Seeking to improve their own capabilities in order to offer the maximum service to residents of two counties, Westfield Volunteer Fire Department took advantage of training programs offered through Surry Community College to get an additional certification.
They are adding Light Rescue to services already offered in Fire Protection and First Responder, this will increase the capabilities of the department while offering potentially lifesaving services to Surry and Stokes counties. “With volunteer firefighter numbers on the decline, and calls going up, we’re always looking for ways to expand services,” Deputy Chief Matt Martin said.
Westfield Volunteer Fire Department has asked the county to revise their service contract agreement with the county to reflect the new service they will now be offering. This is a legal necessity for the department, as County Manager Chris Knopf said, “Their contract needs to reflect the services they are actually providing.”
Nine of Westfield’s firefighters have completed Light Rescue certification, with six more in the pipeline now taking free training classes at Surry Community College. These firefighters will have achieved more than 200 total hours of training in vehicular, technical, and agricultural rescue in order to get the Light Rescue certification.
Westfield Fire Chief Johnny Sutphin described the elements involved in rescues including the ability to use ropes to rappel, using heavy equipment to extricate trapped drivers, and cribs to stabilize vehicles.
With so many and differing types of farms agricultural rescue may mean more than a runaway tractor. The chief noted chemical sprayers and conveyor junctions as possible reasons his department may respond to a rescue call from a farm.
In the agreement with the county from 1986, Westfield VFD was established to “provide and maintain for the district fire protections services, facilities, and functions to levy a tax for the support thereof.” The county is divided into volunteer fire districts, with each levying their own fire district tax for maintenance and upkeep of equipment, fire houses, and to pay staff.
Each of the volunteer departments offer fire protection as their main service, but the agreements go on to outline Westfield’s responsibilities as first responders. It may be quizzical to think of them as anything but a first responders, but there is a designated difference as not all alarms they respond to involve an actual fire.
The agreement stipulates they “undertake first responder services under the supervision of the Surry County Emergency Services, and in compliance with the first responder programs and its rules and regulations.
“The purpose of the department participation is to reduce pain, suffering, and disability or death which may accompany prolonged delays in treatment in areas of the county not reachable by regular Surry County Emergency Medical Services units or rescue squads within four minutes.”
Surry County and fire officials are collaborating with the volunteer fire departments to develop a new plan to recruit and retain more firefighters. Surry County has also proposed a plan to station additional county resources strategically around the county to offer an additional county response element to emergency calls.
Adding on new services for Westfield means they have the opportunity to respond to more and different types of calls, and the county commissioners were informed this week by Westfield 2nd Lieutenant Glenn Lamb that, “We also have a contract with Stokes County, we are doing the same thing with Stokes.”
Chief Sutphin said that 42% of his fire district is over the line in Stokes County, and that approximately that percentage of his calls go that way.
Adding in these new strategic resources and having volunteer fire departments increasing their individual capabilities can have a direct impact on individuals when time is of the essence. “We’ll get there first, just based on the logistics and the location,” Sutphin said. “So, we can be there to provide rescue service until the county arrives, then we can work together from there.”
Progress is always a key to growth, and Martin said it is in the culture of the Westfield Volunteer Fire Department to look at their programs and services to find areas to expand. “Last year, we saw this as an area of improvement. It took twelve months, but we did it.”
The commissioners approved the new contract agreement, and County Attorney Ed Woltz added his desire to use the Westfield agreement as a template for departments who add services.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com