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Technology
and Education:
1974 - 1982
Bower Hill
held
its first
Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class in the fall of 1974. Within
five
years, an EMT would be present on every ambulance call. The first
EMT-Paramedics, who were trained to provide more advanced care,
finished
training in 1976. As Ambulance Service became EMS,
the department upgraded its equipment to keep pace with the new
technology. A
new specification for ambulances came from the United States General
Service
Administration. Officially known as GSA Specification KKK-A-1822, it
defined
the
minimum standards for what an ambulance should be. The old suburban and
hearse types
were not in compliance with this specification. In 1978, the department
purchased a new ambulance that met the specification. It was a Dodge
van with
a Wayne Coach “Medicruiser” high-top
conversion
(known in the KKK-A-1822 spec as a “Type II” ambulance). Early the next
year, Bower
Hill Volunteer Fire Department and Holiday Park VFD in Plum Borough
became the
first two volunteer fire department ambulance services in Allegheny
County
to be awarded the Certificate of Excellence
under the
Voluntary Ambulance Service Certification (VASC) program. Bower Hill
would
maintain VASC certification until it was superseded by mandatory
statewide
ambulance service licensure in 1985.
Technology
and
education
were changing how the department provided ambulance service. The same
was also
true of firefighting. Changes in building construction and the
materials used
in building contents meant that fires were now more dangerous to fight
than
ever. Lightweight truss construction meant that roofs and floors would
collapse
much earlier and with less warning. Plastics and synthetic fibers had
almost
totally replaced wood and cloth in furnishings, and emitted toxic smoke
and
gases when they burned. Firefighting classes stressed the importance
of
preplanning. Fire officers had to know about the architecture and
potential
hazards of the buildings in the area, and have plans ready to meet the
dangers
they presented. Firefighters had to be better protected than ever.
Though
synthetic
materials presented the new threat, they would also provide the new
defense.
The cotton duck bunker coat was replaced by the Nomex
and Kevlar turnout suit, complete with coat and pants, and the
fiberglass
helmet was replaced by new lightweight polycarbonate models. Heavy
steel SCBA
cylinders were replaced by fiberglass, aluminum and resin composite tanks at
about half
the weight. Polycarbonate and lightweight alloy hose nozzles and hose
couplings
replaced
heavy brass. Fire engines became more powerful and reliable. On
August
13, 1977, Bower
Hill took delivery of its first diesel
powered fire apparatus, a new 1977 American LaFrance
Century Series pumper of 1500GPM capacity,
which
replaced the 1957 pumper from the same
manufacturer.
All this assured that the department kept pace with the hazards it
encountered.
Meanwhile,
the
financial
needs of the department were the same as always. Friday Night Bingo was
a
mainstay of financial support. But it was still being held in the
garage bays
of the station, and on frigid winter nights, it became difficult to
keep the
water in the fire engines from freezing while they were parked outside.
So, in
1980, the department added a second story to the station building. The
upstairs
meeting hall was dedicated to the memory of the deceased members of the
department. In addition to housing the Bingo, it served as the main
meeting
hall for department meetings and classes, and was available for rental.
The
department's fire prevention programs began to change during this era.
All firefighters know that the
easiest
fire to fight is the one than never starts. Fire prevention has been a
part of
the Bower Hill Fire Department’s operations since its earliest
days.
(In
fact, one of the most useful documents in preparing the first sections
of this history was a
Fire Prevention Bulletin issued by the department in 1929). From the
1950s to the early 1980s Bower Hill sponsored a Fire Prevention
Week poster
contest in the local public and parochial elementary schools. Beginning
in the
1970s, the department developed a program for preschoolers as well, and
presented it at daycare and preschool classes. By the 1980s, the school
population was declining and the department began to focus on home fire
prevention. It offered
free
smoke detector Christmas ornaments to anyone who donated to the annual
fund
drive one year in the 1980s, and began to offer "Tot-Finder" and
immobile occupant identification stickers to residents.
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