International accreditation strengthens North Charleston's Fire Department

North Charleston Fire Chief Greg Bulanow

Commentary by Chief Bulanow:

We can now proudly declare that the North Charleston Fire Department is an internationally accredited fire department.  Does this matter?  For our city today and throughout its future, it does, indeed.

Modern day firefighters fight fires and help save lives, from senior citizens who need our help to new-born babies that we've just delivered.  In our department, we are becoming better and more successful in all types of calls, in many types of environments, at land and even at sea.  Last week, for example, our fireboat crew assisted a Coast Guard helicopter rescuing three people from their wrecked sailboat, and the fireboat also assisted in Georgetown. We’re in a continuous training cycle and always striving for improvements, from preventing fires to fighting fires, and providing first responder emergency services.

International accreditation documents the determination of our department to serve our citizens with responses measured by the highest standards in the world. Accreditation is an achievement to be celebrated proudly, but it is a process, also.  We are accredited, and now we have to work even harder to remain accredited.

Accreditation is not an easy project. It involves the gut-wrenching work of challenging the status-quo, putting all issues on the table, changing ways of thinking and how we do business. That’s why only 187 of the 38,000 fire departments in the United States are accredited.

Accreditation isn’t only about another power-point presentation, or thicker binders full of policies and procedures, or bulletin boards with bar-graphs and pie-charts, or spreadsheets with rows of numbers, or GIS maps with colored dots or posters with high-minded words.

Accreditation requires measuring performance in 248 different areas, including physical resources, human resources, financial resources, training, external relationships, goals, planning, governance and administration.   Improvements in these areas mean processing calls quicker and getting out the door faster.  It means putting Squad trucks in the right place, at the right time so they consistently handle a third of our total medical call volume.  It means better training commitments, replacing trucks and building new stations where they are needed most, and many other direct and important improvements.

Accreditation means doing everything possible to make sure that things work out for firefighters, too, more often, more consistently, more effectively and more safely than ever before. Life-loss tragedies happen about 100 times a year in America’s fire services.  When we study the circumstances, we don’t find many surprises.  Too often, fire service members repeat the same mistakes over and over again, with deadly results.  The common denominator in too many of these line-of-duty-deaths is complacency.  We skip a step, we cut a corner and we get away with it.  So we do it again because we’re in a hurry and so we skip another step, cut another corner and we get away with it again.  Someone sees it happening but they say nothing, and before we know it, sloppy, reckless behavior is ignored and even accepted.  The fancy words for this are “normalization of deviation,” -- deviating from practices that will keep us safe becomes normal.  A better word is “complacency.”

Accreditation is about fighting complacency in all its forms.    Accreditation is about providing the best possible operational environment for firefighters.   It holds all of us accountable to do everything we can to promote safety, provide necessary resources and execute best-practice procedures.

Our fire department functions with the support and leadership of Mayor Keith Summey and members of City Council.  Yes, accreditation is a major achievement for our city, but we understand we still have work to do.  No member of the North Charleston Fire Department should be satisfied with status quo.  The determination to get better and better and more and more professional is the standing mandate of an accredited department.

So we can celebrate accreditation and accept that it now defines our department; it is a message that we are not afraid of hard work and being accountable.  It is a snapshot of our success today and a road map for constant improvements throughout our city’s future.  And yes, accreditation matters.

Gregory A. Bulanow began his firefighting career with the North Charleston Fire Department in 1996. He worked his way through the ranks and was named Chief in 2009.

North Charleston Fire Department presents 3 citizens with awards for life-saving actions

The Chief’s Citizen Award is reserved for the Fire Chief to recognize citizens for outstanding actions or achievements that positively affect the fire department or community. North Charleston Fire Chief Gregory A. Bulanow presented three Citizen Awards at City Council on Thursday, May 10, 2012.

The First of the three awards was presented to Thomas Gotbeter, who responded to a complete stranger at a Little Cricket convenience store who was in full cardiac arrest. He performed CPR on the man until emergency personnel arrived on scene. The man was treated at the hospital and released several days later.
Mr. Gotbeter’s full story 

The next award was given to Andrew Glover of the North Charleston Police Department. Officer Glover observed black smoke coming from a home, after notifying dispatch, he entered the home to find two individuals sleeping. Everyone safely exited the home without injury. 

Officer Glover’s full story 

The final award was presented to Reginald Curry for his acts of bravery at the Noisette Creek Apartment fire. He not only caught a baby dropped from a second story window, but entered the structure to save another child that was otherwise trapped inside. 

Mr. Curry’s full story

Eagle Scout donates over $2300 to Fire Department missions

Eagel Scout Joshua Chambers made a donate of $2,340.80 to the North Charleston Fire Department as part of his Eagel Project.

In addition, Joshua hand crafted a fire hydrant and fire truck to be displayed at one of the City's fire stations.

Fire Chief Bulanow tells about the new fire department patch

A patch is an important representative symbol and point of pride for a fire department. It features prominently on uniforms, apparatus, signs, letterhead and sometimes even tattoos. Firefighters from different fire departments often exchange patches in an act of camaraderie and brotherhood.   The most basic purpose of a patch is that it should identify those that wear it to those they serve. It should also distinguish those who wear it from other agencies with whom they may work. Ideally it should also feature symbolic elements that represent the identity of the organization.

In the course of time, events may transpire that may provide cause for a fire department to change the design of their patch.  This has occurred before in the history of the North Charleston Fire Department (NCFD).

My understanding is that the NCFD’s current shield-shaped patch was designed by Chief W. Frank New, who served as Chief during the split from the North Charleston District Fire Department in 1972. The creation of two distinct entities, the “City” and the “District”, necessitated that each department have their own patch. The shield-shaped patch prominently featured the city seal in its design. After 24 years apart, these two departments rejoined on April 1, 1996. This date is also important for me personally because it is the day I began my career with the North Charleston Fire Department. For 14 years I have worn the shield-shaped badge on my shoulders with enormous pride in the privilege that I have to identify myself as a member of the NCFD.

In 2009, the City of North Charleston changed the city seal from the design featured in the NCFD’s patch, thus making it obsolete. This change provided the opportunity to consider a fresh design for the NCFD’s patch.

I am pleased to present the new patch for the NCFD. The bold design is rich in symbolic significance.   The new city seal is the center point of the design because protecting the quality of life in North Charleston is central to our mission as a department. The city seal is framed by the Maltese cross, and the Maltese cross outlines the patch itself. This ancient symbol representing courage reflects our proud heritage that dates back to the knights of the Middle Ages and it immediately identifies us as firefighters. Crossed pick head axes complete the design. While firefighters have many tools to use at all types of emergencies, none is more versatile than the pick head axe. Used for striking, chopping, cutting and prying the pick head axe represents the versatility required of a 21st century firefighter.

I thank Assistant Chief Trey Coker for designing our new patch. As a second generation firefighter and a career veteran of the NCFD, he approached this task with meticulous attention to detail, sensitivity and great pride.

We will soon begin the transition to our new patch that will represent the proud men and women of our department into our bright future.

Gregory A. Bulanow, Fire Chief

North Charleston Fire Department

A Fire Safety Message

North Charleston Fire Chief presents Citizen Award for life saving actions

North Charleston Fire Chief Gregory A. Bulanow presented both Tianna Olivera and Michelle Becknell the Chief’s Citizen Award at the City Council meeting on Thursday, September 9, 2010 for their quick response to an emergency situation that saved the life of a child.

The Chief’s Citizen Award is reserved for the Fire Chief to recognize a citizen for an outstanding action or achievement that results in a positive and/or dramatic change in the fire department and/or community.

On August 1, 2010, Battalion Chief J.T. Whetsell and Engine 211 responded to the swimming pool on Oak Forest Blvd. for a reported drowning.  The call for assistance came into dispatch at 1:35 pm stating that a three-year-old male had drowned at the Oak Forest Village swimming pool and that CPR was in progress.

Battalion Chief Whetsell and Engine 211 arrived on the scene at 1:41pm and discovered the mother holding the three-year-old boy in her arms.  Battalion Chief Whetsell and the crew of Engine 211 approached the mother and discovered the boy was conscious and alert.  The crew from Engine 211 started assessing the boy as Dorchester County EMS arrived on the scene.

Upon speaking with bystanders at the scene it was discovered that the boy went into the pool without wearing his life vest and was playing in the shallow area with his nine-year-old sister and several other children.  The children in the pool moved away from the area where they were playing and the sister came out of the water holding her unconscious brother.  When the boy was removed from the pool it was discovered that he was not breathing and did not have a pulse.  A bystander stepped in and began performing CPR on the boy and after a minute he regained consciousness and was able to breathe on his own.

The boy was admitted to the Medical University of South Carolina and was discharged after a few days.  He has fully recovered from the ordeal without any complications.  If it were not for the quick actions of the boy’s sister, Tianna Olivera, and the immediate delivery of CPR by a bystander, Ms. Michelle Becknell, this incident could have had a much different outcome.

Message from Fire Chief Gregory Bulanow

Fire Chief Gregory Bulanow

Thank you for your interest in the North Charleston Fire Department.  Our department includes a diverse group of over 225 men and women working collectively to accomplish our mission to protect the quality of life in the City of North Charleston from all predictable hazards through prevention and emergency response.  The mission extends far beyond responding to fires or other emergencies and includes contributing to the quality of life in our City.  For those who assume that our firefighters are lounging at their stations waiting for an emergency call, our mission statement may seem confusing.  What does it mean for a fire department to protect quality of life, and what would that look like?

To see for yourself, you do not need to schedule a visit or tour a station.  In fact, you may not even find us there.  Instead, simply look for us as you participate in the things that are important to you and your family.  Each weekend our crews participate in school festivals, church picnics, neighborhood block parties, corporate family days, charitable fundraisers, and a variety of other events, providing fire safety information and prevention displays.

We offer medical first responders at sports tournaments, competitive run/walks, and neighborhood service days.  You may see us on the water providing assistance to boaters in distress during events, such as the recent Blue Angel’s air show.  You may see us on bike patrol during large events at North Charleston’s beautiful Riverfront Park, or at a child’s birthday party at North Charleston’s fantastic Fire Museum.  Late at night, you may see members of our Fire Marshal’s Bureau at nightclubs and restaurants to ensure the safety of those enjoying the City’s night life.

During the week, our firefighters are active in our schools, teaching fire prevention, as well as serving as positive role models in reading and mentoring programs.  You may see us at your place of employment, providing inspections to ensure compliance with fire codes to ensure your workplace is safe, or “pre-planning” a building for accurate information in the event of an emergency.  Our certified technicians help parents of small children learn to properly install safety seats in their vehicles.

Throughout the year, our crews join with the other City departments for the Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET), working to improve the quality of life in targeted neighborhoods.  Our crews go door-to-door installing free smoke alarms as part of our award winning program that has provided thousands of these life saving devices to North Charleston residents.

Any one of these sights is a glimpse of us meeting the demands of our mission.  Our crews are engaged directly with our residents and businesses, working to prevent emergencies or in position to give immediate assistance in ways that fit specifically with the needs of our City.  Our crews also keeping a rigorous training schedule and maintain a constant state of readiness to respond en force to any emergency incident.  These initiatives and activities help us remain proactive and vigilant in providing fire protection.

We work hard to ensure that you will not need us in our traditional role of emergency responders, but if you do, be assured that you will experience the same high quality response that the North Charleston Fire Department has provided since our beginnings in 1937.  While our mission has expanded to meet the demands of the 21st century, it remains consistent with the oldest and finest traditions of the fire service.

Hop over to the City's website for more information on the North Charleston Fire Department