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Messages - bajdas

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1
Country Fire Service / Re: ES Reform
« on: September 02, 2014, 10:40:06 PM »
** Personal opinion only **
Need to see the discussion paper on the Ministers proposal. Did not attend the meetings because nothing firm in a proposal has been issued.

Indications are that the discussion paper will be out by second week of Sept.

Interesting that the round-table discussions included SAPOL & SAAS. I understand that Police take a percentage of the emergency services levy $$$ & are the control agency for nine types of emergencies in south australia (SES have 2 & MFS/CFS have 3). SAAS completed the structural change from St Johns.... am I reading in too much ??

Indications that the frontline structure (MFS, SES, CFS, Marine Rescue, emergency management) will not change, but I see issues for volunteers in Qld & WA over the years as funding split & permanent staff resources.

Victoria have recently changed so it will be interesting to watch.

Other than government budget $$, I cant see why the change. No email indicates the change is to fix emergency response.

With the increase in Emergency Services Levy bills recently gone out, announcing a decrease in the future cost due to 'efficiency changes' will be a positive for the government.... whether the volunteers like the change or not.

When things change, it will take years of pain before any real impact is felt to the volunteer. As public servants reapply & move jobs in a new structure, will concentration of work by on supporting frontline volunteers ?

The above is my personal opinion only.... also, the new chief needs experience in emergency management & government liaison... who says it needs to come from a fire background...   !!!!

2
Country Fire Service / Re: Barker Rescue stepdown???
« on: May 31, 2014, 12:11:46 PM »
As the Adelaide metropolitan area expands, things change.
Salisbury and Seaford are CFS stations that have changed.
Personally, I think Dalkeith & Mt Barker will change in a few years as well.
On the other side, MFS retained at Peterborough, Wallaroo, etc could change as well.
my personal opinion only

3
11:11:22 31-05-14 MFS: *CFSRES INC0041 31/05/14 11:10 RESPOND STRUCTURE COMMERCIAL, ALARM LEVEL: 1, PIGGOTT RANGE RD/CHURCH HILL RD OLD NOARLUNGA,MAP:ADL 196 C10,TG C176 T186, == FLAMES & SMOKE SIGHTED AT MEATWORKS FACTORY : DL205 CAR40 CDN431 CDN439 SEA469 SEAF34P :

4
Country Fire Service / Re: Websites for individual CFS brigades
« on: March 15, 2014, 10:45:20 AM »
Hi all,
I'm a professional web designer having worked for Adelaide Web Designers and I'd like to offer to any CFS brigade that doesn't have a website or would like a revamp to get in touch.
I've noticed that quite a few CFS brigades have their own websites but there are many more that are not on the internet yet.
Everything will be for FREE as a way of thanks to the CFS.
This includes website design and hosting, so this offer is up for unlimited grabs!
Please just PM and I'll see what I can do. Note - this is no scam and a genuine offer.
Thanks!
Caleb

I'm designing my own but need hosting.

For web hosting, I am administering another volunteer group website. We have free hosting from http://www.serversaustralia.com.au/personal-web-hosting.php and very impressed.
Includes email group redirections, Joomla website editing and secure logins for members.

5
Country Fire Service / Re: Websites for individual CFS brigades
« on: March 15, 2014, 10:41:25 AM »
I know I enquired via official channels about 10 years ago to get a subdomain off the cfs.org.au (that's what it was before the sa.gov one) for my brigade but the answer came back no there's no facility for that.  So we registered and set up our own and have had our own website/email etc ever since.   It's like everything in the CFS, if they can't or won't provide things volunteers will organise it themselves, and that's usually the way things advance too.

For one thing, it actually can be done - they probably don't know how to do that. All you need to do is setup a subdomain on the server which is very simple - eg. burnside.cfs.sa.gov.au

Restrictions exist on the use of the sa.gov.au domain name.

6
Country Fire Service / Re: FFRS V's MYCFS CREW
« on: March 15, 2014, 10:26:02 AM »
Several SES Units in SA are using the mysescrew.com version.
Different login for different organisations/states. Over 2000 users.
Very impressed with the website, no app needed to be installed.
Easy to indicate your availability for part or whole days.
Quick to indicate you are responding with a push of a button on the smartphone.
Can track vehicle response & events (eg training) attendance.
Enhancements being added from the developer who is a volunteer with RFS.
I believe CFS Mawson Group are using the application.
Personally, not impressed with a interaction I had from support/sales of the FFRS product.

7
Country Fire Service / Re: CFS Associate (?) Member
« on: October 27, 2013, 08:42:10 PM »
Well said Alex    :-D

8
Country Fire Service / Re: NSW DEPLOYMENTS 2013
« on: October 27, 2013, 08:36:20 PM »
All back. I was part of the deployment of approx 140 people.

9
SA Firefighter General / Re: SES response and stop calls
« on: July 08, 2013, 02:12:32 PM »
Statistics provided for last financial year indicated a quarter of the Incidents responded to were stop called for a particular Unit. This Unit does not record the Incident unless the vehicle is out of the shed.

Personally, I have been in the service long enough to realise that this is a fact of emergency volunteer life. All systems have good and bad aspects.

For me, if any team can assist a person who needs emergency help quickly that is fantastic.

It seems it takes time for skills and equipment to be recognised sometimes.

re defaulting rescue, isnt that the way the system is meant to work & every organisation has issues from time to time ?

10
SAMFS / Re: 2013 Recruitment.
« on: June 13, 2013, 11:26:37 AM »

11
SAAS / Re: Vehicle Livery - St John Ambulance SA
« on: May 09, 2013, 01:12:34 PM »
I like it.
Clearly different from SAAS while also being recognised as a emergency vehicle

12
SAAS / Re: Conflict of Interest 2....
« on: April 09, 2013, 11:28:21 AM »
I must be missing something....facilities, training & equipment can all for part of a contract to supply. Who pays for what can all be negotiated. Happens regularly in the IT industry.

Working two or more jobs happens in many industries. I have been a courier driver part-time and IT worker full-time a few times in my life. Why not use your skills to earn extra money for your family ?

Not all down time is for sleeping & rest. You do maintenance around your house (incl roof cleaning gutters) & play sport. All have risks.

I agree that any extra work that affects your performance at your job should be dealt with by management. This has happened to me via appraisals & regular 'one on one' meetings with my team leader. All companies I have worked for over 30 years plus have doen this.

None needs to be in the media or sensationalised.

The postings seem to indicate a possible loss of contract to St Johns. Yes I have done some volunteering with them in SA & it is a very large organisation.

It does have advantage of some volunteer employees, but that comes with a risk. SA Ambulance Service have volunteers as well.

I dont see a conflict, just the results of normal contract negotiations.

13
Country Fire Service / Re: Pager messages
« on: March 02, 2013, 11:12:58 AM »
Yes, because I might grab some extra gear before leaving that I normally do not carry in my bag. eg extra water bottles.

14
SA Firefighter General / Re: Delays Between Emergency Services
« on: February 22, 2013, 05:44:29 AM »
Yet other people provide criticism for 'self responding' crews to incidents.

Personally I would have responded a vehicle to provide first aid & incident protection.

Would you notify Adelaide Fire or Group DO ?

15
SAAS / Re: SAAS MDT's
« on: February 21, 2013, 10:01:22 AM »
Just curious, do the MDT's work in the country SAAS vehicles or just the major cities & Adelaide ?

16
SAMFS / Re: New MFS station for Salisbury
« on: February 16, 2013, 07:26:19 AM »
Does anyone know why the lettering on the front of the station reads "Salisbury Command Fire Station"?

I heard a few years ago that MFS Command structure will split Northern & Southern Adelaide rather than run from CBD. I understand they have been running Command cars that way for a few years now from the CBD.

Given the title of 'command' rather than just fire station, is this another step forward in that split command structure for MFS in the future ?

17
SASES / Re: SA SES Recruitment advert
« on: January 28, 2013, 03:04:10 PM »
I have not seen it on television so I hope it is for rural only.
They need the volunteers more than metro regions.

18
SASES / Re: SA SES Recruitment advert
« on: January 27, 2013, 02:59:17 PM »
From http://www.ses.sa.gov.au/site/news_media/do_you_have_what_it_takes.jsp  

A new State Emergency Service (SES) recruitment video has been launched.

The 90-second video, which was filmed in June and features unit members taking part in a road crash scenario, will be widely used by the SES to help recruit more volunteer members.

Produced by SAFECOM's Volunteer Services Branch, the video was made by production company Flinders Creations, which employs recent graduates from courses run by the Department of Screen and Media at Flinders University.

The launch, which was held at the South Coast SES Unit in Elliot Street, Port Elliot, was attended by SES Deputy Chief Officer Dermot Barry, SES Regional Commander, South Region Derren Halleday and SES District Officer, Hills/Fleurieu Terri Purvis.

South Coast Unit Manager Fred Brehin said unit members had enjoyed helping produce the video. "The Flinders graduates were very professional in the way they went about producing the video and the final result is really outstanding," Mr Brehin said.

"For many of our members it was the first time they had worked with a film crew so it was a great learning experience for us too.

"We were able provide plenty of input at various stages so the final result is a very accurate portrayal of what we do in a real road crash," he added.

The video is a result of a successful grant application by SAFECOM's Volunteer Services Branch to the Emergency Management Volunteer Support Scheme (EMVSS).

Those interested in becoming an SES volunteer can get more information here.

19
SASES / SA SES Recruitment advert
« on: January 27, 2013, 02:00:23 PM »

20
Fire Fighter Training / Re: Building Impact Training?
« on: January 27, 2013, 01:48:59 PM »
If in doubt with safety of the scene & public, just let the other crews keep responding. Yes, SES Units are further away & take longer. But still quicker than a builder.

I doubt if anyone can have experience in all of the types of emergencies that volunteers respond to. I would not be able to assess a fire scene.

Sometimes people might not see the cracks in walls or beams. Full damage might not be assessed until the car or debris begins to be moved. Might not be a case of wrong stop call, situation just change during cleanup.

I believe the SES courses are 'Shoring' & 'Advanced Rescue Tools and Equipment' which all feedin to USAR type roles. I am not absolutely sure of the courses names though.

I think it is great for any emergency service to be on scene quickly for potential entrapment & life threats. I assume CFS have enough advanced training to get someone out of a car embedded in a house without moving the car & de-stabilising the building.

21
Emergency Vehicles / Re: Strathalbyn Hook Truck
« on: December 21, 2012, 04:20:45 PM »
Then add other services (SES & MFS) hook trucks that might also be used if 'everything went to hell'

22
SAAS / Re: St John volunteers funding cut by Government
« on: October 12, 2012, 03:33:57 PM »
My suggestion is that like most negotiations, each side starts with an ambit claim & a bit of 'if you dont then this is a possible consequence'.

Happens in majority of industrial negotiations and has been mentioned numerous time here. eg 'if government does not give funding lets all drive trucks to parliament'.

I have no issues with St John volunteers and I wish them success.

**private opinion**

23
SA Firefighter General / Re: Interesting Fire and Emergency Related Paging
« on: September 04, 2012, 04:24:32 PM »
And you get to see it twice in one day!

MFS: *CFSRES INC0059 04/09/12 14:32 RESPOND GRASS FIRE, BRIDGE TCE BURRA,MAP:SBA 1 K 9,TG 067, == FIRE IN CREEK UNDER BRIDGE, NEAR PAXTON TERRACE. == Alarm level updated to 2 == Alarm level updated to 3 == Alarm level updated to 4 ==ASSIST BURRA :BRRA34 BRRAQRV FARR24 MBYN34 : - CFS Burra Group Officers Response

Quickly downgraded though

14:44:47 04-09-12 MFS: INC 059 - PER BURRA BASE, STOP FOR CALL, NO LONGER REQUIRED. FARR24 MBYN34
CFS Burra Group Officers Response

15:21:32 04-09-12 CFS:SIG INC: BUSHFIRE ADVICE MESSAGE (REDUCED THREAT) ISSUED FOR BURRA FIRE - REFER CRIIMSON FOR FURTHER INFO - SC WATTS 4/09/2012 3:20:08 PM
CFS Headquarters Info

24
SA Firefighter General / Re: Fire service emptying swimming pools
« on: September 04, 2012, 04:19:57 PM »
I have been approached during the last few years & the local Unit said no. Owner needed to repair some cracks which resulted in a very slow leak.
Unit did not wish to risk pump seals on a salt water pool, if one person hears/sees it then multiple people could ask, where was the water to go to, council approval, EPA considerations, etc, etc.
Also, taking money away from a small business owner.

25
SASES / Re: SES Deputy Chief Officer
« on: August 30, 2012, 05:56:45 PM »
Only 10 districts & 2 regions now.... that is the operational side and existing staff have been employed in some of the positions already. Unknown by myself if any vacancies on the business side.

So no to 16 !!!

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