FDNY Colloquium

Large Metro Departments Discuss Current Topics

Twenty-seven metropolitan fire departments across the country were invited by New York City Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen to participate and interact in a meeting in the new fire headquarters building located in Brooklyn, NY, in June 1998. The meeting was the result of an idea by Commissioner Von Essen to discuss current topics affecting the FDNY and to learn from the experience of other fire departments.

Attending the two-day session were representatives from Anchorage, AK; Baltimore; Boston; Denver; Houston; Indianapolis; Jacksonville, FL; Milwaukee; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, OR; San Francisco; and Seattle as well as many chiefs and commanders from the FDNY.

Chiefs and officers from the FDNY in charge of special units and commands detailed their operations in many areas that included: new roles for the fire service (terrorism, hazardous materials, technical rescue, fireground and interagency communications); the EMS merger with fire operations; automatic vehicle locators (AVLs); Office of Emergency Management; safety; rotation of new personnel; firefighter assist and search teams; and rapid intervention teams.

Fire Service EMS

• About 70% of the fire service supports EMS. This was considered the way to go, but not at the expense of suppression. Concerning successful mergers, closing the gap between fire/EMS depends on each agency understanding what the other does. All operations work better together, not independently.
• The use of AVLs increases efficiency.
• The Chicago Fire Department now has 59 advanced life support (ALS) units and 20 paramedic engines and will expand service to provide paramedics on all 99 engines. The cross-training of 150 firefighters as paramedics in Chicago is underway. Baltimore has been in the EMS business since 1927. It was recommended to strengthen the local medical director law.
• Discussions defined who responds with the antidote for chemical terrorist attacks, EMS/fire staffing, the time an EMS was kept in first-line service before being replaced and the number of replacement EMS units purchased each year. Billing for service must be done in a timely fashion. Jacksonville runs all EMS ALS units. Portland runs 90% of its engines ALS.

FDNY/EMS Merger

The merger of the FDNY and New York City EMS was done to improve efficiency and service for the city. EMS units are staged on the street at fixed locations. Call volume rises each year. Hospitals are not centrally located. Training fire units in CFR-D increased availability by adding 220 firehouses.

Since the merger with EMS, response time has been reduced by 11/2 minutes. By reducing logistical support, daily EMS tours increased 10%. Ambulances previously could restock in only 16 locations, now they can restock at every hospital. Several ALS and BLS units were formed into "haz tac" squads for hazardous and terrorism response.

Because of poor maintenance, 22% of available EMS units were out of service daily. Now, less than 10% of units are out of service. Plans for 20 to 40 EMS stations are in the works. Voluntary hospitals add EMS units daily. Community-based volunteer units are available when high call volume is reached.

The bottom line is there are always calls waiting for ambulances, not ambulances waiting for calls. The FDNY receives 250,000 calls for difficulty breathing annually. Of those, 50,000 are for asthma. Plans are being made to change those calls from ALS to BLS, saving 50,000 jobs for ALS units.

Terrorism

Notes & quotes: - We're so good at what we do now, give us more resources for the capacity to do more in these times of changing responsibilities. We need to educate the politicians who have not been elected yet to the things the fire service can do. The fire service should be training the federal government. We need funding, one common voice and federal assistance in terrorism issues. Problems with decontamination and special hazardous material equipment upkeep because it is only used occasionally. Funding is needed for procurement. Training costs money and units must be taken off line. Recertification is also a concern. We must tell the public the things we can't do. Progress must be made in small steps to present ideas to city, state and federal government. An incident will take place where you least expect it.

Rapid Intervention/Accountability

Departments discussed the use of rapid intervention teams, which units provide the service and at what time they are dispatched to the scene.

Uses of new technology, including computers, by the federal government and Department of Defense were detailed and examined for use on the fireground.

Communications

Boston requested the number of radios on engines, trucks and rescues from each city. Boston now handles the mutual aid dispatching for the 34 surrounding cities in its metro fire system. Topics of discussion included features of radios, fireground channels, emergency buttons, hands-free technology, ability to communicate with an air mask, dispatching, built-in repeaters in high-rise buildings and other communication problems such as high-rise operations and below-grade operations.

Technology is leaping forward while bureaucracy grinds ahead. This can leave a fire department with outdated technology. The FDNY has a tape recorder to capture the first 15 minutes of fireground radio traffic. Cell phones were given to all 49 battalion chiefs. They also have 800 MHz radios to communicate with division chiefs, citywide commanders and other city agencies.

The CIDS (critical information dispatch system) allows an additional 160 characters to be printed on a dispatch printout. This important information lets companies responding know about critical building construction features, storage or occupancy.

Rotation Of Personnel

New FDNY firefighters are assigned to a firehouse for one year. They are then rotated to a busy, medium or slow unit other than the unit of their first assignment. After two years in other units, they return to the first unit.

In Houston, new hires are rotated through the 10 busiest stations. Indianapolis rotates through four battalions. In Philadelphia, all lieutenants, captains and battalion chiefs are moved every three years.

A question was raised: Who teaches new firefighters labor relations, marketing and public relations? Cities reviewed educational standards and tests for promotion. Length in grade before one could take a test and the frequency of promotion tests were considered.

Recruitment

Questions regarding the hiring of recruiters for minority and woman candidates was discussed. Denver takes five people off line; it also has a cadet program. Portland has an apprenticeship program. Wellness programs, smoking, weight and stress, performance standards, hair regulations and physical tests were considered.