HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 137-10FEBRUARY 16,2010 o
This is an infonnational report and no Council action is required.
The Palo Alto Fire Departnlent has awarded a contract to The Public Safety Research Group
(PSRG) to develop and provide a Master Plan for Elnergency Medical Services (EMS) delivery
within the City of Palo Alto. The amount of this contract is $48,000 which is below the $85,000
tln-eshold that would othelwise require City Council approval. Staff is providing this repOli to
infonn the Council about this inlpoliant project.
DISCUSSION
The City of Palo Alto provides a cOlnprehensive fire depalill1ent-based EMS delivery service to
the cOlnlllunity conlprising parallledic mnbulance transpoli services, paranledics on first
responder engirie companies and a Basic Life Support (BLS) anlbulance that provides transport
for inter facility and paralnedic downgrade patients. As noted in the Auditor's Service and
Acconlplislnnents (SEA) report for FY 2008-09, the EMS program responded to 4509 nledical
and rescue incidents resulting in 3,331 anlbulance transpOlis and generating $2.1 n1illion in
revenue to the City. The goal of the Master Plan is to provide a current evaluation of the City's
EMS services and to outline detailed recOlnnlendations for future plans to provide adequate
enlergency Inedical services to the changing cOlnlnunity. The plan will also evaluate cOlnpliance
with Federal, CalifoDlia State, Santa Clara County or Inedical professional standards, mandates
and/or goals.
To develop the Master Plan, PSRG will review and analyze a variety of infonnation including
but not linlited to: historical records, organization and delivery Inodels, statistical transpOli data,
policies and procedures, and finances. PSRG will conduct interviews with leadership, personnel
alld customer base to develop an understanding of the current EMS model as well as future
service delivery needs for this division of the Fire Departlnent.
The Master Plan is designed to be conlprehensive and utilitarian. At a nlinimum, Master Plan
will include analysis of and reC0111nlendations for the following areas:
CMR 137:10 PAGE 1 OF 3
a. History of service delivery, evolution of service delivery and defined levels of CUlTent
service delivery.
CUlTent nlethods and manner of staffing and deployrTIent of EMS resources.
c. Desirable staffing nunlbers to nlaintain full Advanced Life SuppOli (ALS) c0111plilTIent of
equiplTIent.
Training to reach desirable staffing goal and retain persOlulel.
e. Existence and history of nlutual and/or autonlatic aid agreelTIents with other entities or
jurisdictions.
f. CUlTent and projected utilization of Advanced Life Suppoli (ALS) and Basic Life
Support (BLS) resources within the EMS syste111.
g. CUlTent revenues received by the systenl and future projected revenues within altenlative
future scenarios.
CUlTent and projected payer lTIix of the EMS revenue lTIodel.
i. CUlTent and projected degree of subsidies available to the EMS systelTI.
j. The rate setting process for fee-for-service rates for the EMS systenl.
Historical and projected growth rate and denlographic changes projected for the City.
l. Historical, CUlTent and proj ected call delTIand.
m. Ability of the CUlTent systenl to nleet peak and surge delTIand in service levels.
11. Inlpact of CUlTent staffing 1110de1s and nlethodologies on overall fire defense systelTI and
EMS delivery systenl.
o. Dispatch roles, responsibilities and practices including utilization of priority dispatch
and/or pre-alTival instructions.
p. Feasibility of City Dispatch becoll1ing an accredited COnllTIUnication center including
requirell1ents still to be 111et and an estill1ated till1e fraIne.
q. Requirenlents, advantages and disadvantage of establishing Medical Priority Dispatch
Systenl.
f. Role of COlTIlnunity wellness and education in EMS service delivery including the role of
Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) classes, Enlergency 111edical Services (EMS)
Access, Autolnatic Extenlal Defibrillator (AED) placenlent, utilization and nlaintenance
and the role of the EMS systelTI in disease lTIanagelnent effolis.
s. PandelTIiclNatural Disaster response capabilities and plmming/exercise effolis.
t. Alternatives to CUlTent systenl design configurations including tiered responses and/or
altenlative staffing configurations.
The Master Plan is designed to include phasing plans for the above areas utilizing measurable
l11ilestones or identifiers that tilnelines system growth with conlmlmity needs.
Upon conlpletion of the EMS Master Plan, PSRG shall provide presentations and repolis to
various policy bodies (as detenllined by City Staff) which include:
a. DocUlTIentation of the findings related to the review and analysis described in the Scope
of Service.
ReCOlTIlTIendations including specific policy and financial reconlmendations related to the
Scope of Service.
c. Cost inlpacts and related potential revenues related to plan reCOlTIlnendations.
PAGE20F3
Outline of a proposed schedule and phasing In order to successfully inlp1 enlent
reCOl1lnlendations.
The estinlated date of cOl11pletion and presentation is approxil11ately to eight weeks after the
stmi of PSRG's contract which began January 22, 2010. Upon cOll1pletion of the EMS Master
Plan, an Infoll11ational CMR will be subll1itted to present the PSRG's findings. The contractor
cml be available to nlake a presentation to the Council, if so desired, regarding the findings in
their final report.
The PSRG contract was funded under existing progranl budget and staffing.
This project is consistent with existing City policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is an infollllational repOli only and CEQA review is not required.
PREPARED BY:
DEPARTMENT HEAD:
APPROVAL:
CMR 137:10
ROGER BLOOM
Deputy Chief, Fire Support Services
NICK MARINARO
Fire Chief
JAMES KEENE
City Manager
PAGE 3 OF 3