A
lmost five years ago, we created The Fire Front newsletter to keep you informed about things that matter to you. From legislative issues and health and safety tips to training, events, and messages from your President and Executive Board, The Fire Front is created specifically for our members.
Keeping you connected, especially in these uncertain times, is a top priority. We are here to ensure you, our sisters and brothers, stay in the know of the fight to protect what we have worked so hard to obtain.
Click
here
to check out the very first Fire Front.
We look forward to keeping you informed for another 100 editions! If you have a story or idea you'd like to see in The Fire Front, reach out today.
|
|
Abundant lightning in the western United States last 48 hours
|
|
June is Men's Health Month!
|
|
Wildfire potential expected to be above normal in many western locations this summer
|
|
The National Significant Wildland Fire Potential Outlook issued today by the Predictive Services section at the National Interagency Fire Center for June through September indicates that many areas in the western United States will have above normal potential for wildfires. In July the increased fire danger is expected to affect significant portions of California, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Arizona.
The wildfire potential in the southern states is predicted to be below normal.
The data from NIFC shown here represents the cumulative forecasts of the ten Geographic Area Predictive Services Units and the National Predictive Services Unit.
|
|
Survival swim instructor petitions Governor Newsom to make lessons "essential"
'One Baby at a Time' Foundation works with American Academy of Pediatrics & CAL FIRE.
|
|
SAN DIEGO — Sometimes it just takes one persistent person to create change. In this Zevely Zone, I went to Rancho Santa Fe where the pool is open for business.
Certified survival swim instructor Jessica Box remembers how she felt when she heard that COVID-19 was shutting down swim lessons for toddlers.
"My heart just kind of went into my stomach. Drowning is already the number one leading cause of unintentional death in this country for children ages one to four," said Jessica.
She is a single mother of three and founder of the One Baby at a Time Foundation. She took her concern straight to the top; Governor Newsom himself, hoping to prevent toddlers from ending up on the bottom of the pool.
"I had to go back to work and I had to get these kids safe," said Jessica, who sent her petition to Sacramento, imploring the governor to make survival swim lessons from certified instructors "essential".
"It was a very intense 12 days of my life. I was on the phone six to 10 hours some days," said Jessica.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, more kids are at home and in pools. Jessica said in Texas and Florida, drowning rates for toddlers more than doubled in the first four weeks of the pandemic.
|
|
HEALTH
The
Wellness Unit has been working to launch one of the department’s most exciting wellness opportunities - The BeWELL Program.
The BeWELL Program will deliver free, on-site wellness screenings with follow-up health coaching for eligible CAL FIRE Safety employees over the next three fiscal years, eventually reaching every Unit in CAL FIRE. Each wellness screening is Voluntary, Confidential, Individualized and FREE. The screening includes bloodwork and other assessments that will help illustrate how your body is responding to the specific stress of firefighting, allowing you to gauge your current health and track your response throughout your career. Screening specifics can be found on the “
CAL FIRE BeWELL”
section of the Wellness Unit Intranet page.
Due to the dynamics of COVID 19, The BeWELL program is currently postponed.
Our tentative date for the BeWELL Program launch is July 1st
. The BeWELL Program is Department sponsored, but fully administered by a 3rd Party Vendor, Wellness Solutions, for maximum confidentiality. Wellness Solutions has over 20 years of success delivering wellness programs to First-Responders and we are excited to have them as our partner in promoting Firefighter Health.
FITNESS
Completed fitness projects that are currently available include
Exercise Video Links
, and the Wellness Intranet Page. The
Exercise Video Links
are new content that has been added to the
Wellness Intranet page
through the CAL FIRE Wellness YouTube Channel. There are over 116 exercise videos available in 11 exercise categories. These exercises are safe and effective and align with the training principles in the CFTC, Academy curriculum and
PT Binder.
The Wellness Unit is also available upon request to assist in Unit or Department trainings, workshops, and CPT’s.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
The Wellness Unit also intends to offer 2 grant-funded physical fitness training courses in 2020 for CAL FIRE’s UPFC’s. These training sessions are currently postponed. The Wellness Unit is excited to offer these valuable training courses as soon as it is operationally indicated. We look forward to continuing to receive feedback on how these training principles are working in the field while we build a physical fitness culture across all levels of the Department.
|
|
Nutrition #CALFIREGRUB
Finally, CAL FIRE Wellness is working to develop a CAL FIRE Cookbook. You can join the #CALFIREGRUB movement by submitting a recipe to the Wellness Unit. The CAL FIRE Cookbook will be unique with the primary goal to collect and compile recipes from YOU, “
The Department.”
We are looking for recipes that can be cooked in bulk for the firehouse family or recipes you can take home to cook in the comfort of your own home for yourself or loved ones. Small changes towards healthier nutritional habits can promote overall well-being while decreasing the risk of disease, chronic illness, depression, anxiety, inflammation, and some cancers. Your input contributes to improving the health and well-being of the department
Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"
|
|
How can you be a part of the CAL FIRE Cookbook?
·
Submit your favorite healthy recipe or firehouse recipe to the Wellness Unit. We welcome all recipes: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snacks, Appetizers, Desserts!
·
Alternative: submit your favorite recipe for a
makeover
done by the Wellness Unit. Simple ingredient swaps can add more nutrients to your meal for health maintenance and improvement.
·
Email your recipe to: wellnessunit@fire.ca.gov and inform the Wellness Unit if you would like your recipe to be anonymous or credited with your first and last name.
|
|
Click
here to learn more.
|
|
It's time for the IAFF Media Awards
|
|
Do you have an amazing fire service photo showing you or other CAL FIRE firefighters in action that has been published to social media? Do you have one that has
not
been published to social media?
Think it will beat out other fire service photos from across the US and Canada?
Let your Communications Officer, DeeDee Garcia, know and she can help you submit it:
dgarcia@L2881.org
or (916) 202-0553
|
|
Be a part of L2881 Father's Day!
|
|
We are looking for short video clips from you wishing your dad a "
Happy Father’s Day"
. The video should be no more than
ten seconds
. Get creative! Be in uniform in front of the engine, cooking, cleaning, in turnouts, with your BA, on the training grounds, from the top of the ladder, just make sure we can
clearly hear you
. Bonus points if you
turn your camera
horizontally
to record them.
As far as what to say... say something like “Happy Father’s Day dad”, “Happy Father’s Day”, or “I want to wish my dad a happy Father’s Day”. Don't be afraid to get your kids involved saying "Happy Fathers Day" to their fire service Dads.
Photos of you with your kids or dads would be appreciated too. Please use the link below to upload the photos and videos:
https://tinyurl.com/ybag7848
Please share this request with any member you think would be interested. The sooner we can get the content from you the better, and don't forget Father’s Day is here on June 21, 2020!
Please let me know if you have any questions.
DeeDee Garcia
Communications Officer
|
|
What do you think about the single-layer pant? Share your thoughts with us via the survey link below.
|
|
Special offer from PHI Air Medical
|
|
PHI Air Medical works with the local first responders. When there is an emergency, you are always there for us. Because of this, PHI Air Medical offers first responders a special rate to join the National Air Ambulance program to take care of Firefighters and their families for just $35 a year per household.
|
|
IF YOU ARE A CAL FIRE LOCAL 2881
ACTIVE MEMBER
YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR BENEFITS
PROVIDED FROM OUR AFFILIATION WITH PORAC
IN ORDER TO ENROLL IN THESE BENEFITS
(INCLUDING HEALTHCARE AND AFLAC PROGRAMS)
WE NEED YOUR DATE OF BIRTH.
PLEASE GO TO THE FOLLOWING LINK TO UPLOAD YOUR INFORMATION:
|
|
Deadline approaching for the Richard J. Ernest Scholarship
|
|
Do you have a child headed to college? Are you headed back to school for higher education? There will be eight (8) $1,000 scholarship awards given this year to members of CAL FIRE Local 2881 or their dependents.
The postmark deadline for all who wish to apply is
June 15th
for the 2020-2021 Richard J. Ernest Scholarship applications.
|
|
Remote Learning Program: Live Training
Join ICISF Faculty as they present live training. Each course includes content of traditional in-person classroom training via Zoom technology.
- Real-time presentations
- Faculty Interaction
- Small group breakouts
- Live Q & A
Courses currently scheduled:
June 25 & 26, 2020, 1:00 pm-4:30 pm EST both days
July 2, 2020, 8:30 am – 4:30 pm EST
July 10, 2020, 8:30 am-4:30 pm EST
August 7, 2020
July 23 – 24, 2020
|
|
Did you just recently retire? Congratulations! Make sure to sign up to be a CAL FIRE Local 2881 Retired Member and stay in the know!
|
|
AAA is now offering free roadside assistance* to those heroes on the frontlines of helping fight the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they’re a AAA Member or not.
All first responders and healthcare workers—including those that may not be AAA Members—can call
1-800-AAA-HELP
(1-800-222-4357) if and when they need roadside service. Simply identify yourself as such, and answer the brief health pre-screener questions, so that our service can roll out to help.
AAA Roadside Assistance operates as an essential service during shelter-in-place orders, and is available 24/7.
|
|
With
Personal Exposure Reporting
from California Professional Firefighters, firefighters can document exposures to toxins that can produce job-related illness.
|
|
Don't forget Father's Day is a few weeks away!
June 21
|
|
Wondering what to get your dad or spouse to celebrate him for Father's Day?
Here are a few links to give you some gift ideas:
|
|
Visit The North Face
website
to verify your First Responder status.
|
|
Have you signed up for
Receive text alerts about things that matter to YOU!
Sign up today to stay informed.
|
|
NBC Nightly News for Kids!
New Episodes Every Tuesday & Thursday
|
|
Lester Holt discusses hard news with a softer touch.
The “
NBC Nightly News”
anchor will lead an experimental version of NBC’s flagship newscast aimed specifically at children and teens. The first edition of
“Nightly News Kids Edition
” streams on YouTube and the show, and viewed as a test within
NBC News
, is likely to appear at least twice per week and potentially with greater frequency.
|
|
5 ways firefighters can manage heat stress
|
|
E
very structural firefighter knows from experience that fire suppression operations are hot, exhausting and dangerous, and this is amplified when the ambient temperatures and humidity outside climb. But did you know that heat stress is more than just uncomfortable – it can kill you?
Conventional wisdom says that heat stress puts firefighters at greater risk of developing heat-related illness (e.g., heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke). However, current research is showing that heat stress also puts an extraordinary burden on a firefighter’s cardiovascular system, with the worst outcome being a sudden cardiac event (SCE) like a stroke or heart attack.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN FIREFIGHTERS GET HOT
In that paper, Dr. Smith and her research team wrote: “Firefighters are exposed to numerous life-threatening dangers, including high temperatures, flames, smoke, hazardous chemicals, and unstable structures. Despite these dangers, the physiological strain, specifically cardiovascular strain, associated with firefighting poses the greatest threat to the life and health of a firefighter.”
|
|
Is your physical/mailing address updated with us?
Did you get the Fire Front mailed to your home last month? If not, then we don't have your current address.
It's important for us to have it in case you are impacted or may be impacted by a wildfire or other emergency. Use the link below, call or email us to update it today!
(916) 609-8711 / dkelsch@L2881.org
|
|
|
|
UNION PLUS
Having pet insurance allows you to focus on getting the best care for your furry family members without worrying about the financial burden -- saving you up to 90% on your pet’s vet bills.
Click
here
for a free quote!
|
|
Has your marital status changed? Update your L2881 beneficiary information with
us today. Fill out this
form
and send it to
Danielle
@
dkelsch@L2881.org
|
|
Share your photos & videos with us.
What does your CAL FIRE look like? Help up show the #AllRisk CAL FIRE. Send us a DM on social media or reach out to DeeDee, your Communications Officer at (916) 202-0553
|
|
UPCOMING EVENTS
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
JULY 14-16
IAFF CONVENTION
AUGUST 10-14
IAFF FALLEN FIRE FIGHTER MEMORIAL
SEPTEMBER 19
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
SEPTEMBER 23-25
|
|
|
 |
CAL FIRE BENEVOLENT
FOUNDATION
Provides funds for immediate life sustaining assistance to firefighters and their families who have suffered debilitating injury or loss of life.
For more information or to donate, visit the
website
.
Like, Share & Follow us!
|
|
|
|
CAL FIRE MUSEUM
Have you checked out the CAL FIRE museum website yet?
Don't forget to sign up for their newsletter too!
|
|
|
|
|
|
For more updates, events, and news visit our website:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
