Latest from CFA Connect

Gas leak in Wonthaggi, Fiskville Fact File, Chief's Q&A

Fire Services Commissioner Stakeholder Forums

Please refer to the attached letter about some upcoming FSC stakeholder forums about Emergency Management in the New Era.

Geoff

VFBV Notices

VFBV has advised of forthcoming board vacancies on both the VFBV and CFA Boards.  If you are interested, please refer to the attached letter for more information.

The VFBV Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Sunday 16th September at Fiskville.  Refer to the attached letter for more information.

Geoff

North West Metro News Winter 2012

North West Metro News Winter 2012

Latest from CFA Connect

Professor Rob Joy Report, Healesville fire, blood donor challenge

National Emergency Medal

Please find attached a memo from the Chief Officer regarding an update on the National Emergency Medal (NEM).

Kind Regards.

Tanya Ryan
Acting PA to Chief Officer
Fire & Emergency Management

From the Chief Officer

The Chief Officer's latest blog entries:

• From the Chief Officer #55 posted 6 July 2012
• From the Chief Officer #56 posted 16 July 2012

TAIT Portables - Guidance

Through the NWM Health and Safety Committee, concerns have been raised as to the adequacy of information provided regarding the changeover to new TAIT Portable Radios.  In particular, the different styles of lapel microphones, the scanning function and the identification of new vs. old style radios.

The attached documents are intended to provide some clarity on the issue and should be read in conjunction with Operations Bulletin 004/2012 – TAIT Portable Radio Usage Guidance.

• TAIT Radio ID Guide - D14
• TAIT Enhancements and Scanning Information
• TAIT Microphone Comparison

We have also made arrangements with CFA Headquarters to produce a further Operations Bulletin that will provide a greater level of understanding of using the ‘scan mode’ on the new portables.  This should be released in the near future.

I would ask that all members within your brigades have this information made available to them and if there any concerns or questions please let me know.

Regards

Jamie Hansen
Operations Officer
District 14
Northern & Western Metropolitan Region

Medium Tanker Road Show

D14 dates:

• South Morang - 13 July - 10:00-16:00
• Sunbury - 15 July - 10:00-13:00
• Melton - 15 July - 13:00-16:00

Attachments:

• Medium tanker specs
• News article

Whooping cough (pertussis)

Please be advised that a member of NWMR has been diagnosed with whooping cough (pertussis).
For more information about whooping cough including what it is and the associated symptoms, please read the attached fact sheet.

Although members may have been vaccinated against whooping cough in the past, and hence have a lesser chance of contracting the illness, protection is not life long.

If you experience any symptoms that you suspect could be linked to whooping cough, we strongly recommend that you see your General Practitioner as soon as practicable.

If you have any questions about this email, please do not hesitate to see or call Tina Marchington or myself.

Regards,

Sam ChhayActing Manager Human Resources
Northern & Western Metropolitan Region

Please join Club Red today, to help our community...

Do you do any other fantastic services to your community???
Well, if you don’t and you like a semi challenge it might be the time to start donating blood (or registering to Club Red if you already donate, see more below).

St Andrews Fire Station Official Opening

St Andrews Fire Station

Official Opening

Officers and members Arthurs Creek Fire Brigade
You are cordially invited to the opening of the new St Andrews Fire Station by

Cindy Mcleish MLA

member for Seymour

Sunday 3rd June 2012 2:45pm
Official opening at 3:00pm

67 Caledonia St, St Andrews, Melway: 393 H9

RSVP: Wednesday 9 May 2012
Jenny Broadhurst
Phone: 0419 879 734
Email: j.broadhurst@cfa.vic.gov.au

Afternoon tea will be served
CFA members Uniform or Collar & tie.

North West Metro News

The newsletter North West Metro News is now on the blog.

From the Chief Officer #45

This is Newsletter  #45 from the Chief Officer. Please note his comments on the local hall - a venue for many CFA gatherings throughout the State. It is very pertinent to Arthurs Creek and our lovely hall.

Appliance turnout times.

Email regarding appliance turnout times.

Black Woollen Turnout Coats

Email regarding Black Woollen turnout coats.

Kangaroo Ground ICC

Please find enclosed a flyer regarding “Facilities Manager” and “Facilities Team” for the KG ICC. It is clear from this that D14 is slowly getting organized with support people for the ICC and that this will lead to some training.

As you can see, they are currently looking for a Facilities Manager who’s role it is to know how everything runs in the ICC. This position and the Facilities Team are really the hands and feet who make the ICC tick. Without this support, the function positions cannot “function”. This is what I have been advocating all along so that everybody knows how to use the phone system, knows where the photocopier is and how it works etc.

Please let me know if anybody is interested in becoming the “Facilities Manager”. I will certainly keep all informed when there is training for a Facilities Team.

Best Regards

Urs Biedermann

Group Communications Officer

Whittlesea Diamond Valley Group

Phone 0417 533 501

Nillumbik Group Fire Ground Channel

I must draw to your attention that Nillumbik Group is with immediate effect not using the default D14 Fire Ground Channel 63 anymore. They have decided that they do not get the required coverage with Channel 63 and therefore will be using Channel 45 as their default Fire Ground Channel.

From my point of view, this is not ideal as we now have had a uniform default Fire Ground Channel across all of D14 for some years but Nillumbik Group believes that this is not workable for their area.

So, you must be aware when turning out supporting a Nillumbik Group Brigade, that their default F/G Channel is 45. Especially the bordering brigades Plenty, Diamond Creek, Yarrambat, Doreen and Arthurs Creek must be aware of this change. Please ensure that all members of these brigades are aware of this

Just for the records, the new laminated Comms Plans placed in all the appliances reflect this change on the front page but the back page wrongly shows Channels 63/64.

Best Regards

Urs Biedermann

Group Communications Officer

Whittlesea Diamond Valley Group

Phone 0417 533 501

FIRS and reviewing your turn-outs

After each incident, Pat submits a fire report into FIRS (fire incident reporting system).  Pat uses the details recorded in the station diary, so it is important that everyone, especially crew leaders, record complete details. 

Referring to the previous post, if you deploy to an incident outside of the brigade, ensure your details are provided to Pat so that FIRS can be updated.

If you are interested, you can access the brigade's and your own turn-out history via CFA Online:

1. Log into CFA Online: http://cfaonline.cfa.vic.gov.au/ (if you don't know your password or user ID, contact me and I'll reset it for you)
2. Select Brigade > FIRS & Performance Analysis
3. For your own turnouts:
1. Select My Turnouts
2. Enter the date range you are interested in
3. Press Search
4. For brigade turnouts:
1. Select Brigade Fire Reports
2. Select the type of report
3. Enter the date range you are interested in
4. Press Search

Geoff

Major Incident FIRS reporting of personnel deployment

I think there has been a problem with recording of deployment of personnel to Major Incidents such as campaigns or incidents such as Floods etc. where the brigade was not responded but just some individuals.

Please see the enclosed flyer from  FIRS outlining the procedures to rectify this. I would strongly recommend that you ensure that all deployments are recorded accordingly.

Best Regards

Urs Biedermann
Group Communications Officer
Whittlesea Diamond Valley Group