Febuary 1, 2010

The Disability Advisory Committee has partnered with the Police and Fire Chiefs, as well as the CoA to make emergency response for disabled, special needs, and elderly citizens more efficient and effective.

LSS Life Support System (equipment to sustain life)

B Blind

MI Mobility Impaired (bedridden, or use of a wheelchair)

DHH Deaf and Hard of Hearing

CI Cognitive Impairment (Alzheimer's, Dementia, mental impairments, etc.)

SI Speech Impairment

TTY Teletypewriter Device (for telephone service)

Police Chief Rick Thompson strongly suggests that all residents who have an identified disability review the Personal Emergency Data Form, complete the form and forward it to the Sherborn Police Department by mail (17 Washington Street), or by facsimile (508-651-7865) attention Officer Benjamin Stickney so that public safety personnel are best prepared to provide services to you in the event of an emergency. Any resident may call the police department (508-653-2424) and request that an Officer come to your home and retrieve your Personal Emergency Data Form. Your Disability Advisory Committee, Council on Aging, Police Department and Fire Department are here to serve you! Please contact Chief Thompson with any questions or concerns (508-653-2424, ext. 15).

**CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FORM NOW**

January 23, 2010
The Sherborn Fire Department is available to teach CPR, AED, and First Aid to individuals as well as groups. We are also able to provided recertification for our department members. To learn more or to schedule a class, please contact Station 1 at 508-653-3270.

January 1, 2010
The Sherborn Fire/ Rescue department responded to 542 calls for service, which represents a 9% increase over last year. This continues a five year trend in which our call volume has increased by 19%.

We had 286 fire responses and 309 Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls (72% of the EMS calls were for medical emergencies and the remaining 28% for motor vehicle accidents). The department responded to an average of 1.6 calls per day. The average response time was 6.1 minutes.

As a result of the increased call volume and yearly ambulance fee increases we will generate approx. $115,000 in ambulance revenue this year compared to $103,000 last year. This revenue has traditionally been used to offset our budget.

We saw an increase in the number of structure fires, car fires, motor vehicle accidents with extrication, calls for people trapped in elevators and false alarms. We also had a number of medical calls where horse riders sustained serious injuries. We developed a specially trained Rapid Intervention Team.A Rapid Intervention Teamis a team of two or more firefighters dedicated solely to search and rescue of other firefighters in distress and primarily used at structure fires. Our team consists of 12 specially trained members.

I would like to thank the Sherborn Fire/Rescue Association for the purchase and donation of a Rad 57 pulse CO-Oximeter. This is a small hand held instrument that uses wavelengths of light to measure the level of carbon monoxide and oxygen in the blood, as well as pulse rates. This is an important tool for our department as we will now have the ability to check the level of Carbon monoxide of firefighters who are actively working at a fire and for residents who may have been exposed to it in their homes.  

I would also like to thank our Police Chief, Richard Thompson, and his department and our CMD Director, Ed Wagner, for their support and collaboration.

We continue to be one of the few departments in the area that does not have any full time employees. The Sherborn Fire/Rescue department depends upon a group of committed and dedicated call firefighters and EMT’s who make tremendous sacrifices to staff this department 24/7/365. This town is very fortunate to have such a talented group of people who take such pride in their work and provide excellent service to this town. I would like to thank each and every member for their contributions. A special thanks goes to Deputy Chief Jon Dowse and our Administrative Assistant, Evelyn Corbett, for all of their hard work and efforts.

I would like to thank the citizens of Sherborn and the Board of Selectmen for their continued support.

December 30, 2009
Dover-Sherborn (reported by Neil Johnson)- The Sherborn Fire and Rescue Association, an organization that supports the Sherborn Fire Department and organizes community events, has given the Fire Department a new tool in the fight against carbon monoxide: a CO-oximeter, which helps the department to more effectively assess firefighters and victims for potential carbon-monoxide poisoning in the prehospital stage.

Before hosting their annual Firemen’s Ball fundraiser in May, the members of the Fire and Rescue Association, with the recommendation of Chief Neil McPherson, decided upon the CO-oximeter as the goal of their fundraising. They’d wanted to purchase a “significant piece of equipment” for the Fire Department, said John R. O’Neill, president of the association. After Klaus Ullmann, treasurer of the association and a lieutenant in the Sherborn Fire Department, researched potential equipment with Ethan Naiman, an EMT in the department, the SFRA decided upon the Rad-57, a CO-oximeter manufactured by the Masimo Corporation in California.

“Carbon monoxide exposure and poisonings are a tremendous risk for both homeowners and firefighters,” said Ullman. “In the last five to 10 years, it’s come into the news more, and people are much more aware than they have been in the past. As a department, we wanted the oximeter in order to continue to provide the best level of support to our community.”

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning can be difficult to detect at a scene — its symptoms are, essentially, the same as the flu. Yet even mild CO poisoning puts firefighters at risk and can lead to poor decision-making, and prolonged exposure to low levels of CO can be extremely dangerous.

In recent years, people have become very aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide; in the aftermath of 7-year old Nicole Garofolo’s death in Plymouth from CO poisoning, Massachusetts passed “Nicole’s Law,” which McPherson said requires all homes to have carbon monoxide detectors. A CO-oximeter like the Rad-57 can be helpful in the aftermath of both carbon monoxide emergencies and fires. It is completely non-invasive, and allows both firefighters and victims to be tested merely by putting a clip on their finger.

The device, which will be in an ambulance on scene, allows the fire department to better determine what steps should be taken for potential victims of carbon monoxide poisonings. The additional information from the oximeter, Ullman said, will allow the emergency responders to determine which hospital a person should go to. If the test, for instance, determines that a victim has high carbon monoxide levels, the subject will need to be brought to a hospital with a hyperbaric chamber.

“It helps us provide a better explanation of what we’re treating and what the situation is,” Ullmann said. “Before, when somebody was exposed to carbon monoxide, we’d treat it as a standard case; we’d go to closest medical facility and leave it to the hospital and physicians down the line to determine the levels because they have the tools within the hospital. Now we have tools in prehospital setting so that we can provide the hospital with that information faster in a more definitive way.”

O’Neill and Ullman both said that the Fire and Rescue Association, with all of its actions and decisions, hopes to benefit both the town and the Fire Department. The association does help with a number of Fire Department-specific issues every year, such as sending firefighters to Barnstable for live fire training, and they also organize many town events on Halloween and July 4 as well as offer instruction on fire safety and prevention. The oximeter will aid both residents and firefighters at a scene, “supporting both the Fire Department and the town,” said McPherson.

And all of this comes at a difficult economic time. McPherson said that if he had wanted a CO-oximeter, he could not afford it on the department budget; instead, he would have to request one from the town and bring it up as a warrant article that, at a time like this, could have trouble passing.

“ The thing that amazes me the most is that as times have become tougher in the last couple of years, we have not seen the level of support waiver, and that’s a huge compliment to the residents of the town and the organizations that continue to support us,” said Ullman.

“Some departments are struggling to put the required equipment onto the vehicle. This is not required, but we decided that we wanted to invest in the technology and invest in providing a higher level [of] care to our residents,” Ullman added.