Promote, Unify, Represent and Educate the Fire Service of Texas |
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Executive Director's Corner |
Greetings all,
Although it may not seem possible at this point, the hundred-degree days will end before long, and fall will be upon us before we know it. Really…I promise…it will happen.
With that said, the state office is needing your help to ensure we have accurate information regarding your districts:
1. We want to ensure that we are posting your fall meetings once they are scheduled. Send that information to me via email when you know it, and we will post it on the website.
2. On the SFFMA home page, please click the “Districts” link at the top of the page, then click “District Pages” on the left side of the page to access your district information. If any of the information needs to be updated, again please send it to me and I will see that it is corrected.
3. If your district had a change in leadership in the spring meeting, please let me know so that we can ensure the outgoing president has received an appreciation plaque from the association. If you will have a change in officers in the upcoming fall meeting, be sure to provide that to me as well so that we can plan for it.
Thanks for your help in this, and I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in your meetings this fall.
Take care and stay safe,
Tim Rutland
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We sound like a broken record asking for the departments to update all of their member’s profiles, but we need that info so when we transfer the data to our new platform later this year, all of the people will transfer over to the new system. If we are missing the Date of Birth and/or the last 4 digits of the Social Security Numbers for any member of your department they will not transfer over to the new system. Please get that information to us via email as soon as possible. Having that information will make using our new system that much easier when it comes time to renew membership for next year.
Thank you!
Edward and Teresa
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Certification Exam Eligibility
Eligibility for examination is based on issuance of an Endorsement of Eligibility letter from the SFFMA Certification Office.
To receive an endorsement letter, department must:
Meet all participation requirements:
- Department dues and Individual Member dues are current
- Certification Coordinator is current on CC Workshop requirement
- Coordinator’s provisional approval period has not expired, if applicable
- SIGNED by the candidate, Fire Chief, and Certification Coordinator
- Fee(s) invoiced and paid
- Candidate’s direct e-mail address and all required personal information on file in GrowthZone (full name, date of birth, last 4 of Social Security number)
- All training and prerequisites for discipline must be completed and fully documented
- Courage to be Safe
- Traffic Incident Management (required for Firefighter I and II)
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Training fully documented (100%) in Growth Zone or clear completion documents submitted with application. Applicants for Firefighter I must also complete 1001: FF I Trng (Prereq to Start Live Fire)
Upon issuance of the Endorsement of Eligibility, department Certification Coordinators may register their members for a test session by going to the Written Exam Calendar, or by emailing testing to inquire about testing opportunities and/or arrange a group test session.
To host a written exam session, locations must meet the following criteria:
- Must have a minimum of 10 qualified trainees.
- Must provide an enclosed, professional environment that is clean, comfortable and smoke-free and conducive to testing.
- Must provide sufficient lighting, ventilation, comfortable seating and comfortable work surfaces.
- Must provide a classroom- style setup with all seating facing the same direction.
- Candidates must be separated within the testing room. There should be at least 2 feet of empty space on each side of the candidate
- The testing room should be in a low-traffic area so that noises do not distract the candidates
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CHEMTREC Now Offering An Additional Hazmat Response Grant |
CHEMTREC® and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) annually team up to provide volunteer fire departments with the CHEMTREC® HELP (Hazmat Emergencies Local Preparedness) Award to enhance their hazardous materials response capabilities and improve responder safety. While originally two grants were available in 2022, CHEMTREC® has announced it will provide an additional grant to help more volunteer departments. This means three eligible volunteer fire departments will each be awarded $10,000 to bolster hazmat incident training and readiness.
To be eligible, departments must meet the following requirements:
- Be composed of more than 50 percent volunteers
- Serve a population of 25,000 or less
- Department’s annual revenue must not exceed $250,000
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Chief or individual applying on behalf of the department must be a member of the NVFC.Not a member? Learn about member benefits and join here.
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The deadline to apply for a HELP Award is September 1. Only one application per department will be accepted. View full criteria and apply here.
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New Phone Number for Suicide Prevention Now Active |
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988 is now active across the United States. This new, shorter phone number will make it easier for people to remember and access mental health crisis services. (Please note, the previous 1-800-273-TALK (8255) number will continue to function indefinitely.) The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States. The Lifeline is comprised of a national network of over 200 local crisis centers, combining custom local care and resources with national standards and best practices. Get help now or learn more.
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Database Management System Update |
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Hello everyone, this is the first update since the conference in Beaumont. So I want to start by thanking everyone who attended and provided feedback. Most of the feedback provided will be implemented into the application. So thanks again for the great ideas!
Since the conference, I have been working on cleaning up some of the user interface so things are more clean and clear.
We have acquired some software to assist with creating PDFs and Excel documents from the system, so I have been spending some time building out the workflows for generating reports. For example, coordinators will have the ability to generate a 'Completed Objectives' report by selecting the desired disciplines and members, then choosing whether or not to include sub-objectives. Once all options are selected, hit "generate" and an Excel file will be produced with the requested dataset.
Until next month.
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New Tactical Boot Now Available
HAIX Black Eagle Tactical 2.0 GTX Mid Side Zip
Check out the newest boots available from HAIX!
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