September 2020

City of Rochester Hills Fire and Emergency Services Monthly Report for September 2020

To: The Honorable Mayor Bryan Barnett and the esteemed members of the Rochester Hills City Council From: Sean M. Canto - Chief of Fire and Emergency Services Ladies and Gentlemen: The primary purpose of this report is to keep the officials of the City of Rochester Hills informed as to the activities and programs of the Rochester Hills Fire and Emergency Services Department. As a second purpose, this report will be shared with the Officers and all fire personnel in the organization to illustrate how their day-to-day activities benefit the citizens and the community of Rochester Hills. Call Data: Total Incidents September 2020: 565 (Approximately 29% of these incidents occurred in Senior Congregate Housing / Skilled Nursing Facilities) Total number of mutual aid coverage / requests: 0 - No Rochester Hills Fire Department units were available during these times. Total Incidents Year-to-Date: 5,052 Year-to-Date comparison 2019 to 2020: 5,648 (2019) 5,052 (2020)

Operations Bureau Deputy Chief - Todd Gary Shift Commanders - Bat. Chief Jason Murray, Bat. Chief Rogers Claussen, Bat. Chief Jerry Yurgo The Operations Division has begun to track on a more accurate basis the number of “Concurrent Incidents” that are happening. This graph details that out of the 565 incidents that occurred in September, 282 times (49 percent) additional incidents were taking place at the same time. As this happens the department’s resources are stretched thin, if not depleted. The department will continue to monitor this information closely. We pay close attention to these totals to ensure we can respond to simultaneous emergencies quickly enough and with enough personnel. Call concurrency examines the frequency of multiple calls occurring during the same time that units are still committed to a previous call. This situation affects the ability of the organization to commit additional resources to respond to additional calls as they occur. Members responded to 100 calls for service that resulted in $28,720.00 in damage. The damage that was recorded in September was the result of a vehicle fire and a travel camper fire.

Emergency Medical Services Division Division Head – Acting Captain Nick Birchmeier Statistics Total number of EMS runs: 465. We have seen a decrease in calls (we believe) due to the COVID pandemic. Many narratives in EMS have shown that people are more willing to call their primary care Physician and report their symptoms rather than call 911 and transport to a hospital where they could be exposed to the potential of COVID. We did respond to 17 incidents that were either determined as potential COVID-19 or the patient was positive with COVID-19. Total number of Cardiac Arrest: Two (2), both patients were 83 years old. One (1) of these patients was transported to a hospital for further care. For information related to Coronavirus statistics for the State of Michigan, please go to: https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus/0,9753,7-406-98163_98173---,00.html



Training for September focused on trauma-related skills. Members practiced tourniquet placement as well as wound packing. Members also practiced splinting different types of orthopedic injuries. Now that we are getting into the cold weather season residents are beginning to turn their furnaces back on. A common issue we see this time of year is carbon monoxide issues. Here are some signs and symptoms to look out for:

Community Risk Reduction Division Division Head - Assistant Chief Bill Cooke The Community Risk Reduction Division highlights for the month of September 2020 included the following: Fire Safety Inspections: 143 Follow-up Inspections: 70 Plan Reviews: 8 FOIA Requests: 8 Professional Development (Training Hours): 89 hours Burn Permits: 12 Public Education Activities Station Tour(s): 1 totaling 8 individuals Senior Program(s): 2 totaling 45 individuals CPR Class(es): 2 totaling 15 individuals Smoke Detector Program(s)/Installation(s): 3 Other Event(s): 3 totaling 156 individuals This month, Community Risk Reduction members hosted the annual National Fall Prevention Week sponsored by the National Council on Aging. Due to the steady increase in falls in our community, the Community Risk Reduction Division continues to look for ways to help slow down this upward trend. Each year, our staff spends time in our senior living facilities, educating the residents and staff in ways to prevent falls from happening. For this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has created difficulties in relaying the message of fall prevention so we developed a few new ideas to help spread the word. This week, the Community Risk Reduction Division shared a video on Facebook showing 6 steps to fall prevention. We also created an informational Myth vs. Truth door hanger for every door in every Senior Living Center in our City. We are looking to have our senior residents read the information and put those Truths into practice. Finally, CRR went into two senior living facilities teamed up with an occupation/physical therapist and created conversation with nearly 50 of our residents about how to prevent falls and ways to keep themselves safe in case of a fire. All of these efforts help keep our citizens safe and prevent these incidents from occurring in our community. Also during the month of September, the Rochester Hills Fire Department was selected by the State of Michigan’s Fire Marshal, Kevin Sehlmeyer, to host a meeting of Oakland County Fire Marshal’s with the purpose of providing important public safety announcements to citizens throughout the state. The event took place at Fire Station No. 4 on Walton Boulevard which gave Fire Marshals from many other fire departments in Oakland County a chance not only to discuss what is happening in their communities, but the opportunity to produce a short public safety announcement. Throughout the afternoon, approximately 20 safety videos were developed which will be available for all of our uses once the editing has been completed. This was a first for the Rochester Hills Fire Department and the first for Oakland County as this type of cooperative work in public education has never been attempted. The Rochester Hills Fire Department is honored to have been selected as Oakland County’s meeting place and we look forward to seeing the results!

Myth vs Truth Program Public Safety Announcements State Fire Marshal’s Office Training Bureau Division Head - Captain Larry Gambotto During the month of September 2020, members of the Rochester Hills Fire Department received over 1,200 hours of Fire and EMS professional development. Year-to-date, members have completed over 10,000 hours of training. This month’s topics included Understanding Energized Power Systems, VFIS Driver’s

Competency Course and Battalion drills. Members also participated with an additional demo/training with Anderson Rescue Solutions’ Tim Anderson and the ARS line of rescue products. Fire Training During September’s monthly Fire training, members were instructed in ‘Understanding Energized Power Systems”. The course was developed by DTE in conjunction with the Michigan Fire Service and endorsed by the State Fire Marshall, Kevin Sehlmeyer. The course instructs members how to handle calls of service for downed power lines, structure fires and power lines, remote shut-offs procedures and working with DTE response crews. Through September 2020, RHFD crews have responded to 44 incidents involving energized power systems. See link below of Electrical Safety for Firefighters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZebxNVjszU Fire Academy #005 Recruits of Academy #005 continued their training completing Apparatus Operations, learning lock out/tag out procedures, machine rescues, vehicle extrications, foam operations and decontamination procedures, toured area emergency room routes and were released to the out-stations for field training and apparatus driving.

Special Training Members completed the VFIS Driver’s Competency course. Members maneuvered through several stations allowing them to better understand the size of department’s vehicles including ambulances, engines and ladder trucks. Members reviewed driving in tight spaces and used mirrors to navigate through them. This is an annual training and often referred to as the “Rodeo”. Battalion Training Battalion drills included reviewing new equipment from Anderson Rescue Solutions.

Administration Bureau The Rochester Hills Fire Department along with the DPS Fleet Services Manager went to Appleton, Wisconsin to perform the final inspection on Engine 1 and 4. These 2000 GPM Pierce Enforcer Pumpers will be stationed at Headquarters (Engine 1) and Station 4 (Engine 4). Once these units arrive, they will be outfitted and placed in service.