Dear ,
Welcome to our monthly newsletter. You can find a print version of this months articles on Page 2 of the May edition of the 'Fireman' newspaper. You
can modify your subscriber details by following the 'Subscriber Options' link at the bottom of this email.
Editorial: VFBV Welcomes Additional Truck Funding By Andrew Ford, VFBV Chief Executive Officer |
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There has been some welcome news for volunteers with the Government’s announcement a few days ago of $33 million
for 70 new CFA trucks.
We certainly welcome the announcement, and look to it as a step towards something VFBV and volunteers have been campaigning to achieve - forward planned recurrent funding of CFA’s emergency vehicle fleet, with funding
sufficient to keep the fleet at least under the 20 year age limit that applies to most other Australian emergency services.
The announcement is for 20 more new trucks than had been initially promised as part of Labor’s election campaign back in
November; the announcement states that there will be 20 medium tankers, 40 heavy tankers and 10 medium pumpers. Importantly, we are advised that more than half the funding for the new trucks is new money that was not previously committed.
VFBV and volunteers across Victoria have been working for several years now to inform all MPs on the cumulative effect of many years of inadequate funding for CFA’s front line firefighting trucks.
We have asked for funding
to increase the annual spend on CFA’s Fleet to $29 million per year as an addition to CFA’s base funding, which would aim to progressively reduce the age profile of the fleet.
VFBV is still working with government to maintain the momentum and
take the next step, making an ongoing commitment to this level of funding with a five year rolling plan of truck replacement, and the eventual aim of bringing CFA’s entire front line fleet under the 20 year age limit that is accepted by fire services across Australia. At the beginning of our campaign, one in every four CFA trucks was over that age limit.
This latest announcement of additional trucks is a sign that our work, volunteers making contact with their local MPs and VFBV’s presentation of detailed figures to party leaders, are keeping this important issue on the radar for the State’s decision makers.
Earlier this month, volunteers paused to have in our thoughts our own and others’ losses to natural disasters. VFBV President Hans van Hamond AFSM was among the Council of Australian Volunteer Fire Associations (CAVFA) delegates representing the nation’s 250,000 volunteer firefighters at the inaugural
National Memorial Service for Fire and Emergency Services Personnel, and here in Victoria many volunteers attended the CFA Annual Memorial Service, to remember and show respect to all emergency workers who have lost their lives while protecting the community.
These local remembrance services came in the wake of the earthquake disaster in Nepal and we will have the people of Nepal, including our fellow emergency workers, in our thoughts as that nation faces the great task of recovery. |
Affiliation Forms are Vital |
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Your Brigade and Group’s VFBV affiliation notices have been mailed and should be with your Secretary now, with a due date of 30 June, 2015.
The details requested on the forms are vitally important, especially the contact details for your officers and Brigade Delegates – as they are part of equipping VFBV to do the best possible job of supporting and representing you as volunteers and being able to communicate progress and updates on issues of
interest.
Affiliation is your Brigade or Group’s way of supporting VFBV’s work on your behalf, supporting the Brigades around you and gaining access to additional opportunities and benefits, including making your Brigade eligible to subscribe to the
VFBV Volunteer Welfare Fund. VFBV pays the Welfare Fund’s running costs, so every cent of your Brigade’s subscription can go to helping volunteers in need. Over the past five years, the Welfare Fund has paid out a combined total of $691,000 in grants, with 93% of applications being approved.
To learn more about affiliating with VFBV or subscribing to the VFBV Volunteer Welfare Fund, visit the Member Services area of our website www.vfbv.com.au or call (03) 9886
1141.
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Since the State Government announcement of the extension of Emergency Medical Response (EMR) to all CFA integrated stations, a number of additional volunteer Brigades have expressed interest in providing EMR and wanted to know how they can become involved.
Interest is
strongest in country areas where ambulance services are stretched or needing support, and VFBV has advised the State Government that EMR would be very welcome in areas where the primary agency, Ambulance Victoria, identifies the need and local Brigades have the willingness and the capacity to deliver the service. The introduction of EMR service in volunteer Brigades is extremely cost efficient, with equipment costs of around $15,000 per Brigade.
Volunteers were pioneers of EMR
in CFA, with five volunteer Brigades starting an EMR pilot in 2008. Since then, those Brigades at Berwick, Edithvale, Mornington, South Morang and Whittlesea have shown the extra skills are not only lifesaving at EMR jobs but are also useful at road accidents and rescue calls.
Brigades that feel EMR would be beneficial in their area and within their capacity to deliver, should contact VFBV. Several Brigades are already actively in discussion with their community and
local MPs.
Annual Volunteer Survey Results |
The report on the 2014 VFBV Volunteer Welfare and Efficiency Survey is now available at www.vfbv.com.au and we encourage volunteers to read it, and to register for the 2015 survey now.
The
survey looks at trends in volunteer opinion, and would not have been possible without the more than 1,600 CFA volunteers who took part in 2014.
The annual survey began in 2012 and is put to work as a productive tool by both VFBV and CFA. This
year’s results once again confirm some strong trends that are clear pointers to paths for improvement by CFA.
VFBV will run several Drill Down Workshops with groups of volunteers, looking at the outcomes, the causes and possible courses of
action. To add your comments, talk to your District’s VFBV Delegates or call Cliff Overton at the VFBV office on (03) 9886 1141.
Please encourage your Brigade members to sign up for the 2015 survey - send your name, district and email address
to [email protected] and you will receive an invitation by email. Call (03) 9886 1141 for a paper survey.
The VFBV Handy Pocket Book (pictured) will arrive at Brigades over the next few days with the regular VFBV mailout.
The Pocket Book includes contact details for your District’s VFBV officials, important dates and information on championships, volunteer welfare, the VESEP grants program and issues resolution.
This is a first of its kind for VFBV and your feedback is welcome at [email protected].
Applications for this year’s Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP) grants have closed, and feedback from Brigades shows VFBV’s support to applicants has been well
received.
VFBV’s 2015 VESEP Application Help Pack was extremely popular – it was available from our website www.vfbv.com.au, and mailed to every Brigade. VFBV Support Officers and District representatives also provided one-on-one assistance to Brigades requesting advice.
Our thanks go to the
Brigades who helped out with case studies on their successful applications in past years – those were very popular with new applicants.
This year’s successful applications are expected to be announced by the Minister in late
July.
Brigades considering future applications should start preparing now. The Application Help Pack and case studies are at www.vfbv.com.au
District 27 Officials Needed |
Positions will be open shortly for VFBV District Council Executive members in the newly formed District 27, including President, Vice President, Secretary and two State Councillors.
These are
important roles in the representation of volunteers and Brigades, and VFBV will write to the 22 Brigades in the new District shortly, with an invitation to nominate experienced volunteers. The letter will also include a package of information to assist in choosing the best possible candidates.
Your District Council is a forum for raising and resolving issues locally, and your connection with VFBV’s State Council, Board and Joint VFBV/CFA Committees, as well as VFBV’s
representation at Emergency Management Sector and State Government level.
District 27 follows Latrobe City Council boundaries and includes all of the Brigades in the Morwell Group, most of the Traralgon Group, and some Brigades from the Thomson and Narracan Groups.
Delegate Workshops Coming Soon |
The VFBV Brigade Delegate Development Workshops will be great value for your Brigade’s Delegates, giving them practical training in skills to make the most of their
role.
The course is a pilot, and will be conducted on weekends at four locations around the state, in the form of two separate one day sessions and participants will achieve two competencies that go onto their CFA training
record.
Dates in June are now being finalised, more details will be posted on the VFBV website www.vfbv.com.au shortly, or you can make an enquiry by email to [email protected]. Since the State Government’s cancellation of CFA corporate credit cards earlier this year, VFBV has been working behind the scenes to
ensure the Government is aware of the need for the sensible reintroduction of sufficient cards to allow operational staff to properly support volunteers in the field.
The cancellation caused considerable concern to volunteers over the effects on
support to volunteers, with the prospect that urgent items might have to be paid for by volunteers and reclaimed through a system that could take 90 days.
VFBV has been working with the Government and CFA to encourage a sensible reintroduction that
ensures volunteers are properly supported by the staff and administrative systems that are there to support them.
VFBV is hopeful of a resolution soon, and will report any outcome in The Fireman and on the VFBV website www.vfbv.com.au The CFA Chief Officer has endorsed a position paper that addresses Brigades’ concerns about Wire Rope Safety Barriers (WRSBs) along roadsides.
The VFBV/CFA Joint Community Safety Committee raised Brigades’ concerns that the lengthy barriers can prevent tanker access to fires and dismantling the tightly strung wire barriers can be hazardous.
The CFA position paper calls for VicRoads to consult with CFA Regions or Districts on;
- Sufficient clearance from the road for safe emergency response
- Vegetation clearances
- Emergency access points to be within 500 metres of any point
- VicRoads to train brigades in dismantling WRSBs, but only as a last resort
Although they were initially frustrated with the slow progress of the issue, the Joint Committee‘s volunteer delegates are pleased to see an outcome. The VFBV/CFA Joint Communications and Technology Committee is warning members not to rely solely on third party notification providers via their smart phones instead of using their CFA issued pagers.
This follows a report to the Committee that some members are handing in
pagers in favour of smart phone apps. The Committee warns that the app providers are not officially supported by the agencies and can remove their service at any time, so they are not a safe way of receiving an alert, even if their coverage or feature set is superior to the current CFA pager.
VFBV has been highly critical of the existing pager that was selected by a multi-agency group several years ago, CFA’s pager contract is due to expire next year and VFBV continues to
advocate for the need to urgently address possible designs and feature sets for the next generation pagers, including two way communications ability.
The Committee has called for CFA to include Emergency Management Victoria (EMV) in early discussions, to investigate future pager options and ensure mistakes of the past are not made on the selection of the next generation paging device.
VicRoads has tentatively committed to changes to its licensing arrangements that should make it easier to train and assess CFA volunteers.
The decision includes changes to the driver training course to incorporate a section on load securing that would
potentially halve the licence test time for volunteers.
Further changes could lead to CFA conducting the licence testing. CFA will investigate these options and determine a phased approach to improving driver training and testing for members.
The VFBV/CFA Joint Training Committee delegates see this as a positive and asked CFA to move forward with improving the process so that more CFA volunteers can access driver training and assessment.
Volunteer Strategy Endorsed |
The CFA Volunteer Strategy has now been endorsed by the CFA Board, and the VFBV/CFA Joint Volunteerism
Committee encourages you to read it.
The Strategy lays foundations for how everyone in CFA will work towards ensuring the future capability of community based volunteer emergency services remains strong, whilst encouraging, maintaining and strengthening the capacity of volunteers to deliver CFA services.
VFBV has renewed its request for CFA to prepare an implementation strategy, and Joint Committee delegates have emphasised the importance of using the Chief Officer’s
Chain of Command to inform and deliver the implementation down to the District level. CFA has advised work on implementation plans is progressing, with plans due to be signed off by June 30. The Strategy is available on the VFBV website.
CFA Donations Trust Fund Committee Nominations |
The VFBV Board is calling for nominations to the CFA Donations
Trust Fund Committee. New or reappointed members will be chosen by the Board to serve on the committee for a 12 month term.
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