leadership Academy.

2007 Leadership Academy Classes

Bedford Life Saving Crew Boonsboro Rescue / Big Island Rescue Moneta Rescue Squad Phase I – February 24, 2007 Phase I – October 13, 2007 Phase I – November 3, 2007 Number of Participants: 9 Number of Participants: 10 Number of Participants: 7 Phase II – November 17, 2007 Number of Participants: 10 95 Critical Incident Stress Management

What is a Critical Incident? Any event that overwhelms the coping abilities of the individuals or groups exposed to it.

What is Critical Incident Stress? Critical Incident Stress is a normal reaction, in normal people to an abnormal event.

Emergency Services personnel routinely deal with critical incidents as part of their jobs. Though the stress reaction may not be immediately evident, the stress has a way of surfacing. Suppressing stress is like trying to keep a beach ball under water. “You push it, stand on it or hold it under but it will eventually surface”.

Bedford County currently has a group of Fire & Rescue Volunteers and Chaplains who have been devoting their time to training and assisting agencies with Critical Incident Debriefings.

96 Critical Incident Stress Management

• BREMS CISM – Team Meetings: February 15, 2007, March 27, 2007, July 17, 2007

• Debriefings This Year Have Been Held At – Moneta Rescue, Shady Grove Fire & Rescue, Big Island Rescue, & BCoFR

• Peer To Peer Defusing – 911 Communications Center, September 2007, Bedford City Public Works

• Educational Handouts, Follow-up Mental Health Resources

• Requires Certification – • Group Crisis Intervention • Individual Crisis Intervention and Peer Support • Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Postvention • The Changing Face of Crisis and Disaster Mental Health Intervention: A Competency-based Update • Advanced Group Crisis Intervention • 2 Speciality Courses – Examples: Pastoral, Responding to school crisis, Line of Duty Death.

97 Fire Prevention Week falls annually on the week of October 9th. This is to commemorate the Great Chicago Fire, which occurred October 9th, 1871. The fire took the lives of more than 300 people, destroyed 17,000 buildings, and burned for more than 2 days. This tragic fire mirrored numerous other fires that were occurring on a smaller scale in many cities across the U.S. It was not until nearly 40 years later, on October 9, 1911, that the first "Fire Prevention Day" was observed.

Today, Bedford County Fire & Rescue uses Fire Prevention Week as a means to implement several activities. In-school programs are presented, and several citizen groups are visited with age-specific programs. The Department’s in Bedford County host numerous fire station tours and there are always lots of request for use of the Fire Safety House.

98 99 The Fire Safety House visited the following Bedford County Schools this year:

Bedford Primary School Bedford Elementary School Stewartsville Elementary School Goodview Elementary School Body Camp Elementary School Montvale Elementary School

100 Other events that used the Fire Safety House this year include the following…

• Blue Ridge Community Church – Fall Fun Day (< 1,000 attendance)

• Thaxton Baptist Church – Vacation Bible School Fun Day

• Morgan’s Baptist Church Home School Program

• Blue Ridge Autism Center

• Big Island Spaghetti Dinner / Fundraiser

• Saunders Fire Department

101 • Citizens Police Academy (March 5, 2007)

• TRIAD (March 20, 2007)

• Montvale Nutrition (March 30, 2007)

• Trinity Ecumenical Church (April 17, 2007)

• Elderfest – Fire Safety & Fall Prevention (May 3 - 4 , 2007)

• Bedford City Police Department (September 13, 2007)

• AARP (September 24, 2007)

102 103 Bedford County Volunteer Fire Companies

Company 1 Company 9 Bedford Volunteer Fire Department Montvale Volunteer Fire Department 315 Bedford Avenue, Bedford, VA 1271 Volunteer Road, Montvale, VA Phone: 540.586.3433 Phone: 540.947.2222 Website: www.bedfordfd.com Website: www.montvalefire.com

Company 2 Company 10 Big Island Volunteer Fire Department Saunders Volunteer Fire Department 10770 Lee Jackson Hwy., Big Island, VA 12253 Smith Mtn. Lake Pkwy., Huddleston, VA Phone: 434.299.5674 Phone: 540.297.6856 Website: www.bigislandfd.com Company 11 Company 3 Smith Mountain Lake Marine Vol. Fire Dept. Boonsboro Volunteer Fire & Rescue Moneta, VA 1065 Lee Jackson Hwy., Lynchburg, VA Phone: 540.297.5387 Phone: 434.384.0061 Website: www.smlv.com Website: www.boonsborofirerescue.com Company 12 Company 5 Hardy Volunteer Fire Department Forest Volunteer Fire Department 1220 Bandy Mill Road, Hardy, VA 1257 Burnbridge Road, Forest, VA Phone: 540.890.5486 Phone: 434.525.4044 Website: www.forestco5.com Company 13 Stewartsville-Chamblissburg Vol. Fire Dept. Company 7 7797 Jordantown Road, Vinton, VA Huddleston Volunteer Fire Department Phone: 540.890.1297 5377 Smith Mtn. Lake Pkwy., Huddleston, VA Website: www.sc13fd.com Phone: 540.297.7311 Company 19 Company 8 Shady Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Moneta Volunteer Fire Department 101 Shady Grove Road, Vinton, VA 12737 N Old Moneta Road, Moneta, VA Phone: 540.890.7484 Phone: 540.297.7281 104 Website: www.monetafire.com 105 Bedford County Volunteer Rescue Squads

Squad 1 Squad 7 Bedford Volunteer Life Saving Crew Huddleston Volunteer Rescue Squad 311 Bedford Avenue, Bedford, VA 5349 Smith Mtn. Lake Pkwy., Huddleston, VA Phone: 540.586.6418 Phone: 540.297.7311 Website: www.bedfordsquad1.org Squad 8 Squad 2 Moneta Volunteer Rescue Squad Big Island Volunteer Emergency Crew 12646 North Old Moneta Road, Moneta, VA 10961 Lee Jackson Hwy., Big Island, VA Phone: 540.297.5452 Phone: 434.299.5666 Squad 9 Squad 3 Montvale Volunteer Rescue Squad Boonsboro Volunteer Fire & Rescue 1485 Montvale Street, Montvale, VA 1065 Lee Jackson Hwy., Lynchburg, VA Phone: 540.947.2930 Phone: 434.384.0061 Website: www.boonsborofirerescue.com Squad 12 Hardy Volunteer Life Saving Crew Squad 4 12923 Hardy Road, Hardy, VA Chamblissburg Volunteer Rescue Squad Phone: 540.890.6646 9960 Stewartsville Road, Goodview, VA Phone: 540.890.2645 Squad 13 Stewartsville Volunteer Rescue Squad Squad 5 1152 Turner Branch Road, Goodview, VA Campbell County Volunteer Rescue Squad Phone: 540.890.3666 155 Rainbow Forest Drive, Lynchburg, VA Phone: 434.239.0389 Squad 19 Shady Grove Volunteer Fire & Rescue Squad 6 101 Shady Grove Road, Vinton, VA Goode Volunteer Rescue Squad Phone: 540.890.7484 19261 Forest Road, Goode, VA Phone: 540.586.2890 Website: www.gooderescue.com 106 107

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