Mission

May Message From the President
I hope this finds everyone well and enjoying the spring weather.  I will be trying to post on a monthly basis a note to keep you informed of current situations.
                As we all know it was a busy session in Annapolis this year as we saw a lot of bills passed and defeated, plus some budget cuts. The Fire Service had a couple Bills that were sponsored by two Senators one being our Senator Pipkin.  Once again we had to put the call out for the masses to go down to Annapolis. This is the second time we had to go to Annapolis to voice our opinion and lobby for our cause. The first time was the Bill regarding VLOSAP to be lowered from the age from 60 to 55.
                The first Bill SB649 was "Adding reimbursement of operators of private helicopter companies for costs of emergency medical transport under specified circumstances as an authorized use of money in the Maryland Emergency Medical System Operations Fund; requiring the State Emergency Medical Services Board to adopt regulations and protocols; etc.”.
                The second Bill SB764 was "Reorganizing State government by establishing a Department of Emergency Services as a principal unit of the Executive Branch; repealing the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems and the State Emergency Medical Services Board; specifying that the Department is responsible for the coordination of all emergency services in the State; transferring the Maryland Emergency Management Agency and specified powers, duties, and functions to the Department; etc. "  This Bill was withdrawn.
                Then they tried for a third one SB 1041 which was “Requiring the Maryland Health Care Commission, in conjunction with the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Systems Services, to conduct a study, examination, and comparison of helicopter emergency medical services; prohibiting the Department of State Police from purchasing new helicopters before a specified report is submitted to specified committees of the General Assembly; and terminating the Act at the end of March 31, 2010. ".  Basically this Bill was to stop the purchase of new helicopters by the MSP until at least 2011.  This one also ignores the 40 years of dedicated service of the MSP Medevac Program and the countless number of lives saved by having this resource available to us, the first responders.
                All three Bills were sponsored by Senator Pipkin our Senator, but with the help of the Maryland State Fireman’s Association and from all nine Cecil County  Volunteer Fire Companies and the Cecil County Fireman’s  Association ,we were able to get all three bills DEFEATED.  Once again the Fire Services comes thru with flying colors. GREAT JOB EVERYBODY!
                Now for some current news,  its that time of year again. BUDGET time.We have submitted our budget to the County Commissioners. On Tuesday ,March 31, I presented our Budget during their workshop. There were no questions or concerns by the Commissioners at that time. What we submitted was as follows:

• $4,0000 for CO2 Detectors and Smoke Alarms

• $10,000 for repair the Dry Hydrants

• $1,845  for the Safety Trailer Insurance

• $1,250.000 for Vehicle Replacement

• $100,000 for Replacements Radios

 This years Budget is a tight one, were hoping we can get everything. But there is a possibility we only may get $1 million for the vehicle replacement.  Of course this would be better than none at all. You can help us by attending the May 12th Public Hearing at 1400 hours and again at 1900 hours.  On Tuesday May 26th at 1400 hours the formal adoption  of the tax rates and the 2010 will take place. Meeting will take place in the Elk Room at the County Administrative Building.
                Our new webmaster Dave Campbell has recently taken over The Cecil County Fireman's Association website. He is getting everything up to date. He is also trying to incorporate some new features. The first is what he is calling The Response Wire. What this will be is a brief synopsis of incidents your department has recently had. A brief rundown of what responded and any pictures you may have of the incident and a link to the story on your website. This will be a good way to have a central place for people to look for recent calls while still getting traffic to your website.  The goal is to get more people going to the association website and being able to have it as a good repository of information.
                Thanks for checking in this month and please visit again soon as we incorporate new features and for my next message. Please stay safe and have a wonderful spring.

Member Companies