IAFF Local 4303

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Anchorage Line of Duty Death

Andrew Lawrence Mullen

March 21, 1965 – October 11, 2010

It is with many heavy hearts that the Anchorage Fire Department announces the Line of Duty Death of Andy Mullen. After nearly 14 years on the job, Andy worked his last shift on the job April 8^th of this year at Rescue 4 after being diagnosed with Cancer that was determined to have been contracted on the job while carrying out his duties as a Firefighter.

Brother Mullen hired onto the job on February 24^th, 1997, just a month shy of his 32^nd birthday. You won’t find anyone that was more proud to be a fireman than Andy. He always had a smile on his face and a positive attitude and outlook on life and his profession. He never passed up an opportunity to get involved in fire department functions and events, he was always there. In 2002 Andy promoted to the rank of Apparatus Engineer where he worked on the Dive Rescue team out of Fire Station 4 on Tudor Road.

Andy was a proud member of the Anchorage Firefighters Union, IAFF Local 1264. He served a number of years on the Local 1264 Executive Board and was still serving up until the time of his death. Andy has long been the guy behind all the charitable and benevolent fundraisers for the local, even before he got on the Executive Board he was always involved helping to raise money for various groups around the city.

Andy will be missed by all his family at the fire department, but no one will miss Andy more than his immediate family. His wife and three daughters reside in Eagle River and his parents reside on Long Island in New York in the same house that Andy was raised in with his brother and sister.

This is the first Line of Duty Death that the Anchorage Fire Department has had since Firefighter Chuck Whitethorn lost his life in 1976.

IAFF Local 4303 Doubles 2010 MDA FIll the Boot!

Juneau Empire

The International Fire Fighter's Association Local 4303 would like to thank the Juneau community for coming out for their annual "Fill the Boot" drive to supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. IAFF Local 4303 teamed up with Capital City Fire and Rescue Volunteers and raised $10,870 in the two-day drive. Which doubled what was raised last year!

Travis Mead~ IAFF Local 4303 Public Relations

Courtesy photo

IAFF Local 4303 sponsors Little League Team

By Tyler Preston | Juneau Empire

The International Association of Firefighters' Local #4303 union has been making a concerted effort to reach out to the Juneau community. Having just concluded their annual "Fill the Boot" benefit for the Alaska Chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, they have elected to sponsor a team in the Gastineau Channel Little League, the Orioles.

The Orioles are coached by Mary Johns, the wife of Jayme Johns, a firefighter and one of the 36 union members responsible for the sponsorship.

"I think mostly it's just that they've been wanting to do something; they have this money and they thought it would be a good thing to do (to sponsor the team) since some of the firefighters have kids on the team," said Mary Johns.

The Gastineau Channel Little League depends entirely on sponsors; each team has one that covers the cost of their jerseys, and sponsors also help offset other league costs as well. The only fee that parents pay to have their kids play, beside the cost of a glove, is $5 to help offset charges for online registration.

Baseball and firefighting appear to go hand in hand for a couple of the families on the team. Paralleling the Johns family, the Orioles' assistant coach Erin Russell and her firefighting husband Eric have a son, Toby, on the team. And another team dad is Travis Mead, the public relations representative for the firefighter's union, whose kids Eli and Samantha play alongside Matthew and Toby.

Roy Johnston, the president of the union, said that the union has been making strong efforts to do community outreach, assisting with the St. Baldrick's Foundation's fundraising for childhood cancer research and sponsoring the firepole (go figure) at Project Playground at Twin Lakes. He said that Travis approached him with the idea of sponsoring the team, and that since the idea seemed solid, they went for it.

The union wrote a check for $350 to purchase jerseys for the team, emblazoned with "Orioles" on the front and "Firefighters' Local #4303" on the back. They're also currently discussing plans for an end of the year barbecue or Bullwinkle's Pizza party, depending on the weather, of course.

Johnston said that if the sponsorship goes well and there are no conflicts of interest between the union and the team, it's possible that they will continue to fund a Little League team in the future.

"It's all part of our public outreach and giving back to the community," he said.

Courtesy Of Mary Johns

Orioles players, left to right, standing: Aidan Frenzel, Eli Mead, Abigail Booton, Riley Harp; kneeling: Matthew Johns, Samantha Mead; laying down: Gage Cooney. Also on the team but not pictured are: Aidan Dallas, Toby Russell, Mason Scolamiero and Colton Johns. Co-coaches are Mary and Jayme Johns, and the manager is Erin Russell.

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What's New at IAFF 4303

Bussiest Alaska Fire department per career fire fighter

EMS crew size, and pt outcome

Response

New EMS Study Demonstrates How First Responder Crew Sizes and Paramedic Crew Configuration Influence Emergency Medical Response

A new study issued by a broad coalition in the scientific, fire fighting, EMS and public-safety communities shows that the size and configuration of an EMS first responder crew and an advanced life support (ALS) crew have a substantial effect on a fire department's ability to respond to calls for emergency medical service.

The new study is the first attempt to investigate the effects of varying crew configurations for first responders, the apparatus assignment of ALS personnel, and the number of ALS personnel on scene and the task completion times for ALS level incidents.

The increasing number of EMS responses point to the need for scientifically based studies to measure the operational efficiency and effectiveness of fire departments responding to medical calls. Fire departments typically deliver first-on-scene, out-of-hospital care services, regardless of whether or not they provide transport. The design of fire-based EMS systems varies across communities. Some departments deploy only Basic Life Support (BLS) units and personnel, some deploy a mix of BLS and Advanced Life Support (ALS) units and personnel, and a few departments operate solely at an ALS level.

This study emphasizes that every one of those system design decisions affects emergency medical response and care when each second counts.

The study's principal investigators include Jason Averill of the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), Lori Moore-Merrell of the International Association of Fire Fighters and Kathy Notarianni of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Other organizations participating in this research include the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the Commission on Fire Accreditation International-RISK, the Urban Institute and the University of North Carolina.

The report was funded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) grant program.

Download the study here.