March / April 2012

Los Angeles Firefighter

Page 5

By Tony Gamboa, Director

This is an update since my last article on what UFLAC, the IAFF and the LAFD are making progress to make Mayday the hailing term for the LA City Fire Department: The system will soon be a two tier system. We will continue to use the term Emergency Traffic for important information such as wires down, sagging roof or to communicate a switch from offensive to defensive operation. The Hailing term Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, will be used solely for a Firefighter emergency. There will be no other use for this term other than a FF being in a LIFE THREATING situation. When a Mayday is heard over the radio members should react as if a FF death clock just began, meaning that we need to find the firefighter or assist getting the member out without delay. The purpose of the new two tiered system is to take away the wide latitude that emergency traffic had hailed...meaning everything from FF DOWN to Wires down and all the dangerous situations in between. The new procedure should eliminate confusion. The NFPA has approved the hailing term and FIRESCOPE is in the process of drafting the procedure and language for the Mayday procedure. On another note, in the basement at the FHMTC is a Fire

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday!

Based on the tier you are in, the following types of service credit are available for purchase:

Steps to Buy Back Service Credit from LAFPP

STEP 3 Return the Request for Contract or Payment Instructions form. Upon receipt of your request for a cost estimate, LAFPP will send you a Request for Contract or Payment Instructions form. If you decide to purchase the service, select a payment method: 1)personal check, 2) payroll deduction or 3) transfer from your Deferred Compensation account. Sign and date the form and return it to the Active Member Services Section. Note: If you select payroll deduction as your means of payment, a service charge will be assessed. If you are within 3 months of your retirement date, you may not use your Deferred Compensation funds to purchase service credit.

Ground Survival Prop. The prop was designed to build confidence and to challenge our members as if they were fighting for their life at a real-life incident. The survival prop was not meant to be a race for time, but rather a way to practice and be exposed to something that you would be able to walk away from if you didnt get it right. In the real world of firefighting you dont come back to tell the story if you dont make it out alive with your company. That being said please know also that Local 112 insists that this valuable training be done appropriately. After a recent Battalion drill we became involved when we were made aware that a single-function paramedic was forced to go through the survival

course. We intervened and that should not happen again. We also objected to a specific instance of an injured member being retaliated against by a chief officer after an injury prevented him from finishing the course. And finally, we raised the issue of equity regarding the requirement that members go through this training annually. While some supervisors have cited NFPA 1500 and 1404 as the reason that this training is mandatory, they conveniently forget that neither of those standards specify that annual SCBA training be as strenuous as the training at FHMTC and that any mandatory SCBA training for field-assigned personnel must be so for everyonethat would include BCs and ACs.

Local 112 believes that it is always better to see mistakes or lack of knowledge be addressed in a controlled, safe environment. The scenarios in the basement of FHMTC are based on past Line of Duty Deaths (LODD). We invest in life insurance; lets also invest in whats going to keep you alive today so that you can go home to your family tomorrow. In the basement you will find the modules below: Reduced Profile- Columbus Ohio FD, 07/25/87 - Basement Floor collapse, F/F John Nance trapped not able to extricate himself, others could not reach him. [Link] SCBA Pass Through/ Reduced Profile- Seattle FD, Wall collapse ,entrapment- Lt. Kilgore,Lt. Shoemaker, F/F Brown, F/F Terlicker perished. Buddy Breathing, Houston FD, 10/13/01, Capt. Jahnke, ran out of air in a high rise fire, suffocated as his crew tried to pull him to safety. [Link] niosh/fire/reports/face200133. html Entanglement, Memphis FD, F/F Bridges went searching for Lt. Mathis, Bridges got entangled in cable TV and died nine feet from safety. Hose identification You can access the IAFF Fire

Ground Survival Awareness Course by clicking on http:// [Link]/hs/fgs/fgsindex. htm and taking the 3 hour online course. Little refers to the small rockers found on the female coupling. These will be felt first if traveling in the correct direction toward the exit. Big refers to the larger rockers found on the male coupling.

Social Media For those who have posted regrettable things in the past, forgotten about them and never deleted those post or comments you should be worried. There is nothing private about what goes on in the online world. Everything you post or create can be searched online or stored in a database so never post anything you will regret later. I have witnessed first-hand how PSD investigators have taken screen shots of Facebook, Twitter and played clips from members You-Tube accounts and then asked the member about their postings. Be careful about what you post!

West Retirement Services, (the Deferred Compensation administrator) complete the plan sponsor section. They will return your form to LAFPP Active Member Services to complete the transfer. Great-West representatives are available in City Hall, Room 867 and can be reached at (213) 978-1601. Because purchasing service credit can be a fairly lengthy process, please submit your request at least six months before your anticipated retirement or DROP entry. We would appreciate as much lead time as possible. If you have any questions, you may contact the Active Member Services Section for more information at (213) 978-4522. Here is some general information: Why purchase your Drill Tower time? You can retire approximately 4 months earlier than you planned. Your pension percentage increases as your years of service increase. If you are in Tier 5 and your plan is to retire at 25 years, you can stop working at 4 months earlier at 24.6 years, and retire with a total of 25 years of service credit. Pension Percentage at 24.6 YOS = 64% vs Pension Percentage at 25 YOS = 65%.

Dont wait too long to make your purchase! If you are planning to retire or enter DROP soon, you must complete all purchases of service credit (buy-back contracts) prior to retirement or your entry to DROP. Depending on the type and complexity of the time you wish to purchase, the entire process may take 2-3 months! To purchase service credit, you must take the following steps:

STEP 1 Complete a request for a cost estimate. The following three requests for an estimate may be downloaded from our Web site, [Link], under the Forms tab: Request for Service Credit Purchase Estimate (for all non-PSP purchases) Application to Purchase Military Service Application to Purchase Public Service

STEP 2 Mail or fax your completed request form to: Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions Active Member Services Section 360 East Second Street, Suite 400 Los Angeles, CA 90012 MAIL STOP: 390 Fax No: (213) 978-4450

STEP 4 Complete payment transaction documents. Based on the payment method you selected, LAFPP will send you additional forms for you to complete and return in order to finalize the purchase. Note Deferred Compensation Transfers: If you decide to use your Deferred Compensation funds to purchase your time, you will receive a Trustee-to-Trustee/ Direct Rollover Form. You must complete the member section of the form and then have Great-

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