{"id":1319713,"date":"2020-04-30T14:01:27","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=477404"},"modified":"2020-04-30T14:41:27","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T20:41:27","slug":"vail-valley-first-responders-facing-new-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/vail-valley-first-responders-facing-new-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Vail Valley first responders facing new challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/JohnnyMeyersFire-VDN-102018-2.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 465px) 100vw, 465px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/JohnnyMeyersFire-VDN-102018-2.jpg 465w, https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/JohnnyMeyersFire-VDN-102018-2-113x150.jpg 113w, https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/JohnnyMeyersFire-VDN-102018-2-244x325.jpg 244w\" alt=\"\" width=\"465\" height=\"620\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption><strong>Fire calls require crews to work shoulder to shoulder. That&#8217;s more difficult in the days of social distancing.<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Photo courtesy Chelsey Johnson\/Gypsum Fire Protection District<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Working remotely can be a relatively easy transition for many of us. But working shoulder to shoulder can be tough in an age of social distancing.<\/p>\n<p>The Gypsum Fire Protection District\u2019s staff is about evenly split between paid and volunteer firefighters. The paid staff lives at the fire station during shifts. But unless there\u2019s a call, the firefighters stay isolated in the station.<\/p>\n<p>But, Gypsum Fire Protection District Chief Justin Kirkland said, social distancing applies even for the teams at the station.<\/p>\n<p>When the firefighters are in the residential quarters, they\u2019re required to keep their distance from each other. When the crew is training or working on apparatus, people wear masks.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<div class=\"row vail-donation vail-donation-mobile p-0\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\" data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/VD-logo-white.png)\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vaildaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/03\/VD-logo-white.png\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>That\u2019s good for teamwork, for the paid staff. But volunteers aren\u2019t allowed into the station for training or other tasks.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s difficult because volunteers are held to the same training and performance standards as the paid staff.<\/p>\n<h3>Keeping up while staying away<\/h3>\n<p>To help the volunteers keep up, Kirkland said the department does a Sunday night check-in via video conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe talk about what they\u2019ll do this week, and what\u2019s coming up,\u201d Kirkland said, adding that the calls help volunteers and paid staff feel connected with each other.<\/p>\n<p>Still, he said, the department has been able to follow current social distancing directions. Those who can work from home do so.<\/p>\n<p>Things change when there\u2019s a call, though.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had to adjust how we do everyday business,\u201d Kirkland said, adding that the station\u2019s residential area is kept as a sterile environment as much as possible.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that calls are down this spring. Kirkland said call volume usually drops between winter and summer. This season, though, call volume is unusually light.<\/p>\n<p>Vail Mountain Rescue Group has also seen a drop in the number of calls for help it\u2019s received.<\/p>\n<h3>Helping others and each other<\/h3>\n<p>That group is an all-volunteer effort. Ted Katauskas of Vail Mountain Rescue said that group is making extra efforts to keep its members engaged. Members are reaching out to each other, by phone and online, just to check in.<\/p>\n<p>When teamwork is critical, team members have to know the procedures, of course. But they also need to know that every team member knows what to do and when.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s weird not to congregate except when a page goes out,\u201d Katauskas said. \u201cWe don\u2019t see each other except on a mission now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Checking in with each other also helps with some of the stress that comes with rescue work.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs first responders, we\u2019re always looking out for other people,\u201d Katauskas said. \u201cThe push now is we need to be looking out for each other and ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Like fire calls in Gypsum, search and rescue calls have declined during the past several weeks.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe community is laying low, and we really appreciate it,\u201d Kirkland said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe haven\u2019t had a whole lot of rescues, which has been good,\u201d Eagle County Sheriff James van Beek said. \u201cPeople by and large have been respectful\u201d of a request to not venture deep into the backcountry.<\/p>\n<p>When first responders are called, how they deal with the public has changed. Masks, gloves and other gear are requirements, not recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>That new way of working \u201cgoes against every fiber of my being,\u201d van Beek said. \u201cI\u2019m always (bugging officers) about getting off their phones and out in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But, he added, the new protocols are \u201cthe only way we can continue to function.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:smiller@vaildaily.com\">smiller@vaildaily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/news\/vail-valley-first-responders-facing-new-challenges\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Vail Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fire calls require crews to work shoulder to shoulder. That&#8217;s more difficult in the days of social distancing. Photo courtesy Chelsey Johnson\/Gypsum Fire Protection District Working remotely can be a relatively easy transition for many of us. But working shoulder to shoulder can be tough in an age of social distancing. The Gypsum Fire Protection [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1319713","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-19 16:56:43","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319716,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319713\/revisions\/1319716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}