The Safety and Licensing Committee met 07/13/2022. One of the information items they received was a director’s report from Fire Chief Jeremey Hansen.
He started off by talking about the EMS Flex Grant. In February of 2022, Governor Evers allocated $12 million in state ARPA funds to develop a one-time EMS Flex Grant. There were several categories that an organization could apply for funding for including reasonable operating expenses for EMS agencies, supplies, equipment, vehicles, training, and staffing.
Each of the areas had a limit of between $10,000 and $30,000, so the Appleton Fire Department submitted a total request for $94,100 which would go toward several things.
- A cache of medical equipment for mass casualty and active shooter events. That equipment did not have expiration dates so could be viable for a decade or more.
- Automatic CPR devices. These were devices that are put on a patient, freeing up the hands of the firefighters to do other work and ensuring that while a patient was being moved, they were still getting good oxygenation to their brain and other organs.
- A Utility Terrain Vehicle and a trailer to assist with accessing patients who maybe be in a crowded area like Oktoberfest or the Farmer’s Market or on one of the various trails where emergency responders might have to hike a quarter of a mile to reach them. The vehicle had an EMS bed in the rear on which a patient could be secured.
- To develop a recruitment video for the City of Appleton Fire Department.
Chief Hansen then moved on to a hiring update. The Fire Department was anticipating 6 retirements in the first half of 2023, so once again they participated with Fox Valley Technical College’s regional hiring process, along with 15 other fire departments. AFD had 105 candidates this year which was up from the normal low to mid 80s. Out of the 16 fire departments participated, AFD had the greatest number of candidates even compared to Green Bay which surprised Chief Hansen.
The next step in the hiring process is the physical ability test which will be coming up in early September. The on-boarding of new recruits is scheduled for sometime between April and May of 2023 depending on who they hired and when the recruits were done with schooling.
Moving on in the hiring update, he thanked the committee and council for approving a Table of Organization change allowing them to move from having a Fire Protection Engineer to having a Public Education Specialist.
They had hired Alexandria Quintana. She resided locally, had a degree in accounting, and would be finishing her fire degree later this fall. She had also worked at the Fox Crossing Fire Department as a driver/engineer and was in the officer’s academy to take on the role of lieutenant. At the Fox Crossing Fire Department, she had been in charge of inspections, public education, outreach, and curriculum development for public education which was exactly what the Appleton Fire Department planned to have her do here. She also had multiple state certifications and was basically ready to work straight after behind hired.
Chief Hansen noted that she would be overseeing the Fire Department’s social media page and had some great ideas on how to increase their exposure.
Alderperson Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) asked when they would find out if the EMS grants had been awarded.
Chief Hansen answered that the application deadline had been July 11. They had submitted their requests and contacted the Department of Safety and Professional Services to ask them how they would award the grants and what the review process was, “and they weren’t able to tell us that.”
He said AFD had to work with their contacts at the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association to dig into that a little bit and figure out what the process was. He noted that the website for the grant said the grants would be awarded by the end of the year. [For what it’s worth, the “Calendar of Events” in the document I found on the website indicates that the notification of awards is estimated for August.]
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=965304&GUID=6940F780-7745-4922-B66A-CD5C997B88D9
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