Imagine traveling in a vehicle and are suddenly involved in a head-on collision. One is disoriented and scared, and are trapped in the vehicle.
On Nov. 8 this scary scenario did occur on Route 17 in Hope. Emergency units were dispatched to the scene. One of the responding agencies was the Camden First Aid Association Access Team.
The CFAA Access Team is a group of volunteers whose mission at the scene is to “open up” a vehicle, or vehicles, providing EMS personnel space to work and remove injured persons. They use hydraulic tools (Jaws of Life), electric tools, hand tools, and air bags to perform this task.
A recent upgrade to the Jaws tools, as well as members commitment to training and education, permitted a quick patient removal from one of the vehicles at the Route 17 accident.
The equipment upgrade included: mounting a hydraulic pump in a cabinet readily accessible from outside the truck, three reels mounted in the rear of the vehicle connected to the hydraulic pump (three different colored hoses), hydraulic tools mounted near the reels providing quick connection and deployment (grab-and-go capabilities), quick connection couplings on the hydraulic hoses and tools which provide prompt initial setup as well as swapping tools. There is also a portable hydraulic pump and 30-foot lengths of hydraulic hose set up to be portable. A generator provides power for on-scene lighting and two reciprocating saws.
Training commitments included an all-day academy where members were educated on safety, response, scene control, cooperation with other agencies, and concluded with an afternoon of learning and practicing prying and cutting techniques using donated vehicles. Monthly drill sessions included “opening” vehicles, equipment familiarization, driver training, and locked vehicle entry.
Standard Operating Procedures and Policies are being reviewed and updated, and will be distributed to team members providing guidance, and ensuring consistent delivery of extrication operations.
Member commitment to training, education, team work, and use of the upgraded tools has resulted in efficient operations on scene.
The CFAA Access Team asks drivers to be careful as they travel, and assure drivers they will be there should the need arise.
2011年11月27日星期日
2011年7月20日星期三
Temp staff surge points to economic growth
Joe Garza and Du-Tex Inc. are the perfect fit for now — forever, he hopes.
The warehouse assistant is two months into his temporary job with the company dealing with a surge in orders for specialized hoses and valves for the oil and gas industry because of Eagle Ford production.
Du-Tex will need 15 more workers like Garza in the next few months, company vice president Mike Ray said.
More workers like Garza are in the workforce than during the past two years, which is a sign the Corpus Christi area's economy is emerging from the recession.
Dips and rises in temporary employment precede economic decline and recovery, respectively, by at least three months, according to analysis of data between 1972 and 2008 by the American Staffing Association.
Texas Workforce Commission figures for the Corpus Christi area follow those trends. Average quarterly temporary employment ranged between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs between 2005 and mid-2008.
The average count tanked between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, when the region shed about 900 temp jobs as the recession choked the national economy. At the same time, the region's unemployment rate climbed from 4.8 percent in October 2008 to 6.3 percent by March 2009, figures show.
"During this recovery period, a lot of businesses are watching the economy and they're watching the market," said Jim Lee, a Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi economist. "So during this transitional period they would tend to hire more temporary staffing."
When times got tough, temporary employees were the first to go, said Sharon Kollaja, with Sterling Personnel Inc.
Corpus Christi's temp job market got even drier through 2009. Kollaja said her business at one point was down 60 percent.
State figures show the region's temp staffing sector hit bottom in the summer of 2009, with an average count of 1,880 jobs, with numbers climbing through the end of 2010 — the latest statistics available.
This spring has shown marked improvement, Kollaja said.
"Our numbers are exceeding 2008 which was a great year," Kollaja said.
All of the sectors Kollaja deals with are booming: clerical, professional and light industrial work, the latter helped by the Eagle Ford Shale boom, she said.
Other trends are emerging. Employers are going for longer temp employee contracts for projects that had been delayed by the economic downturn, Kollaja said.
Hourly rates are increasing for workers with certain skills, she said.
Average weekly wages for area temporary workers also rose during 2010, ending the year at $433, which was an increase of $97, regional figures show.
That is a sign employers gradually are becoming more confident.
"It takes some time for businesses to really take the risk of hiring a person permanently," Lee said.
Lee said data show the Corpus Christi area is out of the recession.
The regional economy has been growing during the past six months despite signs the national economy may be sputtering.
The temp staffing boom has created business opportunities. Pam and Paton Rigsby recently reopened the Corpus Christi branch of Snelling Staffing Services, which closed 18 months ago because of the low demand for temp workers and internal changes under different management, Pam Rigsby said.
Du-Tex has incorporated temporary staffing into its operations for several years, beginning with a need for workers during the mid-decade spike in the oil industry pre-Eagle Ford, Ray said.
He estimates 85 percent of Du-Tex's staff of 35 people entered the company through its temp-to-hire arrangement with Sterling Personnel, which screens, tests skills and does background checks on potential employees and also reduces Du-Tex's liability, Ray said.
"If we went out and spent the time to hire staff members, it would have cost us $4,000 to $8,000 per employee," Ray said.
The warehouse assistant is two months into his temporary job with the company dealing with a surge in orders for specialized hoses and valves for the oil and gas industry because of Eagle Ford production.
Du-Tex will need 15 more workers like Garza in the next few months, company vice president Mike Ray said.
More workers like Garza are in the workforce than during the past two years, which is a sign the Corpus Christi area's economy is emerging from the recession.
Dips and rises in temporary employment precede economic decline and recovery, respectively, by at least three months, according to analysis of data between 1972 and 2008 by the American Staffing Association.
Texas Workforce Commission figures for the Corpus Christi area follow those trends. Average quarterly temporary employment ranged between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs between 2005 and mid-2008.
The average count tanked between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, when the region shed about 900 temp jobs as the recession choked the national economy. At the same time, the region's unemployment rate climbed from 4.8 percent in October 2008 to 6.3 percent by March 2009, figures show.
"During this recovery period, a lot of businesses are watching the economy and they're watching the market," said Jim Lee, a Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi economist. "So during this transitional period they would tend to hire more temporary staffing."
When times got tough, temporary employees were the first to go, said Sharon Kollaja, with Sterling Personnel Inc.
Corpus Christi's temp job market got even drier through 2009. Kollaja said her business at one point was down 60 percent.
State figures show the region's temp staffing sector hit bottom in the summer of 2009, with an average count of 1,880 jobs, with numbers climbing through the end of 2010 — the latest statistics available.
This spring has shown marked improvement, Kollaja said.
"Our numbers are exceeding 2008 which was a great year," Kollaja said.
All of the sectors Kollaja deals with are booming: clerical, professional and light industrial work, the latter helped by the Eagle Ford Shale boom, she said.
Other trends are emerging. Employers are going for longer temp employee contracts for projects that had been delayed by the economic downturn, Kollaja said.
Hourly rates are increasing for workers with certain skills, she said.
Average weekly wages for area temporary workers also rose during 2010, ending the year at $433, which was an increase of $97, regional figures show.
That is a sign employers gradually are becoming more confident.
"It takes some time for businesses to really take the risk of hiring a person permanently," Lee said.
Lee said data show the Corpus Christi area is out of the recession.
The regional economy has been growing during the past six months despite signs the national economy may be sputtering.
The temp staffing boom has created business opportunities. Pam and Paton Rigsby recently reopened the Corpus Christi branch of Snelling Staffing Services, which closed 18 months ago because of the low demand for temp workers and internal changes under different management, Pam Rigsby said.
Du-Tex has incorporated temporary staffing into its operations for several years, beginning with a need for workers during the mid-decade spike in the oil industry pre-Eagle Ford, Ray said.
He estimates 85 percent of Du-Tex's staff of 35 people entered the company through its temp-to-hire arrangement with Sterling Personnel, which screens, tests skills and does background checks on potential employees and also reduces Du-Tex's liability, Ray said.
"If we went out and spent the time to hire staff members, it would have cost us $4,000 to $8,000 per employee," Ray said.
2011年4月7日星期四
Energy companies to post fracking chemicals online
Oil and gas companies operating in Colorado are among many that say they will voluntarily disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing.
The technique — also known as "fracking" — that blasts water, sand and chemicals into rock layers deep underground to unlock oil and gas.
The companies are uploading data, including well locations, this week to a website created by the Groundwater Protection Council, a national association of groundwater protection agencies, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, an interstate commission created in 1935. Both are located in Oklahoma City.
The technique — also known as "fracking" — that blasts water, sand and chemicals into rock layers deep underground to unlock oil and gas.
The companies are uploading data, including well locations, this week to a website created by the Groundwater Protection Council, a national association of groundwater protection agencies, and the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, an interstate commission created in 1935. Both are located in Oklahoma City.
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