SKFR Quarterly Newsletter

Welcome to South Kitsap Fire and Rescue’s electronic newsletter. This newsletter will provide you with up to date information about your emergency medical, fire and rescue services in South Kitsap. Every three months, we will provide you with clear, concise and helpful information about SKFR and how you can help yourself better prepare for most medical and fire related emergencies and disasters. If you would like to get additional information, please see our website at http://www.skfr.org/ or phone us at 360-871-2411. If you know of someone who would appreciate this newsletter, please feel free to forward it to them and encourage them to join the list. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please click below to unsubscribe. Thank you!

TEMPORARY LEVY LID LIFT ELECTION

Our Elected Fire Commissioners for South Kitsap Fire and Rescue have placed a temporary levy lid lift request on the May 16, 2006 ballot. Approving this measure will help the district meet increased demand for service from our rapidly growing community. This measure will add nine Firefighter / Emergency Medical Technicians.

Annually, we respond to nearly 9000 EMS, fire and rescue emergency calls for help. Additional staffing is needed to maintain and improve our emergency response times and make sure we have emergency services available 24 hours a day seven days a week – even if there are multiple calls.

Passing this measure now will allow the district to qualify for a federal grant to help pay for these 9 Firefighter / EMT’s. If the temporary levy request is not approved, the district will not qualify for the additional federal funds.

This measure authorizes a temporary increase in the levy rate for fire and emergency medical services by increasing the amount the district levies in property taxes by $.14 per $1000 valuation for six years. This levy would expire in 2013.

If you are interested, South Kitsap Fire and Rescue will be hosting a levy kick off meeting on January 31, 2006 at our headquarters Station, 1974 Fircrest Dr. SE at 7:00 PM. For more information please visit our website at http://www.skfr.org/

EMERGENCY OPERATIONS REPORT:

SKFR units responded to 8584 emergency calls for help in 2005. Over the last ten years, SKFR responses have increased an average of 4% each year. When Firefighter/EMT’s are already tending to an emergency in their area and another call for help comes in from that same area, Firefighter/EMT’s from other areas are required to drive farther to get on the scene of the second and third call for help. This results in extended response times and an increased risk for our citizens.

Response times are critical and seconds count when a medical or fire emergency involves your family and friends. The term response time means the time that begins when SKFR units are en-route to the emergency event and ends when those units arrive at the scene.

In a medical emergency, we know that brain death starts to occur 4 to 6 minutes after someone experiences cardiac arrest if CPR and defibrillation are not administered during that time. Few attempts at resuscitation are successful if CPR and defibrillation are not provided within minutes of collapse. Beyond this, most medical emergencies like strokes, heart attacks, breathing problems, or bleeding, all become progressively more fatal or cause long term disability when not treated as rapidly as possible. Time is the critical factor when it comes to medical emergencies and their outcomes.

We also know that once a fire grows past the room of origin that the injury, death, and property loss rate increases exponentially. When a fire is confined to the room of origin, the civilian injury rate is 35 injuries per 1000 fires. When the fire grows beyond the room of origin, the rate increases to 97 injuries per 1000 fires. The death rate also drastically increases from 2.3 deaths per 1000 fires to 20 per 1000 fires. Studies show that a quick fire response that keeps the fire confined to the room of origin is usually within 8 minutes of someone calling 911.

Response time determines the level risk a community assumes for fire, rescue and medical emergencies. In most emergencies, problems worsen with time.

SKFR’s current emergency services response times are considerably longer considering the information above. As a result, the level of risk is higher for our families living within South Kitsap. SKFR’s current response time standard is:

Initial Response

Suburban: Emergency Medical – 10 minutes 90% of the time with 2 personnel.

  Fire – 10 minutes 90% of the time with 2 personnel.

Rural:          Emergency Medical – 14 minutes 90% of the time with 2 personnel.

            Fire – 14 minutes 90% of the time with 2 personnel.

Emergency response times continue to increase because as the population increases, emergency requests for service increase.

ARE YOU PREPARED?

2005 was a year that will be remembered for all time as three major disasters struck various parts of our world. The tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the earthquake in Afghanistan, and Hurricane Katrina were all broadcast on live TV as we watched in horror. These events and others reminded us that we have to be prepared for such an event happening right here in South Kitsap. Our goal is to help the citizens of our community prepare themselves for this kind of event in the future.

South Kitsap Fire and Rescue staff members recently attended a seminar on lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina presented by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management. Of the many worthwhile things talked about that day, was the need for citizens to be prepared and self sufficient for the period immediately following a disaster event. In the past, the message to the public has been to maintain a three day supply of food and water for their family. The lesson learned from the Hurricane Katrina disaster found that many people were isolated and outside the reach of help for a period extending past this three day period. We want to encourage our citizens to make the necessary preparations before a disaster hits and to plan for a period of at least three days or more when putting together your families’ disaster preparation kit. Additional information and suggestions for your preparation can be found at the Kitsap County Department of Emergency Management website located at, http://kitsapdem.org/.

On behalf of SKFR, I want to express our sincere thanks to every citizen who has called, written cards, and letters thanking our Firefighter / EMT’s or Firefighters / Paramedics for the excellent service you received. It is truly a pleasure to serve you and while we are unable to answer each thank-you, we want you to know that it means a lot to hear from you on such matters.

Sincerely,

Wayne Senter, Fire Chief