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1 Preparer Information Overview Are you a member, or are you currently involved in the management, of the fire department or non-affiliated EMS organization applying for this grant with this application? Yes, I am a member/officer of this applicant If you answered No, please complete the information below and press the Save and Continue button. If you answered Yes, please do not complete the information requested below and press the Save and Continue button. Note: If you answered No to the above question, the fields marked with an * are required. * Preparer's Name * Address 1 Address 2 * City Preparer Information * State New Jersey * Zip - * Is there a grant-writing fee associated with the preparation of this request? If you answered yes above, what is the fee? $ No 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:41

2 Contact Information Contact Information Alternate Contact Information Number 1 * Title Captain Prefix N/A * First Name Apu Middle Initial * Last Name Mullick * Business Phone Ext. *Home Phone Ext. Mobile Phone/Pager Fax * Captain@SpringfieldFAS.org Alternate Contact Information Number 2 * Title President Prefix N/A * First Name Elizabeth Middle Initial J * Last Name Fritzen * Business Phone Ext. *Home Phone Ext. Mobile Phone/Pager Fax * President@SpringfieldFAS.org 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:41

3 Applicant Information Applicant Information * Organization Name Springfield First Aid Squad Inc. * Type of Applicant * Type of Jurisdiction Served Township If other, please enter the type of Jurisdiction * Employer Identification Number * Does your organization have a DUNS Number? Yes If yes, please enter the DUNS Number Headquarters Physical Address Non-Affiliated EMS Organization * Physical Address 1 10 North Trivett Avenue Physical Address 2 * City Springfield * State New Jersey * Zip Need help for ZIP+4? Mailing Address * Mailing Address 1 P.O. Box 247 Mailing Address 2 * City Springfield * State New Jersey * Zip Account Information Need help for ZIP+4? * Type of bank account Checking * Bank routing number - 9 digit number on the bottom left hand corner of your check *Your account number Additional Information * For this fiscal year (Federal) is your jurisdiction receiving Federal funding from any other grant program that may duplicate the purpose and/or scope of this grant request? * If awarded this grant, will your jurisdiction expend greater than $300,000 in Federal share funds during the Federal fiscal year in which the grant was awarded? 021XXX XXXXXX3874 No No * Is the applicant delinquent on any federal debt? No If you answered yes to any of the additional questions above, please provide an explanation in the space provided below: 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

4 Fire Department Characteristics (Part I) Department Characteristics (Part I) * What kind of organization do you represent? All volunteer If you answered combination, above, what is the percentage of career members in your organization? * What type of community does your organization serve? * What is the square mileage of your primary response area? * In what county/parish is your organization physically located? If you have more than one station, in what county/parish is your main station located? * Does your organization protect critical infrastructure of the state? % Suburban 5 Union Yes * How much of your jurisdiction's land use is for agriculture, wild land, open space, or undeveloped properties? 28 % * What percentage of your jurisdiction's land use is for commercial, industrial, or institutional purposes? 34 % * What percentage of your jurisdiction's land is used for residential purposes? 38 % * What is the permanent resident population of your Primary/First Due Response Area or jurisdiction served? * How many personnel provide only EMS service delivery? * How many stations are in your organization? 1 * What services does your organization provide? Medical First Response Basic Life Support 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

5 Department Characteristics (Part II) Department Characteristics (Part II) * What is the total number of line of duty member fatalities in your jurisdiction over the last three years? * What is the total number of line of duty member injuries in your jurisdiction over the last three years? * In an average year, how many times does your organization receive mutual/automatic aid? * In an average year, how many times does your organization provide mutual/automatic aid? * What was your organization's estimated average annual operating budget over the last three years? * What percentage of your annual operating budget is dedicated to personnel costs (salary, overtime and fringe benefits)? % * What percentage of your annual operating budget is derived from: Enter numbers only, percentages must sum up to 100% Taxes? 37 % Grants? 0 % Donations? 11 % Fund drives? 49 % Other? 3 % If you entered a value into Other field (other than 0), please explain Interest on capital reserves *How many vehicles does your organization have in each of the categories below? Enter numbers only and enter 0 if you do not have any of the vehicles below Ambulances: Ambulance, EMS Transport Unit 2 Rescue Vehicles: Rescue Squad, Rescue (Light, Medium, Heavy), Technical Rescue Vehicle, Hazardous Materials Unit Other: EMS Chase Vehicle, Air/Light Unit, Rehab Units, Bomb Unit, Technical Support (Command, Operational Support/Supply), Hose Tender, Salvage Truck, ARFF (Aircraft Rescue Firefighting), Command/Mobile Communications Vehicle, Other Vehicle 0 Total Number Provide in the space below the following information only if you are applying for a vehicle: If you have 15 emergency response vehicles or less, list all vehicles providing the type, the age, the pump capacity (GPM) if applicable, and the carrying capacity (gallons) if applicable. If you have more than 15 emergency response vehicles, provide us with the oldest, newest, and the average age of the vehicles per type or class of vehicle. 0 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

6 Department Call Volume Department Call Volume * How many responses per year by category? (Enter whole numbers only: If you have no calls for any of the categories, enter 0) Structural Fires 0 Vehicle Fires 0 Vegetation Fires 0 EMS Response Call 1215 EMS Transports 22 Rescue 0 Hazardous Condition/Materials Calls 0 Service Calls 15 Good Intent Calls/False Alarms 27 Other Calls and Incidents 0 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

7 Request Information Request Information * 1. Select a program for which you are applying. Remember, you can only apply for one program this year. You can apply for as many activities within a program as you need. (If you modify your selection, you will lose data entered under the original activity.) Program Name Operations and Safety * 2. Will this grant benefit more than one organization? Yes If you answered Yes to Question 2 above, please explain. In addition to the Springfield First Aid Squad, a grant award will also be beneficial to the Springfield Police Dept., the Springfield Fire Dept. and other emergency medical services organizations in Union and Essex counties. By removing emergency medical services paging from their radio system, police operations will not be interrupted each time an ambulance dispatch is needed. Under the current system, police operations must either pause for an EMS dispatch or the ambulance dispatch must wait until a break in police communications. In either case, there is a delay introduced into the public safety communications of one agency or the other. Further, the improved communications system proposed will help both the Springfield Police Dept. and Springfield Fire Dept. by speeding EMS response and therefore lessening the time their first responders are unavailable waiting for an ambulance crew to arrive to assume responsibility for patient care and transport to definitive care. Finally, other EMS organizations throughout Union and Essex counties will benefit with less "competition" for available airtime on the shared radio frequency currently used to communicate with the dispatcher. Some of these agencies include paramedic units from Overlook Hospital, Union Hospital, St. Barnabas Medical Center, Mountainside Hospital and Rahway Hospital. Also included would be BLS agencies including MONOC EMS, covering the cities of Irvington, Orange and East Orange, Atlantic EMS covering Mountainside, Watchung and Warren, the South Orange Rescue Squad, the Clark First Aid Squad and the Maplewood First Aid Squad. 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

8 Request Details Request Details The activities for program Operations and Safety are listed in the table below. Activity Number of Entries Total Cost Additional Funding Action Equipment 4 $ 52,775 $ 0 Modify Facilities 0 $ 0 $ 0 View Details Personal Protective Equipment 0 $ 0 $ 0 Training 0 $ 0 $ 0 View Details View Details View Additional Funding View Details View Additional Funding Wellness and Fitness Programs 0 $ 0 $ 0 View Details 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:42

9 Proj Details Request Details Emergency Medical Services-Equipment Item Number of units Cost per unit Total Cost Action Mobile and Portable Communications 60 $ 700 $ 42,000 View Details Mobile and Portable Communications 2 $ 850 $ 1,700 View Details Mobile and Portable Communications 1 $ 75 $ 75 View Details Mobile and Portable Communications 3 $ 3,000 $ 9,000 View Details 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:43

10 EMS Equipment View Equipment *1. What equipment will be purchased with grant funds? Mobile and Portable Communications If you answered other, above, please specify *2. Number of units 60 (whole number only) *3. Cost per unit $700 (whole dollar amounts only) *4. What is the reason for this equipment purchase? Upgrade service *5. Will this equipment bring you into compliance with State or Federal standards/regulations? *6. Up to what level of patient care will this equipment bring your department? N/A EMT-B Close Window 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:43

11 EMS Equipment View Equipment *1. What equipment will be purchased with grant funds? Mobile and Portable Communications If you answered other, above, please specify *2. Number of units 2 (whole number only) *3. Cost per unit $850 (whole dollar amounts only) *4. What is the reason for this equipment purchase? Upgrade service *5. Will this equipment bring you into compliance with State or Federal standards/regulations? *6. Up to what level of patient care will this equipment bring your department? N/A EMT-B Close Window 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:43

12 EMS Equipment View Equipment *1. What equipment will be purchased with grant funds? Mobile and Portable Communications If you answered other, above, please specify *2. Number of units 1 (whole number only) *3. Cost per unit $75 (whole dollar amounts only) *4. What is the reason for this equipment purchase? Upgrade service *5. Will this equipment bring you into compliance with State or Federal standards/regulations? *6. Up to what level of patient care will this equipment bring your department? N/A EMT-B Close Window 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:43

13 EMS Equipment View Equipment *1. What equipment will be purchased with grant funds? Mobile and Portable Communications If you answered other, above, please specify *2. Number of units 3 (whole number only) *3. Cost per unit $3000 (whole dollar amounts only) *4. What is the reason for this equipment purchase? Upgrade service *5. Will this equipment bring you into compliance with State or Federal standards/regulations? *6. Up to what level of patient care will this equipment bring your department? N/A EMT-B Close Window 1 of 1 3/24/05 02:43

14 Budget Budget Budget Object Class a. Personnel $ 0 b. Fringe Benefits $ 0 c. Travel $ 0 d. Equipment $ 52,775 e. Supplies $ 0 f. Contractual $ 0 g. Construction $ 0 h. Other $ 0 i. Indirect Charges $ 0 Federal and Applicant Share Federal Share $ 50,137 Applicant Share $ 2,638 Federal Rate Sharing (%) 95/5 * Non-Federal Resources (The combined Non-Federal Resources must equal the Applicant Share of $ 2,638) a. Applicant $ 2638 b. State $ 0 c. Local $ 0 d. Other Sources $ 0 If you entered a value in Other Sources, include your explanation below. You can use this space to provide information on the project, cost share match, or if you have a indirect cost agreement with a federal agency. Total Budget $ 52,775 1 of 1 3/24/05 10:55

15 Narrative Statement Narrative Statement Project Description * Please provide your narrative statement in the space provided below. Include in your narrative, details regarding (1) your project s description and budget, (2) your organization s financial need, (3) the benefit to be derived from the cost of your project, and (4) how the activities requested in your application will help your organization s daily operations and how this grant will protect life and property. Abstract The Springfield First Aid Squad is an unaffiliated, emergency medical services organization under the rules for the 2005 Assistance for Firefighters Grant Program and requests funding to purchase essential communications equipment. The two-way radios will replace failing, aging, receive-only pagers and provides for a more efficient and rapid dispatch of emergency medical services, while enhancing the First Aid Squad's communications capabilities to manage resources during daily operations as well as during local, regional and national disasters. Grant funding will complete a project already in progress but stalled due to the exhaustion of other funding sources. Organizational background The Springfield First Aid Squad was founded on March 18, Today, the organization is comprised of 53 volunteers from the community and serves as the emergency medical services organization for the five square miles of the Township of Springfield in Union County, New Jersey. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, this includes 14,630 residents. In addition to both single and multi-family residences, the town has many commercial and industrial areas and includes portions of U.S. Highway 22, N.J. Route 24 and Interstate 78, including the Route 24/78 interchange. Springfield is also the proud home of the Baltusrol Golf Club, and its two 18-hole golf courses. Baltusrol has been the host of fifteen PGA/USGA golf events including seven U.S. Open championships and four U.S. Amateur Open championships including the prestigious 100th such tournament, held in During each of these events, the Squad played a major role in providing emergency medical services to employees, volunteers, players and spectators. In addition, the Squad, town and club are all currently involved in planning for the upcoming 2005 PGA Championship, scheduled for the week of August 8th at the Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield. The Championship is expected to draw 40,000 to 50,000 people each day. The Squad operates two ambulances and, as is the standard in New Jersey, provides basic life support at the EMT-B level. A "third service," the Squad is an independent, non-profit corporation and is recognized as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. In accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey, and to maintain its status as a volunteer EMS organization, the Squad does not charge for its services. Instead, funding for both operational and capital expenses come primarily from donations and the Squad's two annual fund drives. However, some operational expenses beyond what the Squad can fund internally are covered by local tax dollars in the form of a line item in the Township's budget and periodic expense reimbursements from the Township to the Squad. No member or officer of the Squad receives any compensation for the services he or she provides to the community. The Springfield Police Dept. responds to some medical calls in town, at the discretion of the police dispatcher and based on unit availability and the nature of the call. Police officers are generally trained in CPR and basic first aid, though one officer is an EMT as he is a member of a volunteer EMS organization in another town. The Springfield Fire Dept. also responds to some medical calls, primarily during the weekday, daytime hours when volunteer staffing at the Squad is at its lowest. Springfield firefighters are trained to either certified first responder (CFR) or EMT-B levels, though one is trained and certified as a paramedic, his second job. The police and fire departments are only able to provide first responder care until the Squad can arrive and/or assistance to the Squad after its arrival; neither organization has any patient transport capabilities. If a patient requires advanced life support, a hospital-based, non-transport ALS unit will respond on an 1 of 4 3/24/05 10:55

16 Narrative Statement "ALS intercept" basis. The unit s two paramedics can provide care on scene, after which one paramedic will ride with the Squad to provide continued ALS care during transport while the other will drive the paramedic vehicle behind the Squad's ambulance. This is the standard throughout most of New Jersey with exceptions generally limited to big cities where both ALS and BLS operate using transport ambulances. During 2004, the Squad responded to 1,276 calls for service. This number has been steadily increasing; for example, in 1998, the Squad was only needed for 1,113 calls. In addition to calls in Springfield, the Squad routinely provides mutual aid to neighboring towns including Millburn and Short Hills (Essex County, NJ) and the Borough of Mountainside, City of Summit and Township of Union (Union County, NJ). Due to Springfield's geographic location, the Squad is among the first group of mutual aid ambulances for major disasters at both Newark Liberty International Airport and Port Elizabeth/Port Newark, though thankfully there have been none in the recent past. The Squad did respond to the dormitory fire at Seton Hall University in 2000 and was dispatched to the World Trade Center in New York City even before the first tower had collapsed on September 11, Because of the change in the nature of the incident while still responding, the Squad was redirected away from "Ground Zero" and instead was among the first ten ambulances to respond to the Hoboken, NJ PATH train and ferry terminals to provide care and transport to evacuees of the terrorist attacks. Situational analysis If granted funding under this request, the Squad will purchase new portable and base station radio equipment. Currently, calls for emergency medical services in Springfield are routed to CenCom, a regional fire and EMS dispatch center. While the call-taker gathers information and provides pre-arrival instructions to the caller, another dispatcher must bring up the radio console on the Springfield police department's radio channel and wait for a break in transmissions. He or she must request permission to page from the police dispatcher and then alert the Squad as to the EMS call. Being dispatched on the police channel is a holdover from years past, before emergency medical dispatch protocols for formalized pre-arrival instructions, when EMS dispatch was handled by the police dispatcher and not specialized EMS dispatchers. However, when the transition was made, no funding was available to replace the paging receivers used by the Squad so this current arrangement was put into effect while a more comprehensive EMS communications plan was developed and put into place. Currently, Squad members use Motorola Minitor II alert monitors to receive the dispatch. These pagers vary in age and condition though most were purchased new approximately ten years ago. Some were used pagers, donated by Springfield's Office of Emergency Management and are of roughly the same age. A few were purchased used from radio dealers and service shops or via online auction sites such as ebay and the ages are uncertain due to relabeling after service, though all are believed to be in the nine to eleven year range. Motorola has long since discontinued this model and they ended servicing units and selling replacements parts for it in June of Currently, any repairs are done using parts stockpiled by third-party service centers or cannibalizing another pager -- take a battery door from this pager, a switch from that pager, a circuit board from a third, etc. After the alert, members of the Squad must contact the dispatch center to confirm receipt of the page, and coordinate that sufficient manpower is responding to cover the call. However, since the pagers can only receive, this must be done by telephone from home or work, delaying response, or by personal cell phone while en route. Additionally, the only way for members to coordinate the response is either through person-to-person telephone calls or via messages relayed through the dispatch center. This results in a slower response and makes it more confusing when coordinating multiple calls occurring simultaneously. Further, when a member responds directly to the patient's location, he or she is out of communication unless a personal cell phone is available and the cellular network is functioning. There is a concern for the responder s personal safety in this situation as well as an inability to communicate status updates to 2 of 4 3/24/05 10:55

17 Narrative Statement other responders until the remainder of the crew assembles and brings the ambulance and associated equipment to the scene. Once the crew assembles and responds with the ambulance, they do have access to a two-way portable radio. However, because of the limited amount of radio equipment, only one member can communicate with the dispatcher during an call and members cannot communicate amongst themselves to coordinate patient care information and equipment needs or share information regarding their own safety and status unless one member has the portable radio and another member is inside the ambulance near a mobile radio. An additional problem becomes the shared EMS dispatch channel by which the Squad communicates with the dispatcher. Originally designed only to support the advanced life support units in Union and Essex counties, over the years, use of this channel has grown to include those ALS agencies as well as BLS agencies in cities including East Orange, Irvington and Orange, the Village of South Orange, the boroughs of Mountainside and Watchung, and Clark and Warren townships, among others. With many agencies "competing" for airtime on a single radio channel, it is not uncommon to step on another unit's transmission and have neither message make it through. Plan for mitigation and grant request In early 2003, to address these problems and provide flexibility for the future, the Squad developed a plan to upgrade its radio systems and capabilities. Due to the radio frequency congestion in north/central New Jersey and the New York metropolitan area, it took over one year to coordinate a new radio frequency pair and obtain FCC licensing. During this time, funds were raised and used to pay for mobile radio upgrades in the two ambulances, replacing older equipment with a new radio that allows the Squad to speak with both the police and fire departments. (It is anticipated the Squad will receive portable radios able to communicate with both agencies later this year and therefore is not requesting funding to address that problem from this grant.) It took the Squad another nine months after licensure to arrange sufficient donations, when combined with capital savings, to cover the cost of the purchase and installation of the radio repeater for the new channel. At the time of this writing, installation is still pending though it is anticipated to be completed by May However, funding for the portable radios needed represents over one-third of the Squad's total operating budget for each year. Once base station radios are added to the project budget, the total cost represents one-half of the annual operating budget and the equal of sixty years of the Squad's annual communications budget. This, combined with the Squad's inability to raise this portion of the project costs, having already raised funds to cover previous parts of the plan, necessitate assistance from the AFG program. The Squad would propose to purchase sixty (60) VHF portable radios, one per member with a few as spares. Each radio would come with one battery and a single-unit charger though a spare battery per radio would also be purchased to allow each member to always have a charged battery ready at his or her home. The "digital voice storage" option would be purchased to allow dispatch pages to be stored within the radio and recalled for quick reference without needing to re-contact the dispatcher While the total cost of the radio and accessories, estimated at $700 per unit, would be somewhat more than the cost of receive-only pagers, the cost difference ($200-$250 per unit) is outweighed by the additional functionality of two-way equipment. These radios would allow members to receive dispatch alerts as well as communicate directly with the dispatcher and each other without relying on the commercial, cellular networks. The Squad would also propose to purchase two multi-unit battery chargers/conditioners in order to allow members to recharge their radios while in the Squad headquarters and prolong battery life (est. $850 each) and one copy of the radio programming software and needed cables ($75) to allow for changes to the radio programming to be done in-house instead of requiring a service call at $15-$25 per radio. Finally, the Squad would propose to purchase three base station radios. One would be located in Squad 3 of 4 3/24/05 10:55

18 Narrative Statement headquarters. To facilitate interagency operations, one would be located at the Springfield Police Dept./Springfield municipal building and one would be located at the Springfield Fire Dept./Office of Emergency Management. The cost estimate for the three base stations, including radio equipment, antenna, etc. and requisite installation work is estimated at $9000. The proposal specifies conventional analog VHF High-band radio equipment. As Project 25 radios are, by definition, for digital operations, that standard is not applicable in this case. While radios capable of operating in both Project 25 digital and conventional analog modes are available, they start at approximately three times the unit cost. It is believed that this money is better spent elsewhere given that there are no current or planned VHF Project 25 radio systems in the area. Instead, the Squad believes that its plan, already in progress but requiring grant funding to complete, meets the goals of the SAFECOM program by evaluating not only its internal needs but those of surrounding emergency response agencies both EMS and otherwise, by building an infrastructure that meets today's needs while remaining open to integration with new systems and technologies of the future, upgrading and enhancing the capabilities of first due personnel both for their own safety and operational efficiency but also to provide for the needs of the patient population served by the Squad through the timely delivery of emergency medical care. Older, less capable and less reliable equipment will be replaced with fully functional and warranteed equipment, with expanded capabilities to meet the changes that have taken place in EMS over the past ten years and that will follow in the years to come. Finally, the Squad's normal operating budget is preserved to cover routine maintenance and other communications needs instead of being drawn into a large-scale capital project. In keeping with these goals, the equipment specified maximizes compatibility with neighboring systems. All adjoining BLS agencies operate on conventional, analog radio systems, as is the ALS dispatch channel previously mentioned. Agreements are already in place for adjoining agencies to operate on the Squad's channel and for the Squad to operate on their respective channels for mutual aid/interoperability purposes. In addition, the State of New Jersey EMS Communications Plan specifies various common EMS radio channels for interoperability, mutual aid and disaster management purposes. Currently, when responding to a large-scale incident, the Squad only has a mobile radio and one portable radio per ambulance -- which does not meet the full specifications of radio equipment in the NJ EMS Communications Plan. All of these channels would be compatible with the proposed radio equipment, bringing the Squad in full compliance with the state plan, while also equipping each crew member with a radio for maximum flexibility; i.e., it would no longer be necessary to assign the crew as a group in order to keep them in communication as now individuals can be reassigned as needed while still remaining in full communication with the appropriate supervisor within the ICS/IMS command structure. Summary... * Please describe any grants that you currently have with DHS including the AFG, for example, 2002 AFG grant for vehicle or 2003 ODP grant for exercises. (Enter "N/A" if Not Applicable) N/A 4 of 4 3/24/05 10:55