nothin NHFD Promotes 3 Online In Pandemic Times | New Haven Independent

NHFD Promotes 3 Online In Pandemic Times

Daniel Coughlin takes oath Tuesday as battalion chief as his father, a retired city firefighter, looks on.

A captain became a battalion chief, a lieutenant a captain, and a firefighter a lieutenant.

Those promotions happened Tuesday morning at a meeting of the Board of Fire Commissioners.

The firefighters also voted in a new chairman, the Rev. Steven Cousin, to fill the big shoes of Chairman William Celentano, Jr., who died on Feb. 11.
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The participants did it all mostly without leaving their individual homes, offices, or computer screens.

Convened by Fire Chief John Alston via the Zoom app, the department and the board performed their first online promotions and appointments in history.

The decisions unfolded in an efficient 30-minute meeting. The promotees each raised his hand and repeated the formal words of the oath as administered by Mayor Justin Elicker via a monitor in the sanitized office of the chief.

Capt. Daniel Coughlin was promoted to battalion chief; Lt. Thomas Corone to captain; and Firefighter Kenneth Hulse to lieutenant.

Immediately before the promotion ceremony, the board voted unanimously to appoint current commissioners Steven Cousin as chair and Vincent Mauro Jr. as vice chair. The board needed to be constituted formally to approve the promotions that Chief Alston was conducting.

We all miss William Celentano. He was a stalwart, and he’ll be sorely missed. I congratulate the new chairman and am looking forward eagerly to working with you,” said Chief Alston.

Thanks for putting your trust in me,” said Cousin. I have big shoes to fill, but with your help we’ll get through this” pandemnic.

Normally this in-department ceremony features each promotee standing before the flag in the conference room and taking the oath in person, with family members nearby.

Covid-19 of course has changed all that. Chief Alston said that the newly minted fire officers understood that, as did their families. Only one family member was permitted to attend and was asked to come into the office to pin on the badge after the mayor had Zoomed in the oath.

I’ve sanitized the room,” Alston was heard to say to the family members as they came in to perform the decoration procedure.

Alston said when the pandemic clears enough, an in-person ceremony will take place. They’ve earned it,” he said.

Still Scrambling For Masks
Before the meeting concluded, in a brief operations update, Assistant Chief Mark Vendetto said that in the last reporting period the department responded to 305 calls involving contact with people potentially with Covid-19.

Seventy-five of those people turned out to be Covid positive, Vendetto reported. Fire department personnel transported 64 of them to hospital.

Currently 13 firefighters have tested positive and are in self-isolation, he reported; 26 other firefighters are in self-quarantine, the majority in rooms at the University of New Haven.

Newly minted Chair Cousin asked how morale is. Vendetto replied that things are going very well.” He said that the personnel are pleased with the sanitizing procedures, which include de-conning” all the departments’ facilities at every shift change as well as cleaning all surfaces after every call.

In addition, once a week, each station house gets defogged” by a misting machine that reaches each crack and crevice,” he reported.

There was, however, some trouble finding PPE,” or personal protective equipment, Vendetto said.

In response to Commissioner Paul Nunez’s follow-up, Vendetto said the supply chain has encountered problems. He said the department is not relying on the state, which has provided limited supplies. So we’re working on it ourselves. The biggest thing we’re working on is the masks that we’re trying to keep up with.”

As the meeting concluded, Mayor Elicker expressed his gratitude to the department for its flexibility. It’s not sufficiently understood, he added, that New Haven’s fire service, unlike other municipalities, responds to many medical calls, and that makes us especially appreciative.”

Fire union chief Frank Ricci praised promotees Coughhlin, Corone, and Hulse, saying they each exemplify what it means to be a firefighter in the Elm City. Lead by example out there,” he said, and everyone be safe.”

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