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GREAT LAKES DIVISION INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS POSITION STATEMENTS – November 2006 (Updated August 21, 2007)
FIRE-SAFE CIGARETTES (JULY 2007) Background; Smoldering cigarettes are the leading cause of fire deaths in America. In 2001, unattended or discarded cigarettes caused 31,200 fires nationwide, resulting in 830 deaths, thousands of serious injuries and an estimated $386 million in direct property loss, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Most victims are non-smokers, including children, family members, neighbors and firefighters. This is a preventable tragedy. The tobacco companies know how to manufacture cigarettes that are likely to self-extinguish without causing a fire, but they have refused to voluntarily use this technology in all cigarettes they sell. As a result, fourteen states have passed laws setting cigarette fire safety standards that require the tobacco companies to use the life safety technology known as “reduced ignition propensity” cigarettes. Another sixteen states have filed fire safe cigarette legislation.
Position; It is the position of the Great Lakes Division Board of Directors of the International Association of Fire Chiefs to promote the proliferation of fire-safe cigarettes and specifically to promote adoption of the model legislation at the state level. Adopting the model legislation is strongly recommended so that the tobacco industry will have to produce only one style of fire-safe cigarette. The Fire Safe Cigarette Coalition realizes that if too many standards are adopted, the tobacco industry will have a strong reason to lobby for one, less stringent, standard at the federal level. Read the model legislation at http://firesafecigarettes.org/
FIRE ACT The GLD Board strongly supports Congressional efforts to fully fund the FIRE ACT at its authorized level. We request IAFC members and all other members of the fire service to make this a priority issue. We ask IAFC members to continue contact with Congressional delegation members to explain the positive and far-reaching impact this legislation has on local fire departments and the importance of institutionalizing the program as a separate grant program direct to local fire departments.
NFPA 1710 & 1720 The GLD Board concurs with the CPSE Board of Directors in recognizing NFPA 1710-1720 as deployment standards, not safety standards. We urge the Board to monitor closely the use of these standards throughout the United States. The GLD Board continues to support the IAFC Accreditation system as a model for fire departments to use to reach “equivalency” with the requirements found in NFPA 1710. The GLD Board joins the IAFC Board in declaring opposition to either standard being adopted for use by the federal OSHA Administration or any state OSHA agency.
USFA / NFA The Board of the Great Lakes Division supports the management and program revisions being implemented by the Administration of FEMA, USFA, and NFA. We remain committed to supporting these efforts to revitalize the operations of these critical agencies. The GLD Board strongly urges that the position of Administrator and Deputy Administrator be maintained and filled by a person with a fire service background.
IAFC STRATEGIC PLANNING The Great Lakes Division Board commends the IAFC Board for institutionalizing strategic planning to maintain continuity and governance for the Association. The GLD Board encourages the IAFC Board to fully fund the necessary meetings of Division, Section and State Fire Chief Association representatives to attend the planning sessions.
EMS INITIATIVES The GLD Board supports the efforts of the IAFC to focus greater attention on delivery of emergency medical services by the fire service. With many of our members involved in some sort of EMS delivery to the public, the GLD Board supports efforts to improve the delivery system of fire–based EMS and urges the IAFC Board of Directors to support the same. The GLD Board also supports the development of a EMS National Patient Data Set. The GLD encourages members and the IAFC to pursue mechanisms that will assist in successfully recovering costs by member agencies that provide any level of EMS service (first responder to ALS) even if agencies do not transport patients.
WELLNESS PROGRAMS The GLD Board supports the concept of fitness/wellness for all fire service personnel. A comprehensive program to accomplish this has been jointly developed by the IAFC and IAFF and implemented in 10 U.S. metropolitan fire departments. The GLD Board requests that the IAFC Safety, Health & Survival Section study the cost implication, implementations timing, and appropriateness for all levels of fire service delivery systems.
FITNESS STANDARDS The GLD Board supports the IAFC/IAFF physical fitness standards for entry-level employees and encourages member fire department leaders to evaluate the CPAT program for implementation in their organizations. The GLD Board further supports the continued development of fitness standards for incumbent employees. The GLD is supportive of efforts to eliminate language in the fitness standards that makes employee refusal to participate in a fitness program nonpunitive.
CHILDREN’S SLEEPWEAR (TO BE UPDATED) The GLD remains supportive of HR 528/730 that has been introduced in Congress and seeks to reinstate the 1972 flame-resistant standard for children’s sleepwear. The GLD Board continues to oppose the decision of the Consumers Product Safety Commission that eliminated this vital safety measure for children. The GLD Board further requests that the IAFC urge other fire service organizations to join in opposing the CPSC’s actions regarding sleepwear for children and ask the IAFC to support passage of HR 528/730.
FARM CHEMICAL PLACARDING The GLD is opposed to any legislative or regulatory effort that will relax or eliminate the enforcement for failure to placard hazardous chemicals used in some agricultural applications. We believe strongly that this could increase the chances of fire service personnel being exposed unnecessarily to hazardous situations.
WOMEN CHIEF FIRE OFFICERS The GLD Board supports the WCFO’s efforts to render the IAFC more open and sensitive to the diverse work force in the fire service. The GLD believes the mission, vision, and value statements developed by the WCFO set a standard for the IAFC that will make the entire organization, and all its members, capable of meeting the many diversified challenges over the next decade.
ALCOHOL & DRUG FREE WORKPLACE The GLD Board strongly believes in and supports the concept of an alcohol and drug free work force. To this end, the Board supports all drug testing and monitoring procedures and policies now in place in our respective states. The GLD Board further advocates taking necessary actions to implement random drug testing for members of the fire service.
FIRE DEPARTMENT ACCREDITATION Continuous quality improvement and enhancement of service delivery remains a major challenge to the fire service. The Center for Public Safety Excellence, Fire and Emergency Service Self-Assessment Process, operated by the Commission of Fire Accreditation International, provides a voluntary program by which our members can evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of their organization and set a course for improvement. The Great Lakes Board encourages members to consider participating in the accreditation process and to set a goal to become an internationally accredited agency.
CHIEF FIRE OFFICER DESIGNATION PROGRAM The GLD Board believes in the professional development of fire and emergency service chief officers by providing a voluntary designation program that promotes excellence and serves as a career path for junior officers. The Chief Fire Officer Designation (CFOD) is a program that the GLD Board supports and promotes for use by our members.
DIRECTED VOTES BY IAFC REPRESENTATIVES Individuals serving on standards and codes development committees of the NFPA, as appointed representatives of the IAFC, or individuals working on committees or work groups of other organizations in which the IAFC has an interest, must agree to the principle that the IAFC Board may direct them to vote a particular way on issues placed before the committee or work group. It is the GLD Board’s firm conviction that the principle of “directed votes”, on issues critical to the mission of the IAFC, must be agreed to by IAFC appointed representatives prior to serving on such committees or work groups. The interests of the general membership of the IAFC must be protected and advanced by the Board.
STAFFING FOR ADEQUATE FIRE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE (SAFER) ACT Recognizing that our local firefighters are America’s first line of defense for a myriad of events, the GLD Board strongly supports congressional efforts to fully fund the SAFER Act at its authorized level that would provide funding directly to local governments to hire additional firefighters. We ask IAFC members to continue contact with congressional delegation members to explain the positive and far reaching impact this legislation has on local fire services..
POSITION ON
NATIONAL EMS SCOPE OF PRACTICE MODEL
Specifically, the Great Lakes Division Board opposes changing the levels of licensure of Emergency Medical Service personnel, and further opposes the elimination of the EMT-Intermediate certification. The Great Lakes Board opposes any increase in the number of hours currently required by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) curricula for education of First Responders, EMT-Basics, EMT-Intermediates, and EMT-Paramedics.
The Great Lakes Division Board opposes the imposition of any requirement that limits paramedic practice to only those persons with an Associates Degree or completion of an accredited Paramedic Program (which would eliminate paramedic-training programs at some local hospitals). The Board supports a Scope of Practice Model that recognizes all training programs that meet state requirements for licensure. The Great Lakes Division Board opposes any EMS Scope of Practice that would limit the ability of individual Emergency Medical Service Medical Directors to determine the skills to be performed by any level of EMT licensee practicing under their supervision. The Board supports minimum levels of practice for each license level but opposes any maximum level of practice for any level of practice, if an Emergency Medical Service provider’s Medical Director permits such practice.
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