By Ann Barks
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
Copyright 2007 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
ST. TAMMANY, La. — St. Tammany Fire Protection District 1 has its eyes set on a goal that only one other fire district in the entire state has achieved: national accreditation.
The district launched the effort last month and projects that it will take about three years to complete all the required assessments, documentation and criteria before achieving accreditation through the Center For Public Safety Excellence, formerly known as the Commission on Fire Accreditation International, based in Washington D.C.
Firefighter Michael Thiel and Fire Operator Scott Hess have been assigned duties as the accreditation coordinators, which means they will guide the district through the process, according to Fire Chief Larry Hess.
At the district’s recent board of commissioners meeting, one of the first elements of the self-assessment process has led to a move to update and improve the board’s bylaws, last updated more than 10 years ago.
To be accredited, the district must meet 77 critical criteria. There are a total of 240 criteria it will be graded upon by a peer assessment panel that will come to the Slidell district once the district has completed a self-assessment process.
“This creates an entire footprint — a system of checks and balances to allow the fire district to manage itself in a more efficient manner,” Scott Hess said.
Larry Hess said the accrediting organization gives standards of performance that will allow the fire district to measure itself every year in terms of efficiency of performance. Thiel said it also ensures the district constantly strives for new goals and improvements as once they earn accreditation, they must reapply every five years for re-accreditation.
Ten categories will be examined: governance and administration, assessment and planning, goals and objectives, financial resources, programs, physical resources, human resources, training and competency, essential resources and external systems relationships. The 77 critical criteria, Thiel said, are those that should be met by a well-functioning fire district. The remaining of the 240 criteria are targets that a fire district should work toward, although not all will apply to each type or size of fire district.
Already, he said, the process is giving the district some new ideas. Perhaps most significantly is the emphasis on the need for even more strategic planning rather than relying solely on tactical excellence, he said.
“I think this is a very positive thing because every aspect of the accreditation process will improve our department and how we’re run,” Thiel said.
Many of the criteria set by the accrediting agency are the same as those set by the Property Insurance Association of Louisiana, which sets the fire ratings that help determine homeowners’ insurance rates. Hess said that it is likely that meeting the accreditation standards may lead to even better PIAL ratings, which could lower insurance rates in the community.
In related fire rating news, Hess reported to the board at its meeting that PIAL auditors will visit the district in about three weeks to assess the fire ratings of the two territories in the district.
Territory A, which is essentially areas that have their own independent water source, includes the city of Slidell and some surrounding areas. Territory B is made up of neighborhoods without independent water sources, Thiel said.
Hess said he believed that more of the district will be considered part of Territory A and that all those areas could be upgraded to a “2" rating based on improved training. Not only could this could lower insurance premiums, he said, but only 10 percent of all areas evaluated in Louisiana earn a “2" rating. In addition, he believes that Territory B will go from a “low 4" to a “high 4,” which could also lower premiums there.
PIAL has told Hess that it will need more substantiation of the legal definition of the two territories before the visit, otherwise it would be inclined to consider the entire area as one territory. Hess said parish officials are working with him to document this and believes it will meet PIAL’s needs.
The district will get a verbal report within days of the PIAL audit but the official results will not be given until about four weeks later, Hess said.
In an update to the board, Hess reported that if calls continue at the same rate they have in the first two months of this year, there would be a total of 7,000 calls for 2007. That compares to 6,100 calls in 2006 and 5,400 calls in 2005. About 55 percent of those are medical emergencies, he noted.
St. Tammany Fire Protection District 1 Chief Larry Hess was the guest speaker at the Slidell Noon Lions Club. Hess spoke to club members on the district’s post-Katrina activities and plans for the future. With Hess at the meeting are Noon Lion’s Club President Art Bell and Captain Chris Kaufman, chief of fire prevention for the district.