JANSEN, Neb. - The 3 and 33 Mutual Aid Association, a cohort of firefighters and emergency response personnel based throughout Jefferson, Gage and Saline Counties, held its quarterly meeting at the Jansen Fire Hall on Wednesday night.  

With a few dozen people representing 18 organizations from across the region present, the group advanced a few proposals and discussed a number of important items.  

  • There have been many requests for mutual aid, where response teams from one region mobilize to aid in calls from another region. Association president Jeff Nelson of Diller underscored that in these requests for mutual aid, requesters need to be more specific about what kinds of vehicles and apparatus are needed, rather than just saying “send whatever you have,” Nelson said. 
  • Two programs that are used to track response times and monitor the progress of teams as they navigate to scenes of calls, IAmResponding and RapidSOS, have merged. Those in attendance were presented with maps from the programs that outlined the travel patterns of responders to three different recent calls. 
  • Though it can often be hectic, the process to contact the dispatchers and then to notify the response teams has been more or less streamlined. But how do they convey urgent messages to people on tractors, etc., that might be in harm’s way?Gage County emergency manager Lisa Wiegand floated a proposal to utilize a radio frequency with a small reach, like what small Christmas light displays use, that all nearby farmers would be able to tune into to hear communications from response teams.  
  • Every member present voted to include dispatchers as members of the association. Especially in the wake of an intensive last month-plus for dispatchers across the area with the sheer volume of and intensity of fires, Nelson stressed that dispatchers play a critical role in the process and said they deserve a more formal seat at the table. 
  • “Our dispatchers are the heart and soul of how we run," Nelson said in the proposal. "They’re a big part of this association. I don’t know how we went this long without having them on there."

The association’s next meeting will be in February in Fairbury, and will feature the membership’s annual elections.