SA Firefighter

Our last group meeting reported that the service is invesatigating was of improving the rank structure.

What are peoples thoughts on election of officers versus appointment???

Each choice has its pro's and its con's. Having been exposed to both methods of structuring a service i cant say i really like either... but hey, thats life!!  

The problem is Hazmat jobs are happening more and more as time goes on. A Hazmat job in real teams is never likely to be "quick". After all by the time resources are gathered, assessments made, information on containment and normalisation recieved..... and then you get around to doing something!!! (slightly exagerated i know)
The key to solving our issues is that Hazmat training can no longer afford to be confined to Hazmat brigades. The more people that are available, means less strain on current operators, and more eyes looking at the safety of whats being done!

Your right Bill
But I can bet SA Water arnt going to be doing anything about it in a hurry......
Its one of those things, you can bet if you dont do it, you're going to need one again in the near future.... murphy's law!!!!

how does a person go about getting on the mailing list for the mag?

So if you are not getting the Volunteer contact the media section at H/Q or visit the CFS website

I have no doubt that its clever..... I still think its wanky.... but definately clever!  

The fact that problems have arisen when the station is manned and calls are recieved.... and that a cheap and interesting solution has been found is a credit to the designers, after all, the aim is to make our lives easier and safer isnt it!!

Its always good for an organisation to actually know who they represent. Think of it like a lawyer trying to represent someone they've never met or spoken to.... We know they exist, we have seen their pictures in the volunteer occasionally, but what do they acually achieve for the ? well your guess is as good as mine......

They do help get the volunteer mag out to us, and i dont know about anyone else but i reckon there is always some good reading in that..... something to keep in the back of your mind when trying to nut this one out.....

every brigade has around 10 members trained BY the CFS to use medical oxygen, they are the only ones allowed to use it..

They do? Thats news to me!!!! I think your pulling our legs(no offence).... no-one from our area is - exept the couple of BA instructors we have in the group....

Ok, said my piece about the O2....

Now has anyone else found their response numbers are up this year?
We are a relatively quite(ish) brigade compared with some, having ~70 calls a year. However we're up by around 20 calls so far this year, (significant in our eyes at least)....

So, is it just a sign of our area "growing" or is this a trend across the state?

All the info I know is in the following thread:

http://www.safirefighter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=23&start=0&sid=efc5d81b3c39464b381a1f02bcd6f721

This has all come from group meetings, however no official documentation exists that im aware of....

Ok..... So the story changes again.....

Apparently we will still be getting the new gear now. There are a couple of conditions put on the order, but we should still be getting it.....

At this stage info and theories are as follows:

- State will most probably manage the gear.
- Inspection and cleaning will be required once a year.
- Cleaning will cost $23.30 + freight, a 3 day turn around is expected
- If you believe the gear need to be cleaned at any other time:
     - Cost as above
     - Ring State and notify of gear needing to be cleaned and details
     - State will send a tempory replacement set of gear
                     -> Members set returned for cleaning
                       -> Members set returned to brigade
                         -> Tempory replacement returned to state
- Should a member leave it is proposed that the old set of gear be returned to state, and that the cost of that gear be credited to the group budget. Therefore, when a new member starts the correct set of cear can be obtained at effectively no extra cost.

- Its made in China, bit sad it cant be done in Aust...
- There are currently 300 sets on the water for CFS, and of these only 20 sets have been ordered for brigades.

and that be the latest report from group.............

Anything deemed an "information session" sets alarms going in my mind that it has huge potential to be rather boring...... However, adding a few good demonstrations to the mix and ill be occupied for hours! People will only come to these types of sessions if the content is appealing to them.

Maybe its just because they were busy yesterday....... But as I mentioned in a different thread, I didnt notice the Fire Ban sign on the freeway open yesterday.

Was driving past this morning and was greeted with "Total Fire Ban Today"..... I thought - wow, maybe i missed something in the forcast!!! A quick check of the CFS website confirmed - definately not today....

Hopefully it doesnt happen too often, or people will start to ignore it like any other road sign, if they dont already.....

I have done a training night on C.B.R - Note, it was the most BORING 4 hours of my life!!

I can understand that    Just remember what may be boring for you could be highly enlightening to someone else...... Personally I found it to be quite interesting, lots of wierd and wonderful info to be heard. albeit a little long.....

The days of keeping specialised training to specific brigades is becoming numbered. With it becoming harder to find people willing to partake in these things, it makes sense for the help to be outsourced. Would really help inter-brigade/group relationships as well.