A new F350 mini pumper is expected to arrive at the Chelsea Area Fire Authority (CAFA) within 2-3 weeks and among the firefighters who will be learning how to operate it will be Sophie DeTroyer, a new paid-on-call member of the authority, who is also a part-time Chelsea police officer.
DeTroyer has her basic EMT license, Chief Rob Arbini said, adding that he hopes she will enroll in the fire academy in October.
“No, she’s not the first female to join the Chelsea department,” said Tom Osborne. That distinction goes to Lynn Higelmire. She was hired on October 4, 1993.
These two items were among many that Arbini reported to the board at its regular meeting on March 20.
He said he’s completed work on a previously announced grant application that would be used for software and hardware that would allow firefighters to go from business to business for records of important emergency information.
The tablets and software that would allow firefighters to have records on hand in the vehicles for gas shut off values, knox boxes and other important information needed if called to a business in an emergency situation.
He said if the grant application is successful, after the initial information gathering, firefighters would then revisit each business every two years for updates.
“We won’t know if we got it for a few months,” he said.
If awarded the grant, CAFA would need to provide a 5-percent match.
Arbini is also working on a 2-year, federal SAFER grant application to help fund the additional three firefighters that were part of the recent 5-year, 2.4 mill millage. The millage was approved by voters in the CAFA member area in November, 2017, and will be collected in 2019.
Seven of the nine CAFA firefighters recently participated in Regional Task Force (RTF) training, which was also attended by members of the Chelsea and Saline police departments as well as other agencies from Washtenaw County. Arbini said the training involved quick extraction of a wounded person and is a collaborative effort between police and fire throughout the county.
Unlike a SWAT team that is typically delayed due to the arrival of team members at a scene, this training specifically addressed known injured victims and could possibly be removed due to quick responses from on duty police and fire personnel.
He said in involves having three police officers in front of one firefighter and one police offer behind the fire fighter as protection. The firefighters go into the situation wearing a bulletproof vest with a large pouch that contains medical items such as tourniquets and blood clotting agents to assist the injured person.
“It was pretty insightful,” Arbini said of the training.
In other business, the board also unanimously approved a 2-year appointment for Osborne as the at large member of the five-person board and Linda Reilly as the alternate member.
Last month, CAFA responded to 50 calls in Chelsea, 43 calls in Lima Township, seven calls in Lyndon Township, 30 calls in Sylvan Township and eight calls in Dexter Township.
The board next meets on April 17 at 9 a.m. in the Chelsea City Council chambers.
