Agenda - Council - 02/23/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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PUBLIC SAFETY Fire Department The Fire Department staff includes both full -time and paid -on -call staff. The full -time staff includes the Fire Chief, Fire Inspector and Department Secretary. Although these positions can be considered administrative, the Fire Chief and Fire Inspector respond to emergency incidents. The paid -on -call staff is currently 52 firefighters, some of which are appointed as command officers. 2010 will see this number increase to 55 firefighters spread between the 3 fire stations. The fire Officer positions include two (2) Assistant Chiefs, two (2) Captains, four (5) Lieutenants and one (1) Training Officer. The major areas of responsibility of the Fire Department include responding to emergency calls including: • All types of fire incidents • Personal Injury incidents including extrications, confined space and water rescue • Cardiac Heart related medicals • Hazardous Material incidents • Disaster Management Non - emergency response includes state adopted code compliance inspections (businesses, daycares and schools), public education, investigation of incidents, and preplans of local businesses. Although the majority of Ramsey's firefighters are considered "Paid -on- Call ", the initial training and on- going requirements mirror that of career firefighters. Each firefighter must attend and pass state certifications in both firefighting and emergency medical training. More than half the firefighter staff has advanced their emergency medical training to be certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's). Once the initial training is complete, on -going specialized training is required each year in areas such as hazardous materials response, confined space and water rescue, vehicle extrication and disaster management. A typical emergency response includes notification by Anoka County 911 via pagers issued to individual firefighters. Available firefighters respond to their assigned station, get dressed in turnout gear and respond in appropriate apparatus. The result of this type of response is a professional quality service that is delivered without the expense of employing an entire full -time staff. For 4 years, Ramsey Fire has utilized a very effective "Duty Officer" response to non - emergency calls. With this program, one or two fire officers respond to certain incidents rather than a more costly full department response. In 2008, the City of Ramsey and the City of Nowthen entered into a joint powers agreement for providing fire services to both communities. The agreement spells out how fire services are shared between the two communities at a significantly lower cost than both communities providing their own. The City of Ramsey continues to maintain two fire stations (15050 Armstrong Blvd and 15153 Nowthen Blvd) with each station housing an engine, tanker, rescue vehicle and wild land truck. Station #2 (15153 Nowthen Blvd) also houses the 105 ft ladder truck. Nowthen maintains fire station #3 at 19800 Nowthen Blvd NW in Nowthen. Vehicles housed there include an engine, tanker and wild land truck. All firefighters are considered Ramsey Fire Department employees and per the joint powers agreement, wages and equipment costs are shared between the two communities. 2009 response details include the following: • 453 total responses • 181 Duty Officer responses City of Ramsey Page 2009 Annual Report 19