GRAPEVINE FIRE DEPARTMENT Annual Report 2016
Message from Chief Brown
It is my pleasure to present to you the Grapevine Fire Department Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2016, which happens to be our busiest year in the history of the Department. Speaking of history, we will be updating our established date back to 1884. A recently discovered newspaper article dated December 5, 1884 clearly comments,“ The Grapevine Fire Co. does not seem to be under very good government as it has failed to have any meeting for some time.” courtesy of The Grapevine Telephone newspaper. Perhaps more than ever in our 132-year history we are forced to consider our changing environment and the necessary evolution of our service which enables us to effectively meet our community’ s needs. As our city continues to change with new development and re-development, our responsibility to provide the highest level of first class service remains constant.
During 2016, GFD responded to over 5,900 calls for service resulting in over 13,000 responses by your fire department. These calls include fires, medical emergencies, rescues, hazardous chemical responses, and other general calls for public service. Of the 5,905 calls for service, 3,900 calls were for Emergency Medical Services. Likewise, we responded to several neighboring fire departments calls for assistance. In turn, these neighbors provided us service when we needed them.
The Grapevine Fire Department added a new Emergency Management Coordinator and nine new firefighters in 2016. Matt Feryan joined our team as our new EMC and has worked diligently to learn and become a part of the fabric of the City. He has enhanced our festival emergency operations plans and began to work with each department to build a Continuity of Operations Plan( COOP) so in the event of a disaster, daily business could continue. With hiring challenges especially within the ranks of firefighter / paramedic, four of the nine new firefighters are Emergency Medical Technicians( EMTs). These members will be attending paramedic school as soon as feasible.
As you will read in this annual report, you should know that the men and women of the Grapevine Fire Department take great pride each and every day to serve the citizens and countless visitors of Grapevine. This is evident in the amount of training, fire prevention & community involvement that we have accomplished during 2016. One of the new community services we have started is our Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation( CPR) program, in which we hosted 28 classes and trained over 283 people. This program will continue in the future, as it is a published fact that by-stander CPR makes an enormous difference in the overall patient outcomes.
It is my honor and privilege to serve as your Fire Chief and lead such a great group of men and woman each and every day.
Annual Report 2016 Page 5 of 18