2020 Annual Report

ADDISON TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPT ANNUAL REPORT 2020

2020 Annual Report Page 1 Letter from the Chief 2020 was a very challenging year. The Operations of the Fire Department have been drastically changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. During this difficult time, we have been able to maintain the great morale here at Addison Township through hard work and adaptation. The Fire Department members have made me so proud with how they showed their support for the residents of Addison Township. I would like to give the Addison Township Board a big thank you for their support with this pandemic, and the hiring of two additional staff members to be able to provide our community with the service it deserves. The extra personnel on shift has taken a large amount of stress and worry away from me regarding our most important duty to our citizens. Even with these trying times the Fire Department has continued to move forward this year. We have continued our weekly training with Zoom and we have maintained the turnout for calls with the necessary amount of personnel. In conclusion, I would again just like to say thank you to the Fire Department members and the Township Board, because with your support we can accomplish anything that comes our way. I am very proud to share all of this in our Annual Report. Committed to Public Safety, Fire Chief Jerry Morawski

2020 Annual Report Page 2 Addison Township Fire Department strives to give our community the best possible service within the boundaries that are set before us. One of the boundaries that we work diligently to stay inside is our budget. Our funding is derived from our two millages which fund our Operating and Capital budgets. We do a lot of research each year to create our budgets, this includes taking cost effective measures to ensure that we utilize our budgets in the most beneficial way possible. We also have a 10 year Capital budget breakdown, that enables us to foresee our larger purchases in the future (i.e. trucks, SCBA’s, etc.,). Since 2010 we have received approximately $420,000 to help supplement the purchase of life saving equipment, training opportunities, and vital medical equipment. Last year we received two grants: ATFD received $4,999, a We also received a grant 50/50 matching grant for a from the Gary Sinise Founda- Brush truck skid unit for tion in the amount of $4,300 to purchase a Clorox 360 to fighting brush fires. disinfect the ambulances and station during this pandemic.

Page 3 . A reflection of our year in a pandemic By Lt. Ben Rice In March of 2020 COVID19 came on the map in Michigan, and Oakland County was one of the hardest hit counties. The beginning of the pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty with it, and as a whole the healthcare industry was hit very hard. Personal Protection Equipment was the hot topic back in the beginning, and the entire healthcare industry scrambled to obtain as much of it as possible. However we were better off than most because Oakland County Medical Control with FEMA assistance immediately mobilized and were able to mass order and distribute these items to agencies in the county. Here at Addison Township we faced a particularly difficult issue and that was our low amount of personnel. From the beginning, we knew that we had to take big steps to protect our personnel so they could be as safe as possible while working. With assistance from Oakland County Medical Control, MDHHS and the CDC we were able to adapt our procedures and policies to provide the safest environment possible for our personnel and patients. Decontamination and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) were our focus throughout the entire pandemic response, which continues to this day. Early on we developed policies to require n95 mask use and eye protection on all emergencies, and wear procedure masks whenever we were around the station and driving in apparatus if we were to be near any other personnel. Early on we purchased a UV light machine to disinfect our PPE to make limited stock last longer. Decontamination procedures were enhanced to an all time high, and we often joke about how no time in history have ambulances been as clean as they are now. We were able to obtain grant funding from the Gary Sinise Foundation and the Federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant program to purchase Clorox Total 360 disinfecting machines. While expensive, these machines are able to disinfect large areas quickly with an electrostatically charged disinfecting mist. We incorporated these machines into our daily and weekly cleaning routines. After every call our ambulances are sprayed down on the inside, and weekly our stations are disinfected with them. They are effective on all kinds of surfaces including upholstery. These machines have enabled us to provide an unprecedented level of disinfection of our apparatus and stations.

Page 4 The State of Michigan and Oakland County Medical Control issued some massive changes in how we care for our patients to limit our exposure to COVID19. We also tailored our on scene response with medical patients by limiting personnel to come in close contact with patients unless care levels required more people. For us, this was met by sending in a Firefighter/Paramedic to make contact with the patient, apply a mask onto the patient and do a COVID screen. Then that Paramedic would call to personnel outside and request specific equipment and limited personnel as needed. As always, our care remained patient focused but we mitigated exposure to the exact amount of personnel required. As the year progressed we were able to get specialized items like small filters to enable us to resume some certain types of treatments for our patients while limiting potential spread of COVID. The hospitals went on a near lock down status as patients with COVID like symptoms were funneled into different areas to limit cross exposure. The most difficult change we had to enforce was hospitals not allowing visitors for the patients unless they met a strict set of parameters. While frustrating for families this was necessary to limit cross exposure as well. Adapting to the pandemic did not stop at equipment, the biggest changes were seen in the dedication of our personnel. To ensure the safety of our operations we all put our personal lives on hold. Early on we limited personal travel to within 50 miles of the township and later on we extended this but limited out of state travel. Family trips and vacations were put on hold to ensure the safety and operations of our department. We have since allowed some travel but we are still requiring a quarantine periods for our personnel to limit potential risk at work. We also require self screening before shift as well as before responding to emergencies for our paid on call personnel. Training has always been a priority and we normally have weekly entire department training, however COVID has shifted us to online methods. We have been utilizing Zoom for online training making videos of equipment we use, techniques for certain skills, lecture based, as well as conducting some small group training if we can keep an appropriate distance. Looking back over the year we can be proud of the actions of Addison Township Fire Department. From the beginning we have made it our mission to protect our personnel and ensure the operations of the department. A review of all of the changes can be summed up with one word, “success”. To this point we have been successful in that mission. While we have had personnel who have had COVID19, our steps have ensured to this point that we have not had any cross infection in our station. For a department with limited personnel this has been our focal point and with the dedication of our personnel we have been able to make this happen.

Page 5 Facility Locations Addison Township Fire Department covers 36 square miles, in the most North- eastern corner of Oakland County. The area outlined in pur- ple indicates the part of the Township we struggle with appropriate re- sponse times. We are al- ways looking for ways to remedy this issue, and hope to rectify this in the future. Fire Station #1: 4026 Forest St. Phone: 248-628-5600 Fire Station #2: 1442 Rochester Rd. Fax: 248-628-5770 Email: [email protected] Website: http://www.twp.addison.mi.us/FireDepartment

Page 6 Addison Township’s Significant Events for 2020 In 2020 Addison Township Fire Department and Ox- ford Fire Department teamed up with Oxford Commu- nity Schools to help create a EMT-B program. This pro- gram allows seniors to achieve the full requirements to complete the National Registry test when they turn 18. Thus, rapidly accelerating the start of their career. Addison Township Fire Department purchased a used 75ft 1998 Pierce Ladder truck from Independ- ence Township Fire Department. This truck re- places our 100ft 1980 Sutphin aerial, that was out- dated and unable to be used safely on emergency incidents. The Pierce Ladder will act as a Quint, which satisfies our need for both types of trucks for ISO. Assistant Chief Dan Cline is working towards his EMS IC certification. This certification enables us to have another member able to teach the medical meetings to ensure that we receive the required con- tinued education hours to maintain our licensure. The Addison Township Board approved our request to hire a full-time FF/EMT-B. This full-time addition helps us fulfill The Oakland County Medical Control Authority (OCMCA) requirement that any ALS transporting units always have an EMT-B and an EMT-P on board the ambulance.

Years of Continued Service with Addison Township Fire Department Page 7 Personnel years of continued service with ATFD 20+ years of service Auxiliary Chief Jerry Morawski 1994 Elmo Madden »Citation for Bravery/Citation for Honor »Citation for Meritorious Service Captain Michelle Mead 1994 “To Be the Best” »Citation for Bravery/ Citation for Meritorious Fire Corps Stan Wojes 2019 Service Marilyn Szost 1999 Tim Gasparski 2018 Mark Lockwood 2018 »Citation for Meritorious Service 15+ years of service W Rippetoe 2003 »Citation for Bravery Charles Johnson 2004 »Citation for Honor Joe Fisher 2004 »Citation for Honor 10+ years of service Dan Cline 2007 »Citation for Bravery Angela Haines 2006 Fred Vandervennet 2006 5+ years of service Tyler Hunsucker 2013 Brian Howarth 2014 Less than 5 years of service Adam Furgerson 2017 Chad Strobel 2016 Jenna Carson 2018 Mitchel Morawski 2018 Heathen Peshe 2018 Ben Rice 2018 Ken Cotham 2019 Probationary Ashlee Dudek 2019 Dylan Dombroski 2020

Page 8

Page 9 Addison Township Fire Department has 10 operational programs that help us run the fire department on a day to day basis to keep us up to date on all of the operational needs of the department. Fire Inspection—Fire Prevention—Community Services  Fire Inspections: We complete annual inspections on our businesses to meet all fire code require- ments  Fire Prevention: This includes burn permits and offering fire & life safety classes  Public Education: This program incorporates CPR/First Aid classes and Civic activities Apparatus Maintenance  Vehicles: this includes but is not limited to brake and tire inspections, oil changes, fluid checks, and daily apparatus checks. Training  Our training consists of weekly medical and fire trainings, intra-departmental mutual aid trainings, new equipment training, driver’s training, ice rescue, HIPPA and blood borne pathogen trainings to name just a few. Special Response Team  Our special response team offers paid on call members the opportunity to work shifts while also ena- bling the fire department to respond to emergencies with more personnel to ensure quality patient care and safe firefighting practices. This helps build moral, maintain skill levels and increases per- sonal buy-in and involvement in the day to day happening in the department. Budget  Planning short term (operating)/planning long term (capital)  Grants  Research  Tax renewal of Millage  Purchasing  Supporting Programs

Page 10 CONTINUED… ISO Management  Maintain all certifications: Ladders, Pumps, Hose, Hydrants, Water Sources, and Air packs  Preplan of properties for water flow needs  Training  Records Recruiting –Rewarding—Retaining Members  Recruiting: Field training program, human resources, hiring process  Rewarding/Retaining: Continuing education credits, compensation, community acknowledgment, commendations, and Special Operations Staff Development  Updated IT and System programs  Peer reviews  Administrative development programs  Mutual Aid Departmental Training  Field training programs Record Keeping  Maintain personnel licensure and certifica-  Budget tions  Vehicle repair records  Maintain all vehicle licensure Station Maintenance  Station Maintenance (inside)  Station Maintenance (outside)  Seasonal Maintenance

Training Page 10 Addison Township Fire Department, continuously strives “To be the Best” for our community. To do this we train every single week to make sure our skills are up to par. In the winter we train twice a month for medicals, which includes hands on practical’s and lec- tures. The rest of the month’s training is fire based and includes truck operations, search and rescue, pre-planning, and extrication to name a few. This last year was a exception, ob- viously due to the pandemic we were unable to do our large scale fire trainings or hands on medical trainings. We improvised by utilizing Zoom to hold virtual trainings, to keep up our skills and the morale of the department. We also participate in trainings with neighbor- ing departments to maintain workability, in- teroperability, and camaraderie necessary to assist each other in Mutual Aid operations. The Fire Department also advocates attending out- side conferences and seminars that revolve around Medical, Fire Inspection, Active shoot- ers, and many more. Our diligence in training helps us prepare for Emergency Incidents that we need to provide the best possible care for our citizens in life and safety emergencies.

Page 11 Project “ER” Project ER is a practice that Addison Township Fire Department developed and adopted in 2014 to help achieve the utmost efficiency in patient care without compromising quality. In a effort to maxim- ize patient care and minimize on scene times we have charted 4 specific areas to give us the best in- formation possible to accomplish this: Total Call Time (the total amount of time from when we are dispatched until we are back in service), Patient on Board Time (the time from when we arrive until we have the patient in the back of our ambulance), Scene Time (the total amount of time on the sce- ne until we leave for the hospital), and Turnaround Time (the amount of time spent at the hospital before we are en-route back to our Township. We have used these areas to Dispatched improve on our services… Arrival on scene Patient On-board On Scene time: 2019 average – 17mins 22 seconds Transporting 2020 average – 17mins 11 seconds Arrival at Hospital Patient Encounters– 144 Turn Around time: Clear Hospital 2019 average – 29mins 10 seconds Clear the Air 2020 average – 20mins 00 seconds Back in Service Total call time: 2019 average - 60mins 18 seconds 2020 average - 60mins 56 seconds

Page 12 Addison Township Fire Department had 564 calls in 2020 a decline from 2019, we believe due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Page 13 Incident Statistics A breakdown of Incident times and days of the week, help us plan and staff appropriately to mitigate incidents as efficiently as possible.

Page 14 Fire Loss for 2020 Addison Township Fire Department strives to provide the best possible service for our com- munity. We work very hard to maintain a level of professionalism, integrity, and skill set that our public has come to expect from us. We train weekly on medical and fire operations to hone our skills, we also train with other fire departments throughout the year to learn new tips and tricks and consistent fire suppression tactics, while offering them new ideas as well. Addison Township Fire Department also offers public education and fire safety programs to all of our schools, and is also utilized to teach basic life support/ first aid and fire extinguisher training to some of our local businesses. We continuously inspect our commercial building and maintain about 40% yearly, making sure that our businesses are safe for the public. Below you find our Fire Loss for 2020, we feel that continually training and offering education to our community, will help minimize the associated amount of fire loss for our residents. Building Fires: 3 Property: $530,800 Contents: $125,00 Off Road Vehicle fire: 1 Property: $380,000 Total Fire Loss: $1,034,800

Page 15 Mutual Aid Addison Township Fire Department in conjunction with our neighboring communities work hard to pro- vide quality fire suppression and medical care for our citizens. To assure they receive the best service possi- ble we work together to supply sufficient tools and personnel to our surrounding Departments. We gath- ered together to create a cohesive program to help us rely on each other for multiple or larger incidents. The North Oakland Mutual Aid Association (NOMAA), of which Addison Township Fire is a member, has adopted MABAS (Mutual Aid Box Alarm System) for inter-department mutual aid. Each participating agency has developed MABAS response cards and obtained approval from assisting agencies for their re- sponse in the event mutual aid is needed. Each department has agreed to their participation as listed on another agency’s MABAS card. The breakdown below represents the Mutual Aid and the Automatic Mutual Aid (which is assigned via the MABAS box cards) requests given and received for 2020. 2020 Mutual Aid Mutual Aid/Automatic Aid Given Percent Received Percent 3 12% Rochester Hills Fire 00 3 12% 1 4% Bruce Township 00 7 28% 1 4 Dryden Fire 3 5% 5 20% 2 8% Oakland Township 34 60% 3 12% 25 Almont Fire 0 0% Oxford Township 20 35% Rochester City 00 Washington Township 00 57

Page 16 2021/22 Budget Our Capital Budget is comprised of the taxable revenue from our .07341 millage, bank reserve and savings, and any carryover from our short term. This budget covers our larger purchas- es, including but not limited to, trucks, major station repair or renovations and upkeep. Our Operating Budget consists of a separate 2.2448 millage, cost recovery, carry-over, and any bank interest ac- crued. Our Operating budget covers all of our day to day expenses, medical billing, payroll, insurance, etc.

Page 17 2021/2022 Operating Budget

Page 18 The End