Chena-Goldstream Fire and Rescue recently took delivery of a state -of-the-art, electronic defibrillator, called the Zoll E series AED. The device delivers a precise level of electric shock to the heart in order to re-establish a correct heart rhythm.

On its first day on the job, the device saved the life of a Fairbanks woman.

According to Chena-Goldstream Fire and Rescue, Emergency Medical Technician's (EMT) responded to a female with chest pain. After assessing the patient, she was placed on the new Zoll E AED and transported to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. During the transport the defibrillator recognized that the patient was experiencing cardiac arrest. The medical staff quickly engaged the defibrillator to deliver an appropriate shock, which put the patient into normal cardiac rhythm. The patient was awake and talking to the crew by the time the ambulance reached the hospital.

"Our medical crews had just a few days earlier finished training with the equipment," explained CGFR Chief Jack Willard. "We are gratified that the equipment worked as advertised, and proud of the men and women who knew how to use it."

The Zoll E AED has features not available in earlier models to analyze the rhythm during CPR, and advise the crew if they are performing proper CPR while in a moving ambulance.

The equipment, however, does not come cheap. The department received a federal grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase two Zoll E AEDs, each at a cost of $31,000 each. The department's share of the purchase was $6,000.

"This is an example of how we are maximizing local tax revenue to stay current with training and technology that proves itself in saving lives and protecting property," said Chief Willard.

Another recent purchase was a 2009 Ford ambulance. The ambulance has new features that will enhance the safety of both the EMT and the patient.

Chena-Goldstream Fire and Rescue is a largely volunteer service that provides fire response and emergency medical care to more than 12,000 people within an 160 square mile region north and west of Fairbanks, including Chena Ridge, Murphy Dome, Goldstream Valley and Ester.

For more information, please contact CGFR at 907-479-5672.

The Annual Awards banquet recognized volunteer and staff with long histories in the Department.

• Five Year awards were presented to Robert Anderson, Veronica Solomon, Hilmar Maier and Jesse Wood.
• Robert Ragar was presented with a Twenty Year award.
• CGFR's very first 25 year member, David Akin, was recognized.
• And a big "Hello!" to all the new members in 2008: responders Forrest Baumfalk, Tallan Baumfalk, Nathan Carey, Ryan Cary, Craig Donaldson, Mary Knight, Katrin Nilsen, Stephen Shoults, Brad Stone and Leia Ward. Two new Board members, Doug Schneider and Joel Duncan, are welcomed, too. We hope to be here when you receive your ten and twenty year awards.

Thanks again to everyone who keeps CGFR running! You're the lifeblood of the Department.

Trebec: "Officer, Instructor, Firefighter, Medic, Rookie and Support Persons of the year".
Contestant: "Who are Brad Paulson, Paul Buccigross, Josh Marshall, Bill Witte and Paul Buccigross, Alyssa Quaile and Paul Delys?"

The CGFR Christmas Party, as usual, drew in lots of people, many of whom wanted to know the results of the annual awards. Here are the official results. Remember, each winner was nominated and voted upon by the volunteers at CGFR.

• Brad Paulson was picked as Officer of the Year. He was nominated because he does a great job of making people feel welcome and does a great job as an officer.
• Paul Buccigross was a busy person this year, garnerning enough respect and admiration amongst his peers to be voted Instructor of the Year and co-Medic of the Year. Paul puts in a huge amount of time at CGRF, only a small portion of which is spent in front of the television. And just in case anyone is wondering ... he's still "excellent". (Instructor of the Year, in this writer's humble opinion, is the most prestigious honor bestowed upon an individual at CGFR. Every instructor at CGFR is valued and has a positive effect on numerous responders. Our run volume is low, so in-station training substitutes for our lack of on-the-job opportunities to learn. The Instructor of the Year touches the most people and, arguably, affects more volunteers than any other person in the department. Congratulations Paul and keep up the good work! pjd)
• Firefigher of the Year went to Josh Marshall. Josh and his wife Emmy have been around CGFR for seven years and it's always a pleasure to run into either of them. It's always good to hear Josh showing up on scene, because good things are going to happen.
• Bill Witte and Paul Buccigross had even splits on the vote and each took home the coveted Medic of the Year award. They're both ultra dependable, knowledgeable, skilled and ready to roll on a call. For all they know and can do, they're also always ready to learn something new so they can do even better on the next call. Love you both!
• Alyssa Quaile mushed to the front of the pack and captured the coveted Rookie of the Year award. She doesn't live at the station, but for as much time and effort as she puts in, she may as well do so.
• Support Person of the Year went to Paul Delys. Paul putters around the stations fixing things here and there. He's also on the Board and works hard to make volunteers feel good about their valuable time spent working to better themselves as responders and contributing to CGFR.

Cheers to the cream floating at the top of the best group of volunteers in the Fairbanks North Star Borough. Everyone in the Department plays an essential role in our mission to provide the best Emergency Service we can. Keep up the hard work and we'll be even better next year -- making the annual awards even more exciting.

Special thanks go out the husbands, wives, sons, daughters, boy- and girl-friends who put up with and support those of us who commit so much time to this valuable endeavor. Extra special thanks the members of the Support Group. Most of you are the significant other of a responder. Not only do you provide needed support and tolerance for our bad habit, you also get up in the middle of the night at -40F and respond with good food and drink for us -- and you don't even get the thrill (or the opportunity to warm up) of running into a burning building. Now THAT'S dedication and we responders REALLY appreciate it!!

The annual Christmas parties for the kids and adults are over. It sounds like both parties were plenty of fun. Pictures from the Kids Party with Mr and Mrs Clause and the Awards Banquet are now available online. High resolution copies of the pictures are available by talking to one of the paid staff.

I wanted to thank everyone that helped with Phil Rounds' service. It was incredible the turn out from our department. Some of you may not know to the extent CGFR helped this weekend.

Starting with the Board, NSVFD requested donations to help pay for the food that was served after the service and the Board stepped up and donated $500. Thanks to them for understanding how important Phil was to all of us.

Next, I received a call asking for help from the support staff to set up and serve food. Not only did they help with that, they were also able to get donations from the Cookie Jar, Finish Line, Pump House, Pikes and the Regency Cove to help off-set the total cost. Way to go ladies. Please remember these restaurants when you are looking for a nice place for dinner.

As D/C Paulson said in his e-mail, I received a request for two ambulances and an engine to standby and cover UAF. We were able to man two engines, two ambulances and two Battalions that day and cover three calls for service between CGFR and UAF. Way to go, not only did we meet the request, we doubled it in two areas.

Before and after the service I received multiple thanks both from the UAF Command staff and the student fire fighters for your support so they could attend the service of their beloved Chief. It is times like these that show the true brother and sister hood within the emergency services. I was extremely proud of all the members of CGFR not only this weekend, but every day, for the time and effort you put into making this a true professional department. Thanks again for all your help.

Fire Chief Jack Willard

Phil Rounds, Battalion Chief at the University Fire Department, passed away Friday, November 21, 2008. Amy Kneedler-Donahue, former CGFR training officer and UAFD Dispatch Supervisor, had this to say about Phil:

Phil was a positive influence on many people. As such, many people are writing blog posts about their memories of Phil and the impact he had on those who came close to him, even if for just a moment. If you have or see a particularly poignant blog post on the web, email the URL to bcr@cgfr.com and I'll include it on our list in the order received.

• Assistant Chief Sparks recalls time with Phil
• Ben Fleagle's post at FireEngineering.com started this thread
• The Fairbanks Daily News Miner had a story

If you have something to post, but nowhere to post it, email it to me and I'll post it for you here. Sorry, we're not open to public posting because of all the spam we get otherwise.

After a nationwide search for a training officer, CGFR is pleased to announce the hire of Craig Donaldson as our new Training Officer. Craig comes to us from several different fire districts in the Cincinnati, Ohio, region. Most recently, though, he has worked around the world as the Medic In Charge on oil platforms and offshore construction ships.

Craig brings an impressive resume to back up his position as Training Officer and responder. Expect some exciting changes in our training as his energetic approach, classroom skills and fresh perspective integrate into our little corner of the emergency response world.

He's an avid outdoorsman who has wanted to move to Alaska for many years. At 16 he told his parents he was going on a two week camping trip. They were a touch surprised upon his return to find he'd sailed a Sunfish from one end of the Great Lakes to the other end. Not just one Great Lake, all five of them. Hopefully, Alaska will be large enough for him.

Craig's first day of work is tomorrow, Tuesday, November 25th. He'll be working 40 hour weeks to get checked off on apparatus, skills and protocols then will switch to the 24 on/48 off shift schedule.

He's staying at Station 2 for now, so stop by and introduce yourself to the tall guy with the rad haircut.

As the members of A Shift already know I have accepted a position with Fort Wainwright FD. I sat down with Chief Willard this morning and notified him of my decision.

I plan on remaining with CGFR as a volunteer for the foreseeable future. The decision to move on was made after a lot of thought and discussion with my wife. I came to the conclusions that while CGFR was the start of my career in emergency services I need to make a change in order to advance my career and do what is best for my family. I have been with the department for almost 12 years now and a little over ten of those were in a career position. This department has given me a wealth of opportunities and many great memories.

Many of you have heard this story but for those of you who have not, while this is embarrassing for me, it often enters my mind. Click on Read More to read the rest of Jason's letter

The Department recently opened up two Captain positions and two Lieutenant positions. Four volunteers applied for the Lt spots -- Josh Marshall, Chad Stickles, Alex Rupprecht and Alyssa Quaile. The candidates for the Captain slots were Gordon Hill and Hilmar Maier.

All the applicants had to take a written test and undergo an oral interview. Assistant Chief Sparks, Captain Davis and Ester Fire Chief Cameron Wohlford were the interview board.

Deciding who to promote was not an easy task as all the applicants did an outstanding job on both the written test and interview. In the end, Gordon was promoted to Captain with Josh and Chad promoted into the Lt spots. Hilmar and Gordon have both accepted the challenge of pulling Battalion-in-Training shifts.

Applying for promotion and going through the testing and interviews is no small effort -- it implies that one is ready undertake new level of training, commitment and leadership. Congratulations are due to everyone who applied for promotion. Double congrats to those promoted to new positions of responsibility and authority! Triple congratulations and thanks to Hilmar and Gordon for stepping up to the Battalion plate! Good luck to everyone in their new positions.

I just wanted to send a HUGE thank you to everyone that helped
with the station preparation, event preparation, station manning,
event staffing and all of the other “behind the scene” tasks that
needed to happen to have an AWESOME and successful open house Sunday July27th.