MOUNT VERNON — The Knox County Fire and EMS Chiefs Association met Monday afternoon at the Mount Vernon Fire Department. Much of the afternoon’s discussion centered around effective use of computer-aided dispatching.
Laura Webster of the Knox County 9-1-1 Board said new software is in place and the system works great. But consistent procedures need to be followed, particularly with producing run cards. Mount Vernon Fire Chief Shawn Christy demonstrated some details that pointed out problem areas which need addressed. This issue is also being discussed by a committee to get consistent lines of communication set.
The Knox County 9-1-1 Board suggested all grant requests for equipment purchases be streamlined together at the same time, with emergency situations being the one exception.
A May Day policy from the Safety Policy Committee was approved. This is a county-wide policy for training consistency when a unit activates an emergency alert, other units across the county will be aware of the situation and know what appropriate action to take.
A committee was assigned to work on a proposal regarding tac channel policies. The goal is to get all messages off one main radio channel when dealing with set tones in the cases of missing persons.
MVFD Asssistant Chief Chris Menapace announced a Safety Fair is scheduled for Oct. 17, from 1 to 3 p.m., at the Mount Vernon Fire Department in cooperation with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. The Safety Fair will provide education on road safety and child seat safety, offer flu shots and cholesterol screenings, and provide free smoke detectors. There will be a variety of safety training demonstrations taking place, and there will be activities and goodies for children as well.
Christy asked if there were any problems reported at this year’s Knox County Fair. The only reported problems were a few issues at the gate as well as some breakdown in radio communication. These issues are being worked on for improvements next year.
Menapace proposed offering free CPR classes for the general public at next year’s county fair. He said there is a facility for the program and that they already have cooperation with Knox Community Hospital. He is asking for others’ input on the proposal.
Menapace also asked for help with accreditation exercises which will be staged at the Ohio Eastern Star Home on Gambier Road.
