Colorado FD to Test Smaller Vehicles for Medical Calls

Medical calls, not fires, account for more than half of all calls to which Boulder Fire-Rescue crews respond, and the number of medical calls increased 17 percent from 2006 to 2011.

Boulder's fire department is looking at adding smaller vehicles for paramedics to respond to many of those calls without sending a fire engine or -- when engines aren't available -- a ladder truck. A pilot program will test the idea at Fire Station No. 1, at 2441 13th St., across the street from Casey Middle School, starting in January.

The pilot program is part of Boulder Fire-Rescue's update to its master plan. Fire Chief Larry Donner and consultant Travis Miller gave the Boulder City Council a progress report on the update Tuesday night.

The update to the master plan identifies several changes to Boulder's population and geography that require changes to how the fire department operates.

Miller, a consultant with Matrix Consulting Group, who is working with the city on the master plan, said the increase in medical calls is the "primary driver" in increased workload for the fire department.

Boulder's population is also aging, and that trend is expected to accelerate over the next decade. The population over 60 is expected to reach 21 percent by 2020, compared with 12 percent in 2008. At the same time, the student population also is expected to continue to grow, according to a memo on the fire master plan update.

Both of those demographic trends mean the increase in medical calls likely will continue, Miller said.

Boulder also has become more urban and more densely populated as the city has changed its approach to city planning. Some streets are narrower or include features that make them more pedestrian-friendly. Those same changes make it harder to maneuver large emergency vehicles in those areas, the memo said. There also are more multi-family housing units.

"That has implications for fire-rescue in terms of access, in terms of how to get someone out of a building, in terms of the types of people who might be moving to the city ... " Miller said.

One idea in the revised master plan for improving response to medical calls is to put smaller vehicles, most likely flex-fuel or hybrid sport utility vehicles, that could carry two people to medical calls instead of three in a fire engine.

Donner, the fire chief, said the idea will be tested starting in January. The cost will be between $100,000 and $120,000, with between $30,000 and $50,000 of that going toward the cost of the vehicle, and the rest of it going toward emergency equipment and fire station modifications.

Information from the pilot program will be analyzed to determine if it saves money in fuel and wear-and-tear on the larger fire department vehicles and to see if it allows the department to be more efficient in how it responds to medical calls and fires.

The fire master plan also will address the increased danger of wildland fires. Over a three-year period, seasonal wildland fire crews will be turned into year-round, full-time crews. Fire management officials have said for years that there no longer is a distinct fire season. The conversion will bring the total number of wildland firefighters in the department from three to nine, Donner said.

The fire department also is working with the planning department to determine if new requirements on vegetation mitigation and construction practices should be adopted for areas near open space that are more threatened by wildland fires.

The plan contains other initiatives, including identifying the remaining wooden roofs in Boulder and ensuring they are replaced by 2014 and hiring a hazardous materials inspector to work with the many businesses in Boulder in the science and technology sectors.

A final draft of the master plan will be presented to the Boulder Planning Board in May, and the complete version will come back to the City Council in June.

Copyright 2012 - Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service