Chief Lohr Presents Citations for Bravery

On Friday, August 8 Fire Chief Steve Lohr presented several citations for bravery.  The recognition was related to a tragic two-alarm fire that occurred on January 8, 2014: Young Child Dies in Two-Alarm Fire 

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Awarded International Accreditation

The Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) was  awarded one of the industry’s most prestigious honors at the Fire Rescue International Conference held earlier this month in Chicago, Illinois. The department was re-accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).  First accredited in 2007, MCFRS is currently one of 186 agencies worldwide with this distinction and is the only internationally accredited fire and rescue department in Maryland and the Washington Metropolitan National Capital Region.

“Our career and volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel are among the best in the nation, and this prestigious award is testament to that,” said County Executive Isiah Leggett.  “To be evaluated against national standards and international best management practices successfully is a reflection of our commitment to providing the highest level of service to residents.”

The accreditation model provides a comprehensive review, self-assessment and evaluation process that

enables fire and emergency service agencies to examine performance levels and compare them to industry best practices. Departments are required to develop a community-driven strategic plan, standards of cover assessment and an extensive risk analysis of the community they serve. The model examines more than 260 performance indicators and 82 core competency areas that are part of the assessment process conducted by subject matter experts from across the country. The process is aimed at increasing transparency of operations and leads to improved service delivery by helping fire departments to:

• Determine community risk and safety needs;
• Evaluate the performance of the department; and
• Establish a method for achieving continuous organizational improvement

“Accreditation is recognized worldwide as a measure of excellence in the fire service. The accreditation process is a detailed and rigorous one, and achieving re-accreditation in Montgomery County was a total team effort,” said Fire Chief Steve Lohr. “Our staff has worked diligently to meet and exceed the most stringent standards and the highest benchmarks in public safety. The award is not a culmination but a blueprint for the future and validates our efforts to provide world-class emergency services in Montgomery County.”
 
About the Commission

The Commission on Fire Accreditation International is governed by eleven members representing a cross-section of the fire service industry, including fire departments, city and county management, code councils, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the International Association of Fire Fighters. The full Commission meets biannually to review all agencies applying for accredited status.

The CFAI is dedicated to assisting the fire and emergency service agencies throughout the world in achieving excellence through self-assessment and accreditation in order to provide continuous quality improvement and the enhancement of service delivery to their communities.  The process is voluntary, and provides an agency with an improvement model to assess their service delivery and performance internally and then works with a team of peers from other agencies to evaluate their completed self assessment. Additional information about the Commission can be found at http://www.publicsafetyexcellence.org/.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Earns Prestigious Congressional Fire Service Industry Excellence in Fire Service-Based Award

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service received the Excellence in Fire Service-Based EMS award at the 25^th Annual Congressional Fire and Emergency Services dinner this week. The award is designed to recognize best practices and highlight innovations in the delivery of emergency medical services.

Established in 1989, the Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy institute that works with members of Congress in promoting fire and life safety issues. Working with other national fire service organizations, the Institute focuses its attention on issues that benefit all first responders. Members of the Congressional Fire Services Caucus, the largest caucus in Congress, look to CFSI for guidance and information to enhance their level of understanding about the challenges and needs of the nation’s fire and EMS communities. Each year, CFSI and the MedicAlert Foundation honor and recognize departments that have made outstanding contributions.

Annually, 75 percent of all Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service emergency calls are EMS-related and the demand for emergency medical services can quickly challenge available resources. Since 2009, the department has developed and implemented several critical programs that demonstrate the department’s commitment to saving lives in the community. With strong evidence nationally that pre-hospital care has a profound impact on survival, the department was one of the first in the state to implement and deploy paramedic-staffed engine companies, which facilitates faster access, improved pre-hospital care and enhanced patient care during an emergency. 

When every second counts, receiving the right medical care in minutes can mean the difference between life and death. The window of time from when a patient starts experiencing heart attack symptoms to the moment the patient receives treatment is a critically important period. In 2010, the department established the Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC) program which allows paramedics to transmit critical data directly and securely from remote locations to area hospitals using sophisticated technology and equipment. The new technology accelerates the diagnosis process while shaving off critical time that ultimately can make a difference in patient outcome and survival.

While hospitals and first responders have many protocols in place to ensure that cardiac patients are diagnosed and treated quickly, providing this early diagnosis “en route” ensures that the hospital team will be mobilized and standing by to intervene with angioplasty, as needed, so that blocked heart vessels can be opened, blood flow to the heart restored and heart muscle (and lives) saved.  The time period from diagnosis to the opening of the vessels is known as “door to balloon” or D2B time. According to guidelines by the American Heart Association, optimal D2B time is 90 minutes or less.

“This award reflects our ongoing investment in and dedication to excellence in our Fire and Rescue Service,” said County Executive Isiah Leggett. “I am very proud of the hard work of each and every member of the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service who has placed us in a position to be nationally recognized for this prestigious award.”

“This award is testament to the commitment and dedication of the entire department and also reflects the hard work and collaboration of our hospital partners,” said Fire Chief Steve Lohr. “We strive to stay on the leading edge of the most advanced technology and industry practices available which translates into providing the best possible care - - one patient at a time.”

With strong evidence that rapid response by fire and EMS personnel, combined with state-of-the- art technology and pre-hospital care, these projects are examples of teamwork and technology saving lives. 

A Rapid Intervention Company (RIC) Training Evolution

By: Lt. Pete Hageman

Part of the MCFRS Rookie Probationary training package includes running simulated scenarios that involve following a hose line in smoke, search and rescue, and different rescue drags.  So at Rockville Station 3 today, crews completed a Rapid Intervention Company (RIC) training evolution to meet these objectives.

Click on photo for more

A RIC is a crew of firefighters whose assignment at a fire scene is to be on stand-by, and at the ready, to leap into action if a firefighter (FF) or two become trapped inside a structure during a fire incident. 

The evolution involved crews entering into a “Mayday” situation (firefighter trapped) with a RIC pack and Thermal imager going down into the basement of Station 3 following the hose line.  Face pieces (worn on a FF’s face to breath air from an air pack) were blanked so zero visibility, which occurs in real fires, was obtained.  Once the crews found the downed firefighter he was rescued first to the bottom of the stairs, and then while running low on air, up a flight of steps to the outside in an area of refuge. 

The training drill was successful and all learned the enormous exertion it takes to extract a downed firefighter from a structure fire.

A Battalion of Training

By: Captain Jason D. Blake, NREMT-P

In-Service Training Coordinator Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service

The Montgomery County Fire Rescue Training Academy (MCFRTA) operates seven days and six nights a week with over 6,000 students being trained in Fire, Rescue, EMS and other fire service related training each year.

The County is divided into five battalions, managed by a Battalion Chief. On average there are six firehouses with approximately 60 personnel working. On any given day at the MCFRTA there are 60-80 students being taught a wide variety of fire service training topics. There are days when there is an equivalent of a battalion of people training at the academy.

The MCFRTA does initial training for new members of our career and volunteer fire service and refresher/recertification/update training of all of members. Basic and advanced emergency medical training is required of all our personnel and you will find a wide variety of experience and rank in our classes. Assistant Chiefs and Battalion Chiefs, with years of experience, running scenario based training with firefighters with 3-5 years on the job.

The department’s specialty teams, (Hazardous Materials, Urban Search and Rescue, etc) train at the academy to keep their skills proficient.

The MCFTRA hosts regional and national classes on a regular basis to keep our personnel up to date, and proficient, on all of the latest information and skills as it relates to making sure we are ready to respond to any type of emergency situation. The classes include Fire, EMS, Rescue and Management course given through the National Fire Academy, International Association of Firefighters, International Association of Fire Chiefs or vendors.