Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/10/2014

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4. Equalization of Training Issues Working together in a "shared fire service" would allow the firefighters in the entire group to be trained equally, both in level of training and method of training. One instructor could train the entire group on a particular discipline — if there is a location big enough to house everyone at one time or in smaller groups in different locations at different times. Either way the training on that topic would be equal throughout the group. One of the possible obstacles of the training group could be finding a common day and time to conduct drills. Right now each department has their own system that is working for their daytime firefighters and their nighttime firefighters. This was a "known" when they joined the department. For example: Oak Grove holds drills, meetings and work details on Wednesday evening for "nights" and Monday morning for "days ". Having to move your day and time could cause problems for some firefighters like — work issues, day care, other obligations with church, sports, and other volunteer activities etc., etc., etc. 5. Standardized SOG's SOG's refer to Standard Operating Guidelines, which is a set of guidelines used by each fire department to determine how a task or situation should be handled. Every department has differing guidelines which makes operations with other departments somewhat challenging. For example: Department A has red helmets for probationary firefighters and yellow helmets for seasoned firefighters. Department B however, considers yellow helmets a probationary firefighter and a red helmet signifies an officer. Standardizing Operational guidelines across municipal boarders is a valuable tool to improve interoperability and overall operational safety. The Anoka County Fire Protection Council has recently formed a standards committee who are tasked with creating standardized operational guidelines on a county wide basis. The goal is to get all departments in Anoka County on the same page regarding SOG's so that errors and compromised safety can be avoided. A shared service agreement will help further standardize operational guidelines between local stations and personal where specialized SOG's are needed given a unique community risk that will keep firefighters and the community safe. 6. Standardization of Equipment Currently there is differing equipment from city to city of equipment in use. If the Joint Fire Service structure were to happen, standardizing some of the equipment may take time and be costly. One primary example is in the use of Self Contained Breathing Apparatus or SCBA. These are the air units that fire personal wear when entering a hazardous environment. Currently Oak Grove and Bethel use the Scott brand SCBA. Ramsey uses a MSA brand and St Francis uses a Dragger brand SCBA. If the cities were to form a Joint Fire Service Area, one brand would need to be identified and utilized. Along these 11