Dec. 12--Los Angeles fire officials said steps are being taken to reduce the amount of time it takes to respond to emergencies, including relying more on technology to help track equipment and calls.
Deputy Chief David Yamahata told the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee the department is seeking new computer programs and hardware to track where all the fire equipment is located when on calls.
Yamahata said it will take a minimum of two years to install all the equipment at each of the city's 106 fire stations.
The committee was reviewing an audit by City Controller Wendy Greuel that found record-keeping was inadequate and made it difficult to track how long it took the department to respond to emergencies.
Some studies have found that there is a wide variation in response times, with the LAFD acknowledging it has not met federally recommended standards for response times
In a related development, city officials decided to open talks with the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City to change how firefighters are assigned to the 911 center. Currently, they work 24-hour shifts, but Fire Chief Brian Cummings and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa want to change that to 40-hour shifts per week, to reduce overtime costs. There was an estimate it could save $3.2 million a year.
City officials were told they need to meet with the union before any changes can be implemented.
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Copyright 2012 - Daily News, Los Angeles
