A special kind of HERO
FIRE DEPARTMENT AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES APPRECIATION
EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 2
Newton’s There’s a tradition at the Newton Fire Department that the person who appears on the front page of the Newton News must buy ice cream for the whole station. With Jacob Halferty on board as the new fire marshal — which is essentially the face of the fire department — he better get used to buying ice cream. The 29-year-old has been chosen as the new public arm of the fire station, giving commercial business owners, elementary kids and elderly individuals a friendly and familiar face. For the past seven years, Jacob has served Newton as a firefighter and paramedic, initially starting as a part-timer with EMT certification. By 2018, Jacob had obtained his paramedic certifications and was brought on to work full time. Prior to joining the Newton fire station, he worked as a junior firefighter in Mingo, which is where his father, Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty, has also volunteered for some time. Keeping in line with his passion for service, Jacob also serves as a reserve deputy paramedic on Jasper County’s EMS enhancement/ advanced life support program, which supplements first responder teams in smaller communities who may not be able to always respond to paramedic-level calls. Jacob’s passion for public safety grew over time after his early years on the Mingo Fire Department. Although selfless services runs in the
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EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 3
new fire marshal is a familiar face Jacob Halferty promoted to role that focuses on fire investigations, inspections and public education family, being a firefighter was not his dream job at 18 years old. Still, he got his EMT certification to help out the volunteer squad, but he didn’t expect training to go much further. “Through my years with the volunteer service, I just kept getting this itch,” Jacob said. “I wanted to go farther and farther and farther.” At one point he even felt like law enforcement was the path he wanted to take, but some issues with joints complicated physical training tests. But by then he was already falling in love with the EMT/paramedic side of public safety. Enrolling in paramedic school in 2017 only sealed the deal. After a brief stint in Oskaloosa, a fulltime job in Newton became available and he has been serving the community ever since. When he saw the fire marshal position open up, he saw it as an opportunity to participate in a high-level interview. Of course, now that he’s got the job he has a whole lot of work to do. Newton has been without a fire marshal since 2019. Fire marshal duties were split between the fire chief and assistant fire chief, along with some of the services being contracted out. Although the city council is still deciding on direction for commercial inspections, Jacob will eventually take over. Currently, Jacob is conducting commercial inspections for businesses with liquor licenses in Newton. October is also Fire Prevention Month, and for the fire marshal that means public education. Traditionally, the fire marshal has traveled to the local school buildings to teach fire safety to third-graders with a special tool called the SAFE House, a traveling tiny house that simulates what it feels like to be in a room full of smoke. Video presentations viewed inside the home instruct kids how to safely exit their homes in the event of a fire, as well as what to do after they have escaped.
Jacob said he also has presentations for kindergarteners, first-graders and second-graders, as well as home school groups. For Jacob, the public education side was one of the more exciting aspects of the job that he has looked forward to. “I want to get some more consistency with the public education. I’m hoping throughout my time I can have some more prepared presentations,” Jacob said, noting that public education extends beyond younger demographics. “I hope to expand on the senior safety side of it. One of our highest call volumes is falls.” Prevention efforts and community risk reduction are also areas Jacob is eager to implement in Newton. He also wants to expand dormant programs like installing or updating fire alarms in the community. Jacob will also be serving as the public information officer and will be another point of contact for media.
Eventually, he will also be in charge of investigating fires in the community. His law enforcement experience working as a reserve deputy will certainly come in handy when managing those investigations, in addition to potentially writing tickets for illegal burns or deescalating any frustrations with business owners. Working with people is all part of the job, whether it be good or bad. “I’m pretty much going to be the face of the fire department for the most part,” he said. “I’ll be the public information officer. They’re going to contact me if they want some sort of class. They’re going to be mad at me if they’re not happy with an inspection I did or I had to write them a citation for an illegal burn.” Acknowledging that inspections have caused some discourse over the past year, Jacob is adamant about making it a more positive experience for all involved. Bringing the inspections back
in-house certainly helps, and it allows him to start developing relationships with the community businesses. “A lot of people said they want to have a local person at the fire department making these choices when it comes to the inspections,” he said. “That’s me.” Apart from feeling a little added pressure, Jacob is unfazed and ready to take on the new role and get more involved in the community. Being born and raised in Jasper County is also a big benefit. Coupled with his years at Newton Fire Department, Jacob is familiar with a lot of people in and around town. He will now be a leader in the fire station, too. Between watching Wellik be a leader and his dad be a leader, Jacob is setting high standards for himself. “I’m going to lead from the front, being visible on the line for the most part. If I expect my guys to keep up on something, I better keep up on it, too.” — Christopher Braunschweig
EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 4
RUFF DAYS JUST GOT BETTER
Therapy dog at Newton fire station to play an important role in mental health of first responders The newest member of the Newton Fire Department has a ruff job. When the fire station gets a call from dispatch, she gets to take a nap while the others suit up. And every so often she has to socialize with all the firefighters and paramedics. This new employee is awful demanding, too. She insists everybody scratches her ears or gives her a belly rub. Not even the chief asks for that! Captain Steve Ashing says her name is River, and when the four-monthold German Shepherd puppy is fully grown she will play an important role at the fire department as a therapy dog. Even now the pup is going through extensive training to identify and respond to individuals going through stress or trauma. “Our obedience training is slightly different,” Ashing said. “It’s the same heel, sit, stay, come — all that kind of stuff. Eventually, if you are in crisis, I can put her by you and she’ll just kind of be there for you … Her No. 1 job
will be to take care of firefighters here and give some support to them.” River accompanied Ashing when he announced the therapy canine program to city council members at their meeting on June 5. The big-eared Shepherd stood obediently at her human’s heel, cocking her head ever so slightly at audience members as Ashing explained what she would do when she grows up. “She will do multiple things not only in the station but out in the community,” Ashing said, noting therapy dogs have a storied history of helping firefighters. “…Seventy percent of citizens will experience one catastrophic event in their life, so either a major fire or car wreck or medical emergency.” Emergency responders will see anywhere between 500 to 600 catastrophic events in their careers. Ashing said anything that can help firefighters and paramedics better recover from these events is a wise investment. It will be about a year until River can be fully
utilized for therapeutic purposes. “In the station, she’s basically going to be a pet,” Ashing said. “…But when she’s all said and done, she’ll be able to sense (stress). Stress response in the body gives off different hormones. So she’ll be trained to go to that person. So that’s a simple way to think about that.” LOCAL NONPROFIT SPEARHEADING CRISIS RESPONSE DOG PROGRAM Crisis Canines of the Midlands, a Colfax-based nonprofit, provided River in partnership with Adelhorst Kennels in Altoona. Ashing said Crisis Canines’s goal is to place a dog in every county in Iowa to provide crisis response, peer support and stress relief, as well as becoming agency ambassadors for public outreach. Justin Smith, of Crisis Canines, approached Ashing about raising a puppy for the fire department. As an owner of a 9-year-old German Shepherd named Sadie, Ashing was already
well-accustomed to the dog breed and its temperament. In February, he brought Sadie to the fire station to gauge staff response. “It went really well and everyone had positive things to say, but since she was old enough it may not have been worth it to go through all of the extensive training,” Ashing said. “Then River became available. She’s fantastic. She’s the calmest, best little puppy I’ve ever had. And she loves people.” The craze of therapy dogs in first responder offices seems to be catching on. Another fire captain is also getting a puppy to be trained as a therapy dog. Earlier this month the Jasper County Sheriff ’s Office announced Lt. Mike Gunsaulus and Deputy TJ Decker would welcoming Poppy and Delta to the squad. RIVER’S PRESENCE CAN PUT EMERGENCY RESPONDERS AT EASE As a crisis response canine, River will be brought
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EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 5
to critical incident stress debriefings, which Ashing said is the “fancy term” for the beginning of the therapy process after a major call. First responders who take part in a catastrophic or traumatic incidents have a hotwash to evaluate performance. “Everyone gets together right after the call and just kind of talk about it, what you’re feeling, what went well, what went bad. It’s just a talk and you kind of gauge how people are handling it,” Ashing said. “Everybody handles everything differently. There’s no wrong way to process.” From there, first responder personnel — whether it’s police officers, dispatchers, EMS or firefighters — begin a more formal debrief. Some individuals may be more closed off than others, which is where River fits in to all this. Ashing said the simple act of petting a dog can put people at ease more quickly. “In the past, us emergency responders have not done well with dealing with our feelings,” Ashing said. “Those debriefings are where she really comes into play … It snaps them out of their head for a little bit to engage with the fluffy puppy that comes in and puts them at ease a little bit, open up a little more.” ‘IT’S ALL ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH’ FOR FIRST RESPONDERS As a member of the advanced life support team at the county sheriff ’s office, Ashing believes the one of
the best ways for emergency responders to take care of their communities is to make sure they are taken care of, too. Ashing coined an expression frequently used by Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty: “If you don’t take care of your people, how do you expect them to take care of others? That’s where my thought process is with this,” Ashing said. “…It’s all about mental health. First responders see so many catastrophic events. If you don’t figure out how to deal with that, your career is going to be pretty short.” According to the National Institutes of Health, the tenure for paramedics in private ambulance companies is about seven years, and the tenure for fire-based EMS agencies is, at most, 10 years. Ashing said a
good number may leave after six years. There are two main reasons why paramedics leave the profession. “One, they advance in health care. So they advance to be nurses or doctors or whatever. Then the second leading cause of people leaving is mental health,” he said. “They just can’t handle the job anymore. It’s too much. It’s too stressful. This program is supposed to help curb that as much as we can.” GET TO KNOW RIVER AS A COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR It’s a good thing River loves people, because she is going to get accustomed to a lot of folks in the emergency response teams throughout Jasper County. Ashing is a member of the critical incident
stress debriefing team for the county, and River will be joining him during those sessions. “Any agency,” Ashing said. “Anything from the jail to the Newton Police Department to agencies in Colfax or Kellogg or wherever. We’ve even opened it up to other counties. We’ve gone down as far as Lineville (Wayne County) and Leon (Decatur County) and that kind of stuff.” Of course, having a dog at the fire station also means River will be quite popular at elementary schools in Newton. Through River’s public relations work, the fire department wants the community to get to know her. Ashing wants to make it a point to introduce her to people before she is really needed. “That way they know her
before she’s there in a working capacity,” he said. “We’ll do school events and visit nursing homes and hospital staff … She’ll also go to some calls. But she won’t be sticking her head out the window as the lights and sires go off on the road to a call.” RIVER WILL BE THERE WHEN COMMUNITY NEEDS HER MOST In the event a catastrophic incident occurs, Ashing said after the call is taken care of is when River would be able to visit a victim and work her magic. “We would kind of start that healing process,” Ashing said. “…It’s more of a distraction, especially in a death situation. Of course the handlers are trained in how to comfort people in crisis and how to do things to get their brains processing right out of the gate instead of just being in trauma the whole time.” While the presence of a dog may not fix the problem, Ashing said it makes it a little better. Therapy dogs are always generally used after a traumatic event takes place to help people heal from their trauma. Having a dog nearby to pet or pay attention to may just distract them enough to move forward. Outside of a traumatic event, Ashing just hopes River brings joy to the community and to the staff of the Newton Fire Department. “To bring joy to everyone she’s around and be an uplifting presence.” — Christopher Braunschweig
EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 6
ALL-IN-ONE Grain Bin Rescue Gear
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EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 7
The Monroe Fire Department adds attack truck to be an all-in-one vehicle for early action on the scene. From fire suppression to EMS capabilities, the truck can bring multiple volunteers to begin work as soon as possible.
Scene Lighting
Shovel
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EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 8
Colfax FD celebrates 30 years of ‘souper’ good times For 30 years, the Colfax Fire Department has been serving up its famous soup as a way to raise funds. A favorite event for the community, people line the station walls to get a tasty meal and help out the vital resource. A staple of the supper was former fire chief Ronald Gearhart, who helped get the fundraiser started. “Ronnie always loved putting this together. He was really the mastermind behind it,” former Colfax Fire Chief Brandon Bruxvoort said. “He started this whole thing to help the department build the fire station we still use today.” The department serves up Ron’s signature potato soup, along with the firehouse chili, which is also Ron’s recipe. It is a group effort to put the fundraiser on when hundreds of people flow in throughout the evening. “The members bring the relish and desserts and the department and association
does the chili and potato soup,” Colfax Fire Chief J.D. Smith said. Running on free-will donation, the event typically brings in $4,000 to $5,000, which is used to keep the department up-to-date on ever-important equipment.
“We are upgrading equipment along with working on trying to buy a new ambulance and fire truck. We have a couple of grants and will need to match the funds on those,” Smith said. “Also new air packs and batteries. There is all kinds of stuff. We just
got all new air packs so we need batteries and face masks so our guys can use them.” A few years ago when COVID threatened to shut down the supper, the department came up with a drive-thru format to continue to serve the delicious soup.
“That was one of the big deals, to at least get the firemen back together,” organizer Dennis Lester said. “During COVID there were several months we couldn’t meet. We wanted to get morale up and get people together.” Now back in the station, even with the flyer reading a 5 p.m. start, people start rolling in as early as 4:30 p.m. to get their soup. The firefighters keep busy refilling the dessert table, putting out new veggies, loading up the soup when they started to scrape the bottom and talking with the community members who stop by. What started as a fundraiser for a new fire station has continued to help the department 30 years later. With the prices of equipment quickly growing with no end in sight, the community coming together to help out the local volunteers is an example of citizens looking out for each other. — Jamee A. Pierson
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EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 9
Checking in with Mingo Fire/EMS Department Assistant Fire Chief John Halferty Is there anything new or different with the department? Mingo Fire Department is still struggling with recruiting and retaining adequate numbers of volunteers. We did recently add three new members which have helped but depending on the time of the call and availability of the volunteers, adequate staffing for calls is still a challenge. We recently added a new to us rescue vehicle, a 2008 Ford Rescue unit, that will enhance our ability to provide EMS care and rescue capabilities to our citizens. How many volunteers do you currently have? Twelve members including one emergency medical responder, two emergency medical technicians and one advanced emergency medical technician. What has been challenging for the department? Adequate staff for calls. For EMS, having staff that are certified as EMT or above responding to calls. Rescue and fire calls require more staffing, and we are relying on mutual aid from other area departments to assist. However those departments struggle with the same challenges. Personal Protective Equipment to outfit a firefighter can cost several thousand dollars and should be replaced every five years or when damaged. Maintenance of equipment included our fire and rescue apparatus can be financially challenging due to the age of the equipment. What successes have you had?
We recently worked with Colfax EMS and JCSO ALS program on a serious medical call involving the patient. The patient suffered a cardiac arrest, however, working together the team was able to resuscitate the patient and transport them to a Des Moines area hospital for a higher level of care. We also had a recent structure fire. Mingo neighbors were able to help evacuate the residents, and Mingo Fire Department, along with Colfax, Baxter, Newton and Mitchellville Fire Department’s worked together to extinguish the fire, with no additional injuries. Water supply, equipment and resources were adequate based upon our previous pre planned TEAMS cards (Tiered Asset Management System). This system, utilized by Fire and EMS services within Jasper County, provides for pre planning and early paging of multiple resources for a more timely and effective response based upon the nature of the emergency incident. Is the department looking to do or add anything new in the future? Mingo Fire Department recently added a new Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) with funds raised from our annual pancake breakfast. This replaces an outdated unit that is no longer usable.Wealso recently ordered a LUCAS device, that assists with patients in cardiac arrest by performing automatic and consistent chest compressions. This $19,000 item is being paid for by a combination of donated
funds and budgeted funds. How has community support been? The Mingo community and surrounding rural areas continue to support the volunteers. Our annual pancake breakfast is well attended and financially supported.Area landowners also utilize us to perform controlled burns of agricultural grounds and provide financial donations as a result.We have also received memorial donations from families of loved ones who have died.
Many volunteer services struggle with finances, recruiting and retaining adequate and viable members to perform Fire and EMS services. The amount of training, continued education, and documentation has increased and also takes additional time to complete. Members who have full time jobs, families and other commitments struggle with the perfect balance of being able to dedicate time to there priorities. Volunteerism on a national level is down significantly. Our volunteer
pool is getting older and we are struggling to replace with newer members who are able to dedicate time and service to this profession.We are thankful for all of our volunteers and our partnerships with our Fire and EMS neighbors! We could not perform our duties without the established teamwork and resources that have been in place. However we need to find a way to increase members who are viable and able to train, certify and perform our tasks (Fire, Rescue and EMS incidents).
EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 10
Community is focus of Lynnville Fire Department
How do the fire and EMS departments stay involved in the community? We serve two breakfasts and soup suppers, have a pumpkin sell for the Halloween celebration and serve
lunch and control the parade for Lynnville Days. Through fundraising, what has been added to the departments that will benefit the citizens? We have purchased new
radios, a new pumper truck, new bunker gear and misc. items for the trucks. What is your favorite part of being a volunteer fire fighter? Helping the community.
What are some of the hardest parts of volunteering for the difficult work? Helping people that we know. What kind of camaraderie comes with being on the de-
partment? It makes us feel like a family. Being a volunteer brings satisfaction. So far this year, we have gone to six medical calls and five fire calls.
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Simulated accident training successful for Sully Fire and EMS
Tony Van Wyk named new Sully fire chief after serving as EMS captain Is there anything new or different with the department? Earlier this year we held elections. Mike Vander Molen retired from his chiefs position but is continuing as a firefighter and EMT. I was elected in as chief and Dave Foster maintained his assistant chief role. I was previously EMS captain so that role was filled by Corey Van Kooten. We have also added a handful of new members. How many volunteers do you currently have? We currently have 18 active with 16 in EMS. What has been challenging for the department? Finding new volunteers and with that all of
us finding time to train as a whole department. We all have busy lives on top of being volunteers. What successes have you had? We take a lot of time in our ability to answer all of our calls and do so very quickly. We are very fortunate in our department and maintain very low response times. We also have some of our younger generation starting to step up and into leadership roles. Is the department looking to do or add anything new in the future? We are currently discussing what our next apparatus purchase will be. We have a couple of trucks that are due for replacement and trying to decide how to move forward with that and
what makes sense for our community. How has community support been? Our community has always blessed us with everything we have ever needed. I couldn’t imagine what we do without them. Last year we decided to hold a live training and open it to the public for them to watch what we do. Last year we did a live vehicle accident/ extrication. This allowed folks to see everything from us being dispatched to coming on scene, just as we would in real life. Since it was a controlled environment, they could observe and ask questions. This year we will be doing another live training on Oct. 14, also open to the public. This year will be a live propane fire simulation.
EMS & Fire Appreciation • October 2023 – Page 12
Thank You Jasper County Fire & EMS Departments Baxter Fire & EMS Department Colfax Fire & EMS Department Kellogg Fire & EMS Department Mingo Fire & EMS Department Monroe Fire & EMS Department
Newton Fire & EMS Department Reasnor Fire & EMS Department Sully Fire & EMS Department Lynnville Fire & EMS Department Prairie City Fire & EMS Department
u Thank yo S to our EM and Fire that Personnel fe keep us sa everyday. iate We apprec ce! your servi 107 1st Ave. E • Newton 641-792-3121