Old Business:

Review Action Log (All)

Action Item: Get contact information from Louise Bruck (Safety Alert System contact) and distribute to SHWT team for reference. (Gould)

NWCG FY2007 Budget (Ryerson) (HO 1)
The team prepared and finalized the budget for the Parent Group’s review and approval. The team submitted a Strategic Plan, Budget Summary Goal and Action Plan to identify how the team plans to achieve the tasks identified in the submitted budget. The discussion took place on the continuing resolution and how it may affect the budget. Missoula Technology and Development Center (MTDC) projects were described in detail. The team will continue to work closely with MTDC to budget projects appropriately for FY2008.

NWCG FY2008 Budget (Ryerson) (HO 2)
The team discussed projects for FY2008. Each task was prioritized and strategies were identified to complete the tasks.

2006 Accomplishment Report (Ryerson) (HO 3)
The SHWT Chair presented the 2006 Accomplishment to the Parent Group.

Action Item: Federal Fire and Aviation Safety Team (FFAST) will prepare a white paper to the fire directors on identifying the differences between and SHWT. Need to provide NWCG with a recommendation on joining the two teams. (Ryerson/Gould)

Hazard Tree and Tree Felling Task Group Charter/Holmes Report (Bloms) (HO 4)
The Charter was submitted to the Parent Group and the SHWT received their concurrence. The charter will be revised to reflect contract specifications and review of chainsaw certification among the agencies. A task group will need to be created. No funding has been approved for the task group for 2007.

Action Item: SHWT to appoint a task group.

AEDs in Medical Kits (Ryerson) (HO 5)
A memo was sent to the Chair of NWCG describing the issue, background, and recommendation of Automated External Defibrillators. SHWT was tasked by NWCG to provide recommendations on medical kit components that are available in the NFES system as well as research the option of contractor supported AED maintenance for the 500 person medical kits. Is there a maintenance option for kit items that require yearly maintenance, (e.g., fire extinguishers) or could a company provide on an as needed basis?

Action Item: The SHWT will task the Emergency Medial Services Group (EMSG) to research the option of contractor supported AED maintenance for the 500 person medical kits. (Ryerson)

Revised Recommended Minimum Standards of Incident Emergency Medical Services (Ryerson) (HO 6)
A final draft of Recommended Minimum Standards of Incident Emergency Medical Services created by the Emergency Medical Services Group (EMSG) was presented to the Parent Group for approval. The Parent Group was also informed that the SHWT intended to sunset the EMSG group January 2008. Final tasks will be assigned to the EMSG prior to sunsetting. The Parent Group concurred with this decision.

Action Item: Incorporate changes to the Recommended Minimum Standards of Incident Emergency Medical Services chart as recommended by Parent Group. Send the Recommended Minimum Standards of Incident Emergency Medical Services chart to the Working Team Chairs, obtain their comments, and present additional recommendations to the Parent Group at their May meeting.

Review and Finalize 2006 Safety Gram (All)
The team reviewed and finalized the 2006 Safety Gram. The jurisdiction (if known) was added to the Safety Gram. The 2006 Safety Gram has been sent to the NWCG Chair, distributed as a Safety Advisory, and posted to the SHWT website.

NWCG Strategic Plan (Gould/Ryerson) (HO 7)
The team reviewed and finalized the SHWT Strategic plan in the new NWCG Format. The new format was explained in the Parent Group meeting and SHWT updates are needed.

Action Item: Review and revise at April meeting. (All)

Revised SHWT Charter (All) (HO 8)
The team reviewed the existing charter prior to the Chair presenting to the Parent Group for approval. The Parent Group requested minor changes be made to the Charter.

Action Item: Need to make an Interim Charter and delete reference to Executive Secretary. Resubmit to NWCG Chair for approval. (Ryerson)

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SAFENET and the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System (Gould) (HO 9)
History: SAFENET was adopted by NWCG and sponsored by SHWT with system management be maintained under the auspices of FFAST. It currently costs $6000 per year to keep the site maintained. Forest Service has an assigned PT person to maintain the site. The SHWT is looking for centralized organization, location, and funding for SAFENET. Since the SHWT members are collateral duty, there is not sufficient time to devote to SAFENET. SAFENET is currently not managed by a specific agency/program.

Proposal: There is a current proposal to join the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System and SAFENET. A concept proposal prepared by the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) was distributed to the team for review. A conference call was held with Amy Hultman (National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System) in Virginia to discuss specific concerns and address questions.

Concerns:

• Funding for National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System: This program is completely funded by Department of Homeland Security and will undergo a major funding change. This organization is currently looking to other organizations for future funding.
• The SHWT is not satisfied with the amount of resources they can devote to the promotion of SAFENET.
• There is no growth to SAFENET, it is static.
• Without organizational focus SAFENET is going to stop providing the benefits that we are really seeking.
• We need to improve the analysis of SAFENET.
• Inputs for SAFENET are currently being done with a part-time collateral duty position.
• The primary responders to the SAFENET system is federal employees. Individuals on the county level or other local fire departments are not using the system; and therefore, this data is not being included.

Conclusion:

• SAFENET primarily focuses on wildland fire and the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System focuses on the structural side. Coordination with National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System would make SAFENET more successful. There are benefits of keeping the two systems separate. In the short term, what can we do to start the link between the two?
• Begin partnership opportunities
• Link the web sites
• Include the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System on our SAFENET site.
• Place the IFC logo on the SAFENET website, add to brochures and distribute at conferences as a first step to partnership and promotion.
• Link the two programs and share the information.
• Redesign front page of SAFENET, make logo more prominent, and give details of the partnership.

Follow-up:
The reasons we don’t immediately send the data directly into the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System is because the agencies need to have a prior review (2-business day delay). This allows for possible corrective actions. SAFENET data is not sent to National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System until it is made public.

Decision: We will begin sending SAFENET reports to the Near-Miss Reporting System for trend analysis once it is made public. (All)

Follow-up: Discuss data analysis to determine if we can partner with IAFC on an analysis.

Action Item: 1) Draft a thank you letter to International Fire Chiefs Association (IAFC) for the Near-Miss Reporting System. 2) Consult Amy Hultman to create links and to the SAFENET and Near-Miss Reporting System web sites to promote and create a short-term partnership. (Gould)

Action Item: Contact IFCA to request a copy of their follow-up questionnaire. (Gould)

NWCG 310-1 Moratorium on THSP Letter (King) (HO 10)
The team reviewed and discussed the memo. The team was trying to find solutions to keeping informed of changes to fitness levels. The team felt that we should respond to the Parent Group to open up the awareness level to include the SHWT.

Action Item: Proposal to combine the NWCG 310-1 Moratorium on THSP Letter with the letter from SHWT Chair sent to IOSWT on Firing Boss. The team will further discuss this issue with SHWT NWCG liaison, Mike Long. (All)

Agency Administrator’s Guide to Critical Incident Management (Sutton) (HO 11)
The team reviewed the latest draft provided by Rose Davis, USFS. The team recommended contracting the Guide to combine the existing Guide on the web and the current Guide that Rose Davis provided the team. The team discussed options for format, design, and layout of the document. The team recommended Chuck Whitlock to be contracted to complete this job.

Action Item: Provide a clear intent statement of work for completion of the AA Critical Incident Guide. (Sutton/Gould)

Action Item: Follow-up on Chuck Whitlock’s existing contract to see if it is possible to add the completion of the Critical Incident Guide to the existing contract. (Sutton)

DD: Final draft due to SHWT by April 15, 2007.
DD: Final document completed by May 1, 2007.

Safety Alert Protocol-Final Review (King) (HO12)
The team reviewed the final draft (1/18/07), made minor edits, and finalized. The final Safety Alert Protocols will be posted on the Safety Alert website.

Action Item: Post Safety Alert Protocols on the Safety Alert website. (Gould)

Website Update (Parrish) (HO 13)
The team reviewed a significant number of updates/changes made to the website. The website has links to other sites that are no longer applicable. The team also discussed restructuring the website to make it more user friendly. The team decided to use the following phrase on the SHWT homepage:

Wording for Webpage: The NWCG is committed to improving firefighter health, safety and effectiveness through emphasis on excellence in workforce development, leadership and the establishment of standards.

DD: SHWT members send website reorganization recommendations to John Gould by February 23, 2007.

Action Item: Work with the NWCG webmaster to restructure the SHWT website. The website will be modified to include the SHWT mission. (Gould)

Action Item: Follow-up to find out if each year’s Safety Gram data is also updating the Fatality Data Base. (Gould)

Refresher Update (King)
WFSTAR Task Group will be updating the field on January 31, 2007. The field is still not aware of the status of this year’s refresher training or WFSTAR. The task group is trying to increase the awareness of WFSTAR by disseminating through the SHWT to the state representatives.

The question was raised on who to list as a contact in the WFSTAR information for states. The decision was made to list the State Training Officer as the contact person since it is still a state-by-state decision on annual refresher training.

Action Items: Send Safety Advisory listing the required positions now listed in 310-1. The Safety Advisory will also address the following:

• Refresher training now required.
• Minimum standards required.
• Update on WFSTAR.
• Refresher DVD is now available and instruction on how to order.
• Federal and State Training Contacts will be listed as contacts. (King)

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I-Suite – Decision On Implementation (Gould)
An additional data field has been built into I-Suite to capture large fire accident and injury data. This new addition to the program will be used nationwide and be made mandatory nationally. SHWT will work with the I-Suite managers to implement and provide direction to the field.

Action Item: SHWT members will provide updates at the team meetings. Fact sheets will be created and used to distribute at the State Safety Officers Conference and team meetings. (Gould/Sutton)

Review of Correspondence by SHWT Prior to Being Distributed (Parrish)
Meeting minutes will be distributed to the team after the conclusion of each meeting. The team will have one week to review the minutes and provide feedback to the Executive Secretary. After that time, the meeting meetings will then be sent to the webmaster to be posted to the SHWT website.

Standard Operating Procedures (Parrish)
The Executive Secretary is compiling information to be used in creating Standard Operating Procedures for the team’s reference.

Action Item: Send procedures (with instructions) for incorporation into the SOP to the SHWT Executive Secretary (All)

Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology (Unclaimed Definitions) (Bloms) (HO 14)
The team reviewed the remaining glossary items. The team does not feel there are items related to safety and health. No further action needed.

Update NWCG SHWT PowerPoint (Ryerson)
The team reviewed the SHWT PowerPoint (PPT) presentation that was created last year. The decision was made to not use this particular PPT any longer. However, the team felt a PPT would be beneficial for presentations and decided that a new PPT would need to be created to incorporate SHWT accomplishments and identify the products produced. The Team discussed if FFAST should be incorporated in the SHWT PPT. It was decided not to incorporate FFAST into the PPT thereby, eliminating confusion.

Decision: Take FFAST references out of the current SHWT PPT. The SHWT can use it as template to further develop for future presentations.

Action Item: Update at the April meeting. (All)

Burn Protocol (Ryerson)
There have been several burn injuries on incidents. The first medical assessment is being conducted at rural area clinics or hospitals who have limited expertise with wildland fire type burns. Often times, the burn worsened after arriving at their home unit.

The burn protocols would establish criteria providing a higher level of medical care for burn victims (e.g., certified burn units/hospitals). BLM (National Operations Committee) is currently working on the burn protocols and plans to submit to SHWT for approval by NWCG.

Wildland Fire Organizations and Mission (Ryerson) (HO 15)
The team reviewed a PowerPoint presentation of an overview of wildland fire organizations and the new Governance organization (e.g., combined NWCG and NFAEB). Chair will keep WT updated as more information becomes available. No action needed.

Review Safety Gram Reporting Criteria (All) (HO 16)
The team reviewed changes to the existing Safety Gram Reporting Criteria. The team discussed entrapment vs. burnover and tried to reach consensus on how this should be reported in the “Type of Accident” category:

Decision: Continue discussion at the April SHWT meeting.

Interagency Incident Business Management Handbook Rewrite (Ryerson)
Emmy Ibison (IBPWT) approached the SHWT Chair to ask if the team could review the revised Interagency Incident Business Management Handbook (IIBMH). The IIBMH solicited comments from the field earlier in the year and are now in the process of incorporating the changes with an extensive review process planned. The revised IIBMH is scheduled for publication in January 2008.

Action Item: Chapters will be divided among Team but if there are key areas for team to converse then a group discussion will take place. (All)

April meeting in San Diego (Parrish/King)
The SHWT elected Stan Palmer to serve as the Point of Contact for the California Interagency Wildfire Safety Officers Conference, April 17-19, 2007. Stan will give a presentation about the Safety and Health Working Team.

Action Item: Revise the NWCG SHWT PPT for presentation at the CA Interagency Wildfire Safety Officers Conference. (Palmer/Parrish)

Liaison Reports (All)
PMS (Bloms): Will forward the Annual Report of Publications to the team.

It was brought to the attention of the SHWT that the How is your Situation Awareness? (LCES) poster did not have the NFES number or NWCG logo printed on it. The SHWT determined that the poster was first distributed without the NWCG logo and the existing approved poster was modified without permission by NWCG and is posted on the SHWT website.

Action Item: 10 Standard Fire Orders Poster – Follow up with Cindy Wolf to find out who has the original poster and determine who will make new posters. (Ryerson)

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FEWT (Bloms): Recommendations were presented to the NFAB Fire Shelter Advisory Group for use of the old fire shelters. Rod will distribute the NFAB meeting minutes to the team.

States (Ashworth): Firefighting liability issues are impacting the states. These issues have been recognized and efforts to mitigate are being sought.

States (Schwingel): Wisconsin is studying firefighter health issues; specifically reducing exposure to dumps.

IBPWT (Ryerson): Kathy Shelton, Region 6 is the new Chair for the IBPWT.
Waiting for a list of recommended supplies for 100 and 500 kits. AD Pay plan is ready for this year. The IBPWT updated their Emergency Equipment Rental agreements.

IRM (Gould): FireFit may move under NWCG. FireFit will be featured in Wildland Fire Magazine in February and March.

TWT (King): The Leadership Committee will be holding a Tactical Decision Game workshop this spring.

The updated Field Managers Course Guide states the minimum qualification levels.

It was reported that the online version of S-130/S-190 alone will not adequately meet the needs of rural fire departments. A decision was made to develop a DVD of the online S-130 and S-190 package.

Vicki Ramirez, BLM Vail District will provide feedback to the IOSWT regarding English to Spanish conversion of the Incident Response Pocket Guide.

Adoption of Safety Officer, Line Course: The Pacific Northwest (PNW) has developed supplemental training for this position that they believe needs to be adopted by the TWT. The PNW training course will be reviewed and incorporated if appropriate.

The team was updated on the revision process of the Position Task Books. IOSWT is coordinating the review of PTBs. The review will include IOSWT members,
NIMO Team, project leaders from Training Development Unit, US Coast Guard, EPA and
appropriate SMEs. The SHWT discussed being part of the revision process to review the safety tasks related to the PTBs.

April 2007 Meeting Agenda Items:

• Tech Tip from MTDC regarding the Camelbak hydration systems
• Obtaining archive files for MTDC studies
• Does MTDC have document for work/rest guidelines?
• Safety Survey – SHWT to brainstorm and discuss the opportunity to conduct a NWCG safety survey. SHWT recommendations will be presented at the May NWCG meeting.

Future Meeting Dates and Locations

• April 16-19, 2007 – San Diego, CA (SHWT will also be attending the California Interagency Wildfire Safety Officers Conference).
• October 23-25, 2007 – Missoula, MT (WI State Host)
• January 22-24, 2008 – Boise, ID, joint meeting with TWT (NC State Host)

Future Conference Calls
March 8, 2007 @ 1300 (MST)
May 17 @1300 (MST) – Parent Group Briefing

Handouts

1. NWCG FY2007 Budget
2. NWCG FY2008 Budget
3. 2006 Accomplishment Report (Ryerson)
4. Hazard Tree and Tree Felling Task Group Charter/Holmes Report
5. AEDs in Medical Kits (Ryerson)
6. Revised Incident Medical Minimal Levels
7. NWCG Strategic Plan
8. Revised SHWT Charter
9. SAFENET and the National Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System
10. NWCG 310-1 Moratorium on THSP Letter
11. Agency Administrator’s Guide to Critical Incident Management
12. Safety Alert Protocol-Final Review
13. Website Update
14. Glossary of Wildland Fire Terminology (Unclaimed Definitions)
15. Wildland Fire Organizations and Mission
16. Review Safety Gram Reporting Criteria (All)

3/16/07

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