2009 Meeting Minutes

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 12/09/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest dignity
 our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest quality of 
attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:00 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone:  Mark Bonser, Karla Houfek, Roseanne Scurto, Nolan Paulson present.  
Absent: Mitch Bolte & Brian Policky.

Secretary reports from 11/01 conference call were to be sent out to all officers ASAP by 
Roseanne Scurto.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte as sent to all E-Board members.  The motion 
to approve the treasurer’s report by Karla Houfek seconded by Roseanne Scurto.  Approved.
  (See attached).

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial:  $32,176.69 in the account.  Still waiting for financial report to be completed 
for the packet for potential donors.  FYI – The Law Enforcement Memorial was turned over 
to the care of the City of Grand Island on  November 10, 2009.  Suggested that a letter 
be written to Ty Pennington for financial assistance for the memorial as he will be in 
Nebraska in the next 60 days.

PA System – Nothing new to report. Requested that this subject be taken off the minutes.

The December LODD remembrance newsletter was sent out on the first of the month.

We have mailed shirts to Michigan this month.

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Nothing new to report, no return contact from EMS reference 
names.  Karla will continue to follow-up and report as information becomes available.

	Trailer - Doug Dekker was handling this until his son got very ill from H1N1 and 
now it has sent idle for a couple of months.  Karla will follow-up on it.

LAST Training 11/6-7/2009 in St. Paul Minnesota – Attended by Ryan Nielsen & Ron Tubbs .
New Business –

Applications:  None

	Annual Meeting – When – January 9, 2010.  And what would we like to do for 
training?  in Kearney.  Decided to see if Doc Patterson would be able to do a 
presentation on fundraising efforts, motivation and the memorial.  Roseanne will contact 
Doc and report back to the board via e-mails.  There will be a e-board meeting on the 8th 
at 19:00 in Kearney – location to be announced.

	Conference Call Phone Service – Roseanne recommended a new phone service to try 
in 2010.  Mark Bonser has the information and will follow-up on it.

	
Anything for the good of the cause?

Motion to adjourn by Roseanne Scurto, seconded by Mark Bonser and passed.  Meeting 
adjourned at 20:33.

Roseanne Scurto 
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team.
12/12/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 11/01/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest 
dignity our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest quality
 of attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:10 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone:  Mitch Bolte, Karla Houfek, Roseanne Scurto, Nolan Paulson & Brian 
Policky present.  Absent: Mark Bonser (ill).

Secretary reports from 09/13 conference call were to be sent out to all officers ASAP 
by Roseanne Scurto.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte as sent to all E-Board members.  The motion
 to approve the treasurer’s report by Nolan Paulson seconded by Roseanne Scurto and 
requested that Mitch bring all books to annual meeting for recollection of balance – 
Mitch stated that the account was $6.05 off.  Approved.  (See attached).

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial:  Nothing to report in Mark Bonser’s absence.

Bunting- No bill has been received as of yet.  Looked over the bunting and there is 
some confusion as to application of the bunting on rigs.  Will continue to work with it 
to figure out how it is meant o be applied.

PA System – Nothing new to report. Tabled until more information is acquired, will 
however, leave it on the minutes as a method of reminding.

The October and November LODD remembrance newsletter were sent out on the first of each
month.

We have mailed shirts to Connecticut this month.

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Nothing new to report, no return contact from EMS reference
 names.  Karla will continue to follow-up and report as information becomes available.

	Trailer - Doug Dekker will follow up as soon as he is able to given the medical
condition of his son. (H1N1)   Karla following up with Doug.  We do know that the names 
that need to be added have been made and just need to be attached to the trailer.  Bill 
has been submitted to the team and was approximately $150.

LAST Training 11/6-7/2009 in St. Paul Minnesota – will be attended by Ryan Nielsen & Ron
Tubbs but Ryan Loewenstein could not get off work and will be unable to attend.  He will
remain at the top of the list for the next opportunity.

New Business –

Applications:  None

	Annual Meeting – When – January 8, 2010?  And what would we like to do for 
training?  Several suggestions given, but consensus was to keep the meeting the same
weekend as always and in Kearney.  Decided to see if Doc Patterson would be able to 
do a presentation on fundraising efforts, motivation and the memorial.  Roseanne will

contact Doc and report back to the board via e-mails.

	Conference Call Phone Service – Lots of feedback on the phone line during 
calls, difficult to hear and often get disconnected.  Considering a new service, 
asked all officers to look into potential services and share info so we can try a few.

	$600 billing for financial statement drafted for the memorial committee and 
LAST Team.  Discussion of how to pay the bill and Nolan Paulson motioned that ½ the 
bill be paid by the LAST Team funds and the other ½ by the Memorial funds.  2nd by 
Mitch.  Passed.  Mitch will send check for $300 to Mark Bonser who will then pay the 
bill in full.

	Annual Meeting Info sent out to membership and officer vacancies sent out as
 well.  Asked Kevin Edwards to handle elections, he will do so. (done by Karla)

	There will not be an e-board conference call meeting in December.

This team would like to request that a letter be sent from Law Enforcement stating 
that the NE LAST TEAM is doing a great job and request the NE LAST Team be allowed to 
assist with Law Enforcement PSOB’s.  Bonser suggested that the letter be sent from 
Wes Vede (Law Enforcement Memorial) and Col. Bryan Tuma. (NSP)

Anything for the good of the cause?

Motion to adjourn by Roseanne Scurto, seconded by Mitch Bolte and passed.  Meeting 
adjourned at 20:37.

Roseanne Scurto 
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team.
						11/06/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 9/13/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest 
dignity our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest 
quality of attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:04 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone:  Mitch Bolte, Karla Houfek, Roseanne Scurto & Mark Bonser 
present.  Absent:  Nolan Paulsen & Brian Policky.

Secretary report’s from 08/09 conference call was sent out to all officers by 
Roseanne Scurto.  Motion by Mitch Bolte to accept the minutes as presented, 
second by Mark Bonser and passed.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte as sent to all E-Board members.  
The motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Karla Houfek seconded by Roseanne 
Scurto and passed.  (See attached).

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial:  Financial report for the memorial is being put together by Bonser and a 
CPA with the assistance of Kevin Placzek, report next meeting.

Bunting- The bunting is in the trailer now and we will look it over in Wood River in
October.

PA System – Nothing new to report. Tabled until more information is acquired.

The September LODD remembrance newsletter was sent out on the first of the month.

We have not mailed any shirts or jackets to any other states this month.

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that she has contacted Colin 
Warren and the names were available at the EMS conference so Karla asked for the 
list and was told that it would be e-mailed to her – still not e-mail.  Karla sent 
a note to Debbie Kuhn asking for follow-up with no reply yet. Karla will continue to 
follow-up and report as information becomes available.

	Review of By- Laws by an Attorney –A suggestion had been made by Kyle Ienn 
that all changes to the by-laws should be reviewed by an attorney before being made. 
 Nolan Paulsen suggested that we (the E-Board) talk to Kyle to see if there is a 
specific reason for an attorney review of changes to the by-laws or is it just a 
“best practices” idea?  Karla will follow up with Kyle. Follow-up revealed that Kyle 
was speaking of “BIG” changes to by-laws as opposed to minor ones.  Such as 
re-organization issues.  Currently the attorney we utilize does not charge us a fee
but if we started to abuse the privilege he might.  Discussion and decision was made
 to continue as we currently do with changes to the by-laws being decided by the
 membership and board.

Trailer - The LODD team stated that all donor names would be placed somewhere on the
trailer in recognition of their donations.  Karla will send out a list of whose names
need to appear on the trailer and she and Mitch will check a couple of options for 
having it done.  Karla will check with whoever did the original lettering and Mitch 
will check with the company he uses for his racing lettering.  Follow-up was conducted
as stated above and it was decided to utilize the gentleman from Norfolk who did our 
original lettering to do this as well in 1 ½” to 2” lettering (at his discretion) Doug
Dekker will follow up.

New Business –

	Applications:  None

LAST Training 11/6-7/2009 in St. Paul Minnesota – will be attended by Ryan Nielsen,

Ron Tubbs & Ryan Lowenstein.

Anything for the good of the cause?    
a.	 Ronald Carlson – PSOB?  Yes or no.
b.	Platte County Sherriff Death – PSOB – assisting in the benefits application.
  Barb Dodge and Scott Black. 
Team Successes:  Ryan Hummert – Missouri.

PSOB paid to: 
	Jan 2008 – Linda Sonderquist
	Feb 2008 – Teresa Aunkst
	June 2008 – Melissa Wach

This team would like to request that a letter be sent from Law Enforcement stating 
that the NE LAST TEAM is doing a great job and request the NE LAST Team be allowed to
 assist with Law Enforcement PSOB’s.  Bonser suggested that the letter be sent from
 Wes Vede (Law Enforcement Memorial) and Col. Bryan Tuma. (NSP)

Reminder of the Memorial Conference Call on August 19, notice will be sent to all.

Motion to adjourn by Mark Bonser, seconded by Karla Houfek and passed.  Meeting 
adjourned at 20:54.

Roseanne Scurto 
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team.
09/14/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 8/09/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest dignity our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest quality of attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:06 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone: Nolan Paulsen, Mitch Bolte, Karla Houfek & Roseanne Scurto. Absent: Brian Policky and Mark Bonser.

Secretary report’s from 07/09 conference call was sent out to all officers by Roseanne Scurto. Motion by Mitch Bolte to accept the minutes as presented, second by Nolan Paulsen and passed.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte as sent to all E-Board members. The motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Karla Houfek seconded by Roseanne Scurto and passed. (See attached).

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Tabled in Mark Bonser’s absence, however, a financial report for the memorial is being put together by Bonser and will report next meeting.

Bunting- Kyle Ienn is having the bunting made; it was to be delivered at fire school but has not been anything new to report for some time.

PA System – Nothing new to report. Tabled until more information is acquired.

The August LODD remembrance newsletter was sent out on the first of the month.

We have not mailed any shirts or jackets to any other states this month.

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that she has contact Debbie Kuhns in an effort for a better response to the EMS names. Contact continues to be made approximately every three to four weeks with no results to date.

Summer Picnic Date – Was held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Approximately 10 members and their families attended the picnic.

Review of By- Laws by an Attorney –A suggestion had been made by Kyle that all changes to the by-laws should be reviewed by an attorney before being made. Nolan Paulsen suggested that we (the E-Board) talk to Kyle to see if there is a specific reason for an attorney review of changes to the by-laws or is it just a “best practices” idea? Karla will follow up with Kyle.

Trailer – While the trailer was stationed in Waverly to assist with a level II funeral the question was brought up by one of the Fired Departments that made a large donation to the trailer as to “where their name was on the trailer”… I did not have an answer as to why it wasn’t on the trailer. The LODD team stated that all donor names would be placed somewhere on the trailer in recognition of their donations. This has not been done. Karla will send out a list of whose names need to appear on the trailer and she and Mitch will check a couple of options for having it done. Karla will check with whoever did the original lettering and Mitch will check with the company he uses for his racing lettering. Follow-up at the next meeting.

New Business –
Applications:
Brett Peterson – Fort Calhoun Fire Dept. – Brian Policky reviewed the application and references. Motion by Roseanne Scurto and seconded by Mitch to approve his application, passed. Karla will contact Brett.

Reminder of the Memorial Conference Call on August 19, notice will be sent to all.

Motion to adjourn by Roseanne Scurto, seconded by Karla Houfek and passed. Meeting adjourned at 20:54.

Roseanne Scurto
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team. 9/11/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 6/07/09

Meeting was called to order at 20:00 by President Karla Houfek

Attended via phone: Nolan Paulsen, Mitch Bolte, Karla Houfek

Secretary’s report from 05/10/09 were tabled.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte: The current balance is $6623.56 Statement/transactions sent along with agenda. The motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Nolan Paulson seconded by Karla Houfek and passed.

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Tabled

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that they have a contact person, Rita Gallagher, but are still waiting for any information.

Bunting- Kyle Ienn had the bunting made, it was not done by fire school, Karla spoke with Kyle hopefully next 60 days.

PA System – Nothing new to report.

The June LODD remembrance newsletters were sent out on the first of the month.

We mailed a shirt to Montana this month.

Summer Picnic Date – To be held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Announcement flyer will be made and sent to all members with additional information to come!

CAST –, Kyle contacted Karla no response from Eric Nagle or John Proehl regarding Kyle’s email. (Kyle will make contact with the foundation and Eric to offer the Nebraska teams help if they want it.)

Nebraska Firefighter article: Kyle Ienn will be writing a perpetual article for the paper that lets the public know about donations for the memorial. – Tabled

Donations: Discussion of keeping donations for the trailer and the memorial separate. Karla, Kyle and Nolan will work on proper thanks for all donation categories. Want to be sure that the appropriate thank you is sent for the donation that was made. AND, that only one is sent. Currently, Roseanne sends thank you notes for any team issues while Kevin sends the thank you notes for memorial donations. – Tabled

New Business –
Application for membership – Ryan Nielsen – Nolan Paulsen contacted his 3 references. Nolan made a motion to accept Ryan’s application. Second by Mitch Bolte. Discussion. Application approved.

Letter from Doug Lacey _CPA- Notice was sent to all e-board an extension was filed for our team
Income taxes

Next month meeting will be July 12, 2009 8:00pm

Motion to adjourn by Mitch Bolte, seconded by Nolan Paulsen and passed. Meeting adjourned at 20:42.
(42 minutes)

Minutes taken by
Karla Houfek
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team. 6/11/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 5/03/09

Meeting was called to order at 20:00 by Vice President Mark Bonser.

Attended via phone: Mark Bonser, Nolan Paulsen, Mitch Bolte, Melissa Wach & Roseanne Scurto. Karla Houfek joined the call at 20:15 and took over running the meeting. Brian Policky joined the meeting at 20:25 and Kyle Ienn joined the meeting at 20:20.

Secretary’s report from 04/05/09 conference call was sent out to all officers by Roseanne Scurto. Motion by Nolan Paulson to accept the minutes as presented, second by Mitch Bolte and passed.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte: The current balance is $6380.66. Statement/transactions sent along with agenda. The motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Roseanne Scurto seconded by Nolan Paulson and passed.

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Mark Bonser reported that donations were received from: Papillion $4500, Millard/Millard Days Inc, and Ralston $2000. The balance in the memorial account is $18,080.82 (Wymore was the first dept to meet the $2000 challenge.)

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek/Mark Bonser reported that they have a contact person, Rita Gallagher, but are still waiting for any information.

Bunting- Kyle Ienn had the bunting made and it will be delivered at fire school, nothing new to report.

PA System – Nothing new to report.

Training –NIMS “class” for the e-board was held in GI on May 11 after the Law Enforcement Dedication Ceremony. Karla and Roseanne attended and Mark Bonser walked through the NIMS forms.

TCOO – The team will be sponsoring Taking Care of Our Own class at Fire School this year, nothing new to report. Melissa Wach, Rodger Alley, Kyle Ienn and Mark Bonser will be part of this class.

Baskin Robbins – 31 cent scoop night was held April 29. GI raised $398.77, Lincoln raised $235.00 and have not heard about Kearney yet.

The April LODD remembrance newsletter was sent out on the first of the month.

We have not mailed any shirts or jackets to any other states this month.

Summer Picnic Date – To be held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Announcement flyer will be made and sent to all members with additional information to come!

CAST – Trip to California on April 26 – 29, Kyle and Melissa attended and gave the following report: Mel spoke about how grateful she is to be from Nebraska and to have the Nebraska team there to help her. She shared stories about other survivor’s experiences. She questioned if the Nebraska team could in any manner help other widows with their PSOB. And is looking for information for the other teams as to how widows are implemented into the teams. The E-board agreed to send information to the foundation IF they ask and we will also volunteer to assist with survivors if asked. The e-board agreed that we should work with Erick Nagel to see if together we can come up with team by-laws that apply consistently across the United States. Melissa and Kyle will make contact with the foundation and Eric to offer the Nebraska teams help if they want it.

Motion by Mark Bonser to send information gathered from discussion with the foundation and Eric to the e-board and board of directors for approval. Seconded by Nolan Paulsen and passed.

The e-board will meet via a conference call with the board of directors on Sunday May 10 at 20:00 to discuss this as well as request their approval to change the by-laws to say that at least one member of the CAST will include the E-Board President. Karla will arrange that meeting.

Western Nebraska membership – Mark Bonser gathered three applications from western Nebraska, Paul Neideffer, Michael Levick and David Glenn. Motion was made to by-pass normal procedures for all three applications, pending any significant information from their references, if no issues then final approval for their acceptance into the team will be granted. Seconded by Mitch Bolte. Discussion. Motion failed.
The applications were assigned to the following for review: Mitch/Paul, Michael/Nolan and David/Brian.
The applications will be revisited at the Board of Directors meeting on May 10.

Nebraska Firefighter article: Kyle Ienn will be writing a perpetual article for the paper that lets the public know about donations for the memorial.

New Business –

Motion to adjourn by Mitch Bolte, seconded by Mark Bonser and passed. Meeting adjourned at 21:42.
(1 hour 42 minutes)

Roseanne Scurto
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team. 5/25/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 4/05/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest dignity our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest quality of attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:03 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone: Karla Houfek, Nolan Paulsen, Mitch Bolte, Mark Bonser & Roseanne Scurto.

Secretary’s report from 03/08/09 conference call was sent out to all officers by Roseanne Scurto. Motion by Mark Bonser to accept the minutes as presented, second by Nolan Paulson and passed.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte: The current balance is $7,139.40. Statement/transactions sent along with agenda. Motion to approve the treasurer’s report by Mark Bonser, seconded by Nolan Paulson and passed. A duplicate check was written to Bonser for vests but that error will be corrected when Bonser returns to town.

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Mark Bonser reported that the financial records have been given to Kevin Placezk so he did not have a treasurer’s report.

EMS LODD Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that the committee is researching names for the wall and will report at a later date. Mark reported that he received a voice mail that he has to return when he returns to town.

NFRM Brick – Maloney’s – Bonser will contact Maloney’s to let them know of our gift to them so they can decide what they want engraved.

Bunting- Kyle Ienn had the bunting made and it will be delivered at fire school.

PA System – Continued discussion of what our needs our and what the wattage needs to be for a sufficient system. Nothing new to report.

Training –NIMS class for the e-board will be held on GI on May 11 after the Law Enforcement Dedication Ceremony. Mark Bonser will make arrangements to possibly include a one hour class by GI Fire Chief. More info to come.

TCOO – The team will be sponsoring Taking Care of Our Own class at Fire School this year, nothing new to report.

Baskin Robbins – 31 cent scoop night will be held April 29. E-mail notifications will be sent out as soon as Karla receives the information. Karla is working with Lincoln, Todd King is working with GI, and Roseanne is working with Syracuse.

The April LODD remembrance newsletter will be sent out very soon. Technical difficulties.

We have not mailed any shirts or jackets to any other states this month.

Business cards – if you still need them let Karla know ASAP. Nolan and Mitch requested cards – please send info to Karla ASAP.

Summer Picnic Date – To be held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Announcement flyer will be made and sent to all members with additional information to come!

New Business –

Western Nebraska membership – Mark Bonser is working on that this week while out west for training. Will report later.

Nebraska Firefighters Foundation – Letter from Norm Hoeft requesting the two organizations unify to build a memorial. The e-board continues with the original decision the founding board made that this organization would always be a stand-alone organization and therefore would not be combining its efforts in the memorial.

CAST – Trip to California on April 26 – 29, Kyle will be going and will be asked to join the May conference call to make a report. The e-board will also be changing the by-laws to say that at least one member of the CAST will include the E-Board President.

Motion to adjourn by Mitch Bolte, seconded by Roseanne Scurto and passed. Meeting adjourned at 20:44. (41 minutes)

Roseanne Scurto
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team. 4/05/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 3/08/09

Team Mission Statement: “Assist families and departments to Honor with the highest dignity our injured or fallen Brothers and Sisters by representing the highest quality of attitude and professionalism

Meeting was called to order at 20:00 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone: Karla Houfek, Nolan Paulsen, Brian Policky, Mark Bonser & Roseanne Scurto.

Secretary’s report from 02/15/09 conference call was sent out to all officers by Roseanne Scurto. Motion by Nolan Paulsen to accept the minutes as present, second by Brian Policky and passed. One correction to the 2/15/09 minutes is that the minutes were received by the e-board members at the last minute from the previous secretary.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Karla in Mitch Bolte’s absence: The current balance is $6,576.58. Statement/transactions sent along with agenda.

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Mark Bonser reported the following expenses: $65.00 credit card machine /setup. $328 (approx) for printing of brochures. The fallen firefighter widows have completed the challenge letter and it has been submitted to the Nebraska Firefighter Newspaper. The article and picture will run for three consecutive months at no cost to the organization. The updated memorial video is posted on the website and numerous copies made to distribute. Everyone that has requested brochures/CD’s have received them.

EMS Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that the committee is researching names for the wall and will report at a later date.

Bunting – is being made, Kyle Ienn is handling that and it will be checked on when he returns to town with a report being made next month.

GI Radio’s – Grand Island had some radios that were not be used and we made a request for 40 of them. Although they will not be able to give them to us they will allow us to borrow them in our time of need. There are approximately 20 radios, 40 batteries and their charging units that we will be able to use if we make a verbal request to GI Fire.

PA System – Brian Policky reported that he had contacted his friend, Ben, reference a PA system. Suggestion that we be very specific about our needs; which are: a system that can be used indoors/outdoors and listened to by upwards of 3000 people, wattage output of system. Brian will check on that and the committee will continue to research.

Training – Continued discussion of holding a NIMS class specifically for the officers and re-writing the forms to meet the needs of our response. Initial date of 4/25/09 was set up but that has been cancelled due to other commitments. Karla will send an e-mail out with date options for this class to the e-board.

TCOO – The team will be sponsoring Taking Care of Our Own class at Fire School this year, Kyle Ienn was to contact Chief Goldfether and did so twice via e-mail but has yet to hear back from him. Mark Bonser will continue to follow up and report at the next meeting.

The March LODD remembrance newsletter was sent out.

We have not mailed any shirts to any other states this month.

A follow-up meeting with Melissa Wach on February 26 and everything seemed to go very well. No new surprises.

The presentation to CISM on 3/07/09 by Leo Benes, Karla Houfek and Melissa Wach went very well. The new video about the team made by Kevin Houfek was shown to the people in attendance and they spoke for about an hour which was followed by about an hour of discussion.

Membership Issues – the following people have been removed from the team roster: Chris Slack, Verrelle Gordon, Justin Ferris, Michael Davenport, and Mike Mulholland. Ron Tubbs and Ralph Moul have paid their dues and maintain membership.

Summer Picnic Date – To be held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Announcement flyer will be made and sent to all members with additional information to come!

New Business –

EMS LODD’s – Still awaiting a response from State of Nebraska contact.

NFRM Brick – Maloney’s – In an attempt to thank the Maloney’s for the vast amount of work they do on our team website a motion was made by Karla Houfek that we pay for an 8×8 brick out of our checking account and donate it to the Maloney’s to have engraved as they see fit. Seconded by Roseanne Scurto – discussion. Vote passed and Bonser will contact Maloney’s to let them know of our gift to them so they can decide what they want engraved.

Baskin Robbins – 31 cent scoop night will be held April 29. E-mail notifications will be sent out as soon as Karla receives the information.

Business Cards for E-Board – if you want cards send your info to Karla ASAP and she will have the cards made.

Brian Policky exited the conference call at 21:03.

Good of the Cause-

Ronald Carlson – Nothing to report of PSOB at this time. Will advise at next meeting.
Team Successes: Ryan Hummert – Missouri
PSOB Paid to: January 2008 – Linda Soderquist, February 2008 – Teresa Aunkst, June 2008 – Melissa Wach

Motion to adjourn by Mark Bonser, seconded by Nolan Paulson and passed. Meeting adjourned at 21:05. (1 hour 5 minutes)

Roseanne Scurto
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team. 4/03/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
Conference Call – 2/15/09

Meeting was called to order at 20:00 by President Karla Houfek.

Attended via phone: Karla Houfek, Nolan Paulsen, Brian Policky, Mark Bonser, Mitch Nolte & Roseanne Scurto.

Secretary’s report from 01/12/2008 Annual Meeting was read by Kevin Placzek. Motion by Dave Backus to approve as read, 2nd by Casey Pascale. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s report: Presented by Mitch Bolte: The current balance is$6,492.03.

OLD BUSINESS

Memorial: Mark Bonser reported: $11,710.00 in the account. The fallen firefighter widows have completed the challenge letter and it has been submitted to the Nebraska Firefighter Newspaper. The article and picture will run for three consecutive months at no cost to the organization. At this point this is the only version of the letter out to the public – we may submit a “civilian version” at a later date.

Memorial Video: Roseanne Scurto reported that the video is completed and are considering minor changes in the near future to include slowing the credits and adding rescue personnel to the list when names are acquired. 500 CD’s are currently being planned to produce by Kevin Houfek for distribution. Each member needs to contact Bonser to request CD’s and brochures – he will send them to you so each member can get the word out!

Dedication Date- Mark Bonser reported that the Memorial Committee established a dedication date for the Memorial of September 11, 2011.

EMS Names Subcommittee- Karla Houfek reported that the committee is researching names for the wall and will report at a later date.

Recognition of Donations via “Alarm” defined in the following manner – First Due = $500, 1 Alarm = $500 – $1000, 2 Alarm – $1000 – $5000, 3 Alarm – $5000 – $10,000, 4 Alarm – $10,000 – $25,000, 5 Alarm – $100,000 or greater.

Suggestion to produce a form to distribute to the fire departments statewide for purchasing a brick – which will cost $100 each. Have done ASAP to distribute at the Les Lukert Conference this upcoming weekend. Roseanne will be putting the “Memorial Brochure”, the “Challenge Letter” and the “brick purchase” forms in the student’s packets.

Memorial Brochure – There are a few spelling errors in the brochure, we need to fix those and reprint for distribution. The incorrect ones have already been placed in the Les Lukert packets and will remain there.

PA System – Brian Policky reported that he may have a contact for a PA system, Ben. He will check with his contact and advise at the next meeting. Suggestion was made to contact Nate Koch of Beatrice. Suggestion that we be very specific about our needs; which are: a system that can be used indoors/outdoors and listened to by upwards of 3000 people.

Training – Discussion of the ICS class that was held at the annual meeting. General consensus was that the class did not meet our needs and that we need to conduct a class specifically for the officers covering the NIMS system and using NIMS forms in an incident. Karla will send an e-mail out with date options for this class to the e-board.

TCOO – The team will be sponsoring Taking Care of Our Own class at Fire School this year, Kyle Ienn will be handling the arrangements. Need to choose a subject to present. (?) There was discussion that Chief Goldfeather will be in Omaha, Nebraska at the same time for the Women in the Fire Service Conference and there might be a chance that we could get him to speak at the class at Fire School. Will ask Kyle to Contact him as Kyle has his contact information.

Application For Membership – Ryan Loewenstein of Columbus Nebraska put in an application in September of 2007. Ryan was instrumental in the funeral of Waterloo firefighter recently and feels he would be a good asset to the team. Motion by Brian Policky to accept his application for membership. Seconded by Mitch Nolte and passed. Brian Policky will contact Ryan and welcome him to the team!

Todd King – Wood River – Has requested that he be removed from the Board of Directors and placed in the Active Response Team Membership instead. Also does not want to be a Chief to Chief resource any longer. Motion by Mark Bonser to honor his request of being removed from the Chief to Chief Resource and be removed as a Board of Director and change his status to Active Member. Seconded by Brian Policky. Motion passed. Roseanne will change the roster to reflect the decision.

Miscellaneous Old Business – The monthly “Line of Duty Death: list continues to be sent out to all members and those that have requested to receive information via out website.

Team Apparel – 20 states now how our shirt w/logo and of our 18 Team members have ordered jackets.

Dues – 10 members are not current on their dues. A letter will be sent to them asking their intentions and requesting they pay their dues. If not paid, they will be removed from the team.

Waterloo Firefighter Death – Jack Rittenhouse death was not a line of duty death however the fire department requested certain aspects of the firefighter funeral. Brian Policky took the lead and had great assistance from Ryan Loewenstein. Brian praised Ryan for all of his help with the funeral and stated that he would be meeting with Chief Cooke on Tuesday to follow-up on how things went from the fire departments perspective. Will report later.

2/27/2002 – Diana Rosen was killed in the line of duty in Cortland. The family didn’t realize that she was eligible for PSOB benefits but they were recently notified that she has been approved for the PSOB and will be honored at Emmitsburg this year.

1994 – Ronald Carlson – Of Luellen Nebraska was killed in an apparatus rollover accident. Karla Houfek is working on this case with Hope (on a possible appeal to go back to 1994) to see if we can get his name approved for placement on the foundation wall. Karla will report status later.

Firefighter Assault Class – conducted at the Ralston Fire Station was a huge success, VERY good class!

Summer Picnic Date – To be held at Roseanne & Ken Scurto’s on August 15, 2009. Announcement flyer will be made and sent to all members with additional information to come!

New Business –

Discussion of sending the trailer out to show to fire departments – Nolan Paulson discussed a trailer tour, especially to fire departments that donated.

Fundraiser Activities – Hickman is hosting a soup supper in March – encourage brick sales!
Street Dance committees – Push for donations.

Team Successes – Discussion of where and how we keep track of our team successes. Karla explained that we do track our successes in the following manner: “Helped with” which are resources provided, “Assisted With” which includes level 2 funerals and “Line of Duty Death Funeral”.

Mitch Bolte will be out of the state on March 1 so the next conference call will be on March 8, 2009 at 20:00 hours. Karla Houfek will send an agenda.

Brian Policky exited the conference call at 21:15.

Tentatively planning and E-board meeting in Lincoln on April 25 which will include NIMS 101. Also, the trailer will be brought to the meeting so that Nolan Paulson can take the trailer from there.

Motion to adjourn by Roseanne Scurto, seconded by Mitch Bolte and passed. Meeting adjourned at 21:40. (1 hour 41 minutes)

Respectively Submitted,

Roseanne Scurto
Secretary
Nebraska Serious Injury & Line of Duty Death Response Team.
3/06/09

Nebraska Serious Injury & Line-of- Duty Death Response Team
2nd Annual Meeting Minutes
01/17/2009

Kearney Training Facility
4300 Piper Avenue

Meeting was called to order at 9:09am by President Karla Houfek.

Opening prayed by Tim Norris

Attended: Heminger Eva, Schafer Jim, Schutte DeAnna, Wach Melissa, Woitalewicz Melissa, Backhus Dave, Benzel Fred, Bolte Mitch, Bonser Mark, Christiansen John, Edwards Kevin, Fortune Bill, Grosse Todd, Hansen Roger, Houfek Karla, Ienn Kyle, Isaac Brad, Norris Tim, Pascale Casey, Paulsen Nolan, Placzek Kevin, Policky Brian, Scurto Roseanne, Self Ken, Tracy Ken, Wagner Carrie, Weed Andrea.

Absent: Horak Marylyn, Benes Leo, Bourque Rick, Calleroz Cameron, Daake Brian, Davenport Michael, Dekker Doug, Duncan Jess, Eberspacher Mark, Ferris Justin, Verrelle Gordon, Haase Thomas, Messenger Bruce, Moul Ralph, Mulholland Mike, Slack Cris, Tubbs Ron,

Welcome by Kearney Fire Chief Jerry Thompson
Introduction of Honorary Survivors
Introduction of Board of Directors and E-Board
Introduction of Members

Secretary’s report from 01/12/2008 Annual Meeting was read by Kevin Placzek. Motion by Dave Backus to approve as read, 2nd by Casey Pascale. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s report from 01/15/2009 was read by Karla Houfek. The current balance is $5,444.39. Motion by Ken Self, 2nd by JR Christensen to approve report. Motion passed.

OLD BUSINESS
2008 Accomplishments
* No Line-of-Duty Deaths for 2008
* L.A.S.T. Team shirt sales to Response Teams in 18 states
* Monthly E-Board Conference calls
* NPFFA is working with all Nebraska State and Community Colleges to provide a tuition free benefit for LODD dependents
* Creighton University will provide free tuition for all Nebraska dependents of a LODD
* E-Board members met with Melissa Wach on December 11, 2008 for an After Action meeting
* Nebraska Firefighters Newspaper provided to LODD Survivors at no charge
* “Taking Care of Our Own” class will be held at the Annual 2009 Nebraska State Fire School in May

* Response Team Trailer fully stocked and in service
a. Used by Neligh & Nehawka VFD. Nehawka VFD donated $500 in memory of their long time member, Marvin Hogrefe
b. Kyle is working on the bunting for the apparatus & Fire Station
*Monthly Remembrance Newsletter
* NESCA Association meeting in Kearney
* NPFFA meeting in Kearney
* Hosted “Taking Care of Our Own” Class at Ralston Fire & Rescue with presenters from the NFFF
* Assisted with Missouri Line-of-Duty Death
* !st Annual Meeting held at Kearney VFD Station #1 January 12, 2008

2009 Upcoming Events
January 31, 2009 – Nebraska Fire Chiefs meeting to be held at Ralston Fire & Rescue. Topic will be Assault on Firefighters, Ashland & Cortland, NE & Maplewood Missouri
May 15, 16 & 17, 2009 – Annual Nebraska State Fire School
Summer 2009 – 2nd Annual Response Team picnic to be held at Roseanne Scurto’s home
September 19, 2009 – Colorado Springs IAFF Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service
October 2009 – National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend in Emmitsburg, MD
October 11, 2009 – Annual Nebraska Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service hosted by Wood River Fire & Rescue and Hall County Mutual Aid Association

Nebraska Fire/Rescue Memorial
Mark Bonser presented a computer presentation created by Roseanne Scurto for the Memorial. The E-Board has designated this Memorial as the Teams priority for 2009 until completed.
The following members volunteered to work on the Fire/EMS Memorial Committee:
Chairman: Mark Bonser
Dave Bachkus
DeAnna Schutte
Eva Heminger
Fred Benzel
Kevin Placzek
Melissa Wach
Melissa Woitalewicz
Todd Grosse

Bonser displayed a list of names from the USFA & IAFF websites that contain Line-of-Duty Deaths in Nebraska. Discussion was held as to how we can best honor our fallen Brothers & Sisters

Motion by Kevin Edwards, 2nd by Brian Policky to have the Fire/Rescue committee research how to best utilize names from the USFA & IAFF websites that contain the names of our fallen Brothers/Sisters. The Committee also has the task to utilize all sources to insure that EMS LODD’s are included on the Memorial Wall.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Board of Directors / Seat #1 – Casey Pascale
Board of Directors / Seat #2 – Roger Hansen
E-Board Vice President – Mark Bonser
Secretary – Roseanne Scurto
Treasurer –Mitch Bolte
Member at Large #2 – Brian Policky
NEW BUSINESS
Kevin Edwards read a letter in regards to the May 11, 2009 dedication of the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial in Grand Island, located at Fonner Park.

Kevin also talked about his meeting with his cousin Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy. They met to discuss the possibility of providing benefits to the dependents of Nebraska LODD’s. LB 206 will be introduced to provide free tuition to dependents for post secondary education to colleges in Nebraska. At this time Creighton University is offering that benefit. Dave Engler from Lincoln Fire has met with Nebraska Senators about the Nebraska Professional Firefighters hiring lobbyist Amy Amkus. It’s best for the firefighter Union & the NSVFA to work together as one voice to secure this benefit. This would be for all Nebraska Emergency Responder LODD’s. Motion was made by Kyle Ienn and a 2nd by Todd Grosse to release contact names to Dave Engler to assist in this goal. Motion carried.

Karla Houfek requested that those in attendance to please complete the 1yr, 3yr & 5yr goals for the Response Team. Complete ASAP and submit to Karla your team goals.

Mitch Bolte and Dave Backhus shared information about having Honor Guards utilizing a Nebraska Response Team flag and Guidons. Dave will review with a Lincoln distributor what is available.

Team training was provided by Mike Kennelly from Omaha. The training was on the IC process and how critical it is to preparing for a LODD funeral.

Motion by Casey Pascale to adjourn, 2nd by Dave Backhus. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 2:50pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Kevin Placzek
Secretary

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