The Monthly Newsletter for the Urbandale Fire Department... September 2017 On the Line Our Core Values: Pride, Respect, Duty, Unity, Integrity and Compassion. In This Issue… Upcoming Events Trivia………………………………………………. 1/4 September 11th

Chief’s Corner……………………………...…...... 2 9/11 Presentation—0730 @ Station 42 Safety Incidents………………..………………… 2 October 8th Food Trucks—Fire Marshal Rech…………...… 3

“Bells Across America” ceremony—Station 42 Around the Department…….…….……...…...... 5 October 8th—Start of Fire Prevention Week Prevention/Training Efforts……………………. 5

You’ve Been Caught Letters…………………… 6

Safety Tips……………...…….…….……...…...... 7

Member Profile: Coden Tennison……..….……. 7

Training Calendar……………………………… 8

UFD statistics for August Calls for service: 286 YTD: 2,339

Average response Time – Emergency incidents: 6 minutes 19 seconds Dr. Travis Kain Sept 11

Emergency Medical Service calls: 185 Jerry Holt Sept 25 Average Emergency Response Time EMS: 6 minutes 3 seconds

Fire related calls: 101

Average Response Time Fire: 7 minutes 13 seconds Fire Department Trivia

Turnout time: 84.09% of calls out the door in 120 sec- Q: Name the ceremony most associated with the arrival of onds a new piece of fire apparatus.

a. The Wetdown We received mutual aid five times – four times for b. The Welcomer EMS calls and once for a fire call. c. The Four Fives d. The First We provided mutual aid ten times – seven times for Alarm fire calls and three times for EMS calls. Answer on page 4

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 1

ON THE LINE Chief’s Corner—Chief Jerry Holt

Wouldn’t it be great if everything you planned went accord- sporting events, like your normal everyday life. Empathy ing to your plan? What if everything you wanted worked allows us to feel for what he is going through; perspective out just the way you wanted it to? No disruption to your allows us to be thankful that we have our health and even plans, no detours along the way, no unexpected break with our issues, it is not as bad as it could be. down of vehicles, no home appliances on the fritz, no un- foreseen illnesses, no need for a root canal. Set a goal and With all of the health related calls we respond to and with put a plan in place and the next thing you know, you have all of the trauma we see, we should always take our own it! Wouldn’t life be so much easier if it worked that way? problems in the proper perspective. Odds are that we will Well it just doesn’t work that way…Not for you, not for me see someone every day that has issues much worse than and not for anyone. our own. While we are sympathetic to their conditions, we Inevitably, plans run into obstacles. Rarely does a plan are thankful for our health and our own problems. come together without hitting some sort of snag along the way. For example, maybe you are saving up to buy that new boat you’ve always wanted. Six months from reaching Last Safety Incidents: the goal, the A/C in your home goes out. That’s an unex- As of September 1st pected $5,000 hit and that has to come from somewhere. Guess where? That’s right; the boat fund takes a hit! Of 12 days without a safety incident course the goal isn’t always something that is a “nice to 21 days without a lost time injury have” like a boat but is often more important stuff. Last incidents: We all run in to those things. The kids need braces, the transmission goes out, a pipe leaks in your home, your in-  9/20/16: A mirror was damaged while throwing a football in the apparatus bay. dividual retirement plan just lost $50,000, or even worse, you get unexpected health news. It is easy to get down  3/5/17: Employee injured finger during PT. when those situations occur.  6/1/17: C401 backed into C400 at Station 42. A little perspective goes a long way in these cases. It is  6/30/17: A427 was damaged when puling out of the station and easy to feel like it is the world against you but the reality is striking a bollard at Station 42. that it is simply not that way. Bad things happen to good  8/0717: Strained back while working out. Missed most of 8/10 people and sometimes, despite our most well laid plans, and all of 8/13/17. they simply do not work out. Chances are that if you look hard enough, you will find someone who has things worse  8/19/17: A413 backed in to a flag pole damaging the step plate than you. and the flag pole.

So why is perspective a good thing? Why does it matter if someone else has it worse than you do? Because, perspec- tive helps one see that things are not as bad as they might seem. There is no pleasure in knowing that others are suf- fering but their hardship will often shed light on your posi- tives that may get overlooked when you are “down” be- cause of some negative thing in your life.

I am reminded of a health related story. A “friend of a friend” had an unexpected health issue. He suffered a spontaneous detached retina. Following the surgery for repair, he had to lay on his stomach for two weeks with no movement. He wasn’t allowed to read…just lay on his stomach for two weeks. Following that, things improved. He was told if the surgery was not successful, most reoc- currences would happen with six to eight weeks. Ten weeks later, he suffered another detached retina and is now undergoing the same two weeks of non-movement con- fined to lying on his stomach. All the time wondering if it Joint training was conducted with Clive, John- will happen again. ston/Grimes, DMACC Fire Science and Windsor I can’t help but think how difficult that must be. Every- Heights during August. Great example of working to- thing in his life is put on hold. All of his professional plans gether that makes us all better! as well as all of the things one really doesn’t think about like going to work every day, like attending your children’s

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 2

ON THE LINE Food Trucks are Here! Fire Marshal Jon Rech It took a while, but food trucks are finally making their way to Urbandale. In July, the city council passed a pilot food ven- dor program that will be a trial run through the end of the year where it will then be evaluated and tweaks make to the program/ordinance. The pilot program has many similarities to ones established in adjacent communities. Regarding fire safety provisions for food trucks and vendors, our provisions will mirror those in other metro communities. Many of the trucks we have seen thus far have already been operating in DSM and WDM for a couple years. As part of the Ur- bandale pilot program any food truck/vendors that wish to setup on private property need to complete paperwork at city hall and have an inspection completed by the fire department.

So……what happens if you take a call at one of our stations from someone asking if they can bring their food truck by so we can do an inspection? At this point, they will need to contact myself or Prevention Specialist Dave Wyner to get the inspection completed. An inspection for a food truck is a little different than how we would do an inspection of a restau- rant. One of the biggest challenges for the fire service with food trucks so far is that there is not a single standard or code body that addresses the unique safety characteristics of food trucks. There is no section in the International Fire Code or NFPA that deals specifically with this area. As a result, the fire code provisions we are using for food trucks is a mesh of various areas of the fire, mechanical, electrical, and NFPA codes and standards.

Not surprisingly, there have been several cases of food trucks catching fire and exploding across the U.S. over the past few years. The explosion in Philadelphia in 2014 that killed two and injured twelve really started the ball in motion to try and get minimum safety standards estab- lished for food trucks. NFPA is currently working on a food truck standard that should hopefully be completed in the next 2 -3 years. Until then, we will do our best to ensure that food trucks in Urbandale meet our established standards. Many are con- sistent with what we look for when inspect- ing a commercial cooking operation. But, we also have to recognize that these kitch- ens are mobile and will often incorporate the use of a portable generator and will be switching out propane bottles on a regular basis.

In the coming months we will be doing a department training on food trucks, how doing an inspection is different, and the unique safety concerns that food trucks pose. We will also have some information on the city website soon that will provide guidance to food truck operators on what they need to do to operate in Urbandale. Fortunately, the metro DSM food truck coalition has done a pretty good job of educating food truck owners on what minimum safety items are needed and how they need to be maintained. However, in the short time Urbandale’s pilot program has been in place we have also seen individuals attempt to make a food truck who didn’t understand some of the basic electrical, mechanical, and safety items that are needed. We have also had two out of state food trucks that weren’t aware of some of the basics. Our goal has been to educate these op- erators and to steer them to individuals and groups that can help get their truck up to the minimum specifications.

If you have any questions on food trucks or inspections please contact Dave Wyner or myself.

The patch colors:

The color Red - symbolizes the life and continued growth of our FD.

Gold trim - symbolizes that Firefighters, like gold, will withstand trial by fire and still remain.

Black background - symbolizes the foundation built by our past members and we will never forget all they have given in the line of duty.

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 3

ON THE LINE Fire Department Trivia—Answer

Correct Answer, A of many new apparatus. For many departments, the removal of the bell is the official changeover from the The History of the Wetdown (or Wetting Down) old to the new apparatus. The ringing of the bell sig- nals the beginning of duty for the new truck, and end of Back in the early days of the fire service, the service for the old. arrival of a new piece of fire apparatus was a major so- cial event. In volunteer organizations hundreds of For More Information: hours were spent on fundraising efforts for the small http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume- town to afford a new truck. In larger paid departments 167/issue-12/departments/volunteers-corner/tradition- the new truck was a source w e t d o w n s - a n d - p u s h - of pride as it was adorned ins.html with the emblems and markings of that station house. In both cases the new apparatus served to identify the station which Clive Fire housed the apparatus and Department marked the crews which “Pushing-In” operated on her (like ships, Ladder 325 fire apparatus were tradi- tionally referred to in the female tense).

There are several possible origins to the wet- down, or wetting down cere- mony. In the era of hand pumpers, a new engine at- tracted the attention of rival engine companies by at- tempting to "wash" the new engine. The rival engine would pump at a rate faster than the new engine, caus- ing water to fill the reservoir at the rear of the new en- gine and flood over the engine's sides. It is perhaps this "washing" from which the "wetdown" has evolved. An- other origin for the ceremony may stem from the wel- come a new truck received from it’s neighbors. In the past, the water component was much more "aggressive," often in the form of a friendly deck pipe blast from a visiting engine.

There are several traditional components to the wetdown. First of course, is a good wetting of the appa- More photos from August joint training with Clive, John- ratus. In some parts of the country the wetting down ston/Grimes, DMACC Fire Science and Windsor Heights. ceremony is accompanied by a parade of neighboring apparatus, driving by in tribute. The new apparatus is then pushed-in to the bay, a tribute back to the days when hand- and horse-drawn apparatus had to be pushed into the bay by the crew. Finally, no fire service ceremony would be complete without an open house ac- companied by a fine meal or refreshments.

One other unique component of a wetting down is the transfer of the bell. Original fire apparatus used to have a brass or metal bell which was rung by the of- ficer as they responded to fire calls. While no longer has a functional purpose the fire engine bell remains a part

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 4

ON THE LINE Other programs/training/projects completed by UFD in August:

Training Report: 502 hours of training were completed in August Fire Training: 327 hours EMS Training: 165 hours Prevention & Inspection Activities: Completed 43 inspections Completed 26 re-inspections Completed 5 preplans Conducted 13 plan reviews Conducted 15 Car Seat checks Conducted public education for 1,722 people (933 children & 789 adults) Replaced 3 smoke detectors and 51 smoke detector batteries CPR classes for 13 people What’s Happening Around the Department…

 Departmental budget preparation is in full swing. All  The concrete work that was scheduled for August at items submitted are being considered and we hope to Station 42 was put off until September. Look for the have the budget finalized in September. The final concrete replacement to happen sometime this month. budget guidance will come in October/November time frame and based on projections, may require further  We will complete the hiring process in early Septem- vetting of the proposed budget before it is submitted to ber. Once the Civil Service Commission has approved the City Manager for consideration. the list, an offer will be extended but most likely, the new person will not be starting until sometime in Octo-  The City Council approved the new station alerting ber. system purchase for station 41. That has been ordered and while we do not have a date yet, we hope that the  The kick-off for the accreditation process will be in ear- new Locution System will be installed in the near fu- ly September. There will be a lot of work to be done. ture. All of that work is centered around continuous quality improvement. In the end, it is all about being the best  The replacement Car 400 has been ordered. We don’t we can be and measuring that so we can see how well anticipate the new Ford Police Utility vehicle to be we do what we say we are doing. delivered before December.

 The City Council approved the bid from Sandry Fire Supply for turnout gear for the next three years at $2,598.75 per set.

 The City Council approved a 28E Agreement with the cities of Clive, Johnston, Grimes, Norwalk, Urbandale, Waukee and Windsor Heights for a joint purchase and operations of a fire and EMS records management system (RMS). This will be the long awaited replacement RMS for FireHouse. Image Trend is the vendor and will allow us to achieve NEMSIS compliance as well as expanding our capabilities including a much needed addition of an electronic PCR. The hope is that we are up and running before the end of December. There will be a lot of training and change to come with this new RMS and we ask for your patience as we work out the bugs. In the end, our process will be much more user friendly and hopefully dramatically improve your experience with reporting re- Joint training at the FAST tower in August. quirements.

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 5

ON THE LINE “You’ve Been Caught Doing An Outstanding Job”

We continue to recognize your efforts. Whenever we receive a thank you letter, card or a phone call, we pass that along to the people involved in the form of a “You’ve Been Caught Doing An Outstanding Job” letter. As of September 1st, we have sent 169 notices to our personnel. The following people received “You’ve Been Caught” notices since our last newsletter:

David Burns, Jacob Buster, D/ E Jamie Erie, Nick Heuer, David Langley: We received a thank you note written on the invoice when the customer paid his bill. The note reads “Thank you to the great crew that took care of me going to the hospital – You guys are without a doubt a 10” (Motorcycle accident 86th & Meredith) Lt. Wilson, Nick Heuer, Andrew Klenk, Logan Derry & Ross Budden: We received a $25 donation from Lois Vonnahme (4539 71st) for a smoke detector installation.

D/E Brennan Burke, Jeff Gilchrist, Rob Harris, Lt. Macumber, Kyle Wilkins & Rob Zahnd: We received a thank you note for a patient we transported last year. You never know who you are responding to and this patient was a retired firefighter from Dubuque. The note reads “Dear Chief Holt, Last Aug./Sept. I required EMS service while staying at the Ramada Inn, 4800 Merle Hay Rd. Hotel staff was immediately present and called 911. A Medic and ladder unit responded from your department. To a man they demonstrat- ed professionalism throughout the incident though I wasn’t too excited to be transported they impressed me with their care and con- cern. Please convey my feedback to your people for their excellent work. Sincerely, Mike Burds, Dubuque, IA (Retired IAFF Local 25)” John Mitchell, Cody Nicely-Green, Lt. Routson, D/E Stiles, Jesse Welch: We received a thank you email regarding a call on A- Shift. The email reads:

Dear Sir, On Friday night at the Holiday Inn, my family experienced something that I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Our son, Sean, had an unexpected and unprecedented seizure.

That's when our lives crossed. I am reaching out to you and your fellow officers and medics to say thank you very much! I felt so unbelievably helpless and in almost complete shock. It's not only what you did, and did very well, but it's how you did it that helped us in our time of crisis. From the eye contact which was so sincere and reassuring to the constant, helpful, and calm verbal explana- tions. In addition to expressing my overwhelming gratitude and thanks, I would I also like to give you an update. We just returned from our Dr's office and he is now on an anti seizure medicine and he will have an EEG next week. The explanation that both the ER doctor and our doctor here have given on the cause of the seizure Friday night is severe dehydration.

Some people never find their calling in life, you have. The people of Urbandale are lucky to have you.

Thank you, XXXX

We received a phone call today thanking us for “your kindness and great care” from a patient transported once in June and once in July. June: Matt Linge, Chad Jackson, Rob Zahnd, Lt. Cory Macumber July: Nick Heuer, Kyle Clark, L.t Dan Birkett, D/E John Ouverson Lt. Birkett, Simon Carl, Kyle Clark, & Bryce Landers: We received an email thanking us for our appearance at a block part: “I just wanted to say Thank you to all of your firefighters and EMT. They were so wonderful and friendly with all the kids and big kids :) We greatly appreciate them coming to visit us at Timberline Village block party!” Lt. Birkett & D/E Eric Ennen: Marian Lamm, 4219 125th Street, dropped off cookies as a thank you for replacing batteries in her smoke detectors. Her note reads: “Thank you so much to the two firemen that came over Friday afternoon and put new batteries in my smoke detectors”

Fire Marshal Rech: We received an email that was addressed to the City Manager. The email was about a positive experience at an Economic Development Tour at a local business which wanted to let the CM know that the Fire Marshal had been especially helpful during their remodel. He shared with the entire group how positive the process was compared to another fire department he had worked with in the past.

Fire Marshal Rech: We received a $100 donation following a fire safety talk for hockey players at the North ice rink. The donation was from JJR Hockey LLC @ 5100 72nd Street. Thanks to all of you for providing outstanding service!!

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 6

ON THE LINE Member Profile... Member Profile: Coden Tennison PT FF/EMT-B Length of time with Urbandale Fire Dept.: 5 months Why I was interested in the Urbandale Fire Dept.: I wanted experience working on a Fire/EMS combination department, and I had heard UFD trainings were in depth and thorough. Previous EMS experience: West Des Moines EMS Previous Fire experience: Point Lookout Fire Department - 3 years Family life: Married to Amanda for 4 months. Professional work: Full-time student Activities or hobbies I enjoy: Hiking, camping, spending time with my family. Most memorable moment outside UFD: My wedding day Favorite TV programs: Chopped, Big Bang Theory Favorite movies: The Guardian, Star Wars Saga Last book that I read: Hobbit Personal goals: Complete paramedic school What I enjoy about the Urbandale Fire Dept.: Hands on training Favorite saying: Losers focus on winners; winners focus on winning.

Safety Tip—From Firefighternearmiss.com Fire Prevention week, open house, station tours, birthday pumper ran to the driver’s door, reached in with his hand parties, and families visiting the station. These are just a few and was able to press the brake pedal.” things that allow kids to see our apparatus. This is a good reminder to always watch the kids when they are around our TAKE AWAYS vehicles. Having a group of excited and enthusiastic children can make even the most experienced veteran a little nervous if Child Release Brakes During Open House. Pumper Rolls the event isn’t properly planned and supervised. It’s hard to – firefighternearmiss.com imagine a worse experience for a firefighter than a child be- ing injured during what is supposed to be an enjoyable visit. Back to school days! It’s an exciting time for kids and can be For our own wellbeing and that of our young visitors, we a very busy time for firefighters. Time for school inspections, need to have a well-thought-out safety policy before children public-safety demonstrations and visits to the fire station. are allowed in and around fire apparatus. These are all important and, in addition to being education- al, can provide a lot of fun for everyone. Even so, it’s espe- DISCUSSION TOPICS cially important to have a strong safety presence whenever 1. Have you experienced or heard of a close call or inci- children are around the fire station and especially fire appa- dent that occurred ratus. while children were visiting your EVENT DESCRIPTION department? Few things are more exciting to young children than a fire 2. What are truck. Being able to sit in the driver’s seat and pretend some ways to pre- you’re responding emergency to a fire is a great experience vent accidents that a child will enjoy and remember with fondness—as long during apparatus as it’s done safely. tours? In this week’s report, a visit to the station included a little 3. Does your de- more drama than planned when a young child decided to partment have a start playing with the controls. Only an alert firefighter pre- set of guidelines vented a possible tragedy from occurring. for public- education events? “As he was in the driver’s seat, he hit the air brake knob, releasing the air pressure holding the brakes. The apparatus started to roll forward. The firefighter assigned to the

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 7

Keep in mind that September’s training is subject to change. We have an acquired structure in which to conduct live fire training and the scheduled is very fluid with the timeline to complete training and the required testing we have to do with the house. As such, our training calendar needs to be flexible this month to balance the opportunity to training in the acquired structure with the time frames for complet- ing training and the required testing. We ask for your patience and understanding.

“Mission Driven, Customer Focused” These words speak a lot about our Fire Department. Our ultimate goal is to provide quality customer service by adhering to our core values and mission statement. We want our members to ask them- selves a few simple questions whenever they are faced with a challenge: Is it right for our customer? Is it right for our department? Is it safe, legal, ethical and nice? Does it match our core values and mission statement? Am I willing to take responsibility for the action? If the answer is yes to all of these questions, JUST DO IT!

Urbandale Fire Department · On the Line · September 2017· 8