Three Things to Know This Week (Oct. 16-22)

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  1. Looking for ways to keep the kids active during the winter months ahead? Join TheYBB Colony Winter Youth Basketball League for kids ages 3-12. Registration is open until this Saturday, Oct. 21. You may register at The Colony Recreation Center (5151 North Colony Blvd.) or online at PlayTC.com. Registration is $65 for The Colony residents and $75 for non-residents. For more information, call Parks & Recreation at 972-625-1106.
  2. The Colony City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, at City Hall, 6800 Main St. The Council meets on the first and third Tuesdays of every month. Click here for the agenda. The Board of Adjustments also meets this week, at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18. View the agenda online.
  3. The Colony Parks and Recreation Department is partnering with Texas Parks and Wildlife to offer a camping workshop for the community! The workshop, called Texas Outdoor Family, will take place at Lake Ray Roberts State Park: Isle du Bois park. During the event, families will hike, geocache, fish, learn to cook in a DutchTexasOutdoorFamily oven and much more! No experience is required and all equipment is provided. Families only need to bring personal items and bedding. Equipment included: tent, cots, cook stove, pots and pans, utensils, etc. The cost per family of five is $75. Also included is food for the weekend. The workshop is on Nov. 18-19. Check-in begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday and cleanup is finished by 10 a.m. on Sunday. Register at PlayTC.com or by calling Parks & Recreation at 972-625-1106.

Three Things to Know This Week (Oct. 10-15)

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  1. Members of The Colony Public Library’s Local History Committee will be on hand to talk about the history of Bridges Cemetery and discuss its preservation and TwilightBridgesrestoration plans, as well as answer questions about the history of the City of The Colony, during Twilight at Bridges Cemetery, 5 p.m. to sunset Saturday, Oct. 14. The cemetery is located at the corner of Morning Star and Chesapeake drives. Click here for more info, visit www.thecolonypl.org or email Assistant Library Director of Operations Megan Charters.
  2. Are you ready for the annual City-Wide Fall Clean-Up? If not, you’ve got one weekend left to get your junk in order! The event is scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 21, in the parking lot of Hawaiian Falls Waterpark. Residents of The Colony may bring trash and refuse, such as large tree limbs, furniture, appliances, lumber, remodeling debris, fencing materials and scrap metal, for disposal. This list is not all-inclusive, and some limitations apply. Click here for all the details or call Environmental Services at 972-624-3131.
  3. oak-ridge-boysMark your calendars now if you haven’t already. We are ONE MONTH away from American Heroes: A Salute to Veterans! This year’s festival and fireworks event is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 11, at The Colony Five Star Complex. The event features a headlining performance by the Oak Ridge Boys, as well as live music from Sammy Kershaw and Cooder Graw. Registration for the American Hero 5K/10K/1-mile Fun Run is already underway. A whole day’s worth of fun and activities is in store. Check out the festival schedule for all the details or call Parks & Recreation at 972-625-1106.

Three Things to Know This Week (Oct. 2-8)

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  1. Join us on Friday night, Oct. 6, for our second fall installment of Movies in the Park at The Colony Five Star Complex! This week’s movie is Beauty and the Beast, rated PG. FREE admission for everyone! Gates open at 6:15 p.m. Movie begins BeautyBeastapproximately 7:15 p.m. Parental supervision required. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets! Concessions will be available for purchase. The Colony Five Star Complex is at 4100 Blair Oaks Drive. Click here for more info or call the Parks & Recreation Department at 972-625-1106.
  2. #ICYMI: A new feature launched this past Sunday enables residents and visitors to access a food establishment’s health inspection scores from their smartphone or tablet. Starting Oct. 1, the letter grade cards showing health inspection scores were replaced with city-issued placards containing a QR code which, when scanned by a QR-code reader on your device, takes the user to the Health Inspection page of the city’s website. Click here for more details.
  3. Vote-smallVoters in Place 6 have one week to register to vote in time for the Tuesday, Nov. 7, City Council Election. The voter registration deadline is Monday, Oct. 9. Early voting runs from Oct. 23 to Nov. 3. For more info, call the City Secretary’s Office at 972-624-3106.

‘Ready for anything’

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Medical Control contract keeps TCFD on the cutting-edge

“Check your own pulse.” That’s the first rule for fire department paramedics arriving at the scene of an emergency. The patient (or patients) requires immediate attention, and first-responders don’t have the luxury of being flustered.

“The more cool, calm, and collected we are, the better care we can provide,” said Shannon Stephens, Assistant Chief for The Colony Fire Department (TCFD).

To that end, The Colony Fire Department is staying on the cutting-edge of medical training by virtue of its current Medical Control contract with Medical City Plano (MCP). Through the affiliation, TCFD paramedics have access to a wide variety of programs and services – computerized training, facility access, ongoing statistical analysis of department operations, on-site training by emergency room physicians, operating-room rotations, ER rotations, and more.

One of the facilities they utilize is a cadaver lab at UT-Southwestern Medical School in Dallas where paramedics and other first-responders can practice hands-on, life-saving techniques. Shift by shift, TCFD has been sending all of its paramedics to the lab to keep their training fresh. A recent trip to the lab emphasized what they call “taking an airway.”

“When we arrive on a scene, one of the first things we’ll assess is if the patient’s airway is at risk through some kind of traumatic injury or medical event like a chronic illness,” Stephens said. “Sometimes patients are just fighting so hard to breath they get exhausted, and they’re not providing adequate ventilation on their own. So we take over for them and assist their respiration through different procedures like an intubation or tracheotomy.”

As the name implies, the cadaver lab provides paramedics the chance to use their tools and techniques on actual cadavers as opposed to mannequins, which not only have a tendency to wear down but simply don’t compare to the real thing, Stephens said.

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The Colony Fire Department paramedics Harrison Stoker, left, and Mike Powers prepare for their lab training by reviewing some of the tools of the trade.

TCFD veteran Mike Powers and newcomer Harrison Stoker were among the recent paramedics to undergo training at the lab. Powers has been in the fire services for 17 years. He said that most often a paramedic may only encounter serious trauma scenes a handful of times in their whole career.

But when that time comes, you have to be confident and let your training kick in. That’s when time spent in the labs really pays off.

“One of the unique things about fire services is that you go from 0 to 100 very quickly. One minute you’re literally sitting there at the table having a cup of coffee then just minutes later you’re at the scene of a horrific car accident, using the Jaws of Life, taking an airway,” he said. “It goes that quick. You don’t know from one minute to the next what you’ll be asked to do so you have to be ready for anything. The lab experience is great so that you’re not going in totally green when those situations arise.”

Then again, there are times when serious incidents come in waves. On average, each paramedic in the department performs about three intubations a year, Stephens said. Stoker, however, has performed five in the last two months alone. Despite those opportunities to put his skills to the test, he’s still appreciative of the lab training.

“I remember the first time I did CPR on someone. It’s totally different than the mannequin,” Stoker said. “At the lab, I definitely learn things to apply for the next time. You get very specific instruction regarding common issues.”

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TCFD paramedics Harrison Stoker, left, and Mike Powers were among the latest department personnel to attend lab training at UT Southwestern Medical School in Dallas.

All lab participants are, of course, very respectful of the cadavers. Those individuals’ last act in life was to donate their bodies for educational purposes so that other lives may be saved.

“The more exposure you get, the more acclimated you are, the better you’ll do. This is a great opportunity,” Powers said, adding that his confidence in his skills was 100-percent restored following the lab work. “When we’re out on a call, we have to be fast. Like the doctor told us, the patient is dying and it’s just you. You have to do something. It’s intense. The more practice, the better.”

In his 20-year career, Stephens has performed many different emergency medical procedures. He remembers well the sensations of those experiences, especially his first chest decompression.

“I was startled because that was the first time I’d ever experienced something like that,” he said. “These types of laboratories take that away. They tone down the excitement level. This is our profession and it’s the patient’s emergency. There’s no room for error.”

TCFD’s Medical Control contract with Medical City Plano began in November 2016. Since that time, MCP has been tracking various department statistics.

“In the beginning, our first-attempt intubations were right at 50 percent, which isn’t really bad. It’s a complex procedure,” Stephens said. “But last month, our first-attempts were at 100 percent. That’s unheard of. It’s a goose-bump moment where you can really see the difference being made by the level of training.”

TCFD is one of only four fire departments in the region partnered with MCP for Medical Control services, along with Plano, Frisco, and Rowlett. The training and communication goes both ways, as well. As part of the program, for example, Emergency Room staff at MCP are instructed to observe the “45-second rule” when receiving a patient. Rather than simply whisk the patient off to a room, this ensures hospital staff members absorb relevant information from the paramedics.

“That rule makes sure the hospital has a clear understanding of what happened at the scene and why we’re bringing in our patients the way we are,” Powers said. “It’s a win-win.”

The ER rotations also give paramedics the chance to develop a better understanding about procedures taking place after they drop off their patients. “Paramedic training opens the door to the medical profession but getting the actual real-world experience in the hospital is different,” Stoker said. “It’s like learning Spanish in school versus living in a Spanish-speaking country.”

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The Colony Fire Department’s contract with Medical City Plano for Medical Control services requires ER staff to observe a ’45-second rule’ when receiving new patients. This protocol ensures paramedics are given ample opportunity to convey important information about the circumstances surrounding the patient’s emergency.

MCP’s program capitalizes on decades of medical, technological, and pharmaceutical advances developed by military medics on the frontlines in Iraq and Afghanistan, Stephens said. Thus, TCFD paramedics assigned to The Colony Police Department’s Special Response Team (most of whom are former military medics already) receive additional training through the program specific to those needs.

“We’ve got four firemen that are embedded on TCPD’s SWAT team as tactical paramedics. They’re not armed; they’re not officers. They’re just assets to the team,” Stephens said. “They have additional training and protocols that they perform. Most of the equipment is the same but they carry a small amount of specific medical equipment for certain traumatic injuries,” like for complex sutures or even dental work.

The way the system is set up, Stephens said, The Colony FD paramedics will always take care of The Colony Police officers. “In the event our SWAT team is making a raid outside the city and a member is injured, there will be a TCFD paramedic providing our level of care all the way to the hospital, regardless of the mode of transport.”

And by “our level of care,” Stephens is referring to what’s called The Colony Way. TCFD prides itself on maintaining a high, consistent level of specific training (like what’s provided at the cadaver lab) in order to create necessary cohesion within the department.

“We’ve all got to be on the same page. That’s The Colony Way,” Powers said. “Whatever the call, you’ve got to multitask and pay attention to the lead paramedic giving instructions. It takes a village to save a person.”

Three Things to Know This Week (Sept. 25-Oct. 1)

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  1. Guardians2Don’t miss the fall installment of The Colony Drive-In Theater at Stewart Creek Park on Friday, Sept. 29! This week’s movie is Guardians of the Galaxy 2, rated PG-13. FREE park admission starting at 6:30 p.m. Movie begins at 7:30 p.m. Tune your car radio to 99.9FM and watch this fun movie on the big screen! Click here for more information or contact Parks & Recreation at 972-625-1106.
  2. It’s almost time for one of The Colony Public Library’s most popular monthly events: Family Legomania! Come and build Lego structures with your family teammates between 2 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 30, at TCPL, 6800 Main St. The best LEGO creations will go on display at the Library. Ages 4 and up are welcome. Children under the age of 9 must be accompanied by a caregiver age 12 or older at all times. Click here for more information or call 972-625-1900, ext. 3.
  3. Health inspections are going mobile. Beginning Oct. 1, letter grade cards will no longer be issued and required to be posted for the most current health inspection grade at a food establishment within The Colony. The letter grade cards will beHealth Sticker final draft replaced with a city-issued laminated placard containing a QR Code linked to The Colony’s Health Inspection webpage. A QR code (or quick response code) is a type of 2D bar code used to provide easy access to information through a smartphone or tablet. Click here for more details or call the Health Department at 972-624-3161.

Three Things to Know This Week (Sept. 18-24)

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  1. At its regular meeting on Tuesday night, The Colony City Council is scheduled to formally vote on the municipal budget for FY 2017-18. The budget includes a 1/4-cent reduction to the tax rate. Click here to view the preliminary budget online or here to view the agenda for this week’s meeting.
  2. JobFair4The City of The Colony, The Colony High School, and The Colony Chamber of Commerce have joined forces to host a Job Fair from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 20, in the high school gymnasium, 4301 Blair Oaks Drive. Job-seekers are encouraged to bring resumes and references, and be dressed for an interview. Click here for all the details.
  3. The city’s new partnership with Simple IMG_2318_orangeRecycling featuring curbside clothing pickup kicks off this week! Postal issues in Houston resulting from Hurricane Harvey, however, have delayed delivery of the orange bags used for the service. Residents who planned to participate this first week are asked to contact Simple Recycling to ensure they have orange bags to fill for collection. Call 866-835-5068 or visit simplerecycling.com for more information or to request bags.

Three Things to Know This Week (Sept. 11-17)

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  1. #DYK? The Colony Skatepark is officially closed while construction for the Skateparkrenovation and expansion of the park is underway. Contractors will be working on the park over the next several months to improve the existing site and expand it to nearly double the current size. When the park reopens this winter, it will be an all-wheel facility which will accommodate skateboards, scooters, in-line skates and bikes (plastic pegs only). Click here for more details about the project.
  2. The Colony Animal Services is partnering with the Texas Coalition for Animal Protection to host a low-cost vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 16, at TCAS, 4720 East Lake Highlands Drive. Full set of shots will cost $25; rabies only $5. Call 972-370-9250 for more information. Click here to fill out your forms in advance.
  3. Registration is underway for this weekend’s Back to Hogwarts Bash at The ColonyBack to Hogwarts Public Library! The event celebrating all things Harry Potter is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at the library, 6800 Main St. Click here for ticket information. You may also email Youth Services Librarian Jacquelyn Yu or call 972-625-1900, ext. 3, for general information. Library patrons are advised the library will close early at 3 p.m. Saturday to accommodate preparations for the big Bash.

Three Things to Know This Week (Sept. 5-10)

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  1. The first of THREE special events in The Colony this week happens Friday, Sept. 8, at The Colony Five Star Complex as Movies in the Park returns! Grab the lawn BatmanLegoMoviechairs and blankets and come on out for a FREE showing of The Lego Batman Movie (Rated PG). Gates open at 7 p.m., movie starts at 8 p.m. Concessions will be available for purchase. For more information, call Parks & Recreation at 972-625-1106.
  2. The annual Bow Wow Luau supporting The Colony Animal Services Injured Animal Fund is scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10, at Hawaiian Falls Waterpark, 4400 Paige Road. Concessions will be available for purchase. Limit two dogs per owner. Purchase your tickets online in advance and save $4. Day-of-event tickets are available for $20 per person. For more information, please contact the Parks and Recreation Department at 972-625-1106.
  3. Did you know that the Carson & Barnes Circus will be debuting its “CircusSaurus” DSC05963show in The Colony this weekend, Sept. 9-10, at The Colony Five Star Complex? There are four shows, at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Discount tickets are available through Friday, Sept. 8, at The Colony Recreation Center, 5151 North Colony Blvd., for $12/adult (includes admission for one child). Child tickets can also be purchased for $6/child (for ages 2 – 11). You can also purchase tickets online at http://www.BigTopShow.com, or at the box office on the performance dates. For more information contact the Parks & Recreation Department at 972-625-1106.

Three Things to Know This Week (Aug. 28-Sept. 3)

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  1. The Colony Fire Department has deployed resources to assist with the statewide emergency response to Hurricane Harvey. A TCFD Division Chief left Sunday morning as part of a communications and incident management team. On SundayTCFDLogo afternoon, an engine company was requested as part of a strike team associated with the Texas Intrastate Fire Mutual Aid System (TIFMAS). The team is comprised of members of TCFD, Flower Mound, Lewisville, Lake Cities and Southlake FDs, and was headed to north Houston. This morning, TIFMAS requested a brush truck as part of a strike team leaving out of Plano and headed to Rockport. They are expected to be gone at least five days. Residents wishing to assist victims of the hurricane are encouraged to make monetary donations to the Red Cross, which is operating three shelters in the D-FW area. Please do not take donated items to shelters as they don’t have the staffing or storage to support such donations. New/gently used clothing, toiletries and non-perishables may be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily at Trusted World, 15660 N. Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75248. Click here for more info.
  2. Motorists are reminded that the Texas Legislature passed a statewide ban on texting and driving back in June, which goes into effect on Friday, Sept. 1. Under the new law, drivers are prohibited from reading, writing, or sending electronic messages while operating a motor vehicle. Motorists may still talk on the phone while driving but only with a hands-free device. Violations are punishable by a fine but the new law also states that if an accident caused by texting and driving results in the death or serious bodily injury of another person, they can be charged with a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $4,000 and a jail term not to exceed one year. Full text of the law is available here.
  3. Did you know that The Colony has an Adult Kickball League? This fun, active league for adult ages 16 and up plays games on Monday evenings at The Colony Five Star Complex, 4100 Blair Oaks Drive. Teams are made up of at least five menKickBall and five women, and can have a maximum of 20 players total. It’s fun for all ages! The fall season will kick off on Monday, Sept. 18. You may register at The Colony Recreation Center, 5151 North Colony Blvd., or online at playtc.com, through Sept 7. Call 972-625-1106 for more info.

Three Things to Know This Week (Aug. 21-27)

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  1. OK, it’s not actually this week but now is the time everyone needs to know that the first day of school in Lewisville ISD is next Monday, Aug. 28. Be prepared for additional traffic on the roads during your morning commute, including school bus-878697_640buses. If the yellow or red lights are flashing and the stop arm is extended, traffic must stop. The area 10 feet around a school bus is the most dangerous for children – stop far enough back to allow them space to safely enter and exit the bus. Also, observe school zone speed limits and watch for children on sidewalks and crossing streets going to and from campus. School is already underway in neighboring ISDs, including Little Elm (which serves The Tribute subdivision), Frisco, and Plano. Drive safe!
  2. According to the Red Cross, a decline in new and current blood donors has made it difficult for the agency to keep pace with hospital patient needs. By giving blood, you can help sustain a sufficient community blood supply. The Red Cross will be hosting a blood drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, at the City Hall Annex, 6804 Main St. To make an appointment, click redcrosslogohere or visit redcrossblood.org and use sponsor code “colonycommunity.” In less time than it can take to go out to eat, you can make a difference for cancer patients, accident victims, and others in need. Call 972-624-2246 for more info. (This drive was previously scheduled to be held at the Community Center.)
  3. Starting now and leading into Labor Day weekend, The Colony Police Department is putting additional officers on the streets dedicated to patrolling for impaired drivers. This is effort is possible thanks to a grant from TxDOT. According to a recent release, the additional enforcement should serve as a reminder and a warning to those that might contemplate operating a vehicle while impaired. The increased enforcement period began Friday, Aug. 18, and will continue through Sunday, Sept. 3. If you observe an impaired driver please contact The Colony Police Department by dialing 9-1-1.