HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 8530
City of Palo Alto (ID # 8530)
City Council Staff Report
Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 10/16/2017
City of Palo Alto Page 1
Summary Title: Fire Deployment Changes & Amendment to the Table of
Organization & Budget Amendment
Title: Fire Department Deployment Changes and the Conclusion of Meet and
Confer With IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) Related to
Impacts From the Stanford Fire Contract Revenue Reduction; Approve a
Budget Amendment in the General Fund; and Approve an Amendment of the
Table of Organization by Eliminating 7.0 Firefighter and 4.0 Apparatus
Operator Positions
From: City Manager
Lead Department: Fire
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Amend the Table of Organization by eliminating 4.0 FTE Apparatus Operators and 7.0 FTE Firefighter
(Paramedics) positions;
2. Amend the FY 2018 Appropriation Ordinance for the General Fund by
a. Increasing the Fire Department appropriation in the amount of $70,000;
b. Decreasing the General Fund Budget Stabilization Reserve in the amount of $70,000.
3. Acknowledge completion of the meet and confer process with IAFF over impacts related to the
reduction in Stanford Fire Contract revenue.
Executive Summary
If approved, the actions recommended in this report will implement service delivery deployment
changes in the Fire Department realizing $1.5 million in annual savings and reducing daytime staffing by
one position and nighttime staffing by three positions. This savings will assist in partially offsetting
lower reimbursements from Stanford University for fire services. The proposed deployment saves
approximately $1.5 million annually, adds a fourth ambulance, keeps all fire stations open and staffed 24
hours per day, results in no layoffs and is consistent with the performance standards of the department.
The proposed model is responsive to service demand levels that increase during the daytime and
decrease in the nighttime. It is anticipated that all aspects would be implemented no later than January
2018.
In July 2016, the City of Palo Alto (City) began formal meet and confer sessions with the International
Association of Firefighters (IAFF) due to a significant revenue reduction from the Stanford Fire Contract.
City of Palo Alto Page 2
A savings of $1.3M annually was planned in the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget to off-set some of the revenue
loss from Stanford University. On August 8, 2017, the City and IAFF reached a verbal understanding and
conclusion on impacts and mitigations related to deployment changes. While the IAFF will not agree to
support cutting positions, they acknowledge that the City has met its legal requirement to meet and
confer. On August 14, 2017, the Council directed the City Manager to formalize the meet and confer
understanding and conclusion with IAFF.
Background
Palo Alto Fire Department provides fire rescue suppression services, emergency medical services (EMS),
as well as ambulance medical services to the City of Palo Alto as well as Stanford University. Current
deployment includes 27 firefighters for the entire 24-hour service delivery period (three scheduled
shifts), regardless of the demand for services.
Stanford University contracted with the City in October 1976 to provide all risk services including fire,
rescue, emergency medical services (EMS) and ambulance transportation to the Central Campus and
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) under a 50-year agreement. In May 2012, and at Stanford’s
request, the SLAC fire station closed and protection was contracted to the Menlo Park Fire District.
Stanford initiated discussions with the City to reduce costs associated with operating the Central
Campus Fire Station. In October 2013, Stanford issued a two-year contract cancellation notice. Stanford
simultaneously sought alternative public and private fire service providers through a request for
proposal while continuing to negotiate with the City. By the contract cancellation in October 2015,
Stanford had not secured another provider and asked the City to extend the contract for a series of
short term extensions while both parties pursued mediation and continued negotiations. The City and
Stanford have agreed to interim agreements at approximately 75 percent of the original contract terms,
reflecting a $2 million reduction in reimbursements for services to the City in FY 2017. In recognition of
this financial environment, the City looked to changes in the cost to deliver service to assist in offsetting
this loss in revenue. The FY 2018 Adopted Budget included a $1.3 million reduction in appropriated
expenses in recognition of these efforts and committed to returning to the City Council once agreement
was reached among the impacted parties to articulate the implications of such a reduction in cost.
Current Service Delivery Deployment
The City of Palo Alto Fire Department operates from six stations, including one station on Stanford
University campus, as well as a seventh seasonal station at Foothills Park that is staffed on high fire
danger days (Station 8). Each station operates a full time engine and the fire system supports two
dedicated ambulances, a full time ladder truck, as well as wildland equipment. This results in 27
positions staffing these various apparatus 24 hours a day (“daily positions”). Approximately two-thirds
(2/3) of the Palo Alto Fire Department calls for service occur between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm.
Figure 1. Current Deployment
Station
Number
Address Assigned Equipment Daytime Staffing
(8AM to 8PM)
Nighttime Staffing
(8PM to 8AM)
Station 1 301 Alma Engine,
Ambulance
5 5
Station 2 2675 Hanover Engine,
Ambulance
5 5
Station 3 799 Embarcadero Engine 3 3
City of Palo Alto Page 3
Station 4 3600 Middlefield Engine,
Ambulance
(Cross-Staffed 24 Hr)
3 3
Station 5 600 Arastradero Engine,
Wildland Engine
(Cross-Staffed 24 Hr)
3 3
Station 6
(Stanford)
711 Serra Engine,
Battalion Chief,
Ladder Truck
8 8
TOTAL 27 27
Under California labor laws, the City must meet and confer in good faith with the labor group, IAFF, over
bargainable impacts defined under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA). IAFF is offered extensive
opportunities to respond and identify impacts related to intended changes. MMBA allows for lengthy
question and answer periods allowing the IAFF to seek clarification, request data and public records, and
to propose alternative solutions for impacts within their bargaining unit.
Discussion
Since July 2016, the City conducted 14 meet and confer sessions with the IAFF. The City sought to
identify expenditure reductions and cost recovery opportunities as a result of revenue reductions from
the Stanford Fire Contract. The City also sought to continue to meet its service performance goals
through the identification of efficient and alternative delivery models. The goals guiding these efforts
include:
a. Meeting adopted performance standards for emergency calls:
o Eight minutes or less, 90 percent of the time in urban and suburban service areas
o 20 minutes or less, 90 percent of the time in rural service areas of the Palo Alto Foothills
b. Ensuring risk reduction (fire & life safety) inspections, mandated training, community service,
and administrative assignments can be completed
c. Strategically planning for future call growth
o Emergency medical services call volume continues to increase due to larger daytime
populations and community members aging into high risk demographics for EMS
utilization
d. Maintain at least one paramedic on every ambulance, fire engine, and ladder truck.
At the conclusion of the meet and confer process, the parties understand that the revised deployment
model will continue to maintain at least one paramedic on every fire engine, ladder truck and
ambulance. Below provides a summary of the major deployment changes as recommended by the staff.
The following sections in this report discuss in further detail these changes including an understanding
of how they were arrived at.
- Reduce daily staffing on the ladder truck from 4 personnel to 3 personnel
- Cross-staff an engine apparatus and an ambulance apparatus at three of the six stations
allowing personnel to respond on either apparatus depending on the call for service type
- Four ambulances staffed during peak hours (8:00 am to 8:00 pm daily), increasing from the
current level of three
- The apparatus assigned to calls will be based on physical proximity to the needed call.
City of Palo Alto Page 4
In looking at alternative deployment models, the Fire Department reviewed historical calls for service
and modeled extensive scenarios through an analytical tool to develop a recommended solution.
Approximately two-thirds of the Palo Alto Fire Department (PAFD) calls for service occur between 8:00
am and 8:00 pm. The proposed model deploys 26 firefighters, EMTs and Paramedics each day from 8:00
am to 8:00 pm, when the majority of calls for service occur, and 24 firefighters each night from 8:00 pm
to 8:00 am when the service demand is lowest. It ensures that all fire stations remain open and staffed
24 hours per day, is expected to perform as well as the old model, and results in no layoffs as PAFD
currently has 15 vacancies.
One innovative approach already used in the PAFD, but expanded under this proposed deployment is to
cross-staff apparatus. Cross-staffing is a way to increase service to the community by using one crew of
three firefighters to staff multiple emergency apparatus. The crew uses the apparatus most appropriate
for the call and leaves the other apparatus at the fire station or another location.
The table below illustrates the proposed changes by station. The bold indicates a change from the
current deployment model outlined earlier in this report. Following the chart is additional details on the
specific changes and analysis utilized to come to this proposed deployment methodology.
Community Risk Analysis, Standards of Cover, Quantitative Prediction Analysis
The PAFD has undertaken an extensive and detailed analysis of community risk, the resources needed to
mitigate the risk. This data-driven and objective planning process includes:
Figure 2. Proposed Deployment
BOLD: Indicates a change
Station
Number
Address Assigned Equipment Daytime Staffing
(8AM to 8PM)
Nighttime Staffing
(8PM to 8AM)
Station 1 301 Alma Engine,
Ambulance
(12 Hr Overtime),
Battalion Chief
6 4
Station 2 2675 Hanover Engine,
Ambulance
(Cross-Staffed 24 Hr)
3 3
Station 3 799 Embarcadero
Engine,
Ambulance
(Cross-Staffed 12 Hr PM)
3 3
Station 4 3600 Middlefield Engine,
Ambulance
(Cross-Staffed 24 Hr)
3 3
Station 5 600 Arastradero Engine,
Wildland Engine
(Cross-Staffed 24 Hr)
3 3
Station 6
(Stanford)
711 Serra St Engine,
Rapid Response Vehicle,
Ambulance,
Ladder Truck
8 8
TOTAL 26 24
City of Palo Alto Page 5
a. Measuring and prioritizing the fire, rescue and emergency medical services risks in the
community
b. Evaluating and prioritizing the PAFD’s resources to manage or reduce the identified community
risks
c. Identifying and establishing objective prevention and deployment strategies to meet established
performance standards and adopted response policies
d. Ensuring a safe and effective response force for fire suppression, emergency medical services,
and specialty response situations
e. Annually evaluating and validating crew size and configuration, effective response force
performance on all types of incidents and overall system performance
f. Informing policy makers, government leaders, and the public about the community’s risks and
capabilities of the fire department to operate within the available resources
g. Modeling system performance using advanced predictive data analytics that includes call
volumes, locations of calls, and traffic patterns under a variety of unique resource deployments.
Demand for fire and EMS services are directly related to the size of the population. There is a strong
correlation between daytime and nighttime populations and the number of requests for fire and EMS
services. The demographics for fire are influenced by the age of buildings, rentals versus ownership,
maintenance of the buildings and the demographics of the occupants. EMS is very much driven by age,
with young and old populations utilizing emergency medical services much more frequently.
In Palo Alto and Stanford, the number of fire incidents has declined 32 percent since 2007. Residential
structure fires have decreased by 82 percent in the same period. This is primarily a result of strong and
effective building codes especially fire sprinklers, new construction practices that incorporate fire
resistive materials, and fire safe appliances. In addition, public education has increased awareness
among occupants and property owners regarding fire prevention and fire safe practices.
EMS activity on the other hand has increased 36 percent and ambulance transports 52 percent since
2007. Much of this can be attributed to aging populations and the expanded awareness of the 9-1-1
system. A recent analysis showed that Palo Alto residents ages 65 and over account for 17 percent of
the population, but account for nearly 50 percent of the ambulance transports to hospitals. The City of
Palo Alto has been a leader nationally in providing pre-hospital emergency medical services.
More recent advances in communication and monitoring technology, have contributed to the growing
use of the 9-1-1 system. 9-1-1 provides an almost instantaneous link to first responders and quick
response. The scope and quality of services provided by the PAFD is acknowledged in the annual
National Citizens Survey as one of the top rated city service.
Ambulance Staffing
Currently the PAFD staffs three ambulances, two dedicated and one cross-staffed unit 24-hours per day,
7 days per week. The two dedicated ambulances are staffed with a crew of two firefighter/paramedics
full time with no cross-staffing. The third ambulance, a cross-staffed ambulance, is staffed with a crew
of three who can respond on either the ambulance or fire engine. Cross-staffing both the ambulance
and fire engine is a way to increase efficiency and serve the community by using one crew of medical
personnel and firefighters to staff multiple fire apparatus. Based upon the call, the dispatchers and
emergency responders decide which apparatus the crew takes to the call.
City of Palo Alto Page 6
The deployment change also modifies staffing for one of the department’s ambulances from 8:00 pm to
8:00 am, when calls for service are at their lowest. In the evening, the ambulance would be cross-staffed
by an engine company. This new night staffing model (8:00 pm to 8:00 am), provides a total of 24
firefighters on duty each night.
The new plan proposes staffing four ambulances 24-hours per day, 7 days per week. This is one more
than the old deployment model.
Daytime: From 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, two ambulances would have dedicated staffing as is the
current practice. Two additional ambulances would be cross-staffed by two fire engine crews.
Nighttime: From 8:00 pm to 8:00 am, when the call volume is the lowest, one ambulance would
have dedicated staffing and three crews would cross-staff an ambulance and engine.
The last modification would extend the PAFD’s practice of staffing all ambulances with at least one
paramedic and one Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Truck Staffing
Under the proposed deployment, there will be one less firefighter on duty from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm, 26
under the proposed deployment, compared to 27 under the old. This is accomplished by staffing the
PAFD’s ladder truck with three firefighters instead of four. This returns to the staffing configuration used
on the ladder truck for decades in the PAFD. In 2013, the crew size increased from three to four
firefighters.
This ladder truck staffing modification is based upon a community-wide risk assessment, critical task
analysis, and effective response forces needed to mitigate known hazards. Other factors considered
include the emergency call volume and types of calls for the ladder truck. Finally, the City maintains and
supports automatic aid agreements with neighboring jurisdictions that immediately dispatch multiple
ladder trucks to high risk, low frequency incidents. PAFD’s primary automatic aid partner staffs their
ladder truck with three personnel as well.
Stanford Staffing
Under the proposed deployment, a total of eight personnel staffing four apparatus will be located at the
Stanford Fire Station. This includes one ambulance, the ladder truck, one fire engine and a smaller unit
known as a rapid response vehicle (RRV). All units are available to respond to calls for service
throughout the City of Palo Alto and Stanford.
The RRV is a new and innovative EMS and fire apparatus, smaller than a municipal engine and slightly
larger than a full size pick-up truck, designed to maneuver on narrow streets in the core campus area
and other densely populated areas in downtown Palo Alto. The RRV contains medical equipment to
function at the paramedic level. It also has a small pump and water tank designed to extinguish minor
fires. The RRV responds to lower level and non-emergent EMS calls, small fires, service calls, and fire and
supervisory alarms on Stanford Campus. A minimum of two personnel, one of whom is a paramedic, will
staff the RRV. The crew assigned to the engine cross-staffs the fire engine and RRV.
Timeline
The implementation process will begin immediately after receiving Council Authorization to amend the
table of organization and acknowledge completion of the meet and confer process. Fire Department
City of Palo Alto Page 7
staff will work to make the appropriate changes to dispatch systems, conduct any staff alignment and
station assignments with IAFF, and consult with neighboring fire jurisdictions to review mutual and
automatic aid agreements. All proposed changes are anticipated to go into effect no later than mid-
January 2018.
Resource Impact
The FY 2018 Adopted budget reflected anticipated reductions in expenses of $1.3 million as a result of
these deployment changes. Although this model is anticipated to save $1.5 million, the current adopted
reduction of $1.3 million is anticipated to be appropriate for FY 2018 due to the phasing of the
implementation. The ongoing reduction in costs, namely the elimination of 11 full time positions will be
included in the development of the FY 2019 budget.
In order to implement these changes, some additional costs are anticipated. Additional uniform
equipment is recommended to ensure turnout-times of cross-staffed crews are not delayed by moving
personal protective equipment between two different apparatus. The one-time cost associated with
this is anticipated to be $70,000 with ongoing costs estimated at $20,000 annually.
This report, requests additional funds of $70,000 from the General Fund Budget Stabilization Reserve
and the ongoing funding will be evaluated as part of the FY 2019 budget with the goal of finding net-
zero adjustments to absorb these costs in the Department and only adjustments brought forward as
needed.
The reduction in the BSR would result in a further reduction of the Budget Stabilization Reserve below
the City Council approved 18.5 percent, however, it is anticipated that sufficient excess revenues and
additional expense savings from FY 2017 will offset this once the FY 2017 financials are closed.
Therefore, it is staff’s intent to restore the BSR to City Council approved target of 18.5 percent. If the
actions recommended in this report are approved, in total approximately $823,000 will have been used
from the BSR to date in FY 2018, primarily for the janitorial services contract approved in August 2017.
In addition, the City in coordination with Stanford will need to design and purchase a new rapid
response vehicle. It is expected that Stanford will pay the full cost of the apparatus as part of the new
agreement. In the interim, the PAFD can modify an existing fire apparatus for a short-term and
temporary solution.
Environmental Impact
This report is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act. Environmental
review is not required.
Attachments
Attachment A - Data used to determine System Performance and Design during the Meet and
Confer Process
Attachment B – Unit Hour Utilization (UHU): Predicted Overall Utilization of new deployment,
data analyzed May 2017
Attachments:
Data used to determine System Performance and Design during the Meet and Confer
Process October 16 2017
May 2017 UHU Analysis
Data used to determine System Performance and Design during the Meet and Confer Process
Time of Day Workload
The time analysis that shows significant variation is response activity by hour of day. Response workload directly correlates with the activity of people, with
workload increasing during daytime hours and decreasing during nighttime hours as shown in the following figure. Incident activity is at its highest between 8:00
AM and 8:00 PM
Unique Incidents Total 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
Midnight 1135 233 241 225 227 209
1:00 AM 1043 213 219 205 196 210
2:00 AM 881 184 172 177 169 179
3:00 AM 747 163 153 150 137 144
4:00 AM 687 153 134 163 112 125
5:00 AM 717 149 156 139 139 134
6:00 AM 891 216 191 174 156 154
7:00 AM 1410 293 321 288 254 254
8:00 AM 2060 439 435 405 399 382
9:00 AM 2301 525 452 445 458 421
10:00 AM 2583 543 572 504 449 515
11:00 AM 2527 557 532 507 454 477
12:00 PM 2480 531 526 479 501 443
1:00 PM 2425 508 500 482 477 458
2:00 PM 2503 530 502 481 474 516
3:00 PM 2426 533 528 471 456 438
4:00 PM 2228 475 467 420 458 408
5:00 PM 2263 457 485 480 421 420
6:00 PM 2147 453 460 423 424 387
7:00 PM 1947 446 400 354 391 356
8:00 PM 1698 391 384 320 320 283
9:00 PM 1521 329 363 292 252 285
10:00 PM 1396 285 296 263 263 289
11:00 PM 1219 261 265 247 231 215
Total 41235 8867 8754 8094 7818 7702
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
Current Deployment UHU
Rates
Crew Average
0.0%
10.0%
20.0%
30.0%
40.0%
50.0%
Proposed Deployment UHU
Rates
Crew Average
Deployment Change Analysis on Unit Hour Utilization Rates
The charts below show the unit hour utilization rates comparing the deployment of resources as of June 2017, and the proposed deployment of resources
proposed by the City. Data was generated from Code3 predictive analytic software, utilizing historical data from the computer aided dispatch system.
Unit Hour Utilization Rates
Crew Current Deployment Proposed Deployment
Battalion Chief 3.8% 4.0%
S1 Engine Crew 25.5% 25.8%
S2 Engine Crew 10.2% 20.8%
S3 Engine Crew 14.1% 19.2%
S4 Engine Crew 14.8% 22.2%
S5 Engine Crew 11.3% 12.3%
S6 Engine Crew 14.7% 15.7%
S1 Medic Crew 32.8% 19.0%
S2 Medic Crew 33.3% N/A
S6 Medic Crew N/A 24.9%
Truck Crew 4.0% 4.0%
Deployment Change Analysis on time committed to calls for service (stated in hours per 24-hour shift)
PROPOSED DEPLOYMENT (HOURS PER 24-HOUR SHIFT)
Sorted high-to-low PROPOSED
NOT
DEPLOYED
(PER 24
HRS)
CURRENT
NOT
DEPLOYED
(PER 24
HRS)
CHANGE IN
DEPLOYED
TIME
S1 Engine Crew 6.19 17.81
6.12 17.88
0.07
S2/S6 Medic
Crew* 5.97 18.03
7.99 16.01
-2.02
S4 Engine Crew 5.33 18.67
3.55 20.45
1.78
S2 Engine Crew 5.00 19.00
2.46 21.54
2.54
S3 Engine Crew 4.60 19.40
3.39 20.61
1.21
S1 Medic
Crew** 4.57 7.43
7.88 16.12
-3.31
S6 Engine Crew 3.77 20.23
3.52 20.48
0.25
S5 Engine Crew 2.94 21.06
2.72 21.28
0.22
Average 4.80 hrs 17.70 hrs
4.70 hrs 19.30 hrs
0.09 hrs
*S2 Medic Crew is the current model. S6 Medic Crew is the proposed model.
**S1 Medic Proposed is based on a 12-hour shift. Current is based on a 24-hour shift.
County Ambulance handling EMS calls in Palo Alto (Predicted Trufage)
Turfage is a term used to describe when the Palo Alto Fire Department has committed all ambulances to calls for service and County Ambulance must respond to
handle the subsequent emergency medical services call.
Key
P0b s001: Current deployment
P4J1 s000: Proposed deployment
Call Concurrency
When evaluating the effectiveness of any resource deployment plan, it is necessary to evaluate the workload of response units to determine to what extent their
availability for dispatch is affecting the response time performance. In simplest terms, a response unit cannot make it to an incident across the street from its
own station in four minutes if it is unavailable to be dispatched to that incident because it is committed to another call. Concurrency looks at workload to
examine the number of times multiple incidents happen within the same time frame in each system area. This is important because concurrent incidents can
stretch available resources and extend response times.
Incident Concurrency (CY 2016)
Number of Concurrent Incidents Count Percentage of Total
1 3787 46.74%
2 2759 34.05%
3 1196 14.76%
4 301 3.71%
5 51 0.63%
6 7 0.09%
7 2 0.02%
Drawdown Summary: Fire Engines (CY 2016)
Number of Concurrent Incidents Count Percentage of Total
0 5326 64.58%
1 7958 25.98%
2 3578 7.38%
3 1087 1.55%
4 247 0.38%
5 65 0.11%
6 23 0.01%
Drawdown Summary: Ambulances (CY 2016)
Number of Concurrent Incidents Count Percentage of Total
0 3269 58.49%
1 5566 29.31%
2 3204 9.34%
3 1190 2.28%
4 340 0.49%
5 83 0.07%
6 16 0.01%
7 2 0.00%
Response Time Performance
Response time is defined as that period between notification of PAFD personnel by the dispatch center that an emergency is in progress until arrival of the first
fire department response unit at the emergency. This key performance measure is the total of turnout time (the time it takes personnel from notification to
“wheels rolling”) and travel time (the time it takes to drive to the call).
Emergency Medical Service Calls
2016 2015
Count 4108 3957
Average Response Time 0:05:04 0:05:13
90% Percentile 0:07:24 0:07:36
Confirmed Structure Fire
2016 2015
Count 6 2
Average Response Time 0:05:16 0:05:17
90% Percentile 0:06:17 0:05:57
Confirmed Full First Alarms (larger fires)
2016 2015
Count 3 2
Average Response Time 0:04:42 0:03:54
90% Percentile 0:05:12 0:04:27
Motor Vehicle Accidents
2016 2015
Count 293 236
Average Response Time 0:05:29 0:05:37
90% Percentile 0:09:16 0:08:58
Hazardous Materials Incidents
2016 2015
Count 12 13
Average Response Time 0:05:54 0:06:25
90% Percentile 0:07:52 0:10:49
All incidents where there was a single engine responding (EMS, car & small fires, fire alarms)
2016 2015
Count 7049 6762
Average Response Time 0:05:31 0:05:39
90% Percentile 0:08:21 0:08:22
Overall Utilization Comparison -- All simulated units
Utilization Comparison - PAF Core Units
Utilization Comparison - Autoaid Units
Predicted Utilization -- Medical "Turfage"