Eastern Region

Fire & Life Safety Education Council

 

The mission of the NC Fire and Life Safety Education Council is to promote and provide safety education. It is the purpose of the Council to reduce the loss of life, propery, and injuries caused by fire or other emergency situations. The Eastern Region, which represents 35 North Carolina Counties, strives to achieve this mission throught networking with others to share ideas about injury prevention. We firmly beieve that education is the foundation of prevention. The mission of the Eastern Region is to be a regional coalition that excels in fire and life safety education.

The Eastern Regional North Carolina F&LSE Council meets quarterly to discuss region business and attend valuable fire and life safety education training. Quarterly meetings are hosted by a member of the council from 10am - 2pm on the first Wednesday of May, August, & November. The final quarterly meeting is held each year at the annual Fire and Life Safety Educator's Conference. The annual conference is hosted in a different region of the state each year and is hosted by the NC State FLSE Council and the Office of the State Fire Marshal.

Officers

Chair - John M. Winders (JWinders@ncflse.com) 910-253-2572

Vice- Chair   John Atwell

Secretary -

Immediate Past Chair - Ryan Merrill (RMerrill@ncflse.com) 910-675-0237

Council Represenatives -  Charles Drew

                                    Tony Smart

Upcoming Meetings

Date / Time

Location

Training Class

May 2nd 10 AM

ERO  OSFM

New Bern

 

August 1st, 10 AM

Wilmington

 By laws

 Of

Eastern Region

North Carolina Fire & Life Safety Education Council

  

ARTICLE I - Name:


The organization shall be known as the “Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council".

  

ARTICLE II - Objectives:

 

  1. Build a strong coalition.
    1. Assist / cooperate with other injury prevention / advocacy organizations
    2. Seek opportunities to serve
    3. Be proactive v. reactive

 2.     Facilitate effective communication.

    1. Distribute information to members
    2. Create networking opportunities for ourselves
    3. Coordinate efforts of members

 

  1. Recruit New Members
    1. Think outside the box.

 

  1. Stay Safe

  

ARTICLE III - Eligibility:


Any person actively engaged in promoting fire and/or life safety education may become a member of this organization. 

  

ARTICLE IV - Membership:

 

1.                   Membership shall consist of nominees necessary to duly represent fire and life safety education programs, and public fire education and burn prevention organizations throughout the eastern region.  The counties comprising the eastern region shall be Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Pitt, Sampson, Tyrell, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson.

 

2.                   Membership positions shall be open to all representatives throughout the eastern region.

ARTICLE V – Officers:

 

1.  Officers of the Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council shall be Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary / Treasurer, and two Members-at-Large.

 

2.       Nominees for position of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall have been a member of the Association for a minimum of one year.

 

3.       Officers of the Association shall be accredited representatives elected by a majority vote of active members present.

 

4.        No one member may hold any one office for a period exceeding two (2) consecutive years with the exception of the Secretary/Treasurer.

 

5.        Election of officers shall be held at the North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Educators Conference each year.

 

6.        The five officers of the association shall comprise the members of the Executive Board.

 

ARTICLE VI - Duties of Officers:

 

       1.  The Chairperson shall preside at all meetings and conduct all business. The Chairperson shall call special meetings at the request of a majority of the Executive Board or when he/she may deem necessary. The Chairperson shall attend all Executive Board meetings.

 

  1. The Vice Chairperson shall assume all duties in the absence of the Chairperson.

 

  1. The Secretary / Treasurer shall keep a record of the attendance at all meetings, record and forward to all members, by email & posting on the state Fire & Life Safety Educators web site (http://www.ncflse.com/),  the minutes of the meetings, Executive Board and special meetings. He/she shall be custodian of the minute book and all records, correspondence, and literature pertaining to the business of the Association. He/she shall keep the members informed as to the progress of the Association's business and shall record and answer all correspondence promptly and in an efficient manner. He/she shall notify in writing all members of the meeting.

ARTICLE VII - Committees:

 

1.       The Executive Board shall consist of five (5) elected officers of the association and shall deal with business as may come before it and make recommendations regarding the business of the Association within the confines of the bylaws as may be deemed necessary. The Chairperson of this Committee shall be the Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council Chairperson.

 

2.       Special committees may be elected by the members or may be appointed by the Chairperson with aid of the Executive Board.

 

3.       Each special committee shall elect a chairperson who shall be responsible for conducting all meetings of said committee.

 

4.        The Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary / Treasurer, & (2) Members-at-Large shall be the five members serving on the State Council; except in the event that one of the Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council members is holding a state office, at which time he/she would be allowed to finish his/her term and one of the Members-at-Large will be elected for the other position.

ARTICLE VIII – Meetings:

1.   Meetings of the membership shall be convened quarterly.

 

2.       Executive Committee meetings shall be called at the discretion of the Chairperson or upon the wishes of a majority of the Executive Board.

 

3.       Special committee meetings shall be convened upon appointment or election of the committee and shall meet at a location and time agreed upon by a majority of the committee members.

 

  1. Five voting members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any scheduled meeting.

 

  1. All decisions shall be made by a majority vote (51%) of voting members in attendance, provided a quorum is present.  All members will be allowed to discuss the issue, provide input, and air concerns.

 

  1. Rules contained in Robert’s Rules of Order Revised shall govern the council in all cases where applicable and in which they are not inconsistent with the bylaws of the Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council.

ARTICLE IX - Dues:

 

(Reserved for future use)

 

ARTICLE X – Amendment of Bylaws:

 

The bylaws of the Eastern Region North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Education Council may be amended by a two-thirds vote of those present at any scheduled meeting, provided a quorum is present.  Written notice of the proposed amendment shall be sent to all voting members a minimum of two weeks prior to the next meeting at which voting will take place.

 

ARTICLE XI – Ratification:

 

These bylaws go into effect upon a majority vote (51%) of the voting members.

 

Minutes of Last Meeting

Notes from August 1, 2007 Meeting of North Carolina Fire and Life Safety Council, Eastern Region

 

In Attendance:

 

John Winders                           John Atwell                              Jeremy Blalock

Frank Conklin                          Tom Floriekwicz                       Renae Harris   

Ryan Merrill                             Charles Peaden                        Henry Watson

Dale Whitfield               Linwood Hines             Meg Langston

Arlene Acton (Guest Speaker)

 

The meeting began at 11:05 AM with a welcome and light lunch.  Chair John Winders began with a round table discussion of some of the activities that were being accomplished in the different areas.

 

Sunny Point – Regular fire prevention classes, safety briefings for contractors

 

Southport – 4th of July festival starts Saturday before 4th and last 5 days.  Parade, tours, many activities

 

New Hanover Co. – Car seat checks

 

State OSFM Eastern Region – will give updates later

 

Calabash Fire Corps – Took Safety House to various sites and presented fire prevention training

 

John Atwell – Willing to help in any way

 

City of Greenville -  Part of National EMS week open house; neighborhood services, smoke detector program – 31 house installed, summer camps, Sparky on fire truck. In schools driver education presentations, Friday tours, child safety seat check, and clown program

 

City of Wilmington/New Hanover Co. – Meg has only been on job 3 days nothing to report.

 

City of New Bern – bicycle rodeos, 2 public display events, fire extinguisher presentation, station tours, public displays

 

Brunswick County EMS – Several beach fire departments do water safety programs.  John Winders reminded participants to keep time sheets and he will collect them once a year prior to December 1.  If you want, you can send them more frequently and he will collect.

 

Henry Watson, New Bern – Law enforcement has something coming up next week, they may tag along.

 

John Winders reminded everyone that Fire Prevention week is coming October 7 through 13.  He would like to have videotapes or CD/DVDs of activities if possible to view in November.  CD or DVD would be best.

 

John Atwell brought up that a car wash in Wilmington has a "fire prevention" drawing of some kind going on at the car wash.  He did not know all of the specifics but asked if anyone knew of the car wash and what the drawing was all about.  Chief Watson from New Bern stated he had encountered something like this in the past where it is a company looking to sell fire prevention systems to people for their homes, particularly elderly citizens.  He has been invited by senior citizens to attend the meeting with the company representative and listen to the presentation, at which time he identified himself after the presentation.  He suggests if you hear of anyone "winning" the prize to have them contact the local chief and have someone attend the meeting.

 

Henry Watson seconded the motion to close out the roundtable. (I did not hear who made the motion)  Motion carried unanimously.

 

At noon, John Winders opened the Business meeting.  He read the minutes from the previous meeting.  Renee from the OSFM noted one correction to the minutes.  The "Noodle" pick up item was in reference to Child Passenger Safety rather than "Swimming Safety."  She said they use the noodles to teach proper positioning of newborn's in car seats.  Tom P. made a motion to accept minutes with the one change, seconded by Henry Watson.  No discussion, motion passed unanimously.

 

Ryan Merrill stated that "Safe Kids" has incorporated Brunswick and Pender Counties with New Hanover County to form the Cape Fear Safety Kids.

 

John Winders stated that he did not make the May state meeting but sent a message we wanted and are ready to have the 2009 conference in Greenville.  Next state meeting is August 22 (Wednesday) at Winston-Salem Marriott.  Contacted Convention Center associated with Hilton Hotel.  According to Ryan Merrill, the previous location is no longer a viable location for the conference and it needs to be moved.  John winders asked for the Council's permission to make contact to get this going.  OSFM typically handles contracts.  Conference Committee finds location and sets up class schedules.  Today is not too soon to form Conference Committee.  Last one had 5 members.  Chair and 1 person at least should be from Greenville area.  John Winders asked for suggestions/ideas.  Discussion followed.  Chief Hines said that Chief Smart and he are prepared to have the conference in Greenville.  They will work with the OSFM to do whatever they need for a successful conference.  Henry Watson made a motion for Chief Smart to be chair.  Motion amended to state Chief Smart and Chief Hines to be co-chairs and to contact others to serve on the committee.  John Atwell seconded revised motion.

 

Chief Hines related that Chief Smart sent word that he would like to have representatives from each city work on the Committee. No further discussion, no objections, motion approved.

 

Renee from the OSFM stated that the Child Passenger Safety conference has a date change.  It will now be March 13 and 14 rather than what was previously reported.  There will be CPS technical training September 10-13 in New Bern and October 29-30 in Wilmington.  You can get information on any of this from www.buckleupnc.org.  OSFM is also working on a gun safety handout.  She has hand outs on portable generator safety and posters on same subject.  Please take some and she can send more if you need them.  OSFM will be handing them out at the Chiefs Association meeting in August. 

 

Fire Team USA is November 14th and 15th, possibly in Pinehurst.

 

World Burn Congress will be in Research Triangle Park in October.

 

Firefighter Relief Fund is the former Firemen's Relief Fund.  This is only a name change.

 

John Winders asked participants to think of ways to increase participation in the Council and meetings.  Elizabeth City, Wilson, and Little Washington had sent e-mails that they could not make it this time.  One possibility proposed was to have County/District quarterly meetings prior to Council quarterly meeting.  Perhaps more could attend the local meetings and send thoughts/ideas to the Council meeting.  The local meeting could perhaps be nighttime meetings.  Please give it some thoughts and revisit at November meeting.

 

There was no New Business for this meeting.

 

Next meeting will be in Greenville November 7th.

 

Henry Watson made a motion, seconded by Ryan Merrill to adjourn the business meeting.  No discussion followed, no objections voiced, motion passed.  Business meeting adjourned at 1:10PM

 

John Winders introduced Arlene Acton, Volunteer Coordinator of Calabash Fire Corps.  Arlene gave a power point presentation on what the Corps is and does.  She fielded questions from the participants.  After the presentation, John Winders inquired of the group if they felt the Fire Corps should be part of the Council since they do fire prevention and life safety training. 

 

The program ended about 1:30 PM.