Texas Fire Chief - Spring/Summer 2008 - (Page 32)

reports to both the county and the state fi re marshal’s offices, training records, apparatus maintenance records, inspection reports, hydrant testing, breathing equipment maintenance, protective clothing inventory and maintenance records, monthly operational reports to the City Manager and the Emergency Services District Commissioners, and to continue to revise our Operating Guidelines as new standards are developed by the National Fire Protection Association, OSHA, and others. Add to this already heavy burden, the development and continuous updating of the Department’s web site as well as seeking out and applying for grant funding opportunities, and the administrative load becomes overwhelming. As evident, Tomball’s fi refighters and staff officers remain quite busy when not responding to calls for assistance. Most of you are aware of the call that President Bush has placed on each citizen of our country to com- mit to volunteering approximately 4,000 hours of time over their lives. The Citizen Corps Programs have been established at the national level to encourage citizen advocate participation in various aspects of a community’s response to emergencies. Harris County Judge Robert Eckels has embraced this ideal and created the Harris County Citizens Corps Council. Individuals seeking to volunteer their time and services may research various opportunities through the web site at www.harriscountycitizencorps.com. Examples of volunteer programs include USA on Watch/Neighborhood Watch, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), Medical Reserve Corps and the latest addition, Fire Corps. The Fire Corps program has been developed for those individuals that may have had that burning desire to be around the “big red sleds” but did not feel comfortable with entering a burning building. The program allows those community members to offer their time and talents to their local fi re departments in nonoperational roles. The City of Tomball is a proud partner in this effort and participates in VIPS through the Tomball Police Department and the Fire Corps and CERT programs through the Tomball Fire Department. As indicated with the above list of administrative tasks, significant opportunities exist in the Tomball Fire Department for those members of the community who have time on their hands, some degree of talent in a wide variety of activities, and an interest in helping their local fi re department, but not necessarily putting the “wet stuff on the red stuff”. We encourage you to fi nd out how you can become more aware of and better prepared for these potential emergency situations. For further information on volunteer opportunities with the Tomball Fire Department, please contact us at 281-351-7101. 32338927_BRW.indd 1 TEXAS FIRE CHIEF Spring/Summer 2008 7/16/07 5:13:29 PM http://www.harriscountycitizencorps.com http://www.harriscountycitizencorps.com http://www.brwarch.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Texas Fire Chief - Spring/Summer 2008

Texas Fire Chief - Spring/Summer 2008 Contents Executive Director’s Report Region Realignment Map Above and Beyond 2007 Conference Highlights ‘Service Above Self’ Texas Commission Implements Southwest Fire Rescue Conference Program Membership Application Who Are Those Guys? Alarms for the Hearing Impaired Recent Calls Index to Advertisers

Texas Fire Chief - Spring/Summer 2008

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