Mission Critical: Recognizing our Volunteers

On October 10, 2020 Africa Fire Mission during our Annual Fundraiser, Africa Fire Mission was pleased to honor Amelia Smith and Jonathan Seastone.   (watch the 2020 Chama on Facebook >)

Africa Fire Mission thrives on volunteers.   Volunteers are really the heart of our organization.   We have dozens and dozens of volunteers. We have volunteers from all across the United States, Africa and Europe that help to make AFM run on a daily basis.   In 2019, Africa Fire Mission logged 8851 volunteer hours!   These men, women, firefighters, civilians and children are all a vital part of Africa Fire Mission being able to achieve its goals and objectives. 

Amelia Smith – Volunteer of the Year

Amelia is resourceful, relentless, takes on tasks with little direction, helps us to implement new projects that expand our mission.   Amelia traveled with LifeSpring Christian Church and Africa Fire Mission to Kenya several years ago and since then has been a dedicated volunteer along with her husband, Andy.  Thank you Amelia for all that you have done and all that you will do for Africa Fire Mission and those that we serve around the world.  Amelia says:  “It has been great to watch Africa Fire Mission grow and adapt through the years.  I’m grateful to be able to support AFM behind the scenes.”

When Africa Fire Mission travels with a team to provide training in Africa or other parts of the world, our team members volunteer their time, talents and treasures to provide world class training to our partners.  Our instructors, undergo training in advance of the trip to prepare of the mission and prepare the lessons that they will teach in our week long fire training events.   We have been fortunate to have many instructors return year after year and continue to build each year on the training that they have been providing as well as to build strong relationships with firefighers and our overseas partners. 

Jonathan Seastone, Trainer of the Year Denver Fire Department –

Jon has gone above and beyond the call of duty.  He has been on multiple missions and has recruited instructors for our work in Kenya, Zambia and Ukraine.   He has led new instructors to challenge themselves to teach the right material at the right level for the firefighters we serve.   Jon pushes and encourages the firefighters he teaches at our training events to push themselves beyond their limits, to be stronger than they think they are.   Jon is not afraid to hold Chief Fire Officers, in the countries where we serve, accountable for safe and advanced training for their firefighters so that their firefighters are able to serve their communities and to protect themselves from the dangers of fire. Jon and his wife Shandy, who serves as AFM’s volunteer Mission Teams Coordinator, have both helped to grow AFM’s programs in countless ways.   Jon says: “With every trip I’ve wanted to something bigger (with the training) and we are accomplishing that.   This award means alot.” 

Interested in volunteering with AFM in administrative roles or as one of our international instructors?

Importance knowing the Fire Department Emergency Contact

By Kelvin, Seru Kenya EMR

Picture how you would react in your local area, home, learning institutions, office or work one day when a fire broke out and you hadn’t the faintest clue where to start, what to do or who to contact about the situation. Imagine running to the area local administrator, manager or director’s office to obtain a point-of-contact information about the fire department only to be told there is none available.

Or maybe you are headed home and a fire broke out. Concerned bystanders try to help and would like to contact the Fire and Rescue Services but no information is found. This is often the case for many in Kenya, Africa.

Fire emergency contact information and numbers are very important for every individual, institution and organization to know, yet it is easily overlooked and forgotten by many—both employees and managers. Fire emergency contacts are the phone number or numbers for your local Fire and Rescue Services (access emergency numbers for Kenya here) . It is also important to know what to say when you call, using 4WCT.

W- who you are

W- what you need

W- what happened or is happening

W- where the incident is

C- confirmation of the information

T- time the incident took place

It is important to ensure each employee, local community group or volunteer, organization, institution, and office has accessible, well-written fire department emergency numbers placed at every corner; and also an action plan which indicates a step-by-step procedure of what to do in case of a fire outbreak. Also, having individuals who are trained as fire marshals in your local community, company, organization or institution will help in a long way.

From experience, it is also advisable for every County’s fire service to have a toll-free Emergency number for everyone in the community to reach them.

Most of the time the fire department would respond to a fire late due to the delay in contacting the fire department. As a result, the fire engine ends up being stoned by the local community and even at times even stealing items from the fire engine. Community members tend not to understand our response time starts from the time we receive the call but not when the fire starts. It is critical that we educate community members on the local contact numbers (see Kenya fire brigade numbers here)

For every individual, community volunteer, organization head, and institutional management: please make this a part of your monthly announcements to your employees and the general public the importance of having with them their respective area’s fire department emergency numbers, which will make it easier for everyone to reach First Responders.

As a Chinese proverb says, “Better a thousand times careful, than once dead”, so please do what you need to do to be safe, rather than sorry.

#TogetherForSafety

Collaborating During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kevin Milan, Assistant Fire Chief, South Metro Fire Rescue Authority, Colorado, USA

The lessons learned as an Africa Fire Mission instructor are many. Arguably, I learned much more from the Kenyan fire chiefs attending leadership training in November of 2019 than they possibly could have learned from me. I also learned a great deal teaching alongside Chief Hank Clemmensen who essentially wrote the book on emergency service leadership. What I didn’t realize while immersed in the Kenyan experience was the lessons learned were preparing me to deal with the COVID-19 virus as a leader in my fire department. Establishing common goals, aligning vison, and increasing respect are lessons from a leadership ‘game’ in Kenya that applied directly to managing our pandemic response. 

Through a leadership exercise Hank lead, the Kenyan Fire Chiefs tried to Win All You Can. Small groups worked together to choose options and negotiate with other teams to maximize their returns. The short-term gains and losses in the first rounds showed the Chiefs they could anticipate, but not guarantee success by looking out for their own best interest. One simple change of heart or decision by an individual dramatically altered the ‘plan’ and often ended in disaster for several groups. The final round brought the realization that only through cooperation and collaboration can everyone benefit. An attitude of winning collectively paid far greater benefits than winning for your team. 

Fast forward 90 days from Kenya, and I attended the first planning meeting for my agency’s response to COVID in the United States. The Win All You Can game was replaying before my eyes. The attitude in the meeting was we had to win; win N-95 masks, gowns, personal protective equipment, even toilet paper. The group schemed ways to end run systems, triple order, and even considered paying 800% mark ups for hard to get resources. The short-term losses and disappointments showed us very quickly that winning as a department was not going to benefit the collective response to the pandemic.  

I was able to share the lessons I learned in Kenya in a non-threatening manner. I explained how the Kenyan Chiefs learned to work together for the common good. We even ran an abbreviated version of Win All You Can with our incident support team. This ultimately led us to looking across disciplines, industries, and borders to take care of all responders.  

We were able to share the supplies we had in excess and accept alternatives proven out in private industry. We shared our strategies with hospitals and came to a common understanding: We are all in this together. This collaborative attitude with goals, vision, and respect is a recipe for success. I am forever in debt to my Kenyan sisters and brothers for teaching me a lesson of a lifetime. Thank you, AFM, for all you do – you are making a difference every day.   

Improving Water Supply for the Fire Service in Africa

Edward Collet, Jackson Township Fire Department Firefighter/EMT, Ohio; Ohio Fire Chiefs Association Water Supply Technical Advisory Committee Co-Chair

I spent a week in November 2019 as part of the Africa Fire Mission’s training cadre teaching at the 2019 Kenya Fire and EMS Symposium.  Brian Burkhardt from Greenville, Indiana Fire Department and I taught water supply and pump operations.  Wow, what an experience!  It definitely made me appreciate all we have available to us both as firefighters and in everyday life.  Unfortunately, the fire service in Kenya does not have the level of respect and support from the community we enjoy.  People will throw rocks and cut lines when they feel the fire department takes too long to respond or runs out of water.  But the firefighters I met are not deterred by this.  Just like us, in the United States, the job is a calling to serve the community.   This was a driving force for the level of participation at the training symposium put on by Africa Fire Mission and its local partners.  There were over 300 participants for fire and EMS classes and roughly 30 in the pump operations and water supply class wanting to learn how to better service their communities.  It was an awesome week of training and learning for the students and the instructors. 

The Kenyan firefighters were eager to learn how water supply is managed in the US.   Few departments have hydrants and rely on wells and storage tanks for water.  They are very reluctant to use lakes and rivers as water sources to avoid contaminating the tanks on the fire apparatus.  Many students were drinking from the tanks, so this probably a reason they only want to use clean water.   Tanks on engines are normally 3000 liters, about 800 gallons, and tenders carry 11,000 liters, 2,900 gallons.  Pumping operations are done mainly from the tank, fortunately the tank to pump plumbing is roughly 4” which allows full pump capacity to be supplied form the tank.  When the engine’s tank runs dry, tenders fill the attack engine’s tank through one of two direct tank fills.  Unfortunately, engines have larger pumps than tenders meaning the tenders were the limitation in flow.  Due to this difference in pump capacity, I broke the cardinal rule of offloading one tender at a time during our high flow scenario.  To keep the engine’s tank level over a quarter full while flowing roughly 750-1000gpm we had to fill the engine’s tank with two tenders at once.  This is not a tactic normally used in the US, but it worked well to maintain a high flow with these apparatus.   This emphasized a key concept of the class, know your apparatus, how to optimize what it can do to minimize the impact of things it cannot.

Standpipe hydrant

Pump plumbing

Schematic

Tank Interior

Relay pumping was something new to most students.  None of the apparatus at the training had an adapter to go from the large threaded pump inlet to the quick release style 65mm (2 ½”) supply line.  The students said their departments did not have these adapters.  Most apparatus do not carry any adapters since both 65mm and 35mm hose use the same 65mm couplings.  I was fortunate to find the proper adapter in the airport training facility.  The students were intrigued by relay pumping as it demonstrated the additive potential of centrifugal pumps.  While it is not a tactic they will normally use, it was a good learning experience.  Several students even said they were going to get the adapter for their fire brigade in the future. 

 We had access to a self-supporting dump tank for drafting practice.  This was the first time many students drafted from an external source.  Self-supporting tanks are not something I normally work with so there was a bit of a learning curve for everyone.  It would definitely be difficult to fill with a rapid dump chute like US tenders have.  The tank had a connection for a fill line at the bottom.  We used this connection to fill the tank using the tender’s pump.  This limited the flow rate to that of tender’s pump.  This tactic will suffer from the same issue caused by the difference in tender and engine pump capacity seen when nurse the engine.  Equipment configuration definitely requires rethinking tactics we tend to take for granted. 

Engine

Hose Couplings

Low level strainer

Priming pumps

The closest thing to a low-level strainer available was a river strainer with a check valve.  These are made to hang vertically in a river or pond from a bridge.  Without a swivel it was difficult to keep the strainer upright.  Once it tipped over, it drew air if the water level was not over 12” high.  Without a means to support the suction hose it crushed down the side of the tank limiting the fill level. Priming the pumps was different from priming American style pumps.  These pumps have an automatic priming system using two diaphragm pumps connected to the fire pump.  The priming pumps engage when air entered the fire pump.  Since the operators had never drafted before, getting a prime was a learning experience for all.  Back filling the pump and suction hose from the tank, increasing RPMs, and feathering the tank to pump valve till the prime took ended up being the best method we found to get a prime.  

We integrated drafting, nursing, and relay pumping into one drill to allow students a better understanding of how all the elements of water supply fit together.  They learned a water supply evolution does not come together quickly.  But with teamwork they were able to put everything together very few issues.   

The students took a lot away from this class.  Many said they would use things they learned to improve the water supply for their fire brigade.  I am grateful for this opportunity to join Africa Fire Mission and to represent the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association Water Supply Technical Advisory Committee and pass knowledge of water supply to the firefighters of Kenya.  I learned and grew as a firefighter, instructor, and person from this experience.  It is hard to describe the impact of seeing students gravitate to a subject and start teaching others in the group.  The work AFM is doing in Kenya and other countries is having a positive impact on empowering firefighters to improve their ability to serve their communities. 

Drafting and relay evolution setup

Be Wise about Maintenance

By: Brian E. Burkhardt; Chaplain, Retired Greenfield Firefighter/Paramedic, City of Greenfield Fire Territory Indiana, USA.

Our job as a firefighter, engineer, officer and commander is hard enough without having equipment failure.  We can prevent many of these failures by preventive, continuous and routine maintenance.  We know how hard it is when we cannot respond because our apparatus is out of service. We also do not provide the proper level of service to our community. Here’s a simple and useful system to follow and implement:

Be WISE.  

W- Walk around the apparatus.

I- Inspect the apparatus.

S- Start and run all the systems.

E- Operate all the Equipment.  

Let’s look at each letter on an individual level.

W - Walking around the apparatus we can tell if there are any major problems. Is there a leak of fluid, a smell or odor, a sound, or anything that was not there the last time we operated the apparatus.  During this walk around we are using not just our eyes but all of our senses to look for issues to address.

I - Inspection of the apparatus.  This is when we start looking at all the systems individually.  Checking the systems before we operate them is an important step.  We need to check all the fluids and belts. We want to check all the possible areas of failure before we start the equipment.  

S - Start and operate each system. Drive train, Pump, Emergency warning system, Doors, Windows, Compartment doors.

E - Operate all Equipment. If it has moving parts, operate them. It if runs, start it. If it requires fuel or oil check and fill them, If you find a problem or it does not work. Fix it or mark it out of service and notify the person in charge that can get it fixed.  

Note that we need to keep a journal of the maintenance we preform and any problems we find.  This can help us recognize failures that occur more than once.  When you journal, list the date, time, and who was performing the apparatus check. If you fix repair or remove something from service document it.

Only document facts not opinions. This journal is where your are going to look in the future to see if there is a common problem that occurs on a regular time schedule or after a common emergency.  

If you have a maintenance program, review and update it at least once a year. If you do not have a program it is never to late to start!  

Please post any thoughts or comments about this article on the AFM Africa Firefighters Networking page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/africafireservicenetworking/

Conducting Regular Training at your Fire Station

by Jon Seastone

Jon is a structural and wildland firefighter with the Denver Fire Department, Colorado. Jon has been training with AFM since 2017 in Kenya.

Company training is of vital importance to fire crews. Small problems often happen during fire calls and company training can help to minimize those problems and prevent small problems from becoming big problems. Laziness and complacency is a recipe for disaster when an overwhelming emergency call rears its ugly head. Company training also develops camaraderie betweens firefighters and builds teamwork. Because firefighters took the time to train prior to arriving at a fire scene, fire companies will have a sense of what their fellow crew members will do, sometimes without the need to verbally communicate the actions. Firefighters who regularly train together feel like they can “read each other’s minds” during incidents because drilling causes a team to move as one force. For these reasons, daily company drills and training is of vital importance.

Company training does not have to be a grueling or extensive process. It can be as simple as taking one item off the truck and becoming familiar with it or driving around your response district and familiarizing the company with buildings and target hazards. Being deliberate and disciplined in doing daily training becomes a habit and continuously develops knowledge within a firehouse.

When firefighters are sleep deprived, fatigued, hungry or distracted by other parts of our life, we must depend on our training as a foundation to help push through when our mind may not be operating at maximum levels. By running through scenarios and putting hands on equipment, we develop muscle memory that will take over in times of stress. We can then build on these scenarios and find additional “outside the box” scenarios or possible plans “B” and “C” if plan A fails.

During company drilling equipment is taken out and checked, and used for training, then cleaned and put back in service. Often, problems with the equipment may be discovered and can be resolved prior to an incident. It is best to immediately remove damaged or non working equipment from service till the issue has been resolved or the equipment has been repaired. It’s a very empty feeling to be in the middle of an emergency call and have an equipment fail that might have been discovered had the equipment been used for training. 

Company training and drilling require intentionality. Every firefighter can step up and come up with training to pass onto others. Senior firefighters need to be deliberate about training with younger, less experienced firefighters. These more senior members can pass on stories and experiences that are invaluable in giving younger firefighters the knowledge of past calls and experiences that they can use as preparation for future emergencies that they might encounter. Senior firefighters are the leaders within the firehouse that can encourage others to take the reigns and pass along knowledge thereby making the fire service better in the future. The best thing a senior firefighter can do when faced with a question or scenario is be humble enough to say,”I don’t have an answer, but let’s try to figure it out together.”  They can lead by example by being the hardest workers in the firehouse.

The fire service is built on “never stop learning” mentality. It does not necessarily mean that departments must reinvent the wheel; but instead build on previous foundations and find new ways to accomplish tasks. The responsibility does not always fall on the chief or upper management. Although the Chief does have some culpability when it comes to training, training and drilling has been and will continue to start at the lowest level of the fire service, in other words with the firefighters.  

Here are some examples of drills/training that firefighters can do in their own area:

• Practice rescuing each other using drags and carries. What will you do if you have to rescue each other out of a building or a window? What if you have rescued a civilian in the same ways?

• Have a discussion about the types of buildings within your response areas. What are some target hazards or places that could be exceptionally dangerous for firefighters and how will you respond to those hazards? Discuss and plan possible responses within your company.

• If you carry ropes on your truck, pull those off and tie knots with each other. Teach each other useful knots that you know but maybe the firefighter next to you might not. When you are done, check the rope for damage.

• Practice throwing ladders to various buildings and techniques for taking victims down the ladder.

• Practice searching for people or following a hose pipe in the firehouse while blindfolded to use your other senses in case you can’t see during a fire.

• Watch videos of firefighter training from all over the world and then try it yourself to see if it works for you. 

These are only a few examples. What are your ideas?   Add your ideas to the AFM networking group because we can all learn from each other!

Recommendations to Keep Your Workplace Safer During the COVID-19 Pandemic

by: Brad Banz- Retired Fire Chief, Colwich Fire Dept., Retired Captain Wichita Fire Dept.

Greetings! I pray that everyone is doing ok right now.  I would like to share some ideas on what first responders should be doing around their workplaces to keep themselves safer from COVID-19.  Although things are starting to relax in some areas, this doesn’t mean we can let down our guard, as the virus has not suddenly left and will continue to be a part of our lives for some time to come.  Many first responders live with each for an extended period of time, especially firefighters.  That’s why it’s so important that we do what we can to keep from sharing COVID-19 if one of us is unfortunate enough to contract it.  Some of the things I’m about to share may seem basic -  and I am sure many of you are already following many of the ideas.  The purpose of this article is to stimulate thinking and help you as responders to come up with some new ideas if you haven’t thought of them.  Please feel free to share other ideas in your response as well.

Probably one of the easiest things we can do is handwashing.  Everyone should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  Don’t use the same bar of soap and don’t share the same towel to dry with.  Because first responders make frequent contact with the public, they should also wash their hands after contacting the public.  If possible, keep hand sanitizer on your vehicles.  

Next, lets discuss habits in our quarters.  The first item I would like to discuss is social distancing.  This may be the hardest for firefighters to comply with, because most firefighters love to interact socially.   We need to take steps to minimize the number of firefighters in each space so as to comply with social distancing requirements.  The solution to this would be to move activities to a larger area, outdoors perhaps.  Keeping our quarters clean and sanitary should also be important – washing bedding and towels frequently.  Take the time to clean and sanitize areas, especially surfaces with a disinfectant solution at least once a day, and preferably more.  This should occur in the bedrooms, toilet facilities, showers, kitchen, common areas and officer.  Finally, keep contaminated PPE away from common crew areas such as sleeping and eating areas and decontaminate it as soon as possible after responding to a medical emergency.

Although we are public servants and need to make ourselves accessible to the public, in these times we also have to be careful to protect ourselves, while still providing some type of public access.  We must make it clear to the public that any visits to a fire brigade/fire department facility must be for business or emergency purposes only.  The members of the public who are visiting must be required to wear a mask or be issued one upon entering.  Only a limited number of visitors should be allowed into the facility, and then only to a restricted area. 

Finally, training is one of the most important things that firefighters do.  Reading these posts may be a part of your training.  Sometimes our hands on training requires us to do things that put us into situations that break social distancing guidelines.  Station officers and chiefs, we know how important it is to have good, comprehensive training for your crews.  Right now, however, please try to plan your training so that your firefighters are doing activities which won’t compromise their health.  There are still plenty of drills which can be conducted that don’t require your firefighters to be in close proximity to one another.  

    To summarize, we started off by discussing a basic but simple concept:  handwashing.  Next we talked about some things we could do in our quarters to help keep them cleaner.  Restricting public access is important, and finally we wrapped up by making suggestions for changing training requirements.  As I stated, many of these things may be already implemented by you already.  Please feel free to share ideas you have with the group.

Kenyan First Responders join hands with communities to educate about menstrual hygiene.

Persisting taboos and stigma around matters concerning menstrual hygiene are prone in girls across the world. Girls are forced to stay at home for the days they are experiencing their flows because they are either not provided the sanitary towels or their parents cannot afford the basic items to continue normally with their daily chores. During the time they are going through their monthly flow, they are either locked in their rooms without any know how on how they should deal when nature calls, or told to stay in the house with no movement outside.

A group of older girls in Kenya East of Nairobi called “Marafiki Drive”, who have a heart of the girl child, and know girls who undergo such challenges, approached first responders, to come participate in distributing hygiene products to the girls. This was in line in celebration of the World Menstrual Hygiene day held every year on the 28th May 2020. On analyzing the opportunity, I thought this was a great opening for firefighters to reach out to the girls with knowledge of extinguishing fire, evacuating the house and calling the fire brigade for help when an emergency situation presents itself. This move was necessary considering the girls are usually home alone. During this time, the girl is in pain and may forget to turn off a stove or to put out a candle while they take a nap.

Firefighters and Emergency Medical Technicians from around Kenya rallied together to give in cash or kind donations to make a difference in girl child’s life. We managed to raise more than 10,000 Kenya Shillings ($100USD) and AFM and Missions of Hope International printed 200 flyers with emergency numbers with instructions on how to put out different types of fires inside the homes. Through that reach out program, we got to connect with 314 girls  and distributed three packs of Sanitary towels to each girl containing twenty four pads that will last them for two months if they are having a normal flow. 

As first responders, we are very grateful to have participated in the event and are looking forward to the next event in order to partner with communities and increase their quality of life and connection with the fire service.

Firefighter community outreach - International Firefighters Day 2020

Firefighters in many parts of Africa are disrespected by their communities. Community members don’t understand them and will often throw stones at the firefighters when they arrive on fire and rescue scenes. Firefighters are frequently injured and equipment severely damaged. Yet firefighters continue to respond to serve their communities. In Kenya, firefighters have been working hard to educate their communities about how to prevent fires and how to respond to fires (things like knowing to call the fire brigade and knowing the number to call).

In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic a group of career and volunteer firefighters decided to celebrate International Firefighters Day (May 4th) by reaching out to a slum community - their goal was to build relationships between the firefighters and the community.

On May 9, 2020, a group of 18 firefighters and 12 community volunteers (from Jiamini Self Help group) collaborated with the Kiambu Fire Brigade in Thika to fumigate the Kiandutu slums with COVID eradication solution and spray bedbug eradication solution in homes. The firefighters and volunteers reached 15,000 people and were able to share life saving fire safety information!

This event was fully supported by the firefighters - the firefighters contributed their own time, talents and finances to the event. As others saw their commitment, the Kiambu County Government and other people and organizations got involved too. Firefighters across Kenya those employed and volunteering, contributed money to purchase bedbug killer. The Kiambu Public Health department provided COVID-19 fumigation solution that cleans the streets and the Kiambu Public Works who offered mist generator, fire truck and a utility pickup to transport the tools of trade to the activity area. Missions of Hope International provided supplies for the event as well.

This activity may be the first of many in this area as the community is excited to learn more about the fire service after these acts of kindness. It is a great example of community driven development and how AFM’s CHE model can be put into action by the fire service. Much can be done with little to improve the fire service in Africa and the communities around them. What can you do to improve your own community?

Recommendations for First Responders Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa and other Developing Nations

by: Brad Banz- Retired Fire Chief, Colwich Fire Dept., Retired Captain Wichita Fire Dept.

Last November when I was in Kenya with Africa Fire Mission, I delivered training on responding to mass casualty incidents and response to biological and explosives terrorism incidents.  Who knew that only a few short months later that we would be dealing with a pandemic situation that in many ways parallels what we might expect in a biological incident.  I am not an expert on COVID-19, I don’t think anyone is, it is a rapidly changing situation.  I would like to try my best to offer a few suggestions that may help deal with this crisis.    I actually have several things to discuss, so let’s get started.

SYMPTOMS: 

The first thing we need to talk about are the symptoms of COVID-19, or the Coronavirus, as some are calling it.  The most common symptoms are a high fever, dry cough and tiredness.  Severe cases will develop into difficulty breathing, usually some type of pneumonia.  There are certain groups of people that should be protected as they are at a higher risk of contracting the disease and developing more severe symptoms.  High risk groups include the elderly, those with heart conditions, high blood pressure and diabetics. Also, anyone with already weakened immune systems are at high risk.

PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE):

COVID-19 can be spread very easily.  It is important that you protect yourselves.  One of the most basic things you can do is hand washing.  Use hand sanitizer often and hand washing often.  Wash your hands for 20 seconds using soap and clean water.  My other safety concern for all providers is wearing protective equipment.  I know for many of you it will be a struggle.  Even in the US there is a shortage of proper PPE.  In this regard, I have been praying for all of our responders to be provided with what they need. PPE necessary to protect you and it can help to protect in spreading COVID-19 to other patients.  Please wear disposable gloves, eye protection (a face shield would be even better) and if possible an N95 mask.  These are at the very least.  If you have a patient that is coughing and especially if you don’t have the N95 masks or adequate protection for yourself, at least try to place a regular dust mask, an oxygen mask if you have one, or have them hold something over their mouth to keep their cough contained.  If you have access to gowns, please dawn them as well.  Firefighters, if you are responding and you have a patient with COVID-19 symptoms, wear your PPE, including your breathing apparatus if you don’t have a proper mask.  Firefighter PPE should be properly decontaminated at the end of the incident.   If you do not have access to PPE as a responder, consider the risk and the ways that you can protect yourself as best as possible – for instance, change your clothes after responding to the incident, wash contaminated clothing and take a hot shower as soon as possible.

TRIAGE:

Triage is going to become an important part of managing patients as we work our way through this crisis.  You will not only be doing triage in the community on emergency scenes, but as the number of patients increase and resources become limited at the hospitals, triage will be more important there as well.  Proper patient assessment and triage in the COVID-19 crisis is also essential to help keep COVID-19 patients isolated from other patients and hopefully keep the disease from spreading.  For those workers who are assisting in the hospital setting, it is essential to establish triage on the very front end of the emergency department or hospital entrance.  This is important so as to be able to triage and isolate potential COVID-19 patients away from other patients as soon as possible.  EMS workers who are delivering patients in from the streets by ambulance, if you have a patient that is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, please take all safety precautions and advise the emergency department on arrival of a suspected COVID-19 patient so they can take proper precautions with PPE and isolate the patient.  

Concerning triage priorities, please use normal triage priorities for all medical patients, here is a quick review of color coded triage priorities:

·       black is obvious deceased or in a mass casualty incident a victim who is not breathing who is declared deceased because of resources. Remember in normal situations when you have the resources (manpower) you may attempt resuscitation on a non-breathing patient. If you don’t have resources they are to be triaged black.  

·       blue is pulseless and not breathing but is not used in mass casualty incidents; 

·       red is for critical patients who are suffering from potential life threatening illness or injury and is usually indicated by airway, breathing or circulatory distress; 

·       yellow patients are patients with potentially serious medical or trauma, but who are stable and can be delayed but still need care at the emergency room.  

·       green patients are non-life threatening emergencies.  

A NOTE TO EMERGENCY MANAGERS:

You are a big part in helping out with getting through this crisis.  If not, Fire or EMS managers may have to take dual roles.  Emergency managers, it is your role to make sure that everyone works together with the end goals being to stop the crisis from getting bigger and taking care of who are sick.  Emergency managers you will need to appoint a team to coordinate all that is involved.  One of the biggest concerns that you will have as the situation grows is medical professionals.  You must coordinate with the medical facilities and the government to make sure that you have proper staffing and that they are in the right places.  The same goes with ambulances.  You must work with the ambulance services to coordinate their care levels and transport destinations so hospitals aren’t overloaded.  What facilities do you have available and what is their care level?  Will you need to need to make temporary facilities for the overflow or for isolation?  Is an option to make temporary facilities near informal settlements?  Logistics is a big issue.  You have to make sure that everyone has the supplies and equipment that they need.  Consider how you will integrate with all levels of government, private industry.  Think about coordinating with agencies such as the Red Cross, the UN, local community groups, community leaders and NGOs.  

COMMUNITY SENSITIZATION: 

Community involvement is of utmost importance.  Africa Fire Mission has been deeply involved in promoting community sensitization through the fire service. Right now, the fire service and EMS should be in the community providing accurate information on COVID-19. While maintaining social distancing and adhering to emergency rules in place.  Provide information about symptoms, and information about how to keep the disease from spreading.  Information that can be helpful is such things as:

·       Handwashing often and for 20 seconds at a time with soap and water or using hand sanitizer.

·       Cover your cough.  

·       Social Distancing: Keeping a distance of at least 2 meters from each other whenever possible. 

·       If you have symptoms, do not go to work.  People in risk groups (mentioned above)  should stay away from others.

·       If someone in your home has been diagnosed, everyone living in the home should stay at home.

·       Avoid large groups as much as possible.  

I know that some of these things may be extremely difficult to do for many community members.  I know that water costs money.  Perhaps you can enlist community organizations to help pay for water and soap so that families can afford to wash. 

SUMMARY:

To summarize we talked about symptoms and risk groups, first responder safety, triage of both COVID-19 patients and medical patients in general, emergency management and involving the community.  

First responders, a lot of responsibility is going to be on you during this pandemic.  At Africa Fire Mission, we want to provide you will accurate and realistic information and response strategies based on what your situation might be on the ground.   Hopefully I’ve passed on some information that may be useful.  We are all still learning as we go.

Laying down your Life for your Friends – Remembering Firefighter Obego

Laying down your Life for your Friends – Remembering Firefighter Obego, Nairobi Fire Service

By José – AFM Fire Safety Advocate, Kenya

“Help me to honor firefighter Obego fire engine operator of Nairobi fire who passed on 17th February 2020 at Nairobi West Hospital after a short illness. His selfless service to Nairobians and humanity at large will never be forgotten.”

Obego, as he was fondly called by his peers in the fire house, was a highly skilled gentleman with 30 years in the fire service. He was an operator (driver) and pump operator.  He was also a certified mechanic who would fix the fire engine when it broke down and needed repairs on it. Cadet Officer Obego was a selfless man. I remember him for a cheerful gentleman who would lift up one’s spirit whenever you went visiting the firehouse. As soon as you asked him of a certain fire that happened long time ago, he narrated the story and you would fill thrill run through your spine as if you were in the scene on that day. Operator Obego attended the August 7, 2007 bomb blast at the United States Embassy. He also attended the Hazmat fire at KEMSA medical storage facility at the industrial area where about five firefighters were rushed to the Nairobi West Hospital because of inhaling Ethanol from the stored medicine. Obego was at the Sinai oil spill fire at the Kwa Ruben slums that killed 95 people.  He was on hand for many national tragedies in Kenya during his 30year tenure.

Obego succumbed to lung cancer from his many years of fire service. My big brother Obego, thank you for your service. We’ll take it from here. Rest in Peace.  

When I learned of the news of Obego’s death, I met with Chief Fire Officer, Brain Kisali and Deputy Fire Chief Mboya to know what burial arrangements they have for our hero. During the meeting I gave my heartfelt condolences and asked to be given permission to raise money to support the funeral expenses that the family would undergo. Funerals in Africa can be extremely expensive and Obego had three wives and thirteen children. 

We rallied firefighters and first responders who were in the group to contribute 300 Kenya Shillings ($3) each to support the expenses. These were volunteer and career firefighters from various stations across the nation. Within a span of one week, we managed to rise up to 20,200Kenya Shillings ($202) which I got the privilege of handing over to Obego’s wives and brother in front of a guard of honor from International College Of Technology in Thika Fire Students. I was impressed by the overwhelming brotherhood that was bestowed to a firefighter who most of the firefighters had not met. The virtue of the firefighters learning that one of them was down, everyone was hands on deck to support overwhelmed me with courage. 

This was the first time the Kenyan fire service has come together to honor a fallen comrade.   I am honored to be a part of what I hope will be a new tradition in the fire service.  Honoring the firefighters that serve their communities. 

"Nothing About Us Without Us"

As I walked by the road side to Missions Of Hope International (MOHI), Pangani Center to my interview for the job advertised for the Fire Safety Advocacy position, I saw a big mural of a child and words written against the photo “Nothing about us without us”. That statement got me thinking which practical way will I get to work hand in hand with the Mathare community to include them? In my mind I had already been integrated into the MOHI mission statement that says “we educate, empower, restore and redeem vulnerable children, their families and communities through Christ”, even before I was confirmed for the job of Fire Safety Advocate for Africa Fire Mission, in collaboration with MOHI.

 After one month of three interview sessions, I was granted the job and shown my desk. We worked hand in hand with my supervisor who guided me through the process of penetrating into the community by including the residents in the process. Mathare slums are a community who are divided into different areas for government administration purposes that includes Polio disbursements, food distribution in times of crisis among other administration maters. My supervisor advised me to start from the Sub-county administration office and brief them what I intend to do and how it will impact positively to the Mathare community. It was one tedious and laborious uphill task that I got to encounter. From being requested to write letters to the City Hall administrator to aborted meetings that I felt wasted of my time and energy. This was short lived because as soon as I was still trying to figure out how I will be granted permission to operate with fire safety matters.  Then fire broke out inside of Mathare Bondeni area. The top most five story floor that housed fifty households caught fire. (One day before the fire, I had an opportunity to speak with the MOHI Bondeni center parents. I had shared with them the fire brigade number and also instructed them on what to say when they got the dispatcher.) I quickly put my protective attire and called the fire brigade only to be informed that someone had already activated the call from the community I had just trained a few days earlier. The Fire brigade got on the scene within a very short while and the fire was quickly extinguished. They were praised by the community for the first time in a very long time. This was the beginning of more beautiful things yet to come because out of this situation, I got to present the Bondeni Fire incident report to the sub-county administrator boss and I was automatically granted the “license” to operate inside Mathare community on condition that from time to time I will be reporting to him the findings and progress I am making towards my quest of reducing fire incidences in Mathare.

Africa Fire Mission invested more skills into my trade and taught me skills that helped me work with the community. I was put in class and studied CHE1 (Community Health Education 1) and CHE2 (Community Health Education 2). These were lessons that put into practice the slogan “Nothing about us without us”. I quickly got to identify the community champions in each area of Mathare and mapped them to get them trained in future. In our interaction, I came to know that the community champions’ children benefited directly in the MOHI programme. The community champions were also very happy to have me on board because they are affected directly with this fires and getting back to living a normal life is an uphill task.  I however worked with them by showing them the basics of putting out live fire. Before any engagement on the ground, I would call them for a morning brief and informed them of my intentions of getting to the ground and training the people in the community free of charge. In return they promised protection of my daily tools of trade that included my full PPE that I told them it assists me to put out real fires when the fire brigade shows up. Six months down the line, we have managed to work hand in hand with the community champions and we have put more than eight fires in which has seen up to four hundred homes get displaced. 

The road to victory is still far stretched.  I am seven months old in this mission. We are still working together with the sub-county office under new office bearers and we have blended well. The community champions are happy with the work we are doing and the fire brigades are feeling much safer when I am on the ground as they know that stones will not be thrown at them and that their tools are safe as they work in the fire scene. We are hopeful that one day,  fires will be history in Mathare, and all of Kenya and Fire brigades will stop having riot cages on their windows to avoid being thrown stones by the community for showing up late in the fire scene. For sure: Nothing for (about) them without the people of Mathare!

-       José, Fire Safety Advocate, Africa Fire Mission

Wrapping up 2019 and bringing in 2020

2019 was a busy year for AFM and 2020 is shaping up to be even busier!   We are seeing more and more ways that God is using AFM to advance life & prosperity in developing communities through the fire service in Africa (and Ukraine!).  The end of 2019 had us leading 4 teams to Africa with 35 trip team members!    Fire training is having an impact on saving lives and property – but most importantly on lives.   One of the fire chiefs from a rural area, that’s largely a Muslim area, made a point to let me know “You are changing our lives.”   As I looked at him I knew his meaning was changing them at the heart level.   We’ve been showing the firefighters that they are important, loved by God and that they are valued.   As a result of that – they are showing that love to their communities.   

Our fire prevention team in Mariakani, Kenya was able to provide our fire prevention VBS to about 150 children.  Here’s what they had to say: "Thank you for your visit to Mariakani, Kilifi County. It was an excellent week full of love, blessings, positive energy, friendship, learning and encouragement. We couldn't ask for more! Since then most of us have turned our lives around, we have changed the way we look at one another and created a new purpose! Because of that visit, even the community consider us as family, how great! Thank you so so much! It is making a great impact not only to us but Africa at large. May our good God always reach out to your needs, our prayer is that you may never lacking" - Mariakani Fire Brigade, Kilifi Junior Firefighters & Kilifi Fire & Rescue Department

At Missions of Hope, our social work team trained their 65 social workers with new skills for supporting the families of the 19,000+ children that MOHI is serving!  

In Kenya and Zambia our fire teams trained nearly 550 firefighters, EMTs and community members in new skills that they can put into action in their communities and we launched a new Chaplaincy program in Zambia so that firefighters can minister to each other. 

So what are we up to in 2020?   Expansion – again!   We’ll continue our work in Ukraine, Kenya and Zambia – with teams going to each and we are expanding to Sierra Leone and Ghana and possibly Liberia!  Please pray for these opportunities to be kingdom rich and full of connections for the gospel.  

We are grateful to LifeSpring Christian Church for the Christmas gift of Love for our project in Ukraine!   We will be shipping the container on February 22.   We are still in need of about $4000 in financial support to make this happen and we will need your help to help load the container on February 22 at LifeSpring Christian Church so we can continue add impact to the ministries working in Kherson, Ukraine.

Thank you for all the ways YOU are changing lives in the world! Happy New Year!

Surprises at the Airport #afmkenya2019

We were stationed at the airport for our All Kenya Fire EMS Symposium and Competition 2019. One of the evenings, the airport Fire Chief arranged for our team to get passes to get an impromptu tour of the firehouse after we finished teaching. We did not think this could happen due to some of the other activities going on at the airport this week. This change put a crimp in the regular scheduled evening plans but who can pass up a firehouse tour right?

As we were pulling up to the firehouse, the siren sounded for an airport emergency. A plane was coming in from Lodwar to make an emergency landing due to a blown tire on take off. The plane decided to divert to JKIA instead of the small Wilson airport due to the crash rescue and repair services available at JKIA.

Being who we are, several of AFM team members managed to snag extra seats on the crash rescue trucks and the command car. The Chief even pulled a driver off of one of the other trucks and used 4 of our AFM guys to staff an extra crash rescue rig :)

We pulled out onto the taxiways and waited for the flight to arrive. 20 minutes later the plane landed safely and we chased it down the runway. It’s a rush doing 90 mph in a firetruck down a runway I have to tell you, but I digress. The plane pulled off into a revetment and we got out of the rigs to inspect the tires and make sure it was safe to unload the passengers. As we walked to the plane my phone rang. It was Tim Stewart, CMF international missionary to Missions of Hope International and friend. Low and behold he and his dad were on the plane and he saw us walking up.

After ensuring there was not going to be a fire, we unloaded plane. Tim and his dad Dan were the first off the plane. After bigs hugs all around with Tim and Dan and our team, they were loaded onto a bus and headed off to catch an Uber home - and to share their adventures with others.

Well, the day ended way different than we expected it to. Thankfully it ended safely and with a good story to tell.

-Dave Moore

José - Fire Safety Advocate - May 2019

In May 2019, Africa Fire Mission was able to hire José to work as a Fire Safety Advocate in Kenya.   José is a burn survivor and a firefighter He is be working with community groups training the community members in Community Health Evangelism - Fire Safety, helping start local volunteer fire brigades and helping us coordinate trainings for fire service in Kenya.  He is ministering to the community by showing him God’s love and through practical fire safety and response.  Please keep Jose in your prayers as he works to train community members and to develop volunteer fire departments in Kenya.   He recently shared this success with us: 

On July 13, I was headed to train staff at MOHI on how to use fire extinguishers, I had my bunker gear with me as I use it to show them how firefighters gear up. I learned that there was a fire nearby.  I diverted from my training and went to the fire scene. On scene, I unpacked my bunker gear by the footpath just near the fire engine. I could hear people say in Swahili "this is our fireman". I prepared so fast.

I then went to the fire commander and saluted and said “I'm at your service” for him to assign me to duty. He asked me to do a safety check and see if fire was at the back of the houses. I checked and reported back that all was well. He told me to go give backup to the nozzle man working on the ground. When I got to him, he was extremely exhausted. I took over and asked him to rest as he watched my back.  I needed him to watch my back because as firefighters in Kenya, we often get rocks thrown at us because community members believe that we do not come prepared (they think our trucks aren’t filled with water when we arrive because they run out of water (10,000 liters) so quickly).  A second fire engine was called and it acted like a water tanker back up. This was a relief because during my community fire prevention and response sessions, I explain to them how firefighters and fire engines operate and why water gets depleted so quickly. 

After training nearly 3,000 community members in 3 months’ time, the firefighters are now beginning to be accepted in the community.  My dream is to one day see no fire engine with riot cages on its window panes.

After putting out the fire, more community members saw me on scene and were giving me fist bumps as they identified with Africa Fire Mission – their fireman, being on the ground. It was truly humbling. Our little light has started shining.   I’m already following up to see how we can train members in this local area for early emergency response.

May all AFM’s partners know that their help is truly bearing fruit and touching lives. We shall not relent on this battle of fire.

Nairobi and Kiambu Kenya April 2019

In April 2019 AFM had the privilege of participating in the first conference of the newly formed Chief Fire Officer’s Association of Kenya. Over 25 counties were represented, including about 3 counties with newly formed fire departments.

NAIROBI, MURANGA & KILIFI, KENYA DECEMBER 2018

AFM instructors provided training for the 4th year in Kenya. Our team of 13 US firefighters and 10 CHE workers from Missions of Hope International provided a week of training in Muranga, Kenya. Training topics included Community Fire Prevention, Tactical Firefighting, Leadership and Emergency Vehicle Operations. Partners from Polish Aid (PCPM) and Kenya Council of Emergency Medical Technicians provided First Aid and EMS training.

It was exciting to see the advancements of the fire service including more volunteer firefighters. The fire services is rapidly expanding their connections with communities through integration of community fire prevention and basic first aid especially with children and motorcycle drivers. Reports of over 500,000 individuals trained in community fire prevention since November 2017!

Team members were also able to visit fire stations in Nairobi, Kenya; Mariakani, Kenya as well as the firefighters at JKIA (Nairobi's international airport).

NAIROBI, KIAMBU, MURANGA & KILIFI, KENYA - JUNE/JULY 2018

In June and July, teams from Parkview Christian Church, Orland Park, Illinois and Generations Christian Church, Trinity Florida provided Fire Prevention Training at Missions of Hope International. Over 3500 children and their teachers received life-saving information about preventing and responding to fires. There had been a fire at one of the Missions of Hope schools early in 2018 and the timing of this training was critical in the Mathare Valley as well as in Turkana, Kenya. Where there is no fire brigade.

Nancy Moore, director of programs, met with fire service leadership in Kilifi, Nairobi, Muranga and Kiambu Counties to continue planning for our 2018 fire symposium and to see the progress that is occurring. Kilifi and Nairobi Counties have boreholes under construction at their fire stations; Kiambu county has started a new fire station in Kiambaa – allowing them better access to this growing community “you have to start somewhere” – the fire station is a shack. Nairobi is now able to respond to more fires thanks to a partnership with Belgium Aid which has provided new fire trucks.

Mariakani Fire Brigade in Kilifi County serves about 300,000 people. Since November 2017 they have trained over 60,000 children and adults in fire safety. They are using community development principles to do this by using locally available resources to serve their community in the best way possible. They are proud of their work. The Mariakani Fire Brigade has also started 3 Jr Firefighter programs, one for children that live near the fire station and come to the fire station for programs and 2 programs at local schools. These children have successfully suppressed one small fire that could have resulted in a much larger fire without the knowledge of these children. Mariakani has also started Friends of Firefighters Fellowship - a local church that meets at the fire station

NAIROBI AND KIAMBU, KENYA - NOVEMBER 2017

AFM instructors arrived in Kenya to conduct the 3rd All Kenya Fire Academy in Thika, Kiambu County, Kenya. The academy planning committee did an amazing job planning for the academy. Over 200 firefighters attended the academy in the immediate aftermath of a presidential election in Kenya. Firefighters from all corners of Kenya, of all different political views, tribes and faiths came together to learn and discover how to even better serve their communities.

---

The Kenya Council of EMT's joined Africa Fire Mission to train firefighters in basic medical care, while our team taught classes on leadership, community fire prevention/ education and conducted a hands-on class for new firefighters. Daily devotions started each day and a bible study concluded the day.

---

The fire academy was opened with a grand opening ceremony attended by the governor of Kiambu County and the academy ended with the firefighters participating in their FIRST ever full-scale emergency drill that featured live fires, a rowdy crowd of community members (replicating the attitudes and beliefs of the communities where the firefighters serve) and victims in need of rescue. We closed the 3rd All Kenya Fire Academy with a graduation celebration full of songs, dancing, certificates, handshakes and hugs.

NAIROBI, KENYA - OCTOBER 2017 FIRE PREVENTION WEEK

What would you do if you see a fire? Yell: FIRE FIRE FIRE! What would you do if your clothes catch fire? STOP DROP and ROLL! What would you do if your house is on fire? GET LOW and GET OUT!

Those are the words to our new fire prevention song that was introduced in Kenya during this mission. In the U.S. nearly everyone knows the number for the fire department, how to exit their home safely in a fire and many more fire safety and prevention techniques.

Imagine not knowing how to call the fire department when you needed them, or not knowing what to do if your clothes caught fire. How helpless would you feel? We’ve set out to change that helpless feeling into knowledge across Africa.

A team of 22 people from fire departments, churches and communities all across the U.S. came together in Nairobi to share the message of fire safety and God's love to the children and staff at the Missions of Hope International’s Kosovo School. During this amazing week, the AFM team taught the kids fire safety, shared the Bible and played games with the students, created songs and dances with the students and showed God’s love to the kids and staff.

Now 40 teachers, 1100 school kids, their families and friends in the Mathare Valley of Kenya know what to do and who to call when fires break out and how to safely evacuate their school in case of fire.