The Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team and National Fallen Firefighters Foundation will be hosting a class titled "Taking Care Of Our Own" . This day long class brings to light the difficult circumstances presented when a firefighter dies in the line of duty.  The class covers topics such as pre-incident planning, family notification, survivor benefits, and shares stories from Chief Officers who have lost members as well as stories from survivors. This class is required training for any person wishing to be a formal member of our Funeral Assistance Team.

Class will be held Saturday March 6, 2010 from 9A - 4P, at the Cape Girardeau Fire Station 3, 1975 N Sprigg, Cape Girardeau Mo.

There is no cost for the class. Lunch is available at your own cost from many restaurants in the area.

Click here for class information and registration documents.

The Missouri Fire Service Funeral Assistance Team is a resource team that makes themselves available to departments who have been stricken with a loss. Team members are trained in many aspects. One of the main focuses our group takes is in relationship to a Line Of Duty loss.

In the case of a LODD, there are many necessary notifications on a Federal and State level that are required to be made. Team members are trained to assist departments with the proper notifications as well as the Federal paperwork process that will follow in the weeks and months to come.

Several team members serve as coordinators to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and the Bureau of Justice, and have received additional training on proper procedures and filing of federal benefit paperwork. This relationship facilitates ongoing training necessary to be proficient when dealing with Line Of Duty Deaths, and allows for a prompt response to agencies suffering a loss.

To Activate The Team For A Prompt or Immediate Response, call 1-888-4911HELP. Your call will be answered 24 hours a day by a dispatch agency who will page the response team members. Just tell the dispatcher you are requesting the Funeral Assistance Team to be paged. They will ask a few general questions, and promptly page team members with the nature of your request.

To contact us for non-urgent or routine items, please email info@mofirefuneral.org, or call 314-973-0685.

When a line of duty death occurs, and on request of the agency sustaining the loss, the team would be deployed immediately. The team serves in a behind the scene capacity and offers suggestions based on what the department needs are, as well as, the needs of the firefighter family. Team members have a timeline of things that need to be done within hours of the tragedy to insure the ability to maximize benefits and assist the agency with some of the necessary legalities that occur with a line of duty death. The team stays in place at the agency, sometimes for several days, usually until the funeral services are completed.
The duties of the team do not end there, they provide information to the department on an as needed basis to assist the family and department beyond the funeral services.

The team will respond with many of the necessary items to facilitate a firefighters funeral service. Departments will not be burdened to acquire these items, as they will be provided for the departments use. A funeral service guide has been established to assist the family and department in choosing options to fit the services they desire. Funeral ceremony protocols are provided for use if desired as well. Our team utilizes the incident command system and has pre determined duties assigned to the sector officers. Once again, our team members serve in a behind the scene capacity, leaving the members of the stricken department as the "front" people for the services.

Another job of our team is to be versed on available benefits available to the fallen firefighters family. These MAY include free funeral services through the Dignity Memorial Network, local organizations that provide aid to the family as well as scholarship assistance to any children of the deceased. We can assist with paperwork to qualify the deceased for placement on the State of Missouri Memorial Wall, the National Memorial Monument, the IAFF Memorial Wall and some local memorial sites as well.

These are just some of the items we can provide to you. All of our services are provided to you AT NO COST!

Our team can also assist you with non LODD services as well. The equipment we have will be made available for your use on a first come first serve basis.

Did you know that under certain circumstances, heart attacks and strokes that occur within 24 hours of a strenuous duty related event may qualify for Federal benefits. Currently this federal benefit is nearly $300,000.00. We know of departments that did not consider this, and this benefit was not available to the family of the deceased.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION AS TO EVEN THE MOST REMOTE POSSIBILITY SOMEONE MAY QUALIFY, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY.