No Confidence with Current Leadership! Where is Emergency Service Going?

By William "Bill" Prather

No Confidence with the current leadership with our District!The current "Doctrine of Response" needs to be updated to fit our current needs for emergency service. We now respond to 85%-90% medical or service calls, not fire. This requires a rethink of our response, type of apparatus and how to provide the proper staffing to become more efficient!

The Rodeo-Hercules Fire District is in the worst financial condition in my near 20 years involvement. The following are my concerns for what I consider the mismanagement OF OUR Fire District:
1. The statement made by Chief Hanley, "The Citizens will only get the service they are willing to pay for".
2. Refusal to address the immediate need for an enhanced Reserve Firefighter Program in his Strategic Plan.
3. Failure to provide a real "strategic" plan that would provide the best service with the existing funding that we knew we had.
4. Strategic plan was flawed as it required a successful vote for funding when all fire agencies have lost the support of our public!
5. Lost this District the management of the Pinole Fire Department.
6. Refused to allow this District and Directors to find out why we were fired and what we could do to regain the management contract in the future.
7. Hired 3 Pinole Firefighters damaging any opportunity to regain management of this District and to expand management of the entire Battalion 7.
8. Refused to open Station 75 with other than a 3 person staffing model that with our present work load could easily be handled with a 2 person Squad on a different type apparatus.
9. Refusal to consider other than a 2000GPM Pumper for a different delivery method considering the small number of calls requiring that larger and more costly apparatus.
10. Putting our district at risk of litigation by using a less than favorable means of financing our district, the Benefit Assessment District.
11. Telling our Board at the September 2014 meeting that even if the BAD survives the legal challenge that we cannot meet our obligations and the District will be unable to maintain the employee's hired with the Safer Grant when funding expires.
12. Allowing the Chief's compensation to be a target of criticism from the public as the reality is that the total package for Chief Hanley is $395,000.00 for managing only 1 station for most of his tenure.
13. Telling our Directors that his most important source of information for this District has been the union representative, Mr. Ronchetto. I have watched this District decline over the past 5 ½ years. Our citizens did not create this financial problem, I blame mismanagement! I would recommend to the Directors that we bring two retired former Fire Chiefs, Chief Salmi and Chief Boyles, and to have them review our operations and budget to determine if the above is an accurate synopsis of our Districts problems.

Respectfully,

William Prather Director RHFD

I worked at a time when 98% of the calls were for fire! There were more fires due to more smokers, poor construction, no smoke detectors & no cell phones for early reporting of fire. Manpower was plentiful as the "job" was a blue collar job with OK but not top pay as today. The response of 3 Engines and 1 Truck company usually provided 15 firefighters arriving on scene. Today with manpower cuts it takes a 5 Engine response to get that number of personnel at the scene of an emergency. This response completely empties a large area of any medical or service aid. This needs to be addressed and rectified! Today we have people making decisions that will affect us for many years into the future and the Directors are not always given the facts or the truth about what is really needed! A complete revamp of our response needs to be made with emphasis on a smaller "Attack-Rescue" that could take care of 98% of our out the door calls. This can be staffed with two Paramedics, one being a supervisor trained to be the Incident Commander. The main back up for structure fires would be a squad of 4 top trained Firefighters. Having ample trained personnel at the scene of any emergency is critical! Change is needed!

FIREFIGHTER TEMP AGENCY OBJECTIVE: TO REDUCE OVERTIME COSTS AND ENHANCE EMERGENCY SERVICE! Reviewing the past 20 years activity will show the many changes in Fire Departments emergency calls and the significant reduction in fire calls. The reduction of fire calls can be attributed to many things. The number of people smoking has declined significantly, the use of smoke detectors means early warning and cell phones mean that fires are reported quicker while in their incipient stage, no longer delayed alarms that allow a small fire to become a serious blaze. Stricter building codes and the redevelopment of slum areas and old fire hazards took away the old burnable buildings. While fire calls have declined medical and service calls have increased to a level not anticipated by many in the Fire business. We have now become an Emergency Service Provider, responding to medicals, auto & vehicle accidents and many other "emergencies" using the 9-1-1 reporting system. Most Fire agencies are responding to 90+% medical or service and fewer than 10% actual fire calls of all types. Unfortunately our Doctrine of Response has not kept up with the times. The current philosophy of staffing and Doctrine of Response utilizing a 2000 GPM pumper with a crew of three, Captain, Engineer, Firefighter (A Paramedic may be one of the ranks) has passed its time of efficiency. Considering the current work load a new model needs to be embraced by all in Emergency Service. Today the Engineer rank, the driver and pump operator is more a chauffeur. A more efficient model for today's work load would be a smaller, more versatile apparatus that could be staffed with a well trained crew of two, one being an officer, Captain or Lieutenant, and a Paramedic/ Firefighter. Ideally both the officer ranks would be Paramedics. On emergency calls today we have an automatic response by the ambulance company staffed with a Paramedic and an EMT. This would have 4 people on scene and if additional support is needed the radio makes for easy communication for help! Computers make gathering information of our service calls and where and when most calls occur & this information should be a great help in determining where our Stations should be located and staffed. Our citizens do not deserve to be deprived of our most often called need for assistance due to a staffing doctrine driven by MOU or out of date bargaining arguments. Today in our financial crisis in all fire agencies leadership must come into the 21st century and adopt measures that will enhance public safety with the tax dollars available. It is management that has brought us to this unsatisfactory situation and sadly management looks to the already overburdened tax payer to foot the bill. Overtime costs are a cancer in any organization's budget and it has become a cottage industry in the Fire Service. The tax payers are unhappy with the very poor utilization of their tax dollars with this massive overtime spending. The taxpayers deserve better and this proposal will be well received by both taxpayer and citizen who will receive enhanced service in a more efficient manner. DEVELOPING THE "TEMP AGENCY

Battalion 7 is the ideal size of an organization to create the Emergency Service Temp Agency. In 1968 I had the privilege to ride with FDNY Battalion 44. I was introduced to a Deputy Chief who asked how big the department where I worked. I said 7 Engine companies and 2 Truck companies. He said that is the perfect size organization to make change readily. He told me that if I entered the FDNY and on day one & had an idea that would make for a very positive change in the FDNY efficiency, it would still be in the pipeline 20 years later when one reached the retirement date! Change is hard but can be accomplished with cooperation & necessity. How do we create our "Interns" for the Temp Agency? We have taken a few baby steps for the development with the Training Area behind RHFD Station 76. If you build it, they will come. Many young men and women desire to become firefighters and they have pursued this noble calling by going to school, paying their tuition and graduating often as Firefighter I, EMT, Wild Land Fire Training and often Paramedic Certifications, only to find the job market has shrunk due to agency layoffs due to budget shortfalls. This reduction in our personnel is dangerous to both the citizen and the firefighter. Battalion 7 operating as a Training Battalion can offer continuing education and classes to those individuals who want to persevere in their desire to become our future firefighters. Offering a two year course of study that will include ALL aspects of a career in Emergency Service to include Firefighting, Physical Conditioning, Truck Company Operations, Heavy Rescue, Fire Inspection, Hazardous Materials, Leadership Skills, Management & Budget, Officer Training, Fire Ground Operations, Paramedic skills, Apparatus Operator and any other class or course of study that will prepare our future fire fighters to become the SEAL TEAM of PUBLIC SAFETY! WHY WOULD ANYONE UNDER TAKE SUCH A COURSE OF STUDY? THE OPPORTUNITY FOR AN INTERNSHIP! During the course of study these preparing students can become part of a Reserve Program that will allow them to gain practical experience with fire companies. These Reserves would be very well qualified and would NOT put the paid personnel at risk as they would have a sound resume and be very well prepared. Hopefully the paid personnel would look upon the reserve force as an asset enhancing both Citizen Safety and Firefighter safety. The top graduates of this Academy would qualify as "Interns" and would be paid a stipend to be determined. These TOP QUALIFIED INTERNS would become our Temp Agency employee's and be available to fill any overtime slot in the entire County! The Public, the tax payer and the Citizen who may need service from our fire agencies will appreciate that the Interns will be TOP qualified to deliver any service required. Only the very top, the elite of the academy, will be in the internship program. This program will provide a hiring place for any agency, anywhere that needs to hire Firefighters. Battalion 7 will become a place to get the cream of the emergency service crop! Battalion 7 will become the hiring Mecca of the Emergency Service! THE BENEFIT FOR CURRENT EMPLOYEES The opportunity for the employee's in this reconstituted Battalion 7 will be for increased rank and salary not available in today's District. If one becomes a "Training Officer" that deserves an increase in pay as our Paramedic's earn today due to their enhanced abilities. I have always supported pay increases based on PERFORMANCE! The current model is that after 3 years in service, all members earn the same dollar amount regardless of their ability to perform. The employee's in this District will not only have greater opportunities for earning additional performance pay they will also be able to take great pride in being part of the best organization in this area! The ideal time to make change is when a Department has turn over putting the old guard out to pasture and hiring those who will be spending the next 30 years plying their trade. We have this opportunity now in Battalion 7 and if we miss the boat then our citizens, taxpayers and those simply traveling through our District when fate takes a hand and they need Emergency Service will be justified in taking action to make change on their own! The best change comes when an organization can read the mood of the people and make change from within. We have that opportunity today to think outside the box and do our citizens and taxpayers what they want, real change that benefits all not just a few! This is what I consider a Leggo approach to solving our problems in this County. These ideas can be improved, added to and make for even better changes in our Emergency Services. If you try to denigrate these ideas you don't belong in a management position. Think outside the box, think inside the box but think in a way that will make a positive difference in these trying times. The status Quo will not work!