Walpole Fire Department

Fire Suppression

 It has been another busy and productive year for your department. Thanks to the Town Administrator, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee and the Town Meeting members and the taxpayers of Walpole for their continued support which allows us to maintain our level of services.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Walpole Fire Department is to protect life and property from the threat of fires, medical emergencies, natural and manmade disasters.  In order to fulfill this mission we provide planning, prevention, education, incident control and mitigation.

Resignation/Layoffs
After the resignation of Firefighter/Paramedic Madruga in October of 2008 the department was unable to fill the vacany due to a loss in prison mitigation money.  At the Town Meeting in May the department  budget was cut again and three positions were to be cut on July 1, 2009.  On May 30, 2009  Firefighter/Paramedic J. Dennis Munnelly resigned from the department to take a position with the Sharon Fire Department.  The remaining two Firefighter/Paramedics remained with the department until their layoff on June 30, 2009.  This reduction in force led to the closing of Station 2 in East Walpole and the reassignment of all personnel to Station One in the center of town. 

            Restoration of Positions
In October, after Town Meeting approved the firefighters contract, we began the process of rehiring the four vacant positions.  This process is still ongoing and will be completed by the end of January 2010.

            Department Operations
The total number of emergency and inspectional services requested for 2009 was 4,687 and they are listed below.

For a summary of the 2009 Activity click here

EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES

Emergency Medical Services

Prepared and Submitted By

Firefighter/Paramedic Samuel Snyder, Emergency Medical Services Coordinator

The Walpole Fire Department continues to be one of the busiest departments in the area in 2009.  The ambulances responded to a total of 2,192 incidents.  The ALS ambulance “A1” responded 1300 times, and the BLS ambulance “A2” responded 892 times.  These responses included medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material incidents, structure fires, ice and water rescues, carbon monoxide alarms, as well as other requests for assistance.

Members of the department have taken much pride in their ability to provide quality medical service to the town of Walpole.  In order to accomplish this quality there has been an increase in the amount of EMS training provided to members.  Much of the training has taken place on duty through classes put forth by our medical directors Dr. Andrew Geller, Dr. Joshua Small, and myself.  Much of the training this year has revolved around the addition of two major treatment modalities available to EMS providers.  This training has been part of a program offering required training to members while on duty.  This allows members to complete the state requirements to maintain certification in house.  The growth of the EMS service training has been incorporated into the monthly training assignments of the department. 

The ALS ambulance has added Constant Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) as a treatment available.  CPAP is used in the pre-hospital environment to treat a potentially fatal condition known as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF).  This newly acquired skill has the potential to save lives and drastically shorten hospital stays for our patients.  This treatment, which was initially used under a special waiver from the state, has become the standard of care for ALS services and is being added as a mandatory skill for all services statewide beginning in 2011.  To date the Walpole Fire Department has had several successful applications of CPAP.   In addition to CPAP the Walpole Fire Department has been enrolled in a specialized project by Dr. Geller.  Cardio Cerebral Resuscitation (CCR) is an “updated” version of the CPR that has been performed for years by the members of the department.  CCR has been shown in other areas of the country to double the survivability of sudden cardiac arrest.  This special project has the potential to change the way CPR is done nationwide.  The members of the department have taken great pride in being able to be on the cutting edge of emergency medicine.

Also provided in 2009 was an Basic Life Support EMT refresher.  This 24 hour class was attended by 18 members of the department and is required bi-annually by the state.  This program was provided “in house” and was instructed by myself and Lieutenant/Paramedic David Emswiler.

The department took delivery of a new ambulance in 2009 to replace the older of the two ambulances.  The new “Ambulance 2” (A2) will operate primarily as the Basic Life Support Ambulance.

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