Riverside County Fire Department - Experts & Thought Leaders

ImageTrend, Inc. announced the winners of the 2021 Hooley™ Awards at the 13th annual ImageTrend Connect Conference. The Hooley Awards celebrate innovative ideas and programs in the EMS, fire and healthcare industries. Nominees were narrowed down to a field of nine finalists – three in each of the three categories – from which the winners were selected by a panel of third-party judges. Judges cast votes via secret ballot for each category. ImageTrend extends congratulations to the nominees, finalists and winners of the Sixth Hooley Awards. Pediatric Situation Tools To recognize those who are serving in a new or innovative way to meet the needs of their organization, including developing programs or solutions to benefit providers, administrators, or the community. Winner: Christopher Torno, Eureka Fire Protection District, Pediatric Situation Tools Chris created a Pediatric Situation Tool™ for Eureka Fire Protection District to assist with pediatric calls Chris created a Pediatric Situation Tool™ for Eureka Fire Protection District to assist with pediatric calls, which account for 8% of their annual call volume. This tool allows providers to focus on treating their patient and also properly document the incident using the time-stamp feature of Situation Tools. With the combined usage of the new Broselow bags and the Pediatric Situation Tools, providers have relayed a decrease in stress level during pediatric calls. Finalists: Christopher Torno, Eureka Fire Protection District, Pediatric Situation Tools Dana Cardenas, Tempe Fire, High Utilizer Predictions Celia Barry, Santa Cruz County, Improving Patient Treatment with SAFR Comprehensive decision tree To recognize those that are going above and beyond the call of duty, and breaking new ground or serving in a humanitarian way. Winner: Michael Wells-Whitworth, Montgomery County Hospital District, Care in Custody. MCHD utilized the sum total features in ImageTrend Elite™ worksheets When Montgomery County Hospital District (MCHD) realized a need to better understand and track the quality of care for patients in custody, MCHD utilized the sum total features in ImageTrend Elite™ worksheets to create a risk score for patients in custody and their risk for death. Using existing research for qualifiers, the worksheet guides their providers down a comprehensive decision tree when treating these patients Finalists: Michael Wells-Whitworth, Montgomery County Hospital District, Care in Custody Catherine Farrokhi & Nick Ritchey, Riverside County, POLST Integration in the Field Bryan Wells, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Unique Software Implementation and Application. Identifying areas for improvement Considers how data is being used to further the safety of their community or reach community goals, and acknowledges the fact that data is boundless and can be used in any number of ways for the benefit of society. Winner: Alexander Trembley, North Memorial Health Ambulance Service, Understanding Bias in Our EMS Communities Alex established a baseline for quantifying and better understanding implicit bias in EMS workers Alex established a baseline for quantifying and better understanding implicit bias in EMS workers with the goal of improving the overall health of the community. Alex endured difficult situations to complete this study and identify areas for improvement. This study will be important as we continue to evolve EMS to better meet social determinants of health and better serve the communities. Finalists: Tami Kayea, Dallas Fire Rescue, Expanded QA Program Scott Perryman, Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, Community Health During a Pandemic Alexander Trembley, North Memorial Health Ambulance Service, Understanding Bias in Our EMS Communities “We are so impressed by the dedication of this year’s Hooley Award finalists and the initiatives they have helped lead,” ImageTrend President and COO Joe Graw said. “Fostering an environment for these innovative ideas and programs is essential to leading advancements in our communities and the industry as a whole.” The Seventh Hooley Awards will be presented during the 2022 Connect Conference.

Join the growing network of more than 1,500 recognized Firewise USA® sites from across the nation taking action and ownership in preparing and protecting their homes against the threat of wildfire. Program Coordinator Battalion Chief Jesse Park is the NFPA FIREWISE Program Coordinator for the CAL FIRE / Riverside County Fire Department. If the user has already created an account with NFPA FIREWISE and needs assistance with the Wildfire Risk Assessment or Community Plan, please call Riverside County Fire Department Headquarters at.  

Highly trained Riverside County volunteer firefighting force misdirected due to lack of training The debut of Riverside County Fire's Reverse 911 Alert System led to the misdirection of highly trained volunteer firefighting force due to the procedural missteps. The debut of Riverside County Fire's Reverse 911 Alert System was fraught with procedural missteps, when they decided to use the untested capability on an actual volunteer firefighter callout. It was determined that the Fire Department entered the wrong contact numbers, left out necessary procedures and the communication center failed to coordinate the callout. All this contributed to a partial notification and misdirection of the County's over 500 member highly trained volunteer firefighting force. A huge band of thunderstorms created mayhem throughout the County with lightning generated fires and toppling power polls, quickly overwhelming on-duty fire crews. At 3:40 pm, some volunteer firefighters received an unexpected robotic voice alert call saying it was the Fire Department asking them to staff second roll engines and water tenders. Because members were never briefed or trained on the new system and necessary procedures, the resulting coverage was less than expected. Sheepishly, the Fire Department sent a short email to volunteer firefighters briefly explaining the new system at 6:28 pm, nearly three hours later. But that message still lacked any detailed operational procedures. Understanding things can go wrong when new systems are rolled out, volunteer members hope this wasn't an intentional effort designed to make them look bad. Although documents have recently surfaced contradicting allegations made by department officials, their proposal to eliminate volunteer firefighters is still pending before the Board of Supervisors.