SR-031108-3A~_
;tYOf City Council Report
Santa Monica°
City Council Meeting: March 11, 2008
Agenda Item:
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Jim Hone, Fire Department
Subject: Fire Department Staffing Needs Assessment
Recommended Action
Staff recommends the City Council receive this report.
Executive Summary
The Fire Department conducted an extensive examination of staffing and capabilities to
meet current and future service delivery commensurate with community priorities, State
and Federal requirements, emergency preparedness and response. To remain
effective the Fire Department needs to hire sixteen (16) safety and six (6) non-safety
personnel over a five year period to improve Firefighter and public safety and to
enhance customer service delivery. At the time of full implementation, the projected
annual cost of the Fire Department staffing recommendations is $3.3 million in on going
funds. An additional $0.3 million in one time funds will also be required.
Background
The Fire Department continues to provide the City of Santa Monica with increasing
emergency services,. disaster preparedness and safety training. Until recently, these
increasing capabilities and services were being provided to the community without
additional staffing. Even though the number of emergency responses and training
requirements has dramatically increased, no additional Firefighters have been hired in
the Fire Suppression and Rescue Division for more than 25 years. Five positions were
added to the Fire Department between FY 1980-81 and FY 2005-06. In the past three
years, five personnel (2 safety and 3non-safety) have been authorized in other Fire
Department Divisions to support our mission and goals of providing exceptional
customer service and public safety.
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During the past 13 years the Fire Department has experienced a 72% increase in
emergency call volume without any increase in Fire Suppression and Rescue staffing.
From 1990 to 1994, available Fire Suppression and Rescue staffing was actually
reduced by 12 authorized positions to its present level of 30 personnel per 24 hour shift.
This significant increase in emergency responses has been exacerbated by the
additional State and Federal requirements to provide for effective Firefighter safety and
accountability, Rapid Intervention Crew capabilities, Weapons of Mass Destruction
response training, and providing our community with quality services such as fire and
life safety inspections, fire and disaster preparedness education, Hazardous Materials
response, Urban Search and Rescue and Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting capabilities.
At the City Manager's request the Fire Department provided an incremental staffing plan
on December 18, 2006. The plan proposed increasing Fire Department staffing by
twenty three (23) personnel over a three or five year period. A copy of the staffing plan
was provided to the City Council as part of the FY 07-08 budget review process.
Discussion
In FY 1994/95 the Fire Department responded to 6,896 emergency incidents. Of the
6,896 emergency incidents, 4,464 (64%) were medical in nature. In FY 2006/07, the
Fire Department responded to 11,901 emergency incidents which required 17,036
individual Fire Company responses to provide effective staffing levels to mitigate the
incident. Of the 11,901 emergency incidents, 9,188 (77%) are now medical in nature.
The same daily staff of 30 personnel that was established in 1994 is now responding to
a 72% increase of emergency incidents with a 106% increase in medical related calls.
Staff evaluated the Culver City and Beverly Hills response area, population, daily Fire
Suppression and Rescue Division staffing and number of emergency responses
because they are frequently used by Santa Monica as comparative cities for service
delivery, salaries and benefits.
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Culver City Beverly Hills Santa Monica
Response Area: Response Area: Response Area:
4.8 square miles 5.5 square miles 8.2 square miles
Population: 40,500 Population: 33,784 Population: 88,000
Daily Fire Suppression & Daily Fire Suppression & Daily Fire Suppression &
Rescue Staffing: 18 Rescue Staffing: 25 Rescue Staffing: 30
Firefighter: Population Firefighter: Population Firefighter: Population
Ratio: 1:2,250 Ratio: 1:1 ,351 Ratio: 1:2,933
Emergency Responses Emergency Responses Emergency Responses
FY 06/07: 4,453 FY 06/07: 5,645 FY 06/07: 11,901
The Santa Monica Fire Department, with only a few more personnel than our
neighboring Fire Departments, responds to more than three square miles of area, two
and a half times the population and double the number of emergency responses.
Even with the increased response area and call volume the average response time to
emergency incidents in FY 2006/07 was 4:20. A four minute response time is the
optimum target goal for a medical emergency to prevent irreversible brain damage
when breathing stops. A five minute response time is the optimum target goal for a
structure fire emergency to prevent a fire from igniting the contents of an entire room
and then doubling the size of the fire every minute thereafter.
Several factors will continue to cause our emergency response times to increase:
• As the emergency call volume continues to increase, response vehicles
frequently travel farther and respond to incidents within our city but outside their
primary response area after pre-designated response vehicles have already
been dispatched to a previous emergency.
• Mandatory training requirements continue to increase and necessitate training
half of the on-duty Fire Suppression and Rescue Division (15 personnel) while
the other half (15 personnel) respond to emergency incidents throughout the city
causing farther travel distances to incidents outside their primary response area.
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• The multiple and various traffic calming efforts are having a cumulative effect in
causing traffic to congest to such a degree there are less options for the public to
pull their vehicles to the right and allow emergency vehicles to have access to a
clear path of travel to the emergency.
• Speed humps require emergency response vehicles to reduce their speed to
such a degree to maintain control and prevent damage to the vehicle that a time
increase of 5 to 8 seconds per speed hump is gained during an emergency
response. Negotiating over several speed humps down a single street can add a
full minute to the response time.
The additional Firefighters being requested will provide additional constantly staffed
emergency vehicles that will remain in their primary response area more often which will
reduce emergency response times. While response times to emergency incidents are
currently within acceptable levels the ever increasing volume of responses is having a
significant negative impact on essential non-emergency functions such as effective
training, fire inspections and pre-incident planning, maintenance of vehicles, equipment
and facilities.
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) recently completed a survey of the city's fire
protection capabilities and identified improvement areas necessary to achieve maximum
credit points and a Class 1 rating. The staffing enhancements in this report will address
the ISO recommended improvement areas in Company Personnel staffing levels and
the Training category, which received only 60% percent credit.
The Fire Department is recommending a five year incremental staffing plan to improve
Firefighter and public safety and to enhance customer service delivery are shown in the
following table:
2008/2009 2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013
Safety 4 3 3 3 3
Non-Safety 0 2 2 1 1
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Safetv Personnel
Six Firefighters for the Hazardous Materials Response Team
To provide constant staffing on the Hazardous Materials Response Team
(HMRT) vehicle with two Firefighters on each of three shifts. These Firefighters
will regularly inspect, test and maintain the new highly technical HMRT vehicle,
equipment and facilitate training in a more consistent and timely manner. A
HMRT vehicle constantly. staffed with two Firefighters will increase safety while
driving the large (40 foot) vehicle and be capable of implementing the "buddy
system" while performing duties and responsibilities at HMRT or Aircraft Rescue
and Fire Fighting (ARFF) emergency incidents as required by OSHA.
Six Firefighters for Urban Search and Rescue Team
To provide constant staffing on the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) vehicle
with two Firefighters on each of three shifts. These Firefighters will regularly
inspect, test and maintain the USAR vehicle, equipment and facilitate training in
amore consistent and timely manner. A USAR vehicle constantly staffed by two
Firefighters will increase safety while driving the large (50 foot) vehicle and be
capable of implementing the "buddy system" while performing duties and
responsibilities at USAR or Rapid Intervention Crew emergency incidents as
required by OSHA.
Three Command Support Firefighters
One Firefighter will be assigned to a Platoon Commander on each of the three
shifts to assist in addressing the increased demands at the Command Post.
Duties and responsibilities of the Command Support Firefighter will significantly
improve resource tracking, personnel accountability, communications,
documentation and overall Firefighter and scene safety.
One Fire Captain assigned to the Administration Division
Effective January 2008, AB 220 established the Firefighter Bill of Rights (FBOR)
for all Firefighters in California. This new law is similar to the Police Officers Bill
of Rights. Currently the Deputy Fire Chief conducts personnel and complaint
investigations. The additional investigation and reporting requirements under the
FBOR will dominate the Deputy Fire Chief's duties and responsibilities and
justifies. a Fire Captain to assume the role of personnel and complaint
investigator. Additionally the Fire Captain, when not conducting an investigation
will assist the Deputy Fire Chief with administration of the department through
report writing, data research and analysis.
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Non-Safety Personnel
Two Fire Inspector II
The two non-safety Fire Inspector II positions would be a new entry level position
in the Fire Prevention Division career ladder and assume the 3,000 business fire
and life safety inspections currently being completed annually by the Fire
Suppression and Rescue Division. This would allow for more consistent
inspections with highly trained and experienced career Fire Prevention
personnel. Removing the 3,000 business inspections from the Fire Suppression
and Rescue Division would provide all three shifts with more time for mandatory
training, pre-incident plan reviews and other essential duties and responsibilities.
One Support Services Assistant
A non-safety position assigned to the Support Services Captain will be primarily
responsible to shuttle Fire Department vehicles and pick up equipment and parts
to maintain our fleet at a high performance level. Currently the Support Services
Captain, Support Services. Division Chief, a BBB Mechanic or a detailed or
overtime Firefighter performs these duties which can be accomplished more
effectively and in a more fiscally responsible manner.
One Staff III assigned to the Training Division
Increased demands for detailed documentation and the volume of data collection
within the Training Division which now includes Fire Safety Coordinator projects,
community events, reports and presentation preparation requires a Staff III to
assist the Division in a more fiscally responsible manner.
One Staff III assigned to the Support Services Division
Increased demands for detailed documentation and the volume of data collection
within the Support Services Division including vehicle purchases, repair and
maintenance documents, facility repair and maintenance projects, Emergency
Medical System projects, training, reports, and disaster planning and public
outreach functions requires a Staff III to assist the Division in a more fiscally
responsible manner.
One Staff III assigned to the Administration Division
Increased demands for detailed documentation and data collection within the
Administration Division for accounts payable, grant tracking and budget prep
requires a Staff III to assist the Division in a more fiscally responsible manner.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no financial impact and no budget actions are required at this time as this
report provides anticipated staffing needs for the next five years. Funding for the actual
staff enhancements and related one time costs will be requested through the regular
budget process. In FY 2006-07 the Fire Department overspent the Salaries and Wages
budget by $349,000 due to unbudgeted overtime for constant staffing of emergency
response vehicles and mission critical details. If approved, the staffing plan will provide
relief to the unbudgeted overtime but may not completely eliminate it. Further analysis
will be required to determine the actual overtime impact and the information will be
provided during the annual budget process. Anticipated costs are projected as follows:
08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 12/13
Salaries/Wages 590,696 1,228,721 1,871,627 2,522,518 3,240,629
On-going Supplies and Expenses 9,909 14,209 21,089 26,489 31,889
One-time costs 78,125 125,065 35,065 28,625 28,625
Total Per Year 678,730 1,367,995 1,927,781 2,577,632 .3,301,143
The five-year forecast presented to Council on February 19, 2008 projected a baseline
scenario which results in a deficit of $16.4 million annually by FY 2012-13, without the
addition of any new positions. In order to implement this proposed plan, the City would
need to either reduce other general fund supported services or identify additional
revenue sources to cover the cost. The Fire Department will work with the City
Manager and other Departments to obtain the staffing necessary to provide optimum
service delivery for current workload demands within budget realities.
Prepared by:
Bruce Davis, Deputy Fire Chief
Approv 7
'sue' ~~~-'
Jim one
Fire hief
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