2020 Report from Woodstock Fire/EMS
/Woodstock Fire/EMS Department
The Woodstock Fire/EMS department respond to 240 fire calls and 704 EMS calls for the calendar year of 2020. 11 of these were structure fires resulting in $750,000 dollars’ worth of damage and one civilian burn injury. 1 Firefighter was injured this year while working on a scene of a brush fire.
Working smoke alarms and carbon monoxide(CO) alarms can save lives. Smoke and CO alarms expire after 5 (CO) and 10 years(smoke alarms). If you have questions about your smoke/CO alarms and would like them checked feel free to contact us any time.
This last town meeting voters overwhelming approved two items that allow us to better serve the citizens of Woodstock in a much greater capacity – full time fire/EMS staff and a building remodel/addition. The following are details of where we stand now and what our goals our in the future.
Woodstock Emergency services building is getting a remodel and an addition. Through several years of planning and work, the contract with a bidder for construction has been signed. Work on the remodel of the existing building and the addition should be under way anytime if not already. What this does for us is gives the PD,EMS and Fire departments the appropriate room to work in a safe and efficient manner. This also allows Fire/EMS staff to be available in this building 24 hrs. a day rather than a rented building in West Woodstock. The new building will have a sprinkler and fire alarm systems which protects 3 million dollars in vehicle assets alone , which the current building does not do.
We now have 8 new Full time Fire/EMS personnel. Staffing 24 hours a day is now between 2-4 people in the building and well qualified part-time and call staff ready to respond to calls as well. One of the biggest advantages to this has been the change in the response time to the citizen’s we serve. In the past it could have taken up to 20 minutes to get a Fire engine or an Ambulance out the door. Today we do it in less than 2 minutes. This time savings has allowed a positive outcome for several patients which would have had an entirely different outcome in the past. We continue our training of the new employees every day , hopefully in the next month all crews will be able to provide advanced care.
We also plan on working to lower our ISO score for the Town of Woodstock. What is ISO? ISO Stands for Insurance services office and they provide a score for insurance companies based on a towns ability to provide fire protection. In 2016 Woodstock lost a one-point grade which has cost some home/businesses owners up to $500.00 increase in insurance premiums. We have start to assess the ISO document and will enlist help where needed to lower this scoring which should reduce insurance premiums if your insurance company uses ISO. We will be attempting to lower our ISO score by two-point levels. This will be a several year project.
The Covid -19 started to shut down Vermont around March of 2020 and it placed stress on EMS and FD operations. The first thing was VT EMS demanded very specific equipment and response protocols to people who were sick. While we were able to purchase all the equipment and meet the other protocols, the disease response placed a mental demand like no other on fire/EMS as members did not want to bring this disease home to family members or be placed on sick leave from their regular jobs . The equipment was mostly reimbursed by federal and state funding , we also received a hazard pay grant that went to the Part time staff prior to the start of the Full-time staff in July. The pandemic also affected our call volume as people were not going to the hospital unless absolutely necessary, we did receive a grant from CMS for lost revenue. To this day we continue to look for grants and apply as they are available for every part of our operations.
Our part time and call staffing remain an integral and essential part of the service we provide. They responded to the Covid crisis without hesitation and continue to respond to calls today. In 2020 we welcomed several new EMS Providers to Woodstock Ambulance Service. New part-time EMS Providers include Lara Bowers and Lina Hristova. Also, several of our members are celebrating Honorable Service Awards. Joshua Linton, Erin O'Connor, Angel Oliver, and Remy Bacaicoa have dedicated five years of service to Woodstock Ambulance Service. If these members are seen around town, be sure to thank them for a job well done in striving to provide excellent service to the Woodstock Community.
Woodstock fire department celebrates 200 years of operation to the Town of Woodstock. While Covid -19 canceled the planned Fireman’s ball and other events planned with this milestone as soon we are permitted, we will begin replanning these events.
A few items of note:
· The Fire department was originally a Village department. It contracted with the Town of Woodstock.
· This Fire station was located on Central street, where Who’s Sylvia shop now occupies. The Village of Woodstock paid $300 in 1843 for the building purchase.
· 1923 saw the purchase of two motorized vehicles for the fire Dept. We still have one of those trucks a 1923 Maxim.
· Woodstock Fire dept has had only 15 fire chiefs on record from 1898 to date.(prior to 1898 unknown)
The Woodstock Firefighter’s relief association which assists Fire dept members in times of need, illness and to purchases equipment not covered by the Town of Woodstock. The association received its largest donation in its history of $50,000 dollars. These funds will go to cover items not included in the bond by the Town of Woodstock for the Fire Department. We would like to thank the person who made this anonymous donation as well as all the other people who have made donations to this fund.
Woodstock has a burning permit program in place, with this program we rarely see brush fires started by humans. We saw only three incidents with minor burning of 3 acres land this year.
I would like to remind you to kindle an outside fire a permit is required. You may obtain this permit at the fire station and once you fill out your initial permit a phone call is only required for subsequent burns. Only natural brush and wood can be burned. Construction materials, trash or other debris is not allowed to be burned and must be disposed of properly. Snow on the ground still requires a permit to burn.
Respectfully ,
David Green ,Fire Chief
Woodstock Fire/EMS Department Calls
Fire Calls 2019 2020
Building fire: 11 11
Chimney fires: 1 3
Brush or grass: 2 3
Fuel spills/Haz Mat or smell of propane: 9 8
Power lines: 7 5
Fire alarms: 70 66
Co alarms due to malfunction: 15 6
Carbon monoxide incident: 3 3
EMS assist Call: 16 27
Motor vehicle accidents: 13 16
Motor vehicle fires: 2 2
Electrical fires: 4 3
Other dept. Calls: 50 87
Building Inspection 17 30
Short Term Rental permits issued(Village) 0 10
Vacant or Dangerous building remediation 0 1
Total Events 220 281
2019 2020
Advanced Life Support: 158 145
Basic Life Support: 190 220
Non-Transport: 217 198
Events Coverage: 85 37
Other 107 100
AMBULANCE RUNS BY RESPONSE DISPOSITION 2019 2020
Patient Treated, Transported by this EMS Unit 350 365
Standby-No Services or Support Provided 136 25
Patient Evaluated, No Treatment/Transport Required 87 80
Canceled (Prior to Arrival at Scene) 52 44
Canceled on Scene (No Patient Contact) 16 20
Patient Treated, Released (per protocol) 24 16
Agency Assist 34 1
Patient Treated, Transferred Care to Another EMS Unit 7 5
Patient Refused Evaluation/Care (Without Transport) 18 29
Patient Evaluated, Released (AMA) 15 5
Canceled (Transferred to Mutual Aid) 3 1
Patient Dead at Scene - No Resuscitation Attempted (Without Transport) 6 5
Patient Dead at Scene - Resuscitation Attempted (Without Transport) 1 4