OPEN HOUSE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14TH!

The annual Skaneateles Fire Department Open House will be held Friday, October 14th, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Child ID, engines and trucks, applications for membership, and fun for the whole family. Bulldog t-shirts will be for sale as well!

BULLDOG T-SHIRTS ARE HERE!

The fire department is selling yellow SFD Booster t-shirts to help raise money. This will go towards a fund created to help off-set the cost of equipment purchase and training. The cost per shirt is $20, and is available in both children and adult sizes.

T-shirts will be on sale during our Labor Day celebration in the Austin Park Old Rink. If you would like to pre-order, please send your check (made out to Skaneateles Volunteer Fire Department, Inc.) along with the number of shirts you would like and the size per shirt (please specifiy adult or child), your name, address and phone number, to:

SFD Shirt Order

c/o 1st Assistant Chief Dan Evans

Skaneateles Fire Department

77 West Genesee Street

Skaneateles, New York 13152

Shirts will be available for pickup on Saturday, September 3rd between 11:00 am - 7:00 pm.

CALL 911

With the closing of the dispatch office, all emergency and non-emergency calls to the Skaneateles Fire Department must go through Onondaga County 911. They will distribute your call as appropriate.

Do NOT call the local dispatch number anymore! And as always, remember that we are a volunteer organization so the station is NOT staffed.

BE PREPARED WHEN ON THE WATER

We live on a beautiful lake which many of our residents enjoy. But the more calls we respond to, the more we realize that many of our citizens fail to take into account proper safety measures until it is too late. As the weather warms, please take a few moments to remember the following:

1. If you go out on your boat, do your safety check before you leave the dock. Among other things,  make sure everyone has a proper fitting personal flotation device (PFD); you have all required emergency equipment; and, that you have some alternative means of rowing to shore should you run out of gas.

2. If you take out a kayak or other small craft that is not typically powered by any motor engine, remember that you also need a PFD in case you find yourself in the water and far from shore. With the cold temperature of the lake, we suggest that you also wear a wetsuit to keep your core warm.

3. If you swim, remember that boaters may not see you. When possible, swim close to shore where boaters should be more vigilant or swim in designated swim-only areas.

And everyone should always let others know they're going out and where they will be. If you are safe on the water, both you and your fire department will enjoy the lake much more!

NYS VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER

The average age of your volunteer department is getting older as time passes. We need your help to continue to serve the Skaneateles community with quality care and service. Contrary to popular belief, we have all manner of different jobs and responsibilities to fit your desire! Consider these positions for department membership:
Interior firefighter
EMT/Paramedic
Apparatus driver/pumper
Fire police

Or if you would like to offer more corporate-related functions, these positions are a sample of Associate membership:
Secretary
Treasurer

Please see any chief or fire officer for an application.

HANDS-ONLY CPR SAVES MORE LIVES

A new study, the first large American study of its kind, shows that more adults survived cardiac arrest when a bystander gave them cotninuous chest compressions to stimulate a heartbeat, compared with traditional CPR with mouth-to-mouth breathing. Hands-only CPR also seems to eliminate one reason why some adults choose to do nothing at all when confronted with a potential cardiac arrest victim - the perceived need to do mouth-to-mouth. For others, this new method also eliminates the confusion some have regarding the correct procedure to follow when administering CPR, e.g., how many breaths in a ratio to chest compressions, extension of the neck, pinching the nose, etc.

After cardiac arrest, oxygenated blood can't get to the brain without help. Most rescuers take about 16 seconds to perform two CPR breaths — long enough to starve the organs of oxygen. The report recommends the following steps:

 

— If someone collapses, doesn't respond to gentle shaking and stops normal breathing, call 911 or tell someone else to call.

 

— With the victim on his back, place the heel of one of your hands atop the other on the middle of the victim's breastbone.

— Lock your elbows. With your shoulders over your hands, fall forward using your body weight. Press 100 times a minute. Think of the Bee Gees song "Stayin' Alive" for the tempo.

— If an automated external defibrillator is available, switch it on and follow the instructions.

— If not, continue chest compressions until paramedics arrive.

In 2008, the American Heart Association said hands-only CPR works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Later this month, the association plans to announce new CPR guidelines and is keeping them under wraps until then.

NOTE: The study notes that standard CPR, a combination of mouth-to-mouth and chest compressions, is still the best method for very small children and victims of near-drowning and drug overdose. There is also no substitution for doing the long-accepted method of CPR for all cardiac victims if you know how to do it. We recommend taking a CPR class; check the SAVES link on this website for information on their CPR class.

 

 

SMOKE DETECTOR INFO FOR YOU

 

 Your Skaneateles Volunteer Fire Department joins the New York State Department of State's Office of Fire Prevention and Control in reminding you that smoke detectors save lives. Keep the following suggestions in mind as we work with you, to keep you and your family safe:

1. Place smoke alarms at every level of your home. Pay particular attention to locating them directly outside bedrooms and, if possible, inside the bedrooms themselves.

2. Test smoke alarms monthly.

3. Vacuum your alarms monthly to remove dust and cobwebs.

4. Smoke alarms have a lifespan of approximately ten (10) years. Check the date of your alarms and, if necessary, replace them.

5. Never disconnect your alarm or remove the battery, unless you are conducting some form of maintenance. But if you are, remember to put it back in service before you move on to something else.

ICC PASSES RESIDENTIAL SPRINKLER RESOLUTION

The International Code Council recently passed a resolution making sprinklers mandatory in all new one- and two-family homes. The vote was supported by 73 percent of the members in attendance at a recent conference in Minneapolis, easily surpassing the two-thirds vote necessary.

About 20% of all reported fires are one- and two-story residential fires, and these account for approximately 2/3 of the fire deaths in the United States. The International Residential Code, the model code governing residential construction in 46 states and the District of Columbia, was amended with this in mind. The change had the active support from the fire service (such as the IAFC, IAFF, and the National Association of State Fire Marshals) as well as the Home Safety Council.

Despite the above, various construction groups had historically mounted a concerted effort to prevent the passage of this code. Sandra Dunn, president of the National Association of Home Builders, expressed her dissatisfaction with the vote, noting that "We disagree with this mandate, but our members will continue to advocate for cost-effective construction and life-safety measures through the model code process." Billy Goldfeder, writing in The Secret List (www.firefighterclosecalls.com/secret.php), said it was no secret that the NAHB and its local affiliates went out of their way to try and stop the resolution. But regardless of that concerted effort, the fire service, home safety advocates, and building code officials were able to push through the change.

The new model code mandates fire sprinklers in all new one- and two-family homes by 2011. The ICC states it must now continue its efforts to have the model code adopted into state and local codes.