Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/11/2012

Home

Important Service - Specific Considerations CPM 101 Annual Report: FY2011 Fire & EMS /25 Building stock — Industrial structures may be more likely to be involved in fire or hazardous materials events. Older structures may be less likely to meet current fire codes or to be equipped with fire detection and suppression systems. High -rise structures may pose additional challenges. Geography— Street layout, terrain, the fire /EMS station locations, and traffic flow can significantly impact the ability for one jurisdiction to achieve the same level of service as another. Staffing— Jurisdictions can vary in the numbers assigned per fire apparatus, the minimum scheduled to work each day, the percentage of sworn versus civilian staff, and the percentage of volunteers. Broadly speaking, the physical, political, and demographic characteristics of each reporting jurisdiction also influence performance: • Examples include unusually good or bad weather, new state or federal mandates, significant changes in state or federal aid, major budget cuts, and median household income. Citizen preferences, council or board priorities, local tax resources, and state - imposed spending limits cause additional variation in the funds, equipment, and staff available for providing fire and EMS services. A list of additional considerations applying to all service areas is included in the introduction to this report. Please review it before reporting, analyzing, or otherwise using the information in this report. Suggested Applications • Track workloads vs. response times and on -scene effectiveness. In some cases, a slower response time might be related to geographic considerations, such as hilly terrain, waterways that limit accessibility, or railroad crossings at grade. In others, it may be that response times are slower because of heavy demand for services that pulls crews from their regularly assigned stations and necessitates more mutual aid support from adjacent jurisdictions. In Bellevue, WA, for example, staff determined that although they were not among the high performers in bringing their first - responding engine to the scene quickly, they performed very well at containing fires to the room or structure of origin. (Bellevue participates in the CPM Comprehensive program.) • Examine your performance compared to peers and mean and medians. If you're performing above the norms, check in with ICMA if you'd be willing to share what you're doing to achieve high performance. Your practices may be suitable for write -up that can be shared with others. Some jurisdictions, for example, may assign very low levels of minimum staffing per engine because they supplement that staffing with volunteer /paid -on -call staff or operate jump companies /squads that bring the remaining personnel necessary to fight the fire. If you find that you'd like to improve performance in any areas, check the analysis and effective practice case studies posted on the CPM 101 group on the ICMA Knowledge Network. The studies are full of examples of how local governments have used performance measurement to find improvement targets and boost performance —and to promote ongoing high performance. You can also check out the What Works Case Studies posted on the performance measurement topic page. • Prepare a report for your supervisor, manager, elected officials, or others. Using the data you have evaluated and the goals you are hoping to achieve, write a report to be shared with the OCMA Center for Performance Measurement'"