SA Firefighter
General Discussion => SA Firefighter General => Topic started by: Zippy on August 05, 2008, 12:31:14 PM
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MRPH INFO:1 of 2 messages, MORPHETT VALE IS IN REAL DANGER OF DEFAULTING ALL FIRE CALLS TO HAPPY VALLEY AND SEAFORD UNLESS WE CAN GUARANTEE AN APPLIANCE CAN ATTEND,IF AVALIABLE IN AREA PLEASE ATTEND ALL CALLS DAY AND NIGHT
MRPH INFO: 2 of 2 message, IF AVAILABLE EITHER DAY OR NIGHT LEAVE MESSAGE.
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Thats right Zippy, in the last two weeks we have had 5 of our 8 day time crew either ill or away on holidays leaving us very stretched. We have been working with the crews that we do have around to put together a roster for the rest of this week to try and get us out of trouble, at least until everyone else gets back.
We also have 12 recruits and a transferring member from another brigade becoming operational tonight which should hopefully assist us during the day.
I can tell you that there is nothing more frustrating as an Lieutenant of a brigade than getting 5 calls in one day when you know you are going to struggle, and then nothing at all on a weekend when you have people everywhere. I hate hearing that 'More Crew Required' page especially when you know that half an hour earlier the three other members that are now picking up kids from school would have been around without a problem. If you want to guarantee a couple of calls send all of our day crew people out of area.
Thanks for noticing anyway Zip.
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mattb
we have the same problem out here we have our daytime crew around every day but they all do school runs. we manage though goodluck with getting back on track im sure every volunteer on here as had the same or simmiler problem at there brigade team or unit guess its a case of band together and do the best you can at the time.
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Thats right Zippy, in the last two weeks we have had 5 of our 8 day time crew either ill or away on holidays leaving us very stretched. We have been working with the crews that we do have around to put together a roster for the rest of this week to try and get us out of trouble, at least until everyone else gets back.
We also have 12 recruits and a transferring member from another brigade becoming operational tonight which should hopefully assist us during the day.
I can tell you that there is nothing more frustrating as an Lieutenant of a brigade than getting 5 calls in one day when you know you are going to struggle, and then nothing at all on a weekend when you have people everywhere. I hate hearing that 'More Crew Required' page especially when you know that half an hour earlier the three other members that are now picking up kids from school would have been around without a problem. If you want to guarantee a couple of calls send all of our day crew people out of area.
Thanks for noticing anyway Zip.
mmm, i hear ya mate, in regards to "'More Crew Required" your definately right there...murphys law is against us.
To do with recruits, could ya work it so that you have 2-4 new member every few months come online after doing the BFF1 weekend? More like a rolling induction, Join up in Febuary, become online in March, while a few more join up in march,etc,etc... 12 at once seems rather rather large for at once. We've had about 8 since April gradually get there BFF1 at different courses around the region. Now that State Training Officers run BFF1 courses, the training is all the same (hopefully ;)).
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The problem is that you can't really determine when people will walk through the door. We have door knocked and letter dropped and had no one, other times had 6 people show up in two weeks without any brigade recruiting.
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Hey Matt,might have to bring my gear along when I am down in the office and turn out with you guys during the day when in town......
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To do with recruits, could ya work it so that you have 2-4 new member every few months come online after doing the BFF1 weekend? More like a rolling induction, Join up in Febuary, become online in March, while a few more join up in march,etc,etc... 12 at once seems rather rather large for at once.
Zippy, many years ago we chose to take on recruits in a batch, normally one or two recruit squads each year. Because we have so many people applying each year (normally around 20 - 30) we run an information night early on to get them all down and explain what the CFS is all about, how we operate and the sort of things expected of them, we also do a one on one interview with them all to weed out the good from the bad.
From that night we decide how many and who we will take on based on the current needs of the brigade, the recruiting committee then put forward a recommendation on each applicant to the brigade where each person is voted on.
We then put the successfull applicants through our three month recuit training course, this covers all the basics and is held on a Wednesday night, they also participate in Monday night trainings, we have a sixteen session training program that must be completed prior to them becomming operational. Towards the end of the recruit squad we also put them on a BFF1 course, which they generally go pretty well at because they have already covered most of the stuff during our training sessions.
At the end of all of this we hold a graduation night for them where partners, friends and families are invited to the station and the recruits put on a series of drills for them, normally culminating in a live fire drill (often a car fire).
We find that by putting them all through in one squad they form a very close bond with the others in their group, it also means we can do more with them with an increased number of people. This year due to an increase in our SFEC prescription for fire fighters we took on 14 people, knowing that we would loose a couple throughout the course - this left us with the 12 we have now.
We normally give them pagers within the first month or two so they can get used to them and come down to the station for calls and see what goes on, also means they know of any training changes or brigade info , also makes them feel a part of the brigade. This year however we had to wait for the pagers to become available from HQ before we could issue them but they finally recieved them last night and are now operational. With some luck we should be ok now and once our regulars come back from holidays we will be set for another year.
For info during our interview sessions we ask each person how they found out about us and what makes them want to join, in the last two years I would say that 90% of our applicants are getting their info from our website, this seems to be a very important component of our recruiting strategy now. If your brigade doesn't have a good website with lots of recruiting info then you may be missing out on some potential members.
Happy to answer any other questions you have.
Matt B
Lieutenant
Morphett Vale CFS
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Hey Matt,might have to bring my gear along when I am down in the office and turn out with you guys during the day when in town......
Thanks for the offer Bill, we are happy to have members from other brigades respond with us, we just ask that they attend a few Monday night training sessions with us to get to know our members and equipment and also do a competancy based pump skills test with us on each appliance.
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It is good to see a change in attitude - generally speaking - not referring specially to Morphett Vale - in brigades allowing or in many cases, encouraging members of other brigades to respond on a regular basis with them.
A few years ago, that concept seemed to be actively discouraged in many areas.
However, it seems to be part of the answer to day time crewing problems in some areas.
Pip
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we used to have a shortage of day time drivers but we also had a regional officer working from our station so he would drive during the day if the drivers couldn't respond he was also an RCR operator but has now moved to a new office
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when you don't have the have the option of saying "com to training frequently or leave" does anyone have any suggestions about how to get members coming along on winter nights?
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Dont practise Death by Powerpoint more than two weeks in a row. Keep each week different...returning to things a few weeks down the track...
Early June, do a Structure Fire discussion...get everybody to understand the same thing. run small excersizes like hydralic and Ram Fan Ventilation etc...
Late June, run a simulated Structure fire excersize.
Mid July, Re-visit the principals of Structure fire discussion, then practise relay pumping.
That covers Urban/Rural Structure Fire Response Over 6 weeks, in three nights.
Just please, please please, dont over use powerpoint!
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bit hard in winter mate unless you have the indoor room to do something practical
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Who says Winter means Indoor Training?
I love to defy hibernation. We'll be fighting fires no matter how cold or how hot it will be...its training in the conditions we'll be using the skills.
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we need to get the people there first to make those of us who take training willing to organise that kind of stuff.
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yep granted that fact that the skills you have you need even when it rains but is it worth going in the rain for 2 hours to do a drill that you do slower then a turtle can move get wet cold end up sick and cant work for the next week will you pay my wages???
if you have the room you can do inside things knots and lines team building then use the nights that are not wet to do outdoor things
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yeh i understand the rains worth avoiding....if its just plain cold...get physical warm up, get active (yes numbers, this is your cue ;))
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Thanks Matt,will do next time I am down...I guess we need to look at other members from other brigade's who may work in the area and are able to get away so as to help out. If you are working in another brigade's area why not attend a few training session's and see what you can do or they can do for you...
the Lorne CFA each year put a notice into the fireman newspaper asking if any members who are on holidays in the area are able to help the brigade Mann their appliances. All members have to do is send in a letter from the brigade captain showing what level and area they are trained in and come along to a training session and collect a pager... I can see this concept working here over summer in area's where members are holidaying and where the towns population grows.
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We have a couple of guys that live and are members of CFS in the hills that work/play in our area, and regularly turn out and train with us. works well.
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hehe really well :-D
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Dont practise Death by Powerpoint more than two weeks in a row. Keep each week different...returning to things a few weeks down the track...
Just please, please please, dont over use powerpoint!
You've got a computer & Light Pro ???!!!! :-o
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You've got a computer & Light Pro !!!!
Ive only come to the recent conclusion that is only a small improvement, but thats my opinion. Im not much of a fan of computer's...i work with them too much...
A group shared laptop and projector is the way to go. Just need a good booking system to evenly share it.
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my brigade put in for a grant (from SGIC I think) and got it to buy a ceiling mounted projector and it's very worthwhile. I agree about the death-by-powerpoint (get that at work!) but being able to run through stuff on training nights on a big screen that everyone can see is invaluable.
We also play the standard DVDs (burnover, ash wednesday, alerts etc) every once in a while on a rainy training night. It also helps the social aspects / teamwork as you can have DVD afternoons/evenings or cricket/footy afternoons - watching it not playing!
And finally other local community groups that have their meetings at the station also use it, so it's of benefit to others as well.
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That accurately summarizes the need for projectors..
Tertiary Education especially Tafe, is world renown for 88 Slide presentations. 3 Hours Later, ive lost my brains..and spent most of the time on Facebook.
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my brigade put in for a grant (from SGIC I think) and got it to buy a ceiling mounted projector and it's very worthwhile. I agree about the death-by-powerpoint (get that at work!) but being able to run through stuff on training nights on a big screen that everyone can see is invaluable.
We also play the standard DVDs (burnover, ash wednesday, alerts etc) every once in a while on a rainy training night. It also helps the social aspects / teamwork as you can have DVD afternoons/evenings or cricket/footy afternoons - watching it not playing!
And finally other local community groups that have their meetings at the station also use it, so it's of benefit to others as well.
Darius you say that other community groups use your station as well(not sure what station that is)? How does that sit with HQ, as from my understanding CFS now owns the leases on most CFS stations, so are they covered for public liability if the station is being used for non CFS business? Hopefully I'm way wrong on this ,sure someone smarter will set me straight!
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CFS would have to have public insurance as the public are more than welcome into stations,but also on open days,there are a umber of CFS stations that i know of that allow community groups to use the station and it works well...You never know you may just get a new member or two out of it...
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Perhaps a less 'seasonal' approach to training is worthwhile? Certainly give Rural fires an in depth look pre-summer, but things like BA/Urban Fire/HAZMAT/RCR are year round things to train in. Having structural stuff in the middle of winter is fine, but not if you don't re visit it for a year. Certainly give chimney fires and BA a good crack around March/April/May but the rest of it needs to be worked on constantly, rather than just once annually.
Plus, it means that for some of us we don't get stuck doing something that we find boring for an entire season:
eg: The fire was moving in an easterly direction when the wind changed *trumpets* turning the flank into a fast moving head fire *trumpets*
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I know one station that years ago all they did for training was drive the trucks outside sweep out the engine bay and reverse them back in and go home. :-o
No wonder people lost interest.
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Darius you say that other community groups use your station as well(not sure what station that is)? How does that sit with HQ, as from my understanding CFS now owns the leases on most CFS stations, so are they covered for public liability if the station is being used for non CFS business? Hopefully I'm way wrong on this ,sure someone smarter will set me straight!
no idea sorry (and don't care either). I am talking about a small community where you largely have the same locals represented on many of these community groups, so I reckon there would be a CFS member present at all these anyway (they'd have to open the station for a start). Don't forget the community own the station and all the facilities, I think it is quite wrong to keep anyone except members of the brigade out. We have open days and anyone is welcome to wander through (as Bill mentioned). Perhaps it would be different if it was Morphett Vale or Salisbury etc we were talking about, but I'm talking more rural type areas (which is 99% of brigades). Regarding leases, have a feeling ours is still owned by the council and CFS pay a peppercorn rent but I could well be wrong as all that psuedo-legal and financial stuff is well outside my area of interest and knowledge.
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.... Don't forget the community own the station and all the facilities,...
Sorry, not since the SA Fire & Emergency Services Act came into being a few years ago.
The ownership I believe is the Minister for Emergency Services and some facilities are leased from the local council/community.
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.... Don't forget the community own the station and all the facilities,...
Sorry, not since the SA Fire & Emergency Services Act came into being a few years ago.
The ownership I believe is the Minister for Emergency Services and some facilities are leased from the local council/community.
Isn't anything government owned technically owned by the community?
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The Government likes to think not :P
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I brought todays issue of the South Eastern Times and on the very front page there was an article which reflects on this topic about crewing issues as Tantanoola is at risk of loosing their appliance due to low crew numbers towards the end of the article it mentioned that Kalangadoo and Nangwarry are at risk too if the issue of crewing continues :|
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I brought todays issue of the South Eastern Times and on the very front page there was an article which reflects on this topic about crewing issues as Tantanoola is at risk of loosing their appliance due to low crew numbers towards the end of the article it mentioned that Kalangadoo and Nangwarry are at risk too if the issue of crewing continues :|
Hopefully the community will react & become interested in the brigade's. Maybe worth placing the article in the shop notice boards with the brigade contact details & training nights. Possible way to scare the community into making a decision.