HomeMy WebLinkAbout05/03/2011 08 Tiered Response Protocols and Statistics Report - Fire Department • BUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT �j
Item No. �S
For Meeting Of May 3, 2011
ITEM TITLE: Tiered Response Protocols and Statistics Report
SUBMITTED BY: Dave Willson, Interim Fire Chief
CONTACT PERSON/TELEPHONE: Chief Willson, 575 -6165
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
The report is a brief explanation of the tiered dispatch program that Yakima Fire Department
participated in from January — March, 2011. Four of the sixteen fire jurisdictions participated in
the trial program. The goal of a tiered dispatch program is to reduce the number of calls a
jurisdiction responds to without compromising patient care. Included in the report is an
explanation of my decision to end our participation in the current Tiered dispatch program.
Resolution _ Ordinance _Other (Specify)
Contract Mail to (name and address):
Phone:
Funding Source
APPROVED FOR SUBMITTAL: r City Manager
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Termination of current Tiered Dispatch Program
BOARD /COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION:
COUNCIL ACTION:
Administration f 441414
O Suppression
nvestigation L ) �
& Education 4 40 North Front Street,
Training
/� et, Yakima, WA 98901 (509) 575 -6060
Communications F Fax (509) 576 -6356
www.yakimafire.com
April 26, 2011
To: Honorable Mayor, Members of City Council .
Dick Zais, City Manager
From: Dave Willson, Interim Fire Chief .
Subject: Tiered Dispatch Pilot Program
As directed at the April 5, 2011 council meeting, I have prepared an explanation of my decision
to end our participation in the current Tiered dispatch program. This short report should give
ample reasoning into my decision. .
The tiered dispatch program was entertained by a small group of the Yakima County Fire Chiefs
0 Association in 2010 and put into effect on January 1, 2011 for a 3 month pilot trial. Four of the
sixteen fire jurisdictions participated in the trial program. The goal of a tiered dispatch program
is to reduce the number of calls a jurisdiction responds to.
Reasons associated with 'why each jurisdiction would use a tiered dispatch system vary
depending on the operating circumstances of the particular agency. County Fire Districts may
look forward to a reduced cost of operation. County departments pay a user fee to the dispatch
center for each dispatched call and often pay volunteers for each call they respond to as well.
These two costs can be lowered by reducing the number of calls dispatched to that District.
Some Districts have an ambulance company stationed in close proximity and do not have a
chance to respond from home to the station, and then from the station to the scene before the
ambulance has treated and transported the patient. Other districts are far removed from an
ambulance company and often arrive on scene first to render medical aid. The City of Yakima
Fire Department does not pay for dispatch services per call nor do we pay firefighters per call so
no cost savings are realized by reduced calls other than fuel costs. Yakima fire stations are
strategically located around the city to provide very fast response times to serious medical calls.
There are two advantages or reasons we would participate in a tiered dispatch program. The
first is to reduce the chance of a vehicle accident and possibly injuring someone en route to a
non emergency medical call. In my 28 years with YFD I can only recall one injury accident that
occurred while en route to a fire call. The second would be to minimize the times personnel are
responding to a non serious call while another life threatening call takes place in that same
area. Both of these reasons are very low in probability.
• On the other hand, the disadvantage of participating in a tiered response system is that there's
a chance that a citizen with a serious medical emergency may not receive the most expedient
•
care or treatment due to the Fire Department not being dispatched. Though there may be a
tremendous legal liability for not responding to a serious medical call, the true peril is that there •
may be a chance that a citizen suffers permanent health problems or death.
The comparison must be made in the name of risk management as to whether the number of
missed serious medical calls is worth the gain of preventing an accident. After two months of
participating in this program, we collected a list of 64 calls that were possible serious medical
emergencies that we were not dispatched to. That is 64 calls in just Tess than two months time.
These 64 calls are only the calls that we have documented proof of. I was directed by council to
provide patient outcome reports for these calls which cannot be obtained because we did not
participate in their care or treatment. However, I have attached are the dispatch reports for
each of these calls. These calls were selected using our medical protocols for treatment of
serious conditions and have been redacted for HIPPA law conformity and patient privacy.
Deputy Chief Stewart worked hard to reduce the number of serious calls missed by having the
medical control Doctor remove "difficulty breathing calls" from the list of non Fire Department
response calls. This did help somewhat but still left 48 other serious calls unanswered by fire
crews.
I made my decision to stop the program based on the fact that:
• We provided these services prior to this program with good success.
• We decided to change the operational system.
• I was made aware that this change has placed citizens at risk of health and life.
• The change was not made out of necessity.
I was not satisfied with the increased chance of endangering the g e public or with the possibility of
opening the City up to scores of legal suits for an injury or death that could have been
prevented. With this said, we are still looking at other means of reducing emergency responses
to non emergency type incidents. This particular program just does not fit our jurisdictions
operational system.