Delta Township Firefighters - IAFF Local 2846

This morning, members had the privilege to attend MPFFU's Stewards training conducted by Western Trustee Ken Barnes. They learned about the role of a Union Steward, how to handle grievances professionally, and employees' legal rights under Weingarten, Garrity, and Loudermill.

Shift Two Firefighter/Paramedic Harrod has been taking advantage of the nice weather this week, and is working hard toward obtaining her certified driver status.

Eaton County mutual aid party for EMS week this morning!

We've seen Delta and Benton go into Grand Ledge and Windsor come into Delta. At one point, the closest available ambulance in the county was in Charlotte.

With all Delta ambulances out, the number of available firefighters drops from 11 or 12 down to four or five. The remaining five firefighters / two in-service engines spent most of their morning committed to medical first responses.

Mutual aid as a staffing solution is no longer a viable option. Not in an environment where the smaller surrounding departments have also seen their call volumes go up 30-40% over the last decade.

There is "busy" — meaning the taxpayers are getting a great value for their money, and then there is "busy" — on an average day a department can no longer hit national targets for EMS unit availability and response times.

Anybody interested in digging into the data can find it here:

gis.iaff.org