Station 1902

[00:00] Ed Mann: Foreign.

[00:14] Central Pennsylvania. Welcome to our station 1902 podcast.

[00:18] I'm your host, Ed Mann, director of training and education for Providence.

[00:23] This podcast is our live monthly webinars are just one way Providence gives back to those who serve our communities.

[00:31] Today I had the pleasure of having one of our very own Provident employees, Trevor Lightfield.

[00:38] Trevor, welcome to the show.

[00:40] I'm happy to have you with us today.

[00:43] How about telling our listeners a little bit about yourself?

[00:46] Trevor Lightfield: You bet. Thanks for having me, Ed.

[00:48] Like you said, my name is Trevor Lightfield. I am a director of business development here at Provident, which means I work with brokers and local insurance agents to insure fire departments, ambulance services,

[01:04] law enforcement agencies,

[01:06] and various other public entities across the Midwest.

[01:10] And then aside from that, I'm also the captain of our rescue squad here in Pierce, South Dakota, a diver and an instructor as well.

[01:21] Ed Mann: So where do you actually live, Trevor?

[01:24] Trevor Lightfield: I live in Pierce, South Dakota, right in the middle.

[01:29] We are the capital city, and our claim to fame is we are the last capital city in the United States to have a volunteer fire service.

[01:41] Ed Mann: Wow. That's a pretty good thing to be able to boast about.

[01:47] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah. Yep. Kind of. Cool.

[01:49] Ed Mann: So just out of curiosity, because we're having problems nationally, how are you making out with recruiting and retention?

[01:59] Trevor Lightfield: You know, that's,

[02:01] you know, whether you're a large department or a small department, that's kind of everybody's issue right now.

[02:09] So, I mean, we are with the state government. We're kind of a revolving door in our community.

[02:15] But, you know, we try to be out there and in the community as much as possible.

[02:19] You know, getting radio ads out there, you know, different things, and just trying to be in front of everybody as much as we can,

[02:28] being positive and,

[02:31] you know, what can we do for you and your family? And,

[02:35] you know, this could be a good thing for you to join the department,

[02:38] meet more people,

[02:39] and be involved in the community.

[02:42] Ed Mann: So the bottom line is you folks are out actively recruiting people. You're not hoping they'll just come knock on the door.

[02:50] Trevor Lightfield: Right? Yeah. Yeah. Trying to do, you know, different things and be in front of people.

[02:56] You know, that face to face is big in our area and trying to recruit that way.

[03:02] Ed Mann: Okay, great.

[03:03] So, look, knowing that you have experience in the emergency services and the insurance industry,

[03:09] so before we dive into the emergency services background, I want to pick your brain a little bit about some of the lessons you've learned related to insurance and emergency services.

[03:22] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah, you bet. Well, you know, of course, my advice would be to ensure the best with the best. And the best being Provident, right, Ed?

[03:31] Ed Mann: Absolutely.

[03:32] Trevor Lightfield: You know, insurance advice that I would give is protect your members.

[03:37] You know, when, when you think of insurance, you think,

[03:41] you know, insurance for equipment,

[03:43] stations, apparatuses,

[03:45] loose equipment, et cetera. But who ultimately shows up and makes those wheels turn on those emergency vehicles.

[03:54] So, you know, by doing that, you can offer accidental death and dismemberment coverage, accident in health,

[04:00] you know, coverage for cancer counseling. Those are two big items in the fire service right now.

[04:07] But there's many different benefits and ways of protecting your members and their families in the event of an accident.

[04:15] Another piece of advice I would give back to the PNC side of things is don't be underinsured.

[04:22] You know, accurate valuations, whether that be on apparatuses, buildings, equipment,

[04:28] you name it.

[04:30] In the event of a substantial loss,

[04:32] you don't want to come up short on coverage.

[04:35] However, you also don't want to be overinsured and paying unnecessary premiums.

[04:41] So going through your department's insurance periodically,

[04:44] you know, working with that local agent on adequately covering your emergency service,

[04:50] in my mind is very important.

[04:53] Ed Mann: So you mentioned cancer. So we both know, and I'm sure most of our listeners won't know this.

[04:59] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah.

[05:00] Ed Mann: Provident now has an optional cancer rider available Probably, I think, 25 or 26 states right now, and I understand that we're going to go out to get it approved in all states.

[05:12] So talk briefly about the optional cancer rider.

[05:16] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah, so we, we have a cancer rider,

[05:18] as you know, that we can add on,

[05:21] you know, to an accident and health policy.

[05:24] We've seen a lot of departments, you know, very interested in this going this way.

[05:30] Like we said, it's one more way to protect your members.

[05:33] You talked about recruiting and retention at the beginning.

[05:36] You know, this is another recruiting and retention tool, another benefit to those,

[05:41] you know, people may be thinking of becoming a member of the department.

[05:46] So it is a lump sum benefit if, you know, one of your members comes down with one of the types of cancers, which is very broad in our policy language.

[05:58] But if they come down with cancer, you know, it's a lump sum benefit.

[06:02] So it's a very good benefit. Nice thing to add on.

[06:07] Nice thing to be able to provide your members by, you know, volunteering their time or being a member of your department.

[06:16] Ed Mann: Well, the two things I like best about it is that, you know, the organization can pick the benefit amount anywhere from $2,500 to $100,000.

[06:27] Trevor Lightfield: Yes.

[06:28] Ed Mann: And it's, you know, you don't have to prove,

[06:34] for the lack of a better term, that you got the cancer doing something for the fire department. If you're diagnosed for the first time with that type of cancer,

[06:43] it pays the benefit.

[06:45] The only cancer that is explicitly excluded is skin cancer.

[06:52] Trevor Lightfield: Yes,

[06:55] Ed Mann: in many states they have presumption laws, but you typically have to get a lawyer and you have to fight the legal system and you gotta prove that your cancer is related to the job.

[07:06] This cancer rider, you don't have to make that proof. If you're diagnosed with cancer, you. You've never been treated for it before.

[07:13] We'll pay the benefit.

[07:14] Trevor Lightfield: So, yep, definitely excellent coverage.

[07:18] Ed Mann: So I know you've taught several emergency vehicle operators courses for provident for clients in South Dakota. What other classes or areas do you specialize in?

[07:30] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah, yep. So I teach, like you said, a number of EVOC courses throughout the year across the Midwest. Some of them refreshers,

[07:38] some of them, you know, the full emergency vehicle operators course.

[07:43] They kind of go hand in hand with insurance, you know, safe driving and such.

[07:47] I also instruct vehicle extrication,

[07:51] water rescue and recovery, whether that be shore based or boat based,

[07:56] and grain bin extrication.

[07:58] You know, across the Midwest, farming is huge.

[08:02] And every farmer has grain bins, you know, for grain storage.

[08:07] So we want to make sure that that farmer is being safe, you know, getting into those grain bins and operating and making sure they're level and, you know, so forth.

[08:16] But also our responders as well, you know, when they get called out to one of those incidents,

[08:22] making sure that they're safe around all the exposures that those grain bins have to offer.

[08:28] So grain bin extrication, that's a big one.

[08:31] I also a number of fire extinguisher trainings.

[08:36] We're pretty blessed to have the state fire marshal's office right here in pier,

[08:41] you know, with the state government and so forth. And we share a training module to where we can go out and simulate,

[08:50] you know, fire and have a fire extinguisher trainer.

[08:54] So we do that on department levels and then we also do that for various businesses,

[09:00] public entities, you know, office staff,

[09:03] you name it. So that's another, another good one too.

[09:07] Ed Mann: So I know,

[09:09] I see, you know, you mentioned you're involved with diving and water and ice rescue. So this is very much,

[09:16] this is very much a specialized area of rescue.

[09:19] What prompted you to specialize in this area?

[09:23] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah,

[09:24] so I grew up a river rat,

[09:27] meaning I went to the river every chance I got. We live right on the Missouri River.

[09:32] We have a dam Right here in Peer the Oahe Dam.

[09:37] And below the dam, you know, it can get 25, 30ft deep, but above the dam it can get up to 200ft deep.

[09:44] So it's a big body of water.

[09:47] We live right on the Missouri river, so we love boating,

[09:50] jet skiing,

[09:52] snorkeling, water skiing, wakeboarding, you, you name it.

[09:56] But what really got me into public safety diving,

[10:00] it started with a recovery that we were involved with a number of years ago that I felt I probably that I just felt like I could have offered more on it.

[10:11] I loved the water and felt that I could really, you know, make this my niche in the fire service.

[10:19] So a couple weeks after that incident,

[10:22] I enrolled in a class and got certified with an excellent instructor that we have in our community.

[10:29] He's also on our dive squad.

[10:31] And then I attended a dive rescue one class and you can say was off to the races as a, you know, a fresh public safety diver.

[10:41] And then,

[10:42] you know, for those listening who don't know,

[10:45] we typically, you know, when we get toned out for these, you know, know, drownings or emergencies,

[10:51] we work these types of calls as a rescue incident up until 60 minutes.

[10:58] Then it typically turns into a recovery, unfortunately.

[11:03] But we are very spread out in the Dakotas.

[11:06] So many times, you know, our travel time alone when we're toned out to these events,

[11:11] these incidents exceeds that 60 minute rescue timeframe. And, and when we show up, it is into rescue mode or not rescue recovery mode.

[11:22] So this is the most difficult part of the gig,

[11:26] but also the most fulfilling,

[11:28] you know, being able to locate that individual,

[11:31] bring them back to their families so they can have closure, I feel is, you know, kind of what God blessed me to do. So my squad, we are very blessed here in pier.

[11:43] We have a ton of knowledge and experience on our squad as well as great support from our city and community.

[11:51] You know, whether that be funding or different things that we need when we go out to these incidents.

[11:57] So we have, you know, just a great squad, great community,

[12:01] great chief that, that backs us and city council and so forth. So,

[12:07] so pretty blessed.

[12:09] Ed Mann: That leads into my next question. What's the latest technology available to rescue teams that deal with dive, rescue or ice rescue situations?

[12:18] Trevor Lightfield: So the latest technology is definitely sonar and forward facing sonar.

[12:24] So live scopes, active targets. You know, there's many brands out there that are coming up with this technology.

[12:32] And to describe it, you know, in fishing terms,

[12:35] forward facing sonar is live imaging technology,

[12:40] you know, keyword live,

[12:42] that allows anglers or fishermen to see real time underwater Video like footage of fish structure their lure, you know, up to 100 plus feet in front of their boat. And unlike traditional sonar that shows historical data,

[13:00] you know, the stuff behind you that you've already driven over in your boat.

[13:04] Forward facing sonar lets anglers watch fish reactions to their bait as it happens.

[13:11] You know, it's really revolutionizing fishing accuracy.

[13:16] Fishing with this technology has almost turned into a video game.

[13:20] So we've adopted this technology to conduct our searches underwater.

[13:26] You know, whether that be looking for a vehicle,

[13:29] a person,

[13:31] maybe evidence in a crime,

[13:33] you name it. So it is, it is also great for walking a diver into an object underwater.

[13:40] You know, if you've got a vehicle under underwater and you're trying to get that diver on it, you know, typically we would do search patterns, you know, put the diver in front of it and, and search patterns and run into it or over it,

[13:56] where this. We can basically put the diver right on top of it and drive and drop them down on it,

[14:03] eliminating the time to conduct those search patterns.

[14:07] And, you know, this, like I said, this is huge in fishing right now and kind of a cool story. We have, you know, national walleye tournaments here in South Dakota on the river.

[14:20] And one of the tournament directors, Kurt Underhill,

[14:24] last year, after one of our recoveries that we did,

[14:28] one of the pro fishermen, he actually has a university,

[14:33] an online university,

[14:34] it's called Tom Wynn University.

[14:37] And he was in town pre fishing this tournament.

[14:41] And Kurt Underhill said, tom, you know, are you available?

[14:45] This dive squad is just, you know, getting up and running with this latest technology.

[14:50] And he said, absolutely. So he came and did a training.

[14:54] You know, those guys are on that stuff every day. So it was,

[14:58] it was a blessing to have him come show us some tips and, and tricks to our systems on using that.

[15:06] You know, another,

[15:07] you know, latest technology item that we have is,

[15:11] you know, comms units as well.

[15:14] It wasn't too long ago when we were doing these searches,

[15:18] you know, that diver on the bottom, you know, how do you talk to them? How do you understand what they're seeing? What they need are they tangled up.

[15:26] So we would use rope signals.

[15:29] So, you know, there was different things, you know, what one tug or two tugs meant, you know, up to four and so forth.

[15:36] Well, they recently came out with comm systems to where in your dive mask, you have a microphone over your ears, you have speakers, and you can talk to whoever's offshore,

[15:51] whoever's in the boat.

[15:52] It's really nice from a tender standpoint,

[15:55] you know, they can tell, man, that that diver is breathing really heavy. You know, they might be stressed. You know, hey, how's it going down there? How much air you got left?

[16:04] What do you see and what's the visibility like?

[16:07] So it's really great to get a feel for what that diver is going through or, you know, if that diver is hung up, needs assistance,

[16:16] needs a tool,

[16:17] needs something, you know, they can relay that back to the boat or the shore and that tender.

[16:23] So I would say that forward facing sonar has been huge as well as, you know, those communications units as well.

[16:31] Ed Mann: So, so not only does it make it easier for, for you to, to either, you know, make a rescue,

[16:40] but it certainly increases the level of safety for the diver, I would imagine quite drastically.

[16:47] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah, yep, absolutely.

[16:49] And you know, like, we've had incidents where, you know, even in trainings, you put someone down and,

[16:56] you know, maybe, you know something's going on, they're not feeling well, and you can kind of sense that,

[17:02] you know, through how they're talking,

[17:05] how they're breathing and so forth. So you can say, hey, you know, why don't you come up, why don't you take a break, we'll send another diver down. But just that open communication is huge.

[17:17] Being able to have that with the diver and the tender and then also, you know, the sonar being able to eliminate some of that time underwater doing search patterns, you know, that diver might get hung up in a tree.

[17:32] Whereas, hey, if we can move him another 15ft out,

[17:36] drop him down, now he's on that vehicle, now he's on that object and can go to work. So eliminating that time and adding that communication makes that mission much safer than what it was before.

[17:51] Ed Mann: That's great to hear. So how, how, what are some ways fire departments can assist in water safety in their community?

[18:01] Trevor Lightfield: So education is, is huge in my mind. So you can promote water safety.

[18:07] You know, year round we promote water safety as a fire department several times throughout the year.

[18:13] That might be social media posts,

[18:15] it might be radio station ads,

[18:18] you name it. You know, we just got done with a polar plunge where we showed up assisted, the Special Olympics and a fundraiser. You know, we're out there, we're making sure people are safe and so forth,

[18:30] no matter where you're at.

[18:32] You know, typically you have a lake, river pools, ponds,

[18:36] you name it. So encouraging those kids in your community to take swimming lessons,

[18:41] that's a good way.

[18:43] Signage, encourage wearing life jackets and being safe around beaches or other exposures in your community.

[18:51] We've even teamed up with other agencies. So team up with a local agency.

[18:57] We've teamed up with game fish and parks before and done life jacket loaner stations.

[19:03] So where there's a boat ramp, you know, it might be at a state park or just somewhere along the river where there's a boat ramp putting out life jacket loaner stations.

[19:13] And, you know, a lot of times, if you reach out to businesses and say, hey, this is what we're doing.

[19:18] Would you donate a life jacket? And they'll say, absolutely. You know, here's. Here's funds for, for 10 of them, you know, and you go to, you know, your local store and get 10 life jackets, put them up there.

[19:30] You know, sometimes they, they come back, sometimes again they get taken. But either way, at the end of the day, as long as they're getting worn and preventing emergencies, you know, that's huge.

[19:41] So different ways of.

[19:44] Know how we do it in our community.

[19:46] Promoting water safety.

[19:48] Ed Mann: So. So while we're on a topic to our listeners, if you want to learn more about the Pierre volunteer fire department, you can check out their Facebook page.

[19:58] Trevor Lightfield: Yep, absolutely.

[20:00] Ed Mann: It's real simple to find. Just go look for Pierre volunteer fire department on Facebook.

[20:06] In fact, I'm looking at it right now, and there's a big picture. It looks like you guys were in the process of doing some joint training with some folks here recently.

[20:14] Trevor Lightfield: Yep, absolutely. So that's huge too, you know, making sure that you have good mutual aid agreements and good,

[20:21] you know, partnerships with those departments around you. Good relationships. I know a lot of departments,

[20:27] you know, I've been on several smaller departments to where,

[20:31] well, you know, we're rivals with, you know, the nearby town, you know, in sports and stuff. So I sure you've heard this, Ed. You show up on a fire scene and, you know, we don't like those guys, you know, send them over there, whatever.

[20:44] So,

[20:45] you know, we've kind of.

[20:47] I've seen departments butt head with others and then, you know, over the years,

[20:51] you know, you know, why again, do we hate those guys over there? You know, and it's.

[20:56] Ed Mann: And nobody knows.

[20:58] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah. You know, so I think,

[21:00] I think some of these departments are coming together and, you know, having great,

[21:05] you know, mutual trainings and so forth. And I think that's. That's huge too. You know, if you do a training,

[21:11] you know, you're doing extrication on a Saturday,

[21:14] invite those guys over, you know, have some pizza, train together, get to know each other that way. It's just, it's much smoother on the fire scene when you do have a call and you have to work together.

[21:26] Ed Mann: Well, you know, at the end of the day,

[21:28] if everybody would just remember what Chief Bruno Scene used to always say,

[21:34] it's all about Mrs. Smith. It's not about you.

[21:37] It's all about taking care of Mrs. Smith.

[21:41] Trevor Lightfield: Absolutely everybody.

[21:43] Ed Mann: If everybody could work from that mindset, life would be good. Life would be good.

[21:50] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah.

[21:52] Ed Mann: So,

[21:52] Trevor, as we end in the year, the pod near the end of the podcast, do you have any final thoughts or words of wisdom to pass along to our listeners?

[22:02] Trevor Lightfield: You know, one thing is, is the impact that, that these water rescue, these recoveries rescue calls, you name it,

[22:11] the, the impact that they have on our first responders.

[22:15] You know, one thing that I'll highlight that, that our program has is, is the first Responders assistance Program.

[22:22] And I can't speak enough about that.

[22:26] You know, we promote that. We, you know, take those flyers out to our stations and,

[22:31] you know, it's strictly confidential. You just call the number 24 hours a day, seven days a week,

[22:37] you know, and, and I actually found myself several summers ago. We had kind of a rough summer.

[22:44] We had a house explosion and then not too long after that had a four year old drown in our community.

[22:52] And,

[22:53] you know, when you have kind of a string of calls like that,

[22:56] you know, no matter how tough you are,

[22:58] you get to the point where you can't push that down enough.

[23:02] And I was on the road and I figured, you know what,

[23:06] I'm out there talking about this to departments, to our brokers, our local agents.

[23:11] You know, I haven't been sleeping very well, feeling very well, thinking about it a lot. So I called into that, that first responder assistance program and, you know, chatted with the gal for about 60 minutes and that made a world of difference.

[23:28] So I know,

[23:29] you know, different first responders, they have different ways of, you know, coping with that stuff,

[23:35] whether it's, you know, talking to a buddy, talking to, you know, your pastor, talking to a counselor, you name it. But this is a great,

[23:43] great way that if you have a string of bad calls, one bad call,

[23:48] you know, other stuff, you know, feel free to utilize that.

[23:52] It's huge.

[23:53] Ed Mann: So the nice thing,

[23:55] the other great thing about our first Responder assistance program too, is is that your immediate family members have access to it as well.

[24:04] Yeah,

[24:06] just use the first responder, you know, and to piggyback on what you said, Trevor, I have used the frat program myself.

[24:14] And you know, I've been involved in the fire service for in excess of 50 years.

[24:20] And something that I Don't hesitate to tell people is it's okay not to be okay,

[24:27] but when you're not okay,

[24:30] talk to somebody.

[24:31] Trevor Lightfield: Yes.

[24:33] Ed Mann: Like you said, whether it's a counselor or a friend,

[24:36] you know, talk to somebody.

[24:39] It's amazing how,

[24:42] how much better you can feel just by being able to unload to somebody else.

[24:49] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah.

[24:50] Ed Mann: You know, so I appreciate you talking about that and willing to share with our listeners that you, too, have used the program.

[24:57] You know, during my career, I've used the mental health system three or four times,

[25:03] and I've always,

[25:06] always felt so much better afterwards,

[25:10] you know,

[25:11] and it's nice to know that the fire service is finally getting to the point. First responders in general are getting to the point where they're not worried about the stigma of asking for help.

[25:24] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah.

[25:25] Ed Mann: And I'm glad to hear that you're promoting it, and I'm glad and happy that you were willing to share with our listeners that you've used this,

[25:33] the program yourself.

[25:35] Trevor Lightfield: Yeah, 100% excellent program.

[25:39] So, you know, just the impact that these calls have on our first responders utilizing that.

[25:45] And then also, you know, preach water safety in your communities, make sure that.

[25:50] And that, that's kids all the way up to adults, too.

[25:54] You know, making sure that you got, you know, plans in place and so forth.

[25:59] But, yeah, preaching water got on the

[26:01] Ed Mann: river, you put your kids in a life jacket and flotation devices,

[26:07] you don't put one on yourself, you end up in the water.

[26:10] Now who's taking care of your kids in the boat?

[26:13] Trevor Lightfield: Yep. Absolutely. Definitely.

[26:15] Ed Mann: So,

[26:17] Trevor, I thank you for joining us today and sharing your experiences with our listeners.

[26:22] To sign up for webinars in the future,

[26:25] this, there'll be a link in our episode notes, and you can also take a look at previous webinars that we recorded. Share this podcast with your colleagues. You can send them our subscription link, which will also be found in the show notes.

[26:40] Lastly, to our listeners, if you have any questions or need additional information,

[26:44] or if you have an idea for a future webinar or podcast, please email us at Infoovenantins Station 1902 signing off. Until next time,

[26:55] stay safe for your family's sake.