Below Are Some Frequently Asked Questions

       About the Taylor Fire Department

1. How big is the Taylor Fire Department?

BEFORE LAMARAND                                                                    WITH LAMARAND

1 – Fire Chief                                                                           1 – Fire Chief

1 – Deputy Chief                                                                     1 – Fire Marshal

1 – Fire Marshal                                                                      1 – Captain Fire Inspector

1 – Battalion Chief EMS                                                        35 – Firefighters in Suppression

1 – Battalion Chief of Training & Maintenance

2 – Captain Fire Inspectors

1 – Lieutenant Inspector                                       

1 – Captain of OSHA                                              

53 – Firefighters in Suppression

.

2. Why is the Collective Bargaining Agreement (between City of Taylor and TPFFU Local 1252) minimum firefighter

staffing language so critical?

The CBA language states: “The parties agree that the Fire Department will maintain the current suppression staffing

level of fifty-three (53) members and the daily shift staffing of fourteen (14) members, so long as the City provides

advanced life support transport.” This is the minimum that was agreed to and deemed necessary to safely protect

the residents and visitors of the City of Taylor. This is a number that has been agreed to by 4 Fire Chiefs (including the

current Chief) along with 3 Mayors (including Lamarand, until he decided to change his mind and violate the contract

and the safety of the city).

The CBA also states: “It is agreed between the parties that the firefighting work force will be on duty at each station

at all times.” Once again this language was placed in our contract years ago so that the safety of our residents couldn't

be taken away from them. Mayor Lamarand has chosen to ignore this, violate our contract, and reduce the level of

safety for the City.

3. Why is the Taylor Fire Department's 4 minute response time so critical?

The staffing and apparatus placement (prior to 18 firefighters laid-off, 4 retirements and elimination of 1 fire engine

and 1 rescue/ambulance) allowed us to maintain an average response time of four minutes. This is critical for many

reasons. The following are examples where studies have shown:

· Infant/pediatrics who experience oxygen deprivation begin to suffer permanent brain damage at 4 minutes

  (choking, drowning, sudden cardiac arrest, etc.).

· Adult Oxygen Deprivation begins to cause brain death at 4-6 minutes. Brain death is assured at 10 minutes.

· CPR, if began within 4 minutes of cardiac arrest and followed by electric defibrillation within 10 minutes can

  increase chances of survivability by 40%.

· In cardiac arrest, with every passing minute, the chances for a victim's survival decreases by 10%. Defibrillation

  is more successful when performed within 8 minutes of the cardiac arrest, and most successful if performed

  within 5 minutes.

· With Trauma patients, the "Golden Hour" is the time from the point of traumatic injury to the time they receive

  definitive medical care. Studies have proven that getting a patient to a trauma center operating room within

  the first 60 minutes of injury drastically increases the chance of survival. Every minute matters for survivability,

  especially within the first "Golden Hour."

· For trauma patients who are trapped in a vehicle from a motor vehicle accident or an industrial machinery

  accident, their extrication time is also included in the “Golden Hour.” All Taylor Fire Engines carry professionally

  trained rescue firefighters and extrication equipment (Jaws of Life).

· In just two minutes, a structure fire can become life-threatening. In five minutes, a residence can become

  engulfed in flames. Time is critical in search and rescue.

4. What types of shifts do the Taylor Firefighters work?

24 hour shifts (from 7 am until 7 am the next morning)

There are some obvious advantages to the 24 hour schedule, but there are some not-so-obvious disadvantages, too.

With the firefighter schedule, their work days rotate throughout the week. They are not home at times when the

typical family person is… including weekends, kids sporting events, birthdays, holidays, and at night when it is time

to tuck the kids in to bed. Every holiday, the Fire Department is fully staffed. These are not complaints, just some

things that are easily overlooked. We are open 24-7, 365 days a year; we never stop working for you.

5. Why not (3) 8 hour shifts instead of one 24 hour shift? Wouldn't that be more cost efficient?

Actually, it is more cost effective for the City to have their firefighters work 24 hour shifts. Taylor firefighters work

an average of 50.4 hours per week. If staffed with 8 hour shift employees, it would require overtime (FLSA) for

anything above 40 hours. There would need to be an increase in firefighters, or significant overtime, to provide the

same daily staffing levels currently required (per our contractually negotiated safety standards).

In addition, this does not take into consideration the added overtime costs when firefighters respond to a run near

the end of their shift. They are duty-bound to stay late and complete the emergency run, on overtime, while their

relief is waiting for them at the station to return. With 8 hour shifts, there would be three times the opportunity for

this to occur which would drastically affect overtime costs as well.

6. Why do firefighters sleep at the fire station?

Taylor firefighters along with virtually every full time firefighter in North America work 24-hour shifts. Unlike 8-hour

employees, the 24 hour employee’s shift is dictated by run volume and calls. Regardless of what time of day a call

for help comes in. All of the station duties and training are completed throughout the day. The firefighters in Taylor

respond to approximately 8,000 calls for help every year. During their 24 hour shift if they are able to get rest to

maintain energy and a sharp mind, it is permitted.

7. How many stations and apparatus does the Taylor Fire Department have?

BEFORE LAMARAND                                           WITH LAMARAND

STATION 1:                                                                 STATION 1:

Battalion 1 (Shift Commander)                                  Battalion 1 (Shift Commander)

1 – Fire Engine (2 Firefighters)                                   2 – Fire Engines (4 Firefighters)

2 – ALS Rescue (4 Firefighters)                                   2 – ALS Rescues (4 Firefighters)

1 – Dispatcher (Firefighter)                                        1 – Dispatcher (Firefighter)

STATION 2:                                                                 STATION 2:

1 – Fire Engine (2 Firefighters)                                   CLOSED

1 – ALS Rescue (2 Firefighters)

STATION 3:                                                                 STATION 3:

1 – Fire Engine (2 Firefighters)                                   CLOSED

1 – ALS Rescue (2 Firefighters)

DAILY MINIMUM STAFFING: 14 - 16                         DAILY MINIMUM STAFFING: 10

· All Rescues are Advanced Life Support, transporting ambulances. All Engines are Basic Life Support

equipped with AED.

· All rescues (ambulances) are staffed with 2 dual trained firefighters and paramedics.

· Rescues and fire engines respond to both fires and medical calls.

8. Are there always Firefighters staffed at all of the fire stations?

Stations 2 and 3 were closed on October 3, 2011.  Only 1 station remains open today.  Station 2 opened on November

14, 1950 and Station 3 opened on January 19, 1953.  Once those stations were opened they were never closed for

staffing reasons again, until now.

9. What services does the Taylor Fire Department provide?

Fire (Extinguishment)

· Residential structures

· Industrial structures

· Commercial structures

· Vehicle

· Dumpster/ grass

· Anything else that burns

Medical (We bring the emergency room to the patient)

· Provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) by paramedics.

· Immediate transport via ALS Rescue to nearest appropriate hospital facility for the patient’s condition.

All Engines are BLS equipped and staffed with EMTs and/ or paramedics.

· Advanced intravenous (IV) and intraosseous (IO) fluid and/ or medication administration for cardiac,

respiratory and other life threatening conditions.

· Provide emergent advanced airways for patients in respiratory distress and/ or arrest.

· Treat emergent cardiac patients and their arrhythmias appropriately.

· Stabilize and provide care for trauma and/ or burn patients.

· Provide emergent obstetrics care and manage treatment both before and after childbirth.

· Treat whatever other medical emergency a patient may experience.

Rescue

· Vehicle extrication

· Industrial machine extrication

· Residential structure fire search and rescue

· Technical rescue/ scene hazard mitigation

· Any other type of rescue where someone calls for help

Fire Prevention

· Fire safety talks for seniors on location and for children at schools and fire safety-smoke house.

· Code preplanning and enforcement

· Investigate arson, fatal and suspicious fires

· Investigate arson, fatal and suspicious fires

· Ensure life safety for special events (Ex. Heritage days, fireworks, junior little league world series, etc.)

Emergency Management

· Prepares for any potential major incidents: environmental, natural disaster, terrorist, etc.

· Mitigate and stabilize hazardous materials incident

Many calls require a response from multiple apparatus to efficiently and safely mitigate the emergency. This has

been greatly affected with the closing of 2 of the 3 stations, reducing fire engines from 3 to 2 and reducing rescues

from 4 to 2.

10. How many calls does the Taylor Fire Department run every year?

The Taylor Fire Department averages around 8,000 calls per year.

Year     Total Calls* Staffing                                                                Transported Patients

1990:   7877    (38 Firefighters & approx. 100 auxiliary Firefighters)               No

2000:   8450    (72 Firefighters)                                                                         Yes

2010:   7623    (61 Firefighters)                                                                         Yes

2011:   8000?  (38 Firefighters)                                                                         Yes

* Each call equals one scene. There are typically multiple apparatus and/or patients on one scene.

11. Who determines what apparatus are needed for a determined call?

Our dispatch is located in the central fire station on Goddard Rd. Many times the type of situation found upon

arrival is very different from the situation portrayed to dispatch over the 911 phone call. People experiencing

the emergency and under stress of the moment, understandably do not always accurately describe a situation

to dispatch. Units are dispatched according to information received by Dispatch. Dispatch always errors on the

side of caution and dispatches for the worst case scenario so the firefighters do not arrive to an emergency

understaffed and underequipped. It is better for the scene commander to return staffing/equipment back to the

station than to realize they needed more help and not have it available on scene. Discovering that we need more

units upon arrival is often too late. Experience has taught us that it’s better to have too much help than not enough.

12. Why do fire trucks with full lights and sirens go through red lights at intersections and then, after they go

through, they turn off their lights and slow down?

Emergency lights and siren are used only when responding to a call. Sometimes several units are dispatched to the

same incident. When the first unit arrives on scene, they may assess the situation and inform the dispatcher they

can handle the emergency. All other responding units are then cancelled and put back into service, ready to take

another call. When cancelled in the midst of an intersection, an apparatus will continue through with lights and

sirens so they do not confuse other drivers which may cause an accident.

13. Why do so many fire apparatus respond to a simple incident?

A "Standard Response Plan" policy is utilized on all responses. This system is a pre-designated formula that determines

the amount and type of equipment that may be needed and sent to the incident. For example, an initial alarm for a

residential structure fire would be: Battalion 1 (Incident commander), 3 – Fire Engines and 3 – ALS Rescues (this was

before daily staffing was reduced to 10 from 14). We will now be responding with only a Battalion Chief, 2 Fire Engines

and 2 ALS Rescues. One of the 10 members on duty is a 911 dispatcher unable to respond to the call. These current

plans do not ensure adequate staffing and equipment for typical fires, including search and rescue. The internationally

recognized agency that develops standards for the fire service is the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). The NFPA

standard 1710 states that there needs to be a minimum of 15 firefighters on scene of a structure fire within eight

minutes. This provides the incident commander with adequate personnel for accomplishing essential scene tasks in a

timely manner and the ability to perform work as safely and efficient as possible. Even with the initial response of where

we used to be at, we would require a second alarm just to meet the NFPA guidelines.

    Initial Full Assignment Requirements

Set by National Fire Protection Association

            NFPA 1710

This is based on a typical single-family, two-story, 2000-square-foot house without a basement or exposures.

§ Incident Commander                       

§ Safety Officer / Incident Commander Aid

§ Pump Operator

§ Fire Attack Line (2 firefighters)

§ Fire Backup Line (2 firefighters)

§ Search & Rescue Team (2 firefighters)

§ Ventilation Team (2 firefighters)

§ Initial Rapid Intervention Crew (2 firefighters)

§ Support Crew (2 firefighters) – hydrant hookup, line lays, utility control and forcible entry

§ 2 more firefighters, depending if aerial truck is used and/or 2 engines are being used to provide

   continuous water supply

Also requires response times:

§ 4 or fewer minutes for the arrival of the first engine company, 90% of the time.

§ 8 or fewer minutes for the arrival of the initial full alarm assignment, 90% of the time.

The State of Michigan’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA), has adopted the NFPA’s

“two-in/two-out” standard as a mandated requirement. MIOSHA enforces the “two-in/two-out” provision for all

fire departments. The “two-in/two-out” rule is defined as when a fire crew makes entry in to a structure fire, there

must also be a crew outside, fully-geared up and ready to intervene/rescue should the scene unexpectedly experience

rapid degradation and the interior firefighters need rescue.

14. Why do fire engines respond on medical runs with an ambulance/rescue?

The rescues are staffed with 2 paramedics. The Fire Engines are staffed with 2 EMT’s and/or paramedics. If the

person calling 911 portrays an incident which sounds like a serious medical emergency to the dispatcher, both an

ambulance and an engine are sent. The Taylor Firefighters are bringing the emergency room to you. When you are

in an emergency room at a hospital, there are multiple people helping a critically ill patient. Firefighters/paramedics

are no different. They also need to have multiple personnel on scene to adequately provide the highest level of care

for the patient.

15. Why doesn’t the City hire separate EMS workers or privatize EMS? They could work for less than firefighters

and work 8 hour shifts? Shouldn’t firefighters only put out fires?

Dual trained firefighter/paramedics are used nationally to get the most "bang for the buck". EMS delivery generates

nearly $1,650,000 in revenue to help subsidize the delivery and expenses (with the changes made by Mayor Lamarand

it was recently stated that we will lose $800,000 of that revenue this year). Career firefighters/paramedics are loyal

to the City and its residents. They generally stay and dedicate their entire career to Taylor. Dual trained firefighters

allow Taylor Fire to provide ample and safe responses to more than one incident that occur simultaneously in Taylor,

which is very common. Having separate EMS workers would only limit firefighter staffing at fires and other emergencies

because EMS workers would only do EMS. Being both firefighters and paramedics allows Taylor Firefighters the

versatility and ability to provide the safest and the highest level of services available. In addition, without dual trained

firefighters, it would not allow the Fire Department to meet the NationalFire Protection Agency’s (NFPA) standards for

response times and staffing level on scenes.

Private EMS needs to make a profit for survival… even nonprofit EMS companies need to generate enough revenue to

survive. If there is an EMS run in a neighboring community or a profitable hospital transfer, private EMS is nearly always

obligated to take the guaranteed profit for their survival, thus removing ambulances from emergency responses.

Emergency runs are irregular and unpredictable. There are highs and lows of call volumes. If there is a low run volume

for an extended period of time, private EMS has to pull ambulances out of that area to send them to areas where it is

profitable. When there is a high run volume, directly after a low run volume period, there is a chance that there will not

be adequate numbers of private ambulances in our community. City Fire Departments are consistent with apparatus

staffing and placement to ensure a safer community (Unfortunately this is currently not true in Taylor).

16. Why do firefighters break windows and cut holes in roofs when the fire is inside a building? It seems that they

are causing more damage than the fire?

Fire in a building creates a tremendous amount of heat and smoke. In many instances, firefighters must remove this

heat and smoke before they can get close enough to extinguish the fire. The reduced heat and improved visibility

allow firefighters to safely and quickly rescue trapped occupants and extinguish the fire. Heat and smoke rise, so

cutting a hole in the roof and breaking out windows in strategic locations allows the superheated-black smoke to

vent out and cool air to enter the structure from below. This process is called "ventilation". It also reduces the

possibilities of backdraft (an explosion of heated gases) and flashover. By venting the window of a room that is on

fire, it actually helps to contain the fire to the room of origin. Otherwise, superheated gases spread throughout

the inside of a structure and further spread the fire. Breaking a window really prevents more damage than it

appears to cause.

17. Why do firefighters retire a little younger than other professions?

Firefighting is both physically and mentally demanding, where you cannot work effectively and safely into

your golden years. The physical strain that can take place from firefighting is quite obvious at times, but

the mental aspect involved is often overlooked. Anything from doing CPR on an infant to telling someone their

grandparent has passed away, from a minor fender bender to a school bus with children trapped, or from a field

fire to a fully involved house fire with people inside, it doesn't matter... We're there for all emergencies.

Firefighters do not receive social security benefits and the City does not pay into the social security system for

us. We pay into our pension plans along with the City.

18. Why not have a hybrid department comprised of fulltime and volunteer firefighters in Taylor? Wouldn’t

that be more efficient?

While volunteer firefighters perform a vital function in smaller communities that have considerably fewer runs

annually, Taylor residents expect more from their Fire Department and firefighters. The Taylor Firefighters

respond to around 8,000 calls annually, with an average response time of 4 minutes. This is something volunteers,

who have other responsibilities to their primary employment and family, cannot guarantee to provide when

responding from their “real” job or home. Also, this large volume of runs would likely create “burn-out” for those

who would be continuously responding from home or their principal place of employment.

While we appreciate what volunteers do in rural communities, hybrid systems or volunteers would never work as

efficiently nor have the ability to provide the same level of or variety of services in such a busy community as Taylor.

Taylor firefighters have dedicated their lives to public safety – fulltime – all the time, not when it is convenient.

Volunteers may take firefighting serious, but it is impossible to have the same commitment, training, and

experience as professionals who do it every day. If a volunteer did, their real profession would suffer as well as

their family. Volunteers have to take breaks from their principal employment to think about and train for

firefighting/ems/rescue. Career firefighters don't, it is their real job so they do it all the time.

Taylor Fire has stringent minimum requirements to be eligible to apply for employment. Applicants must already

have obtained a paramedic license, State Certified Firefighter I & II, and an associate’s degree or equivalent.

This would be an unreasonable expectation for a part-paid or volunteer firefighter to obtain prior to employment.

Many who did have these requirements would only use Taylor Fire for experience and, in many cases, would move

on to another career department, as they did when we had the auxiliary firefighter program (1986 – 1999). All of the

money spent for their gear and on-the-job training, plus time invested in the employee would be lost. If the

Department should decide to not have these same requirements to apply and pay to put these part-paid (volunteer)

employees through these schools, it is very expensive and time consuming. For example, paramedic school is a

1-2 year school, costs thousands of dollars and is a serious time commitment. The Fire Academy is again a very

time consuming and costly school. Firefighters who put in this kind of time investment are likely going to continue

to look for career employment. Taylor Fire would lose employees that have had several thousands of dollars

and a few years of time invested into them. In addition, once on the job, there are several more schools,

education, and certifications acquired. The magnitude of technical training that is required of Taylor Firefighters

is very expensive and they are continually increasing their skill-sets. The extensive training and education

requirements provide Taylor Firefighters with the tools needed to provide the highest level of services. It is

cost-effective to retain highly trained, loyal, career employees.

19. Is it true that some Taylor Firefighters do not live in the City?

The State of Michigan has a law that City’s may require employees to establish residency within 20 miles of

the nearest City boundary. The firefighter’s contract does not supersede the State law. As in all municipalities

in the State, there are some Taylor firefighters who do not reside in the City where they work. They live in

surrounding communities, as do some firefighters who work for other communities reside in Taylor.

Each Taylor Firefighter takes an oath to serve and protect the citizens of Taylor upon being hired. That oath is

taken very serious. Regardless of where we live, Taylor is still a home to us. That being said, firefighters get into

this profession to help people regardless of where they reside. For example: Taylor Firefighters will give

surrounding communities the same high level of care on mutual aid calls as we do Taylor residents. We care

about people, not boundaries.