Address points to work, calls of safety forces

Mayor highlights training

Fairport Harbor Village’s Fire and Police departments did more than answer plenty of calls for service in 2019.

Village safety forces also increased their expertise through training and secured new equipment to better serve residents.

Those points were conveyed by village Mayor Timothy Manross as part of his recent State of the Village address.

Fairport Harbor Fire Department, under the leadership of Chief Bob Lloyd, received 1,050 requests for service in 2019, Manross said.

“The majority of the department’s runs are for emergency medical services,” the mayor said, noting that more than 600 EMS runs were conducted last year.

Also in 2019, the village Fire Department recorded a 12 percent increase in advanced life support runs.

“This is due to the fact that we now have a minimum of one paramedic (always) on duty,” Manross said.

Of the 600 total emergency medical service runs during 2019, 311 were advanced life support runs, during which services such as EKGs, IVs, cardiac-arrest management or administering medication, were performed by a paramedic, village Fire Chief Bob Lloyd explained.

The total also included 152 calls in which only basic emergency medical services were provided. The remaining 137 EMS calls were ones in which patients were assisted or evaluated at the scene, but not transported to the hospital, Lloyd said.

Last year, Fairport firefighters also completed more than 1,600 hours of training, an increase of 400 hours compared with 2018. Training topics in 2019 covered areas such as fire, EMS and water rescues.

The department also continues to have LakeHealth provide monthly training and receives quarterly training from the Northern Ohio Trauma System.

Some of the department operational upgrades included:

• The purchase of new hoses for both fire engines.

• The purchase of a RAD57 device, which measures a person’s carbon monoxide levels, with the help of donations from Fairport Harbor Veterans of War Post 7754 and Lyondell Basell’s Fairport Harbor manufacturing plant.

“This device has been used several times for carbon-monoxide and smoke-inhalation patients,” Manross said.

• Fourteen new self-contained breathing apparatus devices were purchased as part of a regional grant with the Painesville, Painesville Township and Mentor-onthe-Lake fire departments.

Manross applauded the village Fire Department for stretching village tax dollars further by securing donations and grants to help defray equipment costs.

“They do a great job of reaching out and partnering with anybody that they can to continue to provide the excellent service that we’ve come to expect,” he said.

Fairport’s Police Department, headed by Chief J.P. Leonard, answered 3,433 calls for service and generated 4,064 reports in 2019.

Village police officers completed training in 2019 on topics and activities such as Tasers, weapons, evidence collection, response to active-shooter reports and incidents, search and seizure, first aid/CPR and critical first aid.

Manross also shared statistics on the performance of village Police K-9 Sid, who completed his first full year of service with the department last year.

In 2019, some of Sid’s activities included 34 narcotics searches, 10 building searches, two area searches and 12 tracking assignments.

Manross described Sid as a tremendous asset to the Police Department and community.

“He’s more than just there for looks,” Manross said. “This is a working dog and working member of our department.”

BILL DEBUS — THE NEWS-HERALD Fairport Harbor Mayor Timothy Manross, standing, delivers his State of the Village address on Feb. 18at the village Senior Center. Seated at left is village Fiscal Officer Chris Paquette.