[0:00] I would like
[0:03] to call to
[0:06] order the july 10, 2025 meeting
[0:08] at 2:00 p.m. Please stand for the pledge of
[0:09] allegiance.
[0:12] >>> I pledge allegiance to the
[0:13] flag of the united states state of america and to the republic
[0:14] for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with
[0:15] liberty and justice for all.
[0:27] >> clerk,
[0:28] please call the roll. [ roll called ]
[0:36] absent is
[0:39] board member knight.
[0:40] >> okay.
[0:41] >> public comment for nonagenda items.
[0:44] comments can only be for items not on
[0:45] the agenda
[0:48] under the authority of
[0:51] the opoid
[0:54] settlement task
[0:57] force.
[1:00] seeing none, we'll move into
[1:03] public comments on the agenda items.
[1:06] time limit is
[1:08] three minutes. Anyone in the audience
[1:09] have
[1:12] input for agenda items.
[1:15] seeing none,
[1:17] marshal, I'll kick the committee business
[1:18] to you.
[1:19] >> thank
[1:21] you, mr. Chairman. Last meeting
[1:24] we completed the great task
[1:26] of allocating the funds to the individuals
[1:27] just for the
[1:30] board's understanding.
[1:32] lsf is working directly with entities
[1:33] to get the
[1:35] documents in place to get the funding
[1:36] agreements in and all
[1:39] the next steps. Where that
[1:42] leaves us for this year
[1:45] two funding is outside of the money
[1:46] that's
[1:48] for the nonqualified agencies that's
[1:51] sent to the managing entity,
[1:54] lsf, we as the county received a portion
[1:55] directly into our
[1:56] funds for some of our operations.
[1:57] at this
[2:00] point, after the allocation last
[2:02] year which was some equipment and
[2:03] a portion
[2:06] of a truck, rescue
[2:08] unit, with the new funds received
[2:09] we
[2:12] currently
[2:15] have
[2:17] $98,048.58 that we're holding right
[2:18] now.
[2:21] we're working
[2:24] with sergeant knight, when he was
[2:25] here --
[2:28] just so the board
[2:30] knows, sergeant knight no longer able
[2:31] to do
[2:34] this. We're working with the
[2:36] undersheriff to get somebody else
[2:37] designated from the
[2:39] sheriff's department, if you're wondering
[2:40] about his absence.
[2:42] prior to that absence he submitted
[2:43] one
[2:45] item for us to
[2:48] the $98,000, we look at how we support
[2:49] our
[2:51] first responders, public safety that
[2:54] are in the field. Part of that is
[2:57] training, part is equipment. From
[3:01] the sheriff's standpoint they
[3:04] submitted this apex
[3:07] chemical
[3:13] identification spectrometer
[3:14] that they can use in the field to
[3:16] test for the drugs
[3:19] that are in there. Four units
[3:22] cost about
[3:28] $98,000, $97,921.
[3:31] this is for four units. Any fraction
[3:34] of that is
[3:37] $25,000, for simple math, a piece.
[3:39] they were looking to see if they could
[3:40] utilize that and bring
[3:42] it into the field and see if it works,
[3:43] test that
[3:45] out there. In talking with the fire
[3:46] department,
[3:48] the things we're always looking at
[3:49] is there are
[3:51] always new equipment and other items
[3:52] that we have --
[3:55] we can replace, update and
[3:58] then
[4:00] there's training. Along with that
[4:01] training there's
[4:03] first responder support services,
[4:04] different counseling and
[4:06] other things. Training and counseling
[4:07] for
[4:08] the firefighters, along with equipment.
[4:10] we're looking at
[4:13] those two buckets as to how we
[4:16] want to allocate the funds this year,
[4:19] touch different bases. I'm going
[4:22] to look at
[4:25] chief roland to see if you have any
[4:28] thoughts on the fire
[4:31] side.
[4:32] >>
[4:33] since sergeant knight isn't here,
[4:34] I say we take his money.
[4:37] just kidding. There's a value for
[4:40] the analyzer for them. At
[4:43] least one of them
[4:45] and potentially get some more if it
[4:46] works for them.
[4:49] for us, there's such a big push
[4:52] for mental health for the firefighter
[4:54] side right now. I would like to see
[4:55] for us to take
[4:58] the remaining portion and
[5:01] use that as seed money
[5:04] for some
[5:07] fire specific --
[5:10] fire, ems specific mental health.
[5:13] the specific provider that has
[5:16] done this before, nothing against
[5:19] general practitioners, but somebody
[5:21] that has experience in dealing with
[5:22] this
[5:25] particular subgroup. They're special.
[5:28] so that's kind of my thought on the
[5:31] remaining portion of it. And how
[5:34] we allow for
[5:37] services, that would be a legal
[5:39] procurement type advice. There are
[5:40] other folks
[5:43] doing it now. St. John's county and
[5:45] a couple others. We could tap into
[5:46] that. They're already doing
[5:49] it for them. That's my
[5:51] suggestion, is tap into those kind
[5:52] of
[5:55] people and see if we can either
[5:58] tag along to theirs or create
[6:01] our own contract, something
[6:04] like that. I would like to see us
[6:05] use that
[6:06] seed money for the mental health aspect of
[6:07] the fire service.
[6:10] >> for the
[6:13] committee's understanding,
[6:16] chief --fire chief and I have been
[6:18] other conversations in other counties,
[6:19] one in st.
[6:22] john's. We have another one that deals
[6:23] more
[6:25] with the fire department crews itself.
[6:26] one of
[6:28] the aspects, even if
[6:29] it's outside of the opoid funding
[6:31] is getting
[6:34] them in the door to train the trainers
[6:36] essentially on the peer counseling,
[6:37] to make sure you have
[6:39] first responders that they've got
[6:40] the opportunity, if they see
[6:43] the incidents, they know what's going
[6:44] on
[6:45] and know who needs help and they make
[6:46] the call. Whether it's
[6:48] one of our individuals there who has
[6:49] been
[6:51] properly trained --that's what we're
[6:52] looking
[6:55] for, training the individuals to a
[6:56] higher level
[6:57] so they can provide counseling services
[6:58] and identify it.
[7:01] the initial proposals, getting an
[7:03] assessment out there, about 50,000.
[7:04] to chief
[7:07] roland's point, we have
[7:10] $98,000. We split the baby and a half
[7:13] to fire starting to get the
[7:15] counseling programs in place and the
[7:19] other to
[7:22] get the spectrometer in
[7:25] place.
[7:26] >> I have questions. On this
[7:28] initial proposal for $50,000 is
[7:31] that to go out and do an
[7:34] rfp?
[7:37] is that $50,000 for start-up
[7:39] services? What does that line item
[7:40] look
[7:43] like?
[7:44] >> so it would be professional
[7:45] services contract.
[7:46] from the competitive standpoint
[7:48] of procurement, we can direct contract.
[7:49] plus, it's
[7:52] under $100,000. We've been interviewing
[7:53] a couple
[7:55] different firms to see how
[7:58] they deal with it and handle the
[8:01] individuals. That's where we narrowed
[8:02] it down to
[8:04] one. We want somebody who really understands
[8:05] our
[8:06] individuals in the field, understand
[8:08] the situations
[8:10] up. Jackson hill is different than
[8:11] nassau.
[8:14] they need to understand
[8:17] the stress fact
[8:20] you have in nassau. That's a
[8:21] theme, consulting the individual.
[8:23] we would be looking at
[8:24] utilizing them based on the current
[8:26] firms we've
[8:27] looked at. That's bringing them out
[8:29] into the field.
[8:32] it's crew familiarization, doing
[8:33] assessments, program delivery, building
[8:35] up the resources. Some
[8:38] of this first step is a lot of telling
[8:40] us what we don't know and where the
[8:41] gaps are
[8:43] and seeing what we can do. If there
[8:44] are other
[8:45] resources we need, those are things
[8:47] that come
[8:48] later. That's this first step of let's
[8:50] do the assessment
[8:51] and bring them in, get them to know
[8:53] our guys and
[8:55] see what additional training support
[8:56] we need from
[8:58] this aspect. Particularly in this
[8:59] case, there
[9:02] are portions that are opoid-funding
[9:04] eligible and there are portions outside
[9:05] of that.
[9:07] some of this assessment will help
[9:08] us
[9:11] know that.
[9:12] >> following question,
[9:14] is there any
[9:17] evidence-based curriculum,
[9:19] standard procedures specific to firefighters,
[9:20] first responders
[9:22] that we know of? I mean, I understand
[9:23] you're talking
[9:25] to other entities that are working
[9:26] in
[9:28] other jurisdictions. Is there any
[9:29] evidence-
[9:31] based programs out there that are
[9:32] specific to
[9:33] our first response community? Do we
[9:35] know if the entities
[9:38] we're looking at are utilizing evidence-
[9:41] based criteria or
[9:43] treatment modalities?
[9:44] >> I can't say.
[9:45] >> I don't know.
[9:46] I'm not a subject matter expert in
[9:47] this by
[9:50] any means.
[9:51] >>
[9:52] there's not a specific section that
[9:53] says
[9:55] when you go to training, this deals
[9:56] with firefighters.
[9:59] I think probably what is
[10:01] happening is the firms that are involved
[10:02] in
[10:05] it now have
[10:08] been in it a couple
[10:10] years and learn from firefighters
[10:11] deal with
[10:13] and their practices. That's the folks
[10:14] that are successful
[10:17] in it now. They've gone out and
[10:18] dealt with the firefighter issues.
[10:20] is there a
[10:22] specific training at particular schools?
[10:25] I don't think so.
[10:26] >> is there -->>
[10:27] I haven't found
[10:29] any.
[10:30] >> is there an industry
[10:32] standard from nfa or anything like
[10:33] that
[10:34] in regards to firefighters or first
[10:35] responders that
[10:38] we know of?
[10:39] >> national
[10:41] fire academy?
[10:42] >> yes. >> none from
[10:44] the nfa. The nfpa
[10:46] is evolving into the physical portion
[10:47] of it already.
[10:49] that's been announced for years. They're
[10:50] just now
[10:51] getting into the mental health aspect
[10:53] of it. It's all
[10:56] over the place. What is
[10:59] specific needs
[11:02] for us, that's the challenge. There's
[11:05] not a one size fits all.
[11:06] >> right.
[11:08] >> nobody --there's not a clinical
[11:09] or
[11:11] curriculum that I know of in any school
[11:12] right
[11:14] now that offers
[11:16] this particular --certified in this
[11:17] area.
[11:20] we're going to get our board
[11:22] certified. That's not happened yet.
[11:26] could it? Lord probably knows.
[11:28] >> to answer your question, yes. I
[11:29] couldn't tell you what they
[11:32] are. That's not a specialty area that
[11:35] we focus on, but there are national
[11:38] models out there and evidence-based
[11:41] practices. As chief roland says, these have
[11:42] been
[11:44] developed over
[11:46] time. I know there's an organization
[11:47] in
[11:50] jacksonville that we talked to during
[11:51] covid
[11:53] that focuses on this population --
[11:56] ems, firefighters, police. When you're
[11:59] talking about training peers, like
[12:01] firefighters peers, it's one of the
[12:02] most important
[12:04] pieces. That's your sustainability
[12:05] piece to have that.
[12:07] the mental health first aid training
[12:08] that
[12:11] we've been implementing since 2014,
[12:12] which is
[12:13] an evidence-based mental health training
[12:14] program, there
[12:17] are modules for law enforcement and for
[12:18] ems as
[12:20] part of that.
[12:22] years ago when we were doing that,
[12:23] we had
[12:26] some of those who retired fire
[12:28] department personnel who we trained.
[12:29] when we worked with that
[12:31] population, we had people trained
[12:34] for veterans, we have our veterans.
[12:35] that's part of
[12:37] that sustainability piece. There are
[12:38] evidence-based
[12:40] training curriculums out there for
[12:41] training how
[12:43] to --with mental health, how do you
[12:44] recognize it and
[12:46] respond, et cetera. They have that
[12:47] module. There's probably
[12:50] more. I haven't looked into it as
[12:51] much as greg
[12:53] has. They exist. I couldn't tell you
[12:56] what they are, but
[12:58] they're developing.
[12:59] >> the shield
[13:00] program is one.
[13:01] >>
[13:02] yes, thank you.
[13:03] >> that was one I
[13:06] --yeah.
[13:07] >> I think
[13:09] it's based out of indiana,
[13:12] but it is an actual
[13:15] program. I know
[13:18] it's used with law
[13:21] enforcement and
[13:22] there's training for them. That could
[13:24] be something
[13:27] to look into.
[13:33] >> another
[13:36] question, chief
[13:39] roland, is this
[13:41] direct therapeutic intervention or is
[13:45] it more broad
[13:47] scale recognition counseling support
[13:51] service based
[13:54] or is it actual direct
[13:57] therapeutic intervention?
[13:59] do we know? If we don't know, that's
[14:00] fine.
[14:02] >> that's one of the things --when
[14:03] we
[14:06] looked at the needs, we have a
[14:08] broad spectrum of needs. So there's
[14:09] somethings that are going
[14:12] to fall in
[14:14] that can get into the settlement funds
[14:15] that are
[14:16] eligible here. We have the other parts
[14:18] that will come out of
[14:20] other funding sources. It's probably
[14:21] going to be a program
[14:23] that whatever we do it's going to
[14:24] have
[14:26] to have multiple funding sources to
[14:27] get it through at
[14:29] the end of the day. It's an evolution.
[14:32] I mean, the thing is going to be it's
[14:33] the
[14:34] spectrum of where we hit in different
[14:36] areas. Once we do
[14:38] the assessment and see what's going
[14:39] on in the field, there
[14:41] are somethings in the training that
[14:42] know how to deal
[14:45] with individuals and
[14:48] there's somethings about dealing with
[14:51] it themselves after dealing with individuals.
[14:54] >> absolutely. >> over the past
[14:57] couple years our peer support
[15:00] program
[15:01] which is very active and robust was
[15:03] led by
[15:06] the
[15:09] nation
[15:15] al fire bureau and the chiefs.
[15:18] you asked about the other
[15:20] interventions and pieces, I want a
[15:23] very robust program whether we move
[15:24] to peer counseling
[15:26] or meeting with somebody. So we can
[15:27] call somebody that
[15:30] has the capability of making that
[15:32] intervention sooner than later.
[15:33] >>
[15:34] right.
[15:35] >> so
[15:36] that's --is that going to be right
[15:37] out of the gate?
[15:39] maybe not. It depends on the funding.
[15:42] when this mental health
[15:45] program, we foresee it in the
[15:48] fire department as --
[15:51] it's a great resource, but I don't
[15:52] know
[15:54] of a single fireman that's
[15:56] going to pick up a phone and call.
[15:57] it's not going to
[15:59] happen.
[16:00] >> right. >> if we have field
[16:01] personnel,
[16:02] whether it's a firefighter or the
[16:03] officer
[16:06] that recognizes that a
[16:08] co-worker is struggling with something,
[16:09] we need to
[16:12] have them be able to pick up the phone,
[16:13] not
[16:15] to headquarters,
[16:18] but to somebody has worked and they
[16:19] know
[16:21] and recognize it and say, hey, we
[16:22] think
[16:24] so and so is having an issue.
[16:27] can you come see us and that person
[16:28] can
[16:29] respond. Similar to our annual health
[16:30] and
[16:32] wellness physical that we do, we have
[16:33] a
[16:36] robust program. That program is strictly
[16:39] hipaa compliant between the
[16:41] member and the --we don't see any of
[16:42] the results.
[16:44] if they see something that is critical
[16:45] in nature,
[16:48] they take the initiative
[16:51] and coordinates the care of
[16:54] that member. We only
[16:57] get aggregate -- we have ten firefighters
[16:58] that
[17:00] have high blood pressure.
[17:03] I suspect this will be similar
[17:06] to mental health problems. We don't
[17:07] want to
[17:09] be involved in it, but we want a one-
[17:10] stop shop.
[17:12] that's where we want to go. We have to
[17:13] know
[17:14] where we are to see where we need
[17:15] to go.
[17:16] >> absolutely. >>
[17:18] that's kind of why this money
[17:21] a --
[17:22] >>
[17:23] uh-huh.
[17:24] >> I agree with the comment
[17:26] you made earlier about rather than
[17:27] funding for --
[17:30] going back to
[17:33] ncso requests,
[17:36] to just see how it's working for the
[17:38] other county. That's probably a good
[17:40] use of that. Let's see
[17:43] if it's working.
[17:44] >> was
[17:46] there any
[17:49] supporting justification
[17:50] evidence of how many times they run
[17:52] on calls,
[17:54] if they need this type of equipment,
[17:55] where the
[17:57] other resources are? You may know
[17:59] that, deborah, from your perspective
[18:01] of where this
[18:04] level of resource falls.
[18:06] do we have it anywhere around here?
[18:07] is it
[18:09] nowhere around here? Because, I mean,
[18:10] a
[18:13] field speck is a pretty robust
[18:15] piece of equipment. There's a training
[18:16] component that goes with
[18:18] that as well. Do you know that, deborah?
[18:19] >> I
[18:20] am aware of this company and they
[18:22] provide
[18:25] the training when
[18:28] you
[18:29] purchase. That will be included in
[18:31] the pricing. The other
[18:34] thing I can say is this is a
[18:37] better product than
[18:40] the one
[18:43] that --this is newer. The one
[18:46] that jso, the
[18:48] funding they were given for those
[18:52] devices, was a couple years ago. This
[18:54] is just a newer product on the market.
[18:55] the database
[18:58] for the drugs
[19:01] is significantly better,
[19:04] more robust.
[19:07] it's able
[19:13] to --[ inaudible ]
[19:19] especially
[19:21] if they're doing --I don't know these
[19:22] numbers off the top
[19:25] of my head.
[19:28] like drug
[19:31] checking on --instead of having to
[19:33] go back to the lab. Obviously they
[19:34] could
[19:36] do it here and have lab confirmation,
[19:37] but that
[19:40] could take
[19:43] weeks. [
[19:46] inaudible ]
[19:49] >> the
[19:51] emergency room too, if a person is
[19:52] taken to
[19:55] the emergency room, more quickly identifying
[19:56] what
[19:58] the person has taken.
[19:59] >>
[20:00] any supporting evidence on volume
[20:01] of calls
[20:04] or anything
[20:07] like that?
[20:08] >> I don't believe so.
[20:10] I don't have the call volume on how
[20:12] their calls break out through dispatch
[20:13] for them.
[20:14] >>
[20:15] these questions are not because I'm
[20:16] opposed to anything.
[20:17] it's just me trying to understand.
[20:19] when we're trying to
[20:21] build longer term capability and capacity,
[20:22] we
[20:25] want to work towards
[20:28] something versus just --
[20:29] >>
[20:31] a call might be a dd call and
[20:33] when they get there there's drugs
[20:34] all over
[20:37] the place. The call volume might not
[20:39] reflect how often they might need
[20:40] to test.
[20:42] it's probably underreported.
[20:43] >> I
[20:46] would anticipate so. Yes, I
[20:49] would anticipate
[20:52] that.
[20:53] >> generally they're
[20:54] about 120,000 calls a year coming
[20:55] out
[20:57] of the sheriff's department. That's
[20:58] all types of
[21:01] calls, all types of things. You never
[21:03] know what you're going for. On the
[21:04] outside,
[21:06] not knowing the operational component,
[21:07] this
[21:10] is --my vision is this is a
[21:13] tool that the sergeants get
[21:16] and they call for him and he's got
[21:17] the tool
[21:19] to do
[21:22] it.
[21:23] >> it's one
[21:25] of those tools people put in
[21:28] a tool box and, when you need it,
[21:29] you need it.
[21:31] we don't have the capability to recognize
[21:34] those kind of drugs.
[21:37] if there are other
[21:40] hazard materials, it can tell you
[21:42] what it is and what it's not. If this
[21:43] particular one
[21:46] is that sensitive, then I think it's
[21:48] just another component that, when they
[21:49] get there
[21:51] and say we don't know what this white
[21:52] powder is, they
[21:55] need to call us.
[22:01] then we can try to figure it out.
[22:02] >> right.
[22:10] >> everything is white powder. >> of
[22:12] course.
[22:13] >> so that would be better
[22:14] for us.
[22:15] >> the
[22:16] last thing is with the --
[22:19] it detects over
[22:21] 23,000 different substances and can
[22:22] detect up to
[22:25] 100 feet away. You're not touching
[22:26] the white
[22:28] powder. You're staying safe just in
[22:31] case you don't get contaminated with
[22:32] anything.
[22:33] >>
[22:34] if it turns out to be that useful
[22:35] of
[22:37] an item, then maybe in years to come
[22:41] we budget for that
[22:42] for hazmat. Just another tool they
[22:47] could use to
[22:50] help
[22:53] with services.
[22:54] >>
[22:56] just one additional one. I know
[22:59] that our other
[23:01] awardees gave us an update how the
[23:02] dollars
[23:03] were used and the benefit and that type
[23:05] of thing. Do we
[23:08] have that same ask with
[23:11] these dollars?
[23:14] >> so the advantage of the
[23:15] fire department being over here and
[23:17] the fire funding went to
[23:20] them. We can provide update
[23:23] s to the board to make sure --
[23:26] craig, you
[23:29] know the scopes
[23:35] and --
[23:38] >> when we have
[23:39] to use it, it's because something
[23:41] bad
[23:44] is happening. For us the tool
[23:47] is working great, better
[23:50] than the endoscopies we've had in
[23:53] the past. People are using them.
[23:54] >>
[23:55] that's
[23:56] good.
[23:57] >> other items sometimes we
[23:58] bought the
[23:59] new and improved and it sat there.
[24:02] >> right. >> that is
[24:05] working well. As far
[24:08] as the
[24:11] ambulance, they're
[24:14] securing --[
[24:16] inaudible ] that hasn't been firmed
[24:17] up yet. That's
[24:20] still a work in progress.
[24:22] that money is still sitting there
[24:23] waiting for
[24:26] the july contract. Get
[24:29] on somebody's work list and
[24:32] then send it
[24:35] off.
[24:36] >> we're looking at
[24:38] doing a remount
[24:41] and cutting down the
[24:44] timeline. We talked about
[24:46] the tax payer expense and it's expensive.
[24:49] remounts are a cheaper process to
[24:50] go without
[24:53] any diminished
[24:56] quality
[25:02] essentially. [ inaudible ]
[25:10] >> any other comments? >> good questions.
[25:11] >> thank you.
[25:14] >>
[25:17] ready for a motion?
[25:18] >> I would like
[25:20] to make a motion that
[25:23] we split the money, split the baby --
[25:26] >> 50% each.
[25:29] >> --50% each to fire rescue
[25:32] and ncfs.
[25:33] >> for
[25:35] the proposal as submitted.
[25:36] >>
[25:38] yes.
[25:39] >> second? >> yes. >>
[25:41] motion by dr. Pagel and
[25:44] second by alissa
[25:47] myatt. All in favor say
[25:48] aye. Those opposed say no. Motion carries.
[25:53] anything
[25:55] else, marshal, on the agenda?
[25:56] >> that
[25:57] was
[25:59] the last item
[26:02] today. Then we've got a period that
[26:05] we'll let the new contracts get
[26:08] in place. I don't know what the
[26:11] next meeting was
[26:14] scheduled. We'll look at
[26:17] that for agenda items august 14th.
[26:20] high probability we might not have
[26:21] anything for
[26:23] that meeting. We'll get the contracts
[26:26] in place and get feedback from
[26:27] the results of the funds that have
[26:29] been implemented.
[26:30] >> anything else? Meeting adjourned.