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Brothers & Sisters,
On Tuesday, we remembered Brother Jon “VANO” Van Oeffelen at Cottonwood Church in Los Alamitos. Vano’s family, including his wife Kelly and the four boys, Evans Nate, Austin, and Ryan, and parents John and Lynn, were surrounded by our Sea of Blue, and we were joined by Departments from far and wide.
Thank you to Chief Marrone for supporting a proper service for our brother's family. Many departments were looking to model after our memorial service structures, which we have in place.
Los Angeles County Fire and our membership are the most amazing family of Firefighters and Fire Personnel who come together without hesitation to stand shoulder to shoulder and lay to rest a brother who was battling many work-related issues. We remembered Jon Flagler also at the ceremony as the passing of Jon Flagler in the Tarapaca Incident had a tremendous impact on VANO as they were best friends.
Jon had a twenty year career with Vernon and LA County Fire Service, and went on thousands of runs and was very well liked. Jon was a true servant and helper to the folks he served. There were plenty of amazing memories shared from work and laughter was heard throughout the church.
Vince Roldan was our lead Chaplain and Peer Support Captain, and as always, he hit it out of the park with his message about compassion and God’s grace in times of need. He also spoke of trials and post-traumatic stress and our need to stay together and help each other and stand with each other in these times.
A special thank you to the Chaplains and Peer Support teams along with the Peer Support dogs who made a huge difference with the kids, and the firefighters. Thank you to the Honor Guard, the Pipers and Drums, the Sea of Blue, and all the LA County Fire Family organizations including our retirees and widows who always show up on game day to set a place for us all to grieve, remember, and heal as we move forward one step at a time. We are truly an amazing Fire Family like no other, and we work for the best department in the world. Rest in Peace, VANO, and may the Van Oeffelens know our unending love.
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National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week!
The Thin Yellow Line represents our Public Safety Dispatchers who we recognize this week for their selfless and amazing service on the front end of every call we get. They are always heard, but rarely seen. They are the heroes behind the scene, who help those on the other end of the line, and get the responders to the place where they are needed with the resources they need to get it done.
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Our LA County Dispatchers are Public Safety Dispatchers and part of a group of dispatchers statewide that dispatch the public safety fire and paramedics through the 911 and 988 systems. Our dispatchers give critical instructions to the callers before our arrival and were instrumental in writing the EMD - Emergency Medical Dispatcher program for the equivalent of EMT over the phone. It is a very hard job with great impact on the members.
This year, we will be working hard to get our public safety dispatchers included in the Post Traumatic Stress coverage. The State Legislators and Governor have allocated resources for us to get the data needed to move them into our law for coverage. Thank you to our LA County Dispatchers for their tireless work on the front end of the calls and for their work to help advocate in Sacramento on PTSI coverage.
As Firefighters and Fire Personnel, we see horrors few can imagine. While the call may end, the effects linger and the effects of a career of calls, and that impact can bend us or break us. If you are feeling depression, anxiety, or other feelings affecting your behavioral health, please reach out and talk to your crews, friends, and family. Remember, we have one of the best Peer Support teams in the world with fire-savvy clinicians on hand, only a call away. Click here to access the resources you or your family may need. |
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LA COUNTY FIRE - Looking for New Recruits
The long-awaited and updated LA County Fire Department testing process is going live on April 15th! Local 1014 has worked hard in partnership with Chief Marrone since he took his position to rejuvenate and update our testing, drill tower and probation process to have quality of candidates and recruitment collide and come together to begin our journey to find tomorrow's firefighters. The FCTC is the Fire Candidate Testing Center, a partnership with the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee, will now host our CPAT physical abilities test and our written test. The Department will also add selection interviews as well, and as we work to get back to a system that incorporates passion and skill sets to be successful not only in the drill tower but for a 30-year-plus career.
We worked with the BOS and the Fire Chief to navigate the system with DHR, Civil Service and in partnership with our members organizations to get support to move to the FCTC written, a fire based vetted and job related written with recruitment embedded PRE TEST. We also have mentoring and practice programs so that someone who wants to be a firefighter but has no idea how to prepare can learn and achieve the marks necessary to be considered. The testing process also opens our system up to candidates from throughout the state, and will be a list that is referenced regularly and we will not have a stale list with outdated candidates. Our internal promotional exam process also will use the FCTC for the written portion of the process so we can maintain a constant feed to the towers with our members from the CAMPS and Dispatch as an example.
We want to thank Training Services for their hard work to get the whole system in place. We look forward to the first few classes with the new written and interview process. We will be monitoring and ensuring it is working. Check out the process and let anyone know who is interested in working for the best department in the world, the date is nearing to apply. |
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THE LOCAL 1014 HEALTH TRUST NEW CLAIMS PORTAL!
Over the last few months, the Local 1014 Health Trust has been making many improvements to process the high volume of calls and claims for the plan. We are retooling to meet the demand with a new phone system and a new portal for claims submission to expedite the process. We have already seen improvements to the phone system, with wait time decreasing and a more efficient call-back system in place. Also, we have been hiring many new claims processors and phone representatives for member services. The Local 1014 Health Trust is committed to continually improving and providing the best medical care available to our members.
Our new user-friendly portal, Claims.Local1014.org, provides a secure platform for you to submit all your medical documents directly—no more emailing important documents or worrying about sensitive information getting into the wrong hands. Sign up at Claims.Local1014.org today!
Click below to watch the video on how to use the new Local 1014 Health Trust Claims Portal!
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| LA County Fire Safety Measure |
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For the past several months, Local 1014 has been aggressively moving forward on the signature gathering for our ballot initiative to secure more funding for our Department, including staffing, infrastructure, apparatus, and equipment. We are currently gathering signatures in locations throughout the district.
We have over 120,000 signatures gathered from voters throughout the Fire Protection District. But now we need our members' help to push us over the line and get the final petition signatures. We need to put this on the ballot in November.
We are looking to do a signature-gathering campaign the weekend of April 27-30th at the following locations: Santa Clarita, Inglewood, and West Hollywood. We will be educating voters in the District about the need for more resources for their local Fire Department and asking them to sign petitions to put the LA County Fire Safety Measure on the ballot.
We cannot stress enough that political action is the most important thing we do as a union to safeguard our members. This measure is critical tothe future of the Department and the future security of our members and their families.
We have the best Department in the world, and we enjoy some of the best wages and benefits in the nation, but that can all change rapidly if we do not secure our future now.
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Click the link below to sign up to volunteer at one of these locations. More details will follow in the coming weeks. We will gather at 9 am for a brief training session and then hit the streets to secure signatures.
West Hollywood - ​Saturday, April 27th from 9am to ​2pm
Santa Clarita- Sunday, April 28th from 9am to 2pm
Inglewood - ​Tuesday, April 30th from 9am to ​2pm
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NOTE: We are simultaneously continuing to run the signature-gathering campaign with our professional firm during this time. If you get questions while in the field working or calls at the station, you can confirm there is a citizen's initiative for additional funding for the LA County Fire District. You can also direct them to the website above or any Local 1014 Executive Board member.
All our efforts for this measure must be conducted off-duty. If someone approaches you in the station asking for firefighters to gather signatures or sign petitions, do not accept. Get their name and ask them to leave the station. |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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