Mutual Aid – Automatic and Otherwise
Mutual aid response has been mentioned a lot lately in the Fire & Rescue world. Most recently it was brought up while reporting on the tragic fire in Contra Costa County. The nearest fire engine to the fire is in the Richmond city limits and they were actually dispatched on the initial alarm. However, before they arrived on the scene they were put back in service because the County had units responding. You can only speculate about how the outcome might have been quite different.
This morning Dave Statter is discussing these issues (HERE) as they relate to the cities of Baltimore and Washington and how they are isolated from their neighboring departments when it comes to the initial dispatching of emergency responses.
Back in 1975 the Virginia suburbs of Washington initiated a landmark pact of automatic mutual-aid dispatching for all fire calls (EMS was excluded at first and it still is but it is now a part of the system). Arlington County, Fairfax County and the Cities of Alexandria and Falls Church initiated the policy that all fire dispatches will be to the nearest units regardless of jurisdiction. While the fire boxes remained configured within the city/county boundaries, the running order of the boxes was rescheduled for the nearest stations.
Not only did this noticeably improve the coverage in the border areas, but there was also another immediate benefit to the taxpayers. This pact eliminated the need for some future fire stations that would have been built in the outlying areas. Fairfax County immediately took 3 future stations off the planning table while Alexandria and Arlington each eliminated one station. Now you have some interesting box assignments such as Fairfax’s station 28 that actually has first-due boxes in three jurisdictions (Fairfax, Arlington and Falls Church), while just down the road in Station 10’s territory they have a box where the first-alarm assignment includes stations from Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria.
The communications problem was dealt with right at the start. A new radio frequency was licensed to Arlington and was dubbed the “NoVa” frequency. It is a selection on every fire and rescue unit in the group and can also be transmitted from the dispatchers of all jurisdictions. Whenever any “mutual box” is dispatched, all units responding will be on the NoVa frequency and the dispatch center of the jurisdiction housing the box handles the call.
This mutual aid system worked so well right from the start that a few years later all the jurisdictions re-adjusted their shift schedules to run concurrently with each other. Now when a shift is working the same people are on duty in all stations every day, leading to even better fireground coordination.
This particular mutual aid pact has been tremendously successful. Its success over the past 30 years is testimony enough. There are literally scores of communities in the U. S. that could benefit from a similar arrangement, if they would only put aside their petty political differences and put the citizenry first for a change.
Busiest Engine Means Most Patients Encountered
CommentsFirehouse Magazine has published a National Run Survey for the last 26 years. This year, Trinidad Engine 10, from the District of Columbia returned to the top position with 7217 responses in 2006.
Cincinnati Engine 5 was one of the first companies to achieve acclaim as the busiest engine company. While attending the Fire Department Instructor’s Conference in the early 1980’s I decided to visit the Over-the-Rhine fire station. Engine 5 was operating a 1979 Seagrave with a 54’ squrt. At that time the EMS division was comprised of three paramedic and three BLS ambulances.
I learned from Engine 5 that the poorer neighborhoods, frustrated by slow police response, would exaggerate the extent of injuries from assaults and robberies. Engine 5 would arrive within minutes, the police within hours. The department had a dispatch protocol where non-life threatening calls for ems assistance would get a single engine response. The firefighter/emts would evaluate the patient and then call for a basic or paramedic ambulance. I remember reading from a CFD annual report that 26% of the calls for ems assistance were handled by just an engine company.
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Steve Hagy photos
It was dark and I was going to walk the mile or so back to the convention center. One of the firefighters working overtime on FDIC logistics insisted that I get a ride from him. The community I was going to walk through was the scene of riots in 1967 and 1968 as well as a series of shootings between 1978-1979 that killed four black civilians and four white police officers.
Social-economic conditions have not changed. An April 2001 police shooting of a black teenager touched off another riot. The poverty rate approaches 95%, with Over-The-Rhine household median income at $8,600 compared to the city average of $26,774 and the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area income of $54,800. In 2001, an income below $17,029 is living in poverty. This link takes you to a September 13, 2001 story about the efforts of Engine 5 firefighter Peter Deane who was reaching out to the Hispanic immigrants in their district:
http://citybeat.com/2001-09-13/cover2.shtml
LOS ANGELES SKID ROW
Communities in poverty generate more fire and ems calls. Los Angeles City marries a pumper with a truck company, called a light force, in all but its busiest fire station. The fire station formerly known as “Skid Row,” includes Truck 9, the only stand-alone truck company in the city. http://www.firestation9skidrow.com/help.html
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Along with Engines 9 and 209 as well as paramedic Rescues 9 and 209, Station 9 ranks #1, responding to six first due fire incidents a day. They also average (more…)