For a third time, the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District received a state accreditation award for its efforts in ensuring various department protocols go that extra mile.
The department received a perfect score from the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Service, a national agency that keeps tabs on whether fire departments exceed medical service standards at the local or state level. Upper Pine fire was one of six Colorado agencies to achieve the accreditation.
“It’s very satisfying to get through that accreditation process,” deputy fire chief Greg French said, adding that it also serves as a self-examination for how the department’s doing. “It’s really a validation of your procedures.”
French said CAAS was drawn to Upper Pine fire’s online training class for staff and the follow-up work the department does, the number of firefighters and paramedics who have teaching credentials, plus its work with outside instructors in areas the department may not have certain expertise in.
“For a small department, we try to contribute a lot to the community and to the state,” French said.
The accreditation focuses on several areas, including human resources, training records, record-keeping procedures, equipment operations and daily operations, French said.
“(CAAS officials) talk to our crews, they physically go out and inspect our facilities, go inspect the fire stations, inspect the ambulances. They go through every compartment and every drawer in the ambulances,” he said.
French said CAAS assesses how calls are documented.
“It’s very a thorough, in-depth process. Basically looking at it start to finish, top to bottom,” he said, adding that CAAS commended Upper Pine for its ambulance equipment, plus its training and recertification processes.
Entering the next accreditation period and beyond, French said Upper Pine fire looks to get ahead of the curve by checking its record-keeping processes more frequently and perhaps implement a quarterly or semiannual audit as opposed to doing those things on an annual basis.
“Just making sure that when we’re maybe behind in certain areas, whether it’s certifications, education or an aspect of training, that we’re catching it sooner,” he said.
mhollinshead@durangoherald.com
