Present: Messere, Cataldo, Cameron, Roche, Quinn, Goldsmith, Feldman, Rivera
Absent: Maire, Huempfner, Teixeira,
Fire Dept
Chief McCarraher, Paul Sharpe
Recognizing the hard work and service of the member of the department
They are truly the source of all the success of the organization
Mission statement
(see document attached)
second year not meeting on time response
experiencing more requests for service in the north area of the town where they can not reach in time
monthly response time audit to identify barriers on a call-by-call basis, about 6% of the overall call basis
from a public safety stand point, busy is not good, ready is better for prompt response
1600 man hours of training last year, down 50% from 2008 due to budget constraints
GIS Data charts, 2007, 2008, 2009
Items not funded in FY 2010 are also currently not funded in FY 2011
Goals adjusted due to decreased staffing levels
Honor Guard not reconstituted
Hazardous response plan updated
Software upgrades completed to provide improve building and facility data
The FY 2010 budget plan document can be found here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Fire/Fincom%20Budget%20FY10.pdf
The document being used tonight is an updated version of the one above
Leaves 3 firefighter paramedic positions unfulfilled
reduces minimum daily staffing of firefighters and paramedics
reduction in overall responses from 84% to about 75%
response systems at 70% are deemed to be "in crisis"
a decrease in quality of service is not the fault of the men and women who are attempting to provide the services
2 in an ambulance, 3 in a truck
with on four on staff, there can't be four vehicles staffed
Q
with people sent out of Town (i.e. carrying a patient to a hospital)
we loose the response
if we use the mutual aid transport, we loose the revenue associated with the ambulance run, est. at about $200,000-300,000 in revenue.
Q
training was stopped in January to keep the overall budget whole and dept operating
going much longer will really hurt the training as it will be longer and more expensive to recover
Q
discussion underway with surrounding towns to try and cover the northern area, they are anxious about the issue as their budgets are hurting and may not be able to provide service
Q
the downtown 2-way plan could achieve about a minute improvement in response time to the northern area
Q
this is the last year of the data plan, the largest building in the industrial park is vacant
the loss in volume from the empty building is taken up by an increase in civilian calls
our system should be 70-80 percent resting, in order to get a better response rate
to improve response, you either stop going to some calls or add additional resources
medical emergencies are the highest hitter in volume
bench mark on 8 minutes for medical emergencies due to standards, each minute after that, the response declines
for fires, once a room hits flash-point, no one survives in the room
in fire emergencies, there are usually more people involved
fire and other - covers alarm activations but none flame/medical related
the greatest risk is in the nest major emergency, I have staffed for one but when the second comes in right way, that we are at risk for
Q
As long as our mutual aid partners don't increase their calls, then we can handle those.
If we have a very quiet year, it will be okay
If we all expect to have someone else cover for us, we'll be tight
Q
national data shows fires decreasing, yet our own numbers are slightly increasing
Q
Monthly response time audit, prompted by?
the inquisitive in us, want to know; our folks take it to heart
we are in the opportunity business, we need to get their quickly, not recklessly but quickly
Q
difficult to estimate
coverage widely varied, one building fire, a piece of equipment was a $10 M loss
when do you measure the patient outcome, there is no clear consensus in the industry
Q
regionalization, dispatch?
it is an easy buzz word, you can polarize the room quickly
shared services makes more sense, how can we, what makes sense to share
you have to have a partner, candidly we don't have partners, there is resistance to that
we are 13 of 16 in communities we benchmark against so we don't have a whole lot to loss
Q
meetings, etc.
mostly training, contractors to do the training, not a great line for that
motion to approve, passed 7-1
we are back to 2007 level
Franklin, MA
