Toads Place

Presents:
Apache Stone
Featuring Mike Lombardi, "The Probie" From the Hit TV Series Rescue Me
August 7, 2010 - 7:30 p.m.
Toads Place, New Haven

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IAFF Testifies to Improve Public Safety Communications  

June 18, 2010 -- The IAFF testified June 17 at a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet on the need to improve basic communications within the fire service.

Although the hearing was called to discuss a plan by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to establish a nationwide public safety broadband network, IAFF Director of Fire and EMS Operations and GIS Services Jonathan Moore explained to Subcommittee members that the real dilemma facing many local fire departments is the need to improve communications operability.

“Focusing time and resources on fixing…basic communications issues will have a larger impact on public safety than will the establishment of any broadband network,” Moore said. “Moreover, failure to address the challenges of communications on the fire ground will undermine the entire purpose of creating a broadband network. A network that enables a fire fighter in Los Angeles to communicate with a fire fighter in New York will serve no purpose if two FDNY fire fighters working the same incident can’t talk to each other.”

Moore also told the Subcommittee that ensuring basic operability was more than a technical issue, it was necessary to ensure fire fighters’ health and safety.

“The IAFF has made it a priority to ensure that everyone goes home safe at the end of each shift. Because radios are one of the most important pieces of safety equipment, we expect that any new communications system will be effective, safe, reliable and simple to use,” he said.

In addition to discussing the importance of basic communications capabilities, Moore also expressed the IAFF’s support for the FCC’s plan to build a nationwide public safety broadband network. Although some panelists at the hearing disagreed with major provisions of the FCC’s plan, the majority of Subcommittee members expressed their clear preference for the IAFF’s position.

Subcommittee members, including Chair Rick Boucher (D-VA), are currently drafting legislation to implement the FCC’s recommendations. The IAFF will continue working closely with its congressional allies to ensure that its concerns are addressed in the resulting bill.

Read the IAFF Testimony: Establishing a Public Safety Broadband Network

New Residential Fire Study Shows Effects of Crew Size on Fire Fighting Operations

April 28, 2010 -- A landmark study released by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) shows that the size of fire fighting crews has a substantial effect on the fire service's ability to protect lives and property in residential fires. Click here to read the news release.

Conducted by a broad coalition in the scientific, fire fighting and public safety communities, the study results found that four-person fire fighting crews were able to complete 22 essential fire fighting and rescue tasks in a typical residential structure 30 percent faster than two-person crews and 25 percent faster than three-person crews.

The report is the first to quantify the effects of crew sizes and arrival times on the fire service's lifesaving and fire fighting operations.

This and other scientific data in the report will help educate public officials, fire chiefs and other decision-makers on the importance of adequate staffing and deployment with respect to fire fighter and public safety.

Study investigators from NIST and the IAFF announced the results of the study at a press conference at the Hilton Washington in Washington, DC, before the start of the annual Congressional Fire Services Institute meeting of top fire safety officials from the across the nation.

Click here for the full report.
 
The study is funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters grant program.

As part of the International’s communication efforts, the IAFF has launched the IAFF Frontline Blog. 
 
The blog is designed to communicate with IAFF members with commentary, news and updates instantly on issues important to them and to the IAFF.
 
Click here to view the blog.
 
The IAFF encourages participation in blog discussions. The blog is open to all, but only IAFF members can post comments to the blog entries by logging on. The comment period is 72 hours. 
 
As you express your views, please abide by the Frontline Blog Decency Rules, which are posted on the main blog page. The IAFF reserves the right to remove remarks that are considered offensive or are racist, sexist or vulgar.

What Does Health Care Reform Mean for Fire Fighters?

After decades of debate and months of back and forth in Congress, on March 23, President Obama signed historic health insurance reform legislation into law.

The big question now is, what does health care reform mean for fire fighters?

The IAFF has developed a health care reform fact sheet with important information about what the new health care reform law means for you and your family.

Click here to read the fact sheet.

Brothers and Sisters,

With the Senate’s decision today on reconciliation of the health care reform bill, I want to provide some perspective on the year-long effort.

I believe that one of the most important elements of the reform bill is that the excise tax will not affect you – not today, not tomorrow and not in the future. We stood our ground because we knew we were right. Due in large part to our strong, consistent opposition, the excise tax was modified repeatedly and watered down drastically.

No matter where you stand on the larger reform effort, please know that we worked very hard to insulate you from that unfair tax, and we were successful. Despite what you may have heard, despite the dire warnings and misstatements, fire fighters will keep their current health care and their taxes will not go up.

Here are a few key points: The excise tax:

• Has been scaled back significantly and won’t even take effect until 2018
• Was modified so it will apply only to those with the richest plans – $10,200 for an individual and $27,500 for families
• The tax threshold for health plans that cover fire fighters and others in high-risk professions is even higher – $11,850 for individuals and $30,950 for families
• Will not be applied to dental or vision coverage

While we focused on the excise tax, that is just one element of a broad legislative overhaul, and the truth is there are many changes in the bill that we can support. The major changes ensure that:

• Health care coverage is extended to an additional 32 million Americans
• Ever-rising health care costs will be contained

The reforms also have major implications for the fire service. We all know we can’t afford to continue serving as the primary health care provider for people without insurance, and expanding coverage to the uninsured will help address budget shortfalls at fire department nationwide.

The bill also outlaws some of the worst practices that insurance companies have engaged in. Under the new law:

• Insurance companies can no longer deny coverage because someone has a pre-existing condition
• Insurance companies are required to cover the full cost of preventative care, including annual physicals and children’s immunizations
• Insurance companies are required to cover dependent children until they are 26

Changes to Medicare also are important because we have members who one day may enroll in that program. Those changes ensure that:

• The Medicare drug benefit for senior citizens is expanded, and effective July 1, will provide a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs for the low-income elderly
• The gap known as the “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug coverage will gradually close and provide the estimated three million senior citizens who fall into that hole a $250 rebate
• Medicare will be overhauled so it delivers health care to senior citizens more efficiently and at a lower price

The reform effort has addressed many of the monumental problems afflicting health care in our country for too long. By substantially watering down the excise tax, extending health care coverage to many of the uninsured, improving Medicare for senior citizens and reining in insurance companies, we corrected some of the worst elements of our health care system.

We also know the bill is not perfect and more needs to be done. But this is a good start to improve the delivery of health care, access to health care and to contain costs.

The health care system had become unsustainable, and allowing this crisis to continue was not a realistic option. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office found that the long-term fiscal outlook for state and local governments is very bleak, entirely due to rising health care costs. Even if the economy makes a strong, sudden recovery, health care costs would force cities to continue making deep cuts in fire department budgets.

These changes will help address that crisis.

Fraternally,

Harold A. Schaitberger
General President