July 2007

Waterford Township Holds 1st Rescue Operations Class*

An attempt at using the combined resources of two emergency services agencies to train personnel at a reduced cost became an unqualified success this spring in Southern New Jersey. The partnership that was formed was certainly an unusual one, especially in an area not known for agency cooperation.

New Jersey is a “home rule” state, which has traditionally kept the lines of demarcation fairly clear between emergency agencies, counties, towns, cities and--in some cases--within towns.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the country, and there is a significant emphasis on finding ways to lower the cost of providing government services. Some say this will be done whether those of us in management do it on our own, or whether it is done for us.

Shared services are new watchwords used in reference to trying to lower costs. The biggest obstacle seems to be getting someone to give up some of their kingdom and combine with another agency to share something and to get the ball rolling.

Our project began in the fall of 2006, with a discussion about training. The Hammonton Rescue Squad is a career EMS & Heavy Rescue agency providing services for the Town of Hammonton and the Boro of Folsom in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The Waterford Township Fire Department is a volunteer municipal fire department providing fire, heavy rescue & hazardous materials services for Waterford Township, Camden County, New Jersey. The Town of Hammonton and the Township of Waterford are adjacent to one another, but they are in separate counties and only work together in rare cases. The fire department is a municipal volunteer agency and the rescue squad is a career, non-municipal department governed by a Board of Directors.

Two drivers of the project, Deputy Chief Mike Storck of the Hammonton Rescue Squad and Chief Jim Jankowski of the Waterford Township Fire Department, conducted discussion about running a rescue class involving both agencies. Storck had run several classes for the personnel from the rescue squad in prior years, and he was interested in expanding the course content and intensity. Jankowski had been working part time at the rescue squad for about a year when the two began working on building a course based on NFPA 1670.

After several sessions of realistic assessments of personnel and expectations, both chiefs decided on course content that would, when completed, have students at NFPA 1670 Operations level.

It was clear from early on that neither agency had the equipment to run a course on their own and meet 1670 objectives. By combining the resources of both agencies, it could be done. This, too, was looked at from an instructor standpoint.

Jankowski has been a rescue specialist on NJ Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue since 1998 and had worked at the World Trade Center, the Tropicana parking garage collapse, and Katrina search & rescue effort.

Storck had been instructing rescue & EMS for over ten years and had recently been appointed to NJ Task Force 1 as a rescue specialist, as well.

Both chiefs agreed that, alone, instructing the class was too much to handle. By combining their efforts, they felt it was feasible to make it happen.

Physical equipment and facilities were reviewed to see how to make the best use of what was available. Both agencies have a well stocked cache of rope & hardware for high & low angle classes. Vehicle extrication equipment was not a problem either.

Waterford Township Fire Department has an established confined-space rescue program and a hazardous materials team, so metering equipment and other specialized gear for confined space was readily available for the course.

Hammonton Rescue has a significant amount of water rescue gear that Waterford Township did not have, which again made that portion of the course available.

The Building Collapse Unit from Waterford Township was utilized for a heavy lifting class, while patient packaging was provided by Hammonton. The facilities were shared, as well. Both agencies provided classroom space at no charge. Practical evolutions were conducted on site at both headquarter building. Atlantic County Fire Academy was used for high angle training and Weymouth Forge Park was used for swiftwater training. Waterford Township MUA also assisted the program by allowing the instructors to utilize their facility for practical confined-space training. This helped meet a training objective as well and was another shared service.

If private vendors had been used to instruct the members in all of the disciplines, such as high/low angle, water rescue, vehicle extrication, confined-space rescue, heavy lifting & moving, trench rescue and building collapse/shoring, it would have cost thousands of dollars. By using combined the resources of two agencies, the cost worked out to around two hundred dollars per student.

In addition to heavy emphasis on rescue, a live victim was used, when practical, for most evolutions. Every student gave feedback which said this added a more realistic component, when patients complained of specific injuries. Patient packaging was stressed during each section of the course, and the proficiency of the students could clearly be seen as the course progressed.

The ambitious schedule began in January 2007 and finished at the end of June, with a difficult practical scenario. The total course time was 103 hours. The approximate cost of $200.00 per student worked out to $1.94 per hour each, and included a text. A simple graduation ceremony was held a week after the course ended, to recognize the achievement of students who made it through the six months of difficult work.

What was achieved? This was a first-time, homemade work-in-progress. There are plans for a second step course, which will go to the NFPA 1670 Technician level. Plans are in the works to have this ready for fall of 2007. The operations course will be reviewed and updated.

When the course was first put together, it was offered out to several other agencies. None took advantage of it. Looking back over what was accomplished, an EMS agency worked with a fire department for six months, and everyone got along. Career personnel worked with volunteers, and everyone got along. One town worked with another town, and everyone got along. Egos were put away and learning happened.

Students learned that teamwork is the most important skill that a rescue company needs to get the job done, and it does not matter what patch is on your arm.

This experiment can be replicated in almost any area that has a willingness to put aside the barriers we have set up for ourselves. The fire and EMS services must help themselves change before government does it for them. If we allow barriers to occur, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

~Chief James Jankowski