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had to call in overtime to cover his local spot here. As a member of Task Force One, those back- <br /> fill spots are also reimbursed through the Federal government. We are predicting the team in our <br /> Department to be between five (5) and ten(10) individuals to take part in the Task Force. <br /> Selection for the Task Force is done through the Indianapolis Fire Department. Our team would <br /> probably consist mostly of swift water rescue. <br /> Chris Baker,Assistant Chief for Indiana River Rescue for the South Bend Fire Department <br /> located at 1222 S. Michigan Street, stated, There are only twenty-eight (28) of these teams <br /> throughout the whole country and the selection process is pretty difficult because you have to <br /> have hundreds of hours to get in. Our Department only has a handful of five (5)to ten(10) that <br /> meet the initial training requirements to get in. One (1) of the benefits to this is we would then be <br /> eligible for other Federally funded training that we could then bring back to our membership to <br /> get more folks trained to that level. <br /> Chief Cox continued, It is very important for us to have that kind of experience because these are <br /> low-frequency type events for us so when something happens like the floods we had last fall, we <br /> had individuals that were trained. There are protections within the agreement that if we don't <br /> have the resources available, we won't send our personnel. <br /> Committee Chair Broden asked, Will there be equipment benefits with this? <br /> Chief Baker replied, There is nothing right now that says they will house something here. <br /> However, that could change within the State or within FEMA. <br /> Committee Chair Broden then asked, What does the stress support look like? <br /> Chief Cox replied, The Federal government provides a significant amount of support. One (1) <br /> thing about Hurricane Katrina, they had more mental health professionals than responders there. <br /> Some feedback they received from the responders was that they were ok but with everyone <br /> asking if they were ok, it made them feel worse. They tend to have a lot of resources with that <br /> and we also have many resources here already. <br /> Councilmember Dr. Dave Varner asked, You're confident you can do this with your current <br /> staffing?And these reimbursements are full? <br /> Chief Cox replied, Yes we can with our current staffing and yes, the reimbursements are in full. <br /> Michael Schmidt, Legal Department of the City of South Bend with offices on the 12th floor of <br /> the County-City Building, stated, This is in front of the Council under the Indiana State <br /> Interlocal Agreement. This technically needs to be enacted by the City of Indianapolis and the <br /> Department of Public Safety. Public Works did sign this in agreement. <br /> Committee Chair Broden then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in <br /> favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. She then turned the floor back to the <br /> Committee for further comment or main motions. <br /> 2 <br />