City Council Newsletter - 03/15/07

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Dressed in full firefighter gear, including helmet, mask, turnout jacket/pants, gloves, and carrying a full air park, it took Roi just 18 minutes and 15 seconds to climb the 69 flights of stairs and 1,311 steps to the observation deck of the Columbia Center (formerly Bank of America Tower) that overlooks downtown Seattle. The Columbia Center is the second tallest building west of the Mississippi and the climb amounted to 788 feet of vertical elevation. Whew! Roi has been a volunteer firefighter with Goshen Fire Department for two years. He is currently an EMT- Basic and is working towards completing Paramedic certification to achieve his goal of becoming a career firefighter. The 16th Annual Scott Firefighter Stairclimb surpassed all expectations, raising $335,000 – $110,000 more than last year's fundraising total. The event is the largest individual firefighting competition in the world, with individuals from 16 states, Canada, and New Zealand participating. For information, contact Rich Faye, 682-5525. Windfall Series Brings Writers to Eugene Public Library On Tuesday, March 20, the Windfall Reading Series features memoirist Jodi Varon with poet and essayist David Axelrod at the Downtown Eugene Public Library at 7 p.m. Meet and hear the writers in person, and enjoy refreshments at intermission; authors’ works are available for purchase and signing. Admission is free. Jodi Varon ’s recent memoir is Drawing to an Inside Straight: The Legacy of an Absent Father. It’s the bittersweet story of growing up Jewish in 1960’s West Denver, the daughter of a Ladino-speaking cattleman gambler whose luck turned catastrophic when he wagered the family business. (“Ladino” is a Judeo-Spanish language primarily spoken among Sephardic Jewish communities.) “A richly evocative portrait . . . It will move readers, sometimes to laughter, other times to disgust or tears — but always we are moved” (Rocky Mountain News). David Axelrod ’s collection The Cartographer's Melancholy won the 2005 Spokane Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2006 Oregon Book Award. In lean, fresh language, this book explores fate, stillness, travel, power, and the connections between personal and political history. Axelrod is a widely-published poet and essayist whose works include Troubled Intimacies, a book of nonfiction pieces about the interior rural West. Varon and Axelrod are married and colleagues at Eastern Oregon University, where they co-edit the literary and fine arts journal Basalt. The Windfall Reading Series is sponsored by the Eugene Public Library, Lane Literary Guild, Friends of the Library, Eugene Public Library Foundation, and the Cultural Services Division of Lane Arts Council. For more information, call the Eugene Public Library at 682-5450. Emergency Medical Technician Recertification Process Underway The Eugene Fire & EMS Department is preparing for the bi-annual Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) recertification process. Every two years, all levels of EMTs (paramedic, intermediate and basic) are required to recertify through the Oregon Department of Human Services – Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Section. Currently, EMT-Paramedics are required to have 24 hours of continuing education and a myriad of other skills associated with high-risk, low-frequency skills. The EMT- Intermediate scope of practice has changed, thus changing the recertification requirements from 14 hours to 42 hours. EMT-Basics will need to complete 25 hours of continuing education to re-certify at the basic level. It is anticipated that by the year 2009, an increase in the required number of hours of continuing education for Paramedics will total approximately 50 hours. Last year, Eugene Fire & EMS personnel responded to 19,441 calls for service, an increase of 7% over the last two years. With the added increases in the State of Oregon mandated training hours for both Fire and EMS certifications, and the increase in demand for service in the community, Fire & EMS EUGENE CITY COUNCIL NEWSLETTER PAGE 4 March 15, 2007