MENTAL HEALTH SURVEY 

Local 1014 partnering with culturally competent clinicians or “fire shrinks” to advance our tools to help members who struggle with behavioral health issues. As part of our ongoing push to resource our members with PEER Support, Chaplain Services, and culturally competent mental health doctors, we would like to introduce you to one of our own. Paige Parker is a culturally competent clinician who is also one of us. Paige has been one of our Ocean Lifeguards for over 22 years.  She has taken leave to work as a psychologist to help us study and research issues affecting first responders, including stressors you encounter on the job, the nature of our work, and possible sources of resilience and balance.

We are encouraging our members, along with LACOLA lifeguard members, to help us by helping Paige collect data which will help give an accurate picture from the source as this research gets finished and published in a usable format through the doctoral program. Paige is a friend and cares deeply about all first responders and the LA County Fire Fighters and Lifeguards, as we are her family.

Please take 10 minutes to complete this survey, which will help provide valuable information about the nature of first responder work, the stressors you encounter on the job, and possible sources of resilience. The survey and the research will be entirely and private and confidential and will not be shared with anyone.
 
To participate in the study, you must be:

• An active-duty, sworn, full-time firefighter or lifeguard
• Working for Los Angeles County Fire Department
• Holding a current EMT or Paramedic Certification
• Participation is voluntary and completely confidential

Recall Reset Issue 

Members have been asking if a “recall reset” is going to occur within the trial temporary staffing policies in play. The issue of recall reset is an important issue. There was much debate and input from members in the last two General Membership meetings, direct conversations, and our Executive Board meeting discussion. As a result, we voted to hold until August 1 as a target for recall reset and convene the entire labor management staffing committee to review this one last time. At that meeting, we will review both the intended impact to increase the number of workers in the pool, as well as evaluate the unintended consequences of such an action.

Remember the main fix for all of our staffing issues long term remains hiring and promoting to fill spots and getting members back to work. Having said that we are trying some new ways to do things at the moment with temporary trial policies and practices to provide relief to members who are getting hit hard with recalls and inability to access benefit days. Our next survey is set to roll out soon. You can also reach out to any staffing committee member with any input. We look forward to updating you as the work continues over the next couple of weeks.

 

LA Fire & Rescue takes the #1 slot in ratings over all other shows! 

The Los Angeles County Fire Department and Local 1014 made history with the new docuseries LA Fire & Rescue premiering and taking the number one slot in ratings this week! The worldwide release of the Dick Wolf and 44 Blue Productions series LA Fire and Rescue which features our very own members from Local 1014 and LACOLA doing what we do lit up the NBC screen and the souls of the people we serve.

The support has been amazing for our Department and our members. We have also seen the impact of inspiring young men and women from diverse backgrounds as we set an example of excellence in the fire service. Thank you to all the members who had the courage and the commitment to put it out there and give the cameras an inside view of what we do day in and day out. Local 1014 and the Department took great care as this project unfolded to ensure the rights of the final edit and creative control along with the production companies to keep our image and our work held in high esteem and represented well in the eyes of the public. Thank you to BC Chad Sourbeer and the PIO team for their work in getting this project to the finish line. We look forward to every Wednesday evening when we watch our members showing the public what we do! LA COUNTY!

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY - GRANITE MOUNTAIN HOTSHOTS 

On June 30, 2023, we will mark 10 years since the wind-whipped Yarnell Hill wildfire turned suddenly and killed 19 members of Prescott's Granite Mountain Hotshots as they moved to re-engage the inferno, 30 miles south of Prescott. The fire raged into Yarnell, a community of about 650 people, destroying more than 120 homes. In all, the blaze consumed 8,400 acres before firefighters, at last, contained it on July 10, 2013.

Kevin Woyjeck, the oldest son of our LA County brother Joe Woyjeck, was a member of the Granite Mountain Hotshot crew and was one of the 19 that perished that day. We ask all our members today to take a moment and remember Kevin and his crew. Although far away, this incident deeply impacted our LA County Fire Family and still impacts us today. We will never forget those who perished, and the impact o their lives continues to have a lasting positive impact on the fire service through the Kevin Woyjeck Explorers for Life Association and brother Brendon McDonough who has devoted his life to behavioral health in the fire service. 

Each year on June 30th, it is a sobering reminder of how dangerous our job can be for our members and the sacrifice of our families. There will be memorials on June 30th in Prescott, Arizona. For those that cannot make it to Prescott on June 30th, there will also be Granite Mountain memorials at the Los Angeles County Fire Museum in Bellflower, California, and at the Hall of Flame Fire Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.

The doors for the FREE event at the Los Angeles County Fire Museum will open at 3 pm on June 30th. The services will start at 4pm. We will close the ceremony, then we will have a celebration with live music (Kelly Boyz band) free food (BBQ by Goo) etc. The Los Angeles County Fire Museums event is FREE and NOT a fundraiser. We hope to see you all there.