Gladstone fire chief outlines plan to join Missouri Firefighter Critical Illness Pool; ordinance expected

Chief Destells briefed the City Council on Aug. 25 on the Missouri Firefighter Critical Illness Pool and said the negotiated collective-bargaining language will require the city to adopt an ordinance to participate. "We agreed to pay up to a thousand dollars, which will give, each firefighter about a $100,000 worth of coverage for any condition that's included in the...presumptive legislation," Chief Destells said. Destells said the pool is governed by appointed trustees and that state legislation in May 2021 (Senate Bill 45) put $5,000,000 into the pool. He said once Gladstone completes the ordinance and required documentation, the city will submit a roster of covered personnel to the pool coordinator to activate coverage. The chief also described preventive and operational steps the department has taken in recent months alongside the benefit work: adding an extractor washing machine at Station 2, a clean-cab policy that bars entry to vehicles in dirty bunker gear, field decontamination after structure fires, and a requirement that firefighters shower within an hour of an incident. He said those measures are meant to reduce exposure to carcinogenic residues from modern construction materials. Destells said administrative staff would not be included in the pool's membership calculation and provided council members with copies of the model agreement for review. He asked council members to expect a draft ordinance at a future meeting to formalize Gladstone's participation and sought questions from the council. No final ordinance vote occurred on Aug. 25.