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Victory! Nationwide Broadband Network

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On February 17, the House and Senate passed legislation (H.R. 3630) allocating 10 MHz of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band (commonly referred to as the “D-Block”) to public safety for the purpose of building a nationwide broadband communications network. Specifically, the bill creates a First Responder Network Authority within the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and provides seven billion dollars along with a license to use the D-Block and adjacent public safety spectrum to build the network. It also provides funding for public safety research and development activities including deployment of Next Generation 9-1-1 services, which will complement the capabilities of the new broadband public safety communications network.

The creation of a nationwide broadband public safety communications network has been a top legislative priority for the NVFC since 2010. Click here to learn more.

Posted by on February 17, 2012 • Filed under: Advocacy, Dispatch & Communications, Emergency Communications, EMS Dispatch, News, technology-communications

NVFC’s Annual Report Now Online

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Check out the National Volunteer Fire Council’s (NVFC) Annual Report for 2011 to find out all of the ways the organization has been working for you over the past year. The report includes a year-end wrap-up including legislative activities, membership, international outreach, EMS, health and safety, partnerships, training, Fire Corps, the National Junior Firefighter Program, and more. Since 2011 marked the NVFC’s 35th anniversary, there are also photos that take you on a nostalgic look back at the organization throughout the years. Download the Annual Report: http://www.nvfc.org/files/documents/NVFC_AnnualReport_2011.pdf

Posted by on February 6, 2012 • Filed under: Advocacy, EMS, Fire Corps, Health and Safety, Junior Firefighters, Leadership, News, Training and Education

Year-End Review

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The following article was written by NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg for FireRescue1.com. It was published on 12/19/11:

Work together: Overcoming volunteer challenges in 2012
We must examine which practices are working and which ones

By Philip C. Stittleburg, NVFC Chairman
Published on FireRescue1.com

As another year comes to a close, I am glad to see there have been many successes for the volunteer fire and emergency services in 2011.

At the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), we have released many new training webinars, entered into promising partnerships, strengthened international relationships, and continued expanding critical programs such as Fire Corps, the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, and the National Junior Firefighter Program.

However, there have also been many disappointing hits to the volunteer fire and emergency services. For the second straight year, the number of volunteer firefighters has decreased.

The National Fire Protection Association’s U.S. Fire Department Profile Through 2010 shows there are 44,000 fewer volunteers in 2010 compared to 2009.

Perhaps even more troubling is that the aging trend we have seen in the volunteer fire service for the past seven years continues. In 2010, 51.2 percent of firefighters in communities under 2,500 were over 40.

The percentage of firefighters over 50 years old serving those communities has risen every year since 2000 and now stands at 28.7 percent.

Reinvigorate initiatives
While we won’t know the 2011 numbers until next fall, we must take this news seriously and reinvigorate initiatives to increase recruitment and retention.

We must examine which practices are working and which ones aren’t, identify areas where changes need to be made, and look outside the box for new approaches.

We need to focus on the root causes of these trends and work together to make the changes needed in the fire service to meet the new demands and continue to thrive.

Another challenge that faced the fire and emergency services in 2011 was in the area of legislation. The year actually started with some success.

Thanks in part to efforts from national fire service organizations including the NVFC, Congress provided $405 million each for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) and the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs in the FY 2011 appropriations. This represented a $15 million increase for AFG from the previous year.

AFG and SAFER are the most significant sources of federal assistance available to the fire and emergency services and play a critical role in ensuring that all departments meet a baseline level of readiness.

AFG awards grants to fire and EMS departments to fund basic necessities including training, equipment, vehicles, health and safety programs, and fire prevention and education programs. SAFER provides grants for the hiring of personnel and for volunteer recruitment and retention efforts.

Despite this early success, very little legislative progress benefiting the fire and emergency services has been made since.

Gridlock on Capitol Hill
One of the main obstacles to legislative advancements has been gridlock on Capitol Hill. While the NVFC has been working tirelessly to promote and advance legislation that will help keep the volunteer emergency services strong, the inability of Republicans and Democrats in Congress to put aside partisan differences and work together has made it difficult to get anything accomplished.

Unfortunately, this situation is likely to get even worse as we head into an election year.

We must unite as the nation’s first responder community to communicate with Congress regarding legislation affecting the fire and emergency services.

Ask your Representative and Senators to support legislation that will keep the emergency services strong. The NVFC provides an easy-to-use tool that enables you to take action.

Through our Capwiz alert service, you will receive a Legislative Action Alert when your involvement can make a critical difference. The alert will link you to a letter that you can send directly to your legislators from the online system.

Sign up for the NVFC’s Legislative Action Alerts and help make a difference at www.capwiz.com/nvfc. Learn more about all of the NVFC’s legislative priorities at www.nvfc.org/resources/legislativeaffairs.

Thing to remember
So what can we surmise from all of this? The critical thing to remember is that volunteers continue to be the backbone of our nation’s fire and emergency services.

What started 275 years ago with the founding of the first volunteer fire station in Philadelphia continues to be a strong tradition today. Volunteers make up 70 percent of the fire service, and communities across the U.S. depend on us to keep them safe.

Together we can work to increase our numbers, effect legislative change, and enhance the ability of the volunteer fire service to protect our communities. Let’s make 2012 a positive and successful year for the fire and emergency services.

Find tools and resources for your department and learn more about what the NVFC is doing to help the volunteer fire service thrive at www.nvfc.org.

Posted by on December 20, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Advocacy, command-leadership, fire-rescue-topics, funding-staffing, Grants and Funding, Leadership, News, Recruitment and Retention

Take Action on Radio Spectrum Allocation

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Tell the Senate not to take radio spectrum from emergency responders!
 
On December 13, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, which includes language that would allocate the D Block to public safety for the purpose of creating nationwide broadband communications network.  Unfortunately, H.R. 3630 also would require public safety to relinquish 14 MHz of radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band that is currently being used for interoperable voice communications and establishes an “administrator” to oversee the creation of the broadband network that is not sufficiently accountable to public safety.

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) strongly supports the creation of a nationwide broadband communications network for public safety but opposes the proposal in H.R. 3630 because of the giveback requirement and the administrator governance model.  H.R. 3630 is now under consideration in the Senate where the bi-partisan Public Safety Spectrum and Wireless Innovation Act of 2011 (S. 911), which creates a nationwide broadband communications network for public safety without the unsupportable provisions in the House bill, has already been passed out of committee. 

Contact your U.S. Senators TODAY to ask them to replace the public safety broadband communications section in H.R. 3630 with the bill language in S. 911. The NVFC makes it easy for you to take action through our Capwiz advocacy tool. Simply click here and find a draft letter that you can send to your Senators just by entering your address.

Posted by on December 16, 2011 • Filed under: Advocacy, Dispatch & Communications, Emergency Communications, EMS Dispatch, fire-rescue-topics, News

Action Alert: LOSAP Bill

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The Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act (H.R. 376/S. 1911), which is supported by the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), clarifies the treatment of length of service award programs (LOSAPs) under the federal tax code.  The bill would raise the federal cap on annual contributions into an individual volunteer’s LOSAP, allow private, non-profit emergency services agencies to be treated as governmental agencies under the Internal Revenue Code and other applicable laws, and allow LOSAP sponsors the flexibility to elect to have LOSAP benefits become portable and guaranteed.

Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators today and ask them to cosponsor the Volunteer Emergency Services Recruitment and Retention Act! Click here to use the NVFC’s Capwiz advocacy tool to send a letter now.

Click here to learn more about the introduction of S. 1911.

Posted by on December 1, 2011 • Filed under: Advocacy, Recruitment and Retention

“Field EMS” Legislation Introduced in House

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On October 7, Representative Tim Walz (D-MN) introduced the “Field EMS Quality, Innovation, and Cost Effectiveness Improvements Act of 2011” (H.R. 3144) along with original co-sponsor, Representative Sue Myrick (R-NC). The bill is patterned after legislation introduced just before the 111th Congress expired at the end of last year, although there are some very substantial differences.

H.R. 3144 defines “emergency medical services” or “EMS” as “emergency medical care, trauma care, and related services provided to patients at any point in the continuum of health care services, including emergency medical dispatch and emergency medical care, trauma care, and related services provided in the field, during transport, or in a medical care facility or other clinical setting.” “Field EMS” is defined as “emergency medical services provided to patients (including transport by ground, air, or otherwise) prior to or outside a medical facility or other clinical setting.”

The bill establishes the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the “primary Federal agency with responsibility for programs and activities relating to emergency medical services and trauma care.” The legislation from the 111th Congress had established the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within the Department of Transportation as the primary Federal EMS agency.  H.R. 3144 cites the recommendation of “the Institute of Medicine” and states a congressional finding that making HHS the lead Federal EMS agency, “…is necessary to provide a more streamlined, cost-efficient, and comprehensive approach for field EMS and a focal point for practitioners and agencies to interface with the Federal Government.”

H.R. 3144 would establish several grant programs, including the Field EMS Excellence, Quality, Universal Access, Innovation, and Preparedness (EQUIP) program for field EMS agencies that “are licensed by or otherwise authorized in the State in which they operate” and “have medical oversight and quality improvement programs.” The bill language specifies that EQUIP grant application forms not be “unduly burdensome to smaller and volunteer field EMS agencies or other agencies with limited resources.”

The bill also establishes a grant program for State EMS offices, creates a Field EMS Medical Oversight Advisory Committee, establishes a Field EMS Education Grant program for entities “involved with the education of field EMS practitioners,” calls for the evaluation of “Innovative Models for Access and Delivery of Field EMS for Patients,” directs the Secretary of HHS to “conduct research and evaluation relating to field EMS,” and establishes a “Field EMS Evidence-Based Practice Center.” In addition, H.R. 3144 sets up an “Emergency Medical Services Trust Fund” which would be funded by designating income tax overpayments and voluntary contributions in order to pay for the activities and programs established under the bill.

Click here to view the text of H.R. 3144 and other information about the bill. H.R. 3144 has been referred to the Energy and Commerce Committee as well as the Ways and Means Committee in the House of Representatives.

Posted by on November 9, 2011 • Filed under: Advocacy, EMS, ems-topics, News

NVFC Fall Board Meeting Wrap-up

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The NVFC Board of Directors held its 2011 fall meeting on September 28-October 1 in Lake George, NY.  The board updated its legislative priorities, focused on the organization’s strategic plan, tackled issues such as membership and advocacy, and much more. Read a full wrap-up of the meeting on the NVFC web site.

Posted by on October 7, 2011 • Filed under: administration-leadership, Advocacy

Tell Congress Not to Raise Taxes on Volunteer FFs and EMTs!

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At the end of 2010, an exemption from income taxation on incentives that many local communities provide to volunteer firefighters and EMTs as a reward for their service expired. As a result, tens of thousands of volunteer emergency responders across the country will have to pay higher taxes this year without Congressional action. Contact your U.S. Representative and Senators now and tell them to co-sponsor the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act (S. 933/H.R. 2353), which would extend and expand a federal income tax exemption on all property tax benefits and up to $600 per calendar year of any other type of benefit that volunteers receive as a reward for their service.

If your Senator or Representative is already a co-sponsor of the Volunteer Responder Incentive Protection Reauthorization Act, contact them to let them know that you appreciate your support. The sponsor of S. 933 is Charles Schumer (D-NY) and the current co-sponsors are Susan Collins (R-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME). The sponsor of H.R. 2353 is John Larson (D-CT) and the current co-sponsors are Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Tim Holden (D-PA), Tom Latham (R-IA), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Dave Reichert (R-WA), Laura Richardson (D-CA) and Betty Sutton (D-OH).

Click here to take action now!

Posted by on September 27, 2011 • Filed under: Advocacy, fire-rescue-topics, News • Tagged: