Our friend Tom McGee writes about South Walton Fire District its outstanding emergency services. It is certainly an unique organization in Walton County delivering professional emergency fire and medical services as well as fire safety and beach safety programs. See his story below.
Tom is currently a member of the SWFD Board of Fire Commissioners (Seat #2) and will be running for election for this seat in the upcoming Nov. 4 election (Tom was recently appointed to fill the seat after incumbent Harry Mishap moved out of the district).
Tom asks residents for your vote this upcoming election. This is a non-partisan election (SWFD Board Member District 2).
Thomas P. McGee | SWFD Board Member District 2
Tom is a a resident of South Walton with wife Karen for 17 years. Tom is from Louisiana and offers some impressive experiences and qualifications from his previous law work as well as his participation in Walton County groups and committees over the years. Readers will remember Tom's column VOIR DIRE: To Speak the Truth about courtroom sagas and interesting yarns (Walton Sun).
Qualifications
Tulane Law Graduate
Retired Judge
Former Assistant Prosecutor
Former Chair Walton County Planning Commission
Former Chair TDC Beach Safety Committee
Former Chair TDC Beach Activities Committee
Past President South Walton Community Council
Member Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County
Co-founder and Past President of Camel Club, Inc.
Member Advisory Board of Walton County Children's Advocacy Center
SoWal.com writer
Tom is quite a story teller! See his blog at justiceormercy.com.
_______________________________
South Walton Fire District is a Unique Organization in Walton County
by Tom McGee
7/2014
Our South Walton Fire District is a unique organization, well run by dedicated, professional folks. We who live and visit here should feel fortunate to have these life-saving services.
Since being elected to the South Walton Fire District board in April, I have had the good fortune to see the workings of our SWFD and meet many of the dedicated, professional folks who run the organization.
I imagine that most of our residents in South Walton County do not know that better than two thirds of the calls we get at SWFD are medical in nature. For example, this May we responded to 436 incidents. Of that number, 285 were medical in nature. We estimate that most of the medical calls are to assist our many visitors.
Most South Walton residents may be surprised to learn that all of our 87 fire fighters are EMT certified and far better than fifty percent are Paramedic certified. This makes me feel secure. These well-trained folks saved my bacon last January when I had to be transported to the hospital on an emergency basis.
Our 911 system is state-of-the-art. We operate it in conjunction with The Walton County Sheriff’s Office. When a 911 call comes into the central office in Defuniak Springs, within seconds it is transferred to our dispatchers at our station 3, located at 911 County Hwy. 393, if the emergency is in South Walton. These well-trained dispatchers obtain necessary information from the caller and relay it to the crew that is already on its way to attend to our needs. This gives the firefighters vital information about the situation they are about to encounter and lets them prepare for their jobs. They already knew what my needs were when they arrived to assist me. This saved valuable time.
Our administrative staff is lean, but efficient. I was amazed to learn that only one person, Carol Martin, does all our payrolls and expenditures and in conjunction with a small volunteer board oversees our pension fund--which is very healthy.
Chief Rick Talbert runs the SWFD assisted by Chief Ryan Crawford, who handles training matters, and Chief Marc Anderson, who sees to our five fire stations and the equipment necessary to protect our community. Fire Marshal Sammy Sanchez provides community education and inspections to insure our safety. Chief Talbert welcomes the opportunity to appear before local groups to more fully explain his business.
Nine years ago, in conjunction with the Walton County Tourist Development Commission, SWFD was awarded the very active Beach Safety Program to protect us locals and the two point six million plus visitors we expect this year. Gary Wise, an expert on these issues, who hails from Australia heads up this most important business that gets bigger each year.
By this time last year Gary’s well-trained life guards made 38,535 contacts on our beaches. By the end of May this year, Gary’s folks have already made 58,727. Of our contacts this year, 44,401 were visitors. SWFD’s primary mission is to prevent folks from getting into trouble in the waters by maintaining our flag system and personally warning swimmers when our rip currents are dangerous. But we assist when we must.
We presently cooperate with several beach communities to provide these lifeguard services and are seeking the cooperation of the local communities along the beach. It only makes sense for our whole community to take on this necessary responsibility being that we have twenty-six miles of beach to protect.
I am told by our firefighters on duty that the Beach Safety Program has greatly reduced their need to perform water rescues.
My father was a fireman all his life. When I was born, we lived over a fire station. During WWII, when I was eight years old I had the good luck to visit with my Dad on weekends and go on calls with him when he was the Assistant Fire Chief at Camp Livingston, Louisiana where soldiers trained for D-Day.
I am proud to be a part of our fine South Walton Fire District. I hope our residents appreciate how lucky we are to have such an outstanding department.
Tom is currently a member of the SWFD Board of Fire Commissioners (Seat #2) and will be running for election for this seat in the upcoming Nov. 4 election (Tom was recently appointed to fill the seat after incumbent Harry Mishap moved out of the district).
Tom asks residents for your vote this upcoming election. This is a non-partisan election (SWFD Board Member District 2).
Thomas P. McGee | SWFD Board Member District 2
Tom is a a resident of South Walton with wife Karen for 17 years. Tom is from Louisiana and offers some impressive experiences and qualifications from his previous law work as well as his participation in Walton County groups and committees over the years. Readers will remember Tom's column VOIR DIRE: To Speak the Truth about courtroom sagas and interesting yarns (Walton Sun).
Qualifications
Tulane Law Graduate
Retired Judge
Former Assistant Prosecutor
Former Chair Walton County Planning Commission
Former Chair TDC Beach Safety Committee
Former Chair TDC Beach Activities Committee
Past President South Walton Community Council
Member Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County
Co-founder and Past President of Camel Club, Inc.
Member Advisory Board of Walton County Children's Advocacy Center
SoWal.com writer
Tom is quite a story teller! See his blog at justiceormercy.com.
_______________________________
South Walton Fire District is a Unique Organization in Walton County
by Tom McGee
7/2014
Our South Walton Fire District is a unique organization, well run by dedicated, professional folks. We who live and visit here should feel fortunate to have these life-saving services.
Since being elected to the South Walton Fire District board in April, I have had the good fortune to see the workings of our SWFD and meet many of the dedicated, professional folks who run the organization.
I imagine that most of our residents in South Walton County do not know that better than two thirds of the calls we get at SWFD are medical in nature. For example, this May we responded to 436 incidents. Of that number, 285 were medical in nature. We estimate that most of the medical calls are to assist our many visitors.
Most South Walton residents may be surprised to learn that all of our 87 fire fighters are EMT certified and far better than fifty percent are Paramedic certified. This makes me feel secure. These well-trained folks saved my bacon last January when I had to be transported to the hospital on an emergency basis.
Our 911 system is state-of-the-art. We operate it in conjunction with The Walton County Sheriff’s Office. When a 911 call comes into the central office in Defuniak Springs, within seconds it is transferred to our dispatchers at our station 3, located at 911 County Hwy. 393, if the emergency is in South Walton. These well-trained dispatchers obtain necessary information from the caller and relay it to the crew that is already on its way to attend to our needs. This gives the firefighters vital information about the situation they are about to encounter and lets them prepare for their jobs. They already knew what my needs were when they arrived to assist me. This saved valuable time.
Our administrative staff is lean, but efficient. I was amazed to learn that only one person, Carol Martin, does all our payrolls and expenditures and in conjunction with a small volunteer board oversees our pension fund--which is very healthy.
Chief Rick Talbert runs the SWFD assisted by Chief Ryan Crawford, who handles training matters, and Chief Marc Anderson, who sees to our five fire stations and the equipment necessary to protect our community. Fire Marshal Sammy Sanchez provides community education and inspections to insure our safety. Chief Talbert welcomes the opportunity to appear before local groups to more fully explain his business.
Nine years ago, in conjunction with the Walton County Tourist Development Commission, SWFD was awarded the very active Beach Safety Program to protect us locals and the two point six million plus visitors we expect this year. Gary Wise, an expert on these issues, who hails from Australia heads up this most important business that gets bigger each year.
By this time last year Gary’s well-trained life guards made 38,535 contacts on our beaches. By the end of May this year, Gary’s folks have already made 58,727. Of our contacts this year, 44,401 were visitors. SWFD’s primary mission is to prevent folks from getting into trouble in the waters by maintaining our flag system and personally warning swimmers when our rip currents are dangerous. But we assist when we must.
We presently cooperate with several beach communities to provide these lifeguard services and are seeking the cooperation of the local communities along the beach. It only makes sense for our whole community to take on this necessary responsibility being that we have twenty-six miles of beach to protect.
I am told by our firefighters on duty that the Beach Safety Program has greatly reduced their need to perform water rescues.
My father was a fireman all his life. When I was born, we lived over a fire station. During WWII, when I was eight years old I had the good luck to visit with my Dad on weekends and go on calls with him when he was the Assistant Fire Chief at Camp Livingston, Louisiana where soldiers trained for D-Day.
I am proud to be a part of our fine South Walton Fire District. I hope our residents appreciate how lucky we are to have such an outstanding department.
