Local first responders continue to collaborate
Medina’s approach to safety training is unique to Ohio
They may look like firefighters, but they are actually police officers from area departments undergoing basic firefighting training led by the Medina Fire Department. Photos courtesy of MEDINA FIRE
Medina area police officers are pictured learning basic firefighting at Medina Fire Department’s Station No. 1 earlier this month.
Two police officers learn how to enter a burning structure via ladder during basic firefighting training hosted by the Medina Fire Department earlier this month.
Dennis Hanwell
Ed Kinney
Bob Painter
MEDINA – Mayor and Safety Director Dennis Hanwell is always looking for ways to most effectively use municipal staffing.
Here, it is common to see city employees – even departments at a time – who are trained on each other’s basic duties. For instance, the departments of parks, forestry and cemetery have collaborated under the same umbrella for years. For workers out in the field – everyone from streets, sanitation, cops and beyond – they’re trained in identifying things like property code violations all the way up to potential criminal activity. At Medina City Hall, it wouldn’t be strange to see clerks from neighboring departments helping each other and residents.
When it comes to first responders, Medina’s police and fire personnel, for decades, have trained alongside the Life Support Team’s paramedics to expedite emergency responses. A notable example is back in 2014 when officers learned how to administer the overdose-reversing antidote Narcan. Hanwell, a former police chief, said there’s even consideration to train all field employees in certain aspects of crisis training, like controlling bleeding from arterial lacerations, beyond just CPR and AED.
“From the taxpayer’s perspective, the most effectively we can use our staffing, that’s a benefit for everyone,” Hanwell said. “It’s just another example of why Medina is so special, the willingness to collaborate and work together.”
So when the question of why police officers haven’t been trained in basic firefighting came up, it was a no-brainer for Hanwell, Police Chief Ed Kinney and Fire Chief Bob Painter. A number of Medina Police officers, along with officers from neighboring Medina Township and Montville Township (both communities are served by the Medina Fire Department), began state-certified basic firefighting training, a total of 36 hours, earlier this month. Kinney said the goal is to have 14 of his officers certified in the coming months.
“This type of collaboration is very unique to Ohio and the only time it has ever happened in Medina County,” Kinney said. “I really think it’s the natural progression in cooperating and collaborating in all our public safety facets.”
Kinney and Painter both referenced the city of Kalamazoo, Mich., which has the largest fully-integrated public service force in the country. This means all police officers, firefighters and paramedics are trained and certified the same. Both chiefs like this concept but acknowledged such uniformity could be years down the road, if at all, due to union-related issues that could arise.
“We researched it quite a bit,” Painter said, admitting the concept has historically been a hard sell to governments elsewhere in the U.S. “We thought this was a perfect example. Let’s train them this way.”
Police officers are almost always the first on the scene of any emergency call, fires included. Some of the basic skills recently bestowed upon Medina area police officers included locating fire hydrants; learning how to set up fire equipment and hoses, as well as help firefighters get their gear on; health hazards of smoke; and knowing fire behavior, specifically whether it is safe to enter a burning structure.
Painter referenced a fire call last year where a Medina Police officer nearly lost his life while attempting to save a child after entering a fully-engulfed structure.
“I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Painter said, adding specific focus was given to the long-term effects of breathing smoke, like cancer. “We’re working smarter ... any extra set of hands on the scene will save us time.”
Kinney added, “The big thing was fire behavior, which is essentially don’t try to enter a structure when it’s on fire because that can potentially increase the fire when you introduce oxygen, worsening the situation ... It was eye-opening for many different reasons and also in when we can use the fire extinguishers we carry in our patrol cars and when we shouldn’t. That was a common misconception, thinking we could use them on any fire.”
“If it saves them three, four minutes, whatever, it’s just that much faster,” Hanwell said. “They (police) may do an initial sweep of the house if possible, but other than that, they’re really there for support, security, things like that.”
One of the biggest components of the training, though, was simply familiarizing police and fire personnel with each other and establishing camaraderie. Kinney said a common stigma in public safety is “rivalries” between police officers and firefighters. That’s not the case here, all three men confirmed.
“We aren’t there to take over each other’s jobs, but it gives us a better appreciation and understanding,” Hanwell said. “That’s what we want them to be thinking about constantly, how can we be more efficient and helpful and work together?”
Medina Fire Lt. Larry Walters – one of several state-certified instructors on the force – led the training.
Here, it is common to see city employees – even departments at a time – who are trained on each other’s basic duties. For instance, the departments of parks, forestry and cemetery have collaborated under the same umbrella for years. For workers out in the field – everyone from streets, sanitation, cops and beyond – they’re trained in identifying things like property code violations all the way up to potential criminal activity. At Medina City Hall, it wouldn’t be strange to see clerks from neighboring departments helping each other and residents.
When it comes to first responders, Medina’s police and fire personnel, for decades, have trained alongside the Life Support Team’s paramedics to expedite emergency responses. A notable example is back in 2014 when officers learned how to administer the overdose-reversing antidote Narcan. Hanwell, a former police chief, said there’s even consideration to train all field employees in certain aspects of crisis training, like controlling bleeding from arterial lacerations, beyond just CPR and AED.
“From the taxpayer’s perspective, the most effectively we can use our staffing, that’s a benefit for everyone,” Hanwell said. “It’s just another example of why Medina is so special, the willingness to collaborate and work together.”
So when the question of why police officers haven’t been trained in basic firefighting came up, it was a no-brainer for Hanwell, Police Chief Ed Kinney and Fire Chief Bob Painter. A number of Medina Police officers, along with officers from neighboring Medina Township and Montville Township (both communities are served by the Medina Fire Department), began state-certified basic firefighting training, a total of 36 hours, earlier this month. Kinney said the goal is to have 14 of his officers certified in the coming months.
“This type of collaboration is very unique to Ohio and the only time it has ever happened in Medina County,” Kinney said. “I really think it’s the natural progression in cooperating and collaborating in all our public safety facets.”
Kinney and Painter both referenced the city of Kalamazoo, Mich., which has the largest fully-integrated public service force in the country. This means all police officers, firefighters and paramedics are trained and certified the same. Both chiefs like this concept but acknowledged such uniformity could be years down the road, if at all, due to union-related issues that could arise.
“We researched it quite a bit,” Painter said, admitting the concept has historically been a hard sell to governments elsewhere in the U.S. “We thought this was a perfect example. Let’s train them this way.”
Police officers are almost always the first on the scene of any emergency call, fires included. Some of the basic skills recently bestowed upon Medina area police officers included locating fire hydrants; learning how to set up fire equipment and hoses, as well as help firefighters get their gear on; health hazards of smoke; and knowing fire behavior, specifically whether it is safe to enter a burning structure.
Painter referenced a fire call last year where a Medina Police officer nearly lost his life while attempting to save a child after entering a fully-engulfed structure.
“I don’t want anyone getting hurt,” Painter said, adding specific focus was given to the long-term effects of breathing smoke, like cancer. “We’re working smarter ... any extra set of hands on the scene will save us time.”
Kinney added, “The big thing was fire behavior, which is essentially don’t try to enter a structure when it’s on fire because that can potentially increase the fire when you introduce oxygen, worsening the situation ... It was eye-opening for many different reasons and also in when we can use the fire extinguishers we carry in our patrol cars and when we shouldn’t. That was a common misconception, thinking we could use them on any fire.”
“If it saves them three, four minutes, whatever, it’s just that much faster,” Hanwell said. “They (police) may do an initial sweep of the house if possible, but other than that, they’re really there for support, security, things like that.”
One of the biggest components of the training, though, was simply familiarizing police and fire personnel with each other and establishing camaraderie. Kinney said a common stigma in public safety is “rivalries” between police officers and firefighters. That’s not the case here, all three men confirmed.
“We aren’t there to take over each other’s jobs, but it gives us a better appreciation and understanding,” Hanwell said. “That’s what we want them to be thinking about constantly, how can we be more efficient and helpful and work together?”
Medina Fire Lt. Larry Walters – one of several state-certified instructors on the force – led the training.