HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 204-10________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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TO: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL
ATTN: FINANCE COMMITTEE
FROM: CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: FIRE
DATE: APRIL 20, 2010 CMR: 204:10
SUBJECT: Standards of Coverage (SOC) Study Update
This is an Informational Report and no action is required by the Finance Committee.
BACKGROUND
The City of Palo Alto awarded a contract on February 22, 2010 to Emergency Services
Consulting International (ESCI) to develop and conduct a Fire Department Standards of
Coverage Study. This study follows a recommendation from the 2003 Audit of Overtime
Procedures (Recommendation #2 – Fire Department staffing and overtime) by the City Auditor.
Since that report was issued, the study was delayed for various reasons. In October 2009, the
Finance Committee directed staff to proceed in conducting and completing a standard of
coverage study by Spring of 2010. A comprehensive scope of services, request for proposal
(RFP), and identified funding source was developed in November and December 2009. The RFP
was distributed in January 2010 with responses due on February 2, 2010.
Responses to the RFP were received by three reputable standards of coverage contractors.
Potential contractors were evaluated on their experience in conducting studies that adhered to the
Commission of Fire Accreditation (CFAI) model-compliant assessment standards, conducting
such studies in California and specifically the Bay Area, and for departments that had contractual
agreements for fire protection service. The interview and selection committee consisted of Fire,
ASD and Utilities staff, with facilitation and oversight by the ASD Purchasing Manager. Two of
the proposals were selected for further evaluation and representatives from those entities made
presentations in person to the interview panel and responded to questions. ESCI was
recommended by the panel based on this process. ESCI has extensive experience and
background with over 30 years of consulting services, primarily with fire departments and report
product satisfaction from over 600 clients. They have conducted over 100 fire / rescue standards
of coverage studies in a wide variety of jurisdictions, including municipalities, districts,
townships, State and Federal government. They have a long history of experience with fire
departments in California including the San Francisco Bay Area. Work on the project in early
March 2010.
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The amount of this contract was $55,000 which is below the $85,000 threshold that would
otherwise require Council approval. Staff is providing this report to inform the Council about the
progress of this important project and to identify the expectations of the contractor and
associated time lines for updates and project completion.
DISCUSSION
The City of Palo Alto provides comprehensive fire and medical emergency response services to
the City of Palo Alto, Stanford University and the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
environments. The primary goal of the study is to conduct a comprehensive, objective analysis of
overall Fire Department emergency response operations, to evaluate the effectiveness of current
resource deployment practices, and to ascertain future community needs for emergency response
service delivery. The study is designed to evaluate and make recommendations regarding fire
protection and paramedic emergency response capabilities, fire station and fire company
resource deployment, staffing to meet critical tasks for each major call type, fire protection
services, automatic aid agreements with other fire agencies and risk assessment.
The scope of services for this project was designed to include, but is not limited to, more specific
review of the following:
Current fire department emergency response times
Current fire company workload including emergency responses, fire safety/hazardous
materials inspections, and training
Current fire protection agreements with Stanford University and the Stanford Linear
Accelerator (SLAC)
Current fire station distribution and concentration
Current fire company and shift staffing levels and fire company distribution &
concentration
Current paramedic staffing
Current fire service automatic aid agreements with the Menlo Park Fire Protection
District, Santa Clara Fire Department, Woodside Fire Protection District and the
Mountain View Fire Department
Potential impacts from the proposed Stanford Hospital expansion project
The project deliverables include:
A final report on study findings that include an introduction, background discussion,
methodologies, discussion, conclusion and recommendation
Recommendations for fire company and shift staffing levels and any resource
modifications, including changes in response/risk paradigms and automatic aid
agreements
Recommendations for fire station/fire company distribution and concentration
Recommendations, with options, for use of “best practices” and a more effective and
efficient distribution of current and future fire company work loads
The purpose of this meeting is for the consultant to update the committee members on the
progress to date and be available to field any questions. The consultant will provide a brief
overview of the process and the data collected to date. They will explain how the data is
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processed and the methodology used for data analysis and the current, state-of-the-art tools that
are used to do this. They will be performing statistical and analytical assessment of current and
projected service demands, an analysis of response time performance and workload analysis,
station location and travel time modeling. No Stanford-related issues will be discussed at this
time. ESCI consultants are currently reviewing over 7000 calls for 2009 from the City’s data
systems to conduct the various analyses that will establish a baseline of factual data about how
operations in the Fire Department work. This update will summarize the data the consultant has
collected for this project, including risk assessment classifications, emergency response data,
review of fire company distribution and concentration within the 4 major service areas.
Next Steps: The anticipated schedule for completing the project is as follows:
On May 17, a report will be presented to the City Council that summarizes the consultant’s
review of company staffing levels based on actual and required critical task performance,
staffing methodology, automatic aid agreements and contract agreements with Stanford and
SLAC, potential impacts of the Stanford Hospital expansion project in call volume relative to
fire station distribution and concentration.
On June 7 or June 14, a final report of the study will be presented to the City Council that
will include all recommendations for fire station distribution, concentration, and staffing;
recommendations for improving efficiencies and effectiveness for current and future fire
company work loads with at least 3 options. All major recommendations will be
prioritized and address short-term, mid-term, and long-term actions. Recommendations
will also include any associated costs to implement.
RESOURCE IMPACT
The contract with ESCI for this study was funded under existing program budget and staffing.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
This project is consistent with existing City policies.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This is an informational report only and CEQA review is not required.
DEPARTMENT HEAD: __________________________________
NICHOLAS MARINARO
Fire Chief
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: ________________________________
JAMES KEENE
City Manager