Discussion and Review of Fire Department Operations, Activities and Outlook Report — Staff Report

City of Tiffin Fire Department | Progress Report | Tom Hartshorn Policies and Administrative Systems Another significant area of focus has been reviewing and developing policies and guidelines. Many of these have not been published yet, due to on-going work towards developing a robust and thorough policy manual. Work has included development and revisions of policies addressing: • Personal protective equipment • Uniforms • Surveillance Cameras in the station • Training • Response guidelines The purpose of this work is to reduce reliance on informal practices and create consistent expectations that remain in place regardless of who occupies a particular leadership position. Training and Operational Readiness Improving training and operational readiness has remained a major priority. The department has been working towards a more deliberate training program that emphasizes fundamental firefighter skills and encourages everyone to participate. The department had a culture that did not encourage firefighters to conduct additional hands-on training beyond what was put out by the training division. This was evident by there only being one organized optional group training in 2025. Since arriving, this was due to processes in place related to getting the training approved and recorded. Within the first week I changed that expectation and made it clear that our members are encouraged to train on their own or in small groups and removed some of the barriers to allowing that to happen. Since that time, the Training Captain has offered 9 optional trainings to the department and conducted 4 small group or one-on-one training sessions with members seeking additional training. Other training and operational readiness accomplishments include: • Reinstating the Training Captain. • Providing the Training Captain with an overview of what the minimum state requirements are for on-going firefighter and EMS training. • Mentoring the Training Captain on the development of a training plan for the department. • Purchased and implemented online EMS training platform to ensure minimum EMS CEU’s are offered for EMT certification. Also allows members to complete training on their own time.