The special meeting of the Fire Department Board of Commissioners and the Strategic Plan committee members took place on April 29. In an extensive report, Chief Mike Harris reviewed the goals of the plan adopted in 2005.

All past members of the plan’s fire, emergency medical service and communications committees were asked to attend. Attendees included Richard Fralick, Bob Phalan, April Duke, Gordon Koenig, Elyse Van den Bosch and Katy Cardinale, as well as the Commissioners, the Fire Chief, Paramedic Mik Preyz, and three members of the public.

Strategic Plan Review Committee Chair, Commissioner Jim Coffin asked if there were enough attendees to make the group representative, and while Gordon Koenig stated that he didn’t think there were enough people for input, he would welcome a progress report. The group agreed to proceed to hear Harris’ summation and to ask the Fire Department Volunteers Association to participate in future meetings of the Strategic Plan Review.

Harris said that he’d pulled the “to-do” items out of the strategic report statements from the fire, EMS and communications statements.

Communications

Harris’ report identified the Speakers Bureau and Guest Columns written by the Strategic Plan’s communications members as action items that had not received much follow through and that the newspaper ads did not appear to have generated much readership.

While discussing the need to get better at evacuation, the group discussed West Sound’s community plan, which incorporated a siren and phone tree. Koenig said that an evacuation plan “falls apart pretty quickly when people don’t participate.”

Harris described a planned “Reverse 911 system” whereby the public would be notified with pre-recorded emergency announcements, saying, “Sometime this year we will be baptized with our own system.” Phalan asked if such a system would require capital expenditure. Coffin replied that it would be “Less expensive than you could even guess.”

Such an automated system would not extend to cell phones, which have to be specifically registered with a notification system.

Cross training

Phalan stated that when the EMS committee reviewed the Strategic Plan “a year ago, the one issue was cross-training.” In Harris’ report, he stated: “We have reviewed the membership and public concerns about this goal and determined that we will remove the requirement that all EMTs become firefighters. In addition we will continue to offer the EMT class. To be clear, we will continue to encourage cross training via incentives and all new firefighters will be required to gain either EMT or First Responder. In addition, all EMS-only personnel, current or new, will be given “support” training on fire and rescue operations and encouraged to respond to all calls. Harris said that the requirement to be cross-trained was “a legitimate concern among prospective EMTS who don’t want to be firefighters.”

“This is my recommendation to the BOFC and has yet to be formally approved.”

Fire Committee

Harris said that wildland brush fires were his major concern. “If you can’t get ahead of [a wildland fire], then the primary duty becomes evacuation.”

Koenig questioned whether a disproportionate amount of money was being spent on purchasing firefighting vehicles and equipment that may not be usable.

Harris said that the insurance raters’ determinations affect the rigs and apparatus size decisions: “If they don’t like it, they won’t re-rate us.”

Harris’ report stated the need to obtain “fast attack engines,” and Koenig pointed out the two new 2600-gallon water tenders were not fast attack engines.

Fralick said that he thought the department was “on the verge of purchasing [nimble off-road-capable multi-task, CAF equipped engines] three years ago and that hasn’t happened.”

EMS Committee

Acquiring effective radios and consistent dispatch protocols has been critical to implementing a “tiered response,” advocated by Dr. Michael Sullivan, the district’s Medical Program supervisor.

Commissioners

Katy Cardinale suggested increasing the commissioners from three to five “so you won’t have that problem of the meeting thing” (whereby no two commissioners can talk without it constituting a quorum, and thus a meeting, which is required by law to be held in public.)

Duke responded, “Managing and controlling the environment we live in is a lot more than in the past and it’s a full-time job.”

Harris reminded the board that in order to be placed on the November ballot, the proposal to increase the number of commissioners would need to be on the agenda. He added that the two additional commissioners would initially be appointed by the board and then go through the election process.

Billing for ambulance service

Cardinale expressed concern about the Fire Commission putting the plan to charge third-party insurers for emergency medical transport on hold “indefinitely.”

Coffin, who’d been spearheading research into the plan (which would include software, coding, billing and collection costs, according to Fire Department minutes) said that the Commissioners had received, “a surprisingly negative response” to the transport billing plan.

Cardinale recommended that a plan to charge for EMS transport go forward, and that it be communicated that there’s no cost to the individual that such a fee would provide money to the District, which could reduce the tax burden so that the District would have money to replace the levy lift, which is due to expire in 2014.

The Commissioners agreed to revisit the plan to bill Medicaid and other third-party insurers for ambulance transport.

Olsan suggested that the Speakers Bureau could use members of the Strategic Planning committee to address the community.

EMS levy

Harris’ report stated that the EMS levy “should be re-established prior to the existing levy expiring in 2014, [when the levy provides for the fire department only….] The continued success of the EMS system is based on educating the public on this need.”

Harris’ report concluded, “After the District issues its annual report and a review of the assumptions used to make [Harris’ April 29] report is critical. We encourage all planning members to remain active in the process [of ongoing Review of Strategic Statements].”

Volunteer questionnaire

The Orcas Island Volunteer Firefighter and EMT Association (OIVFEA) received questionnaires this week. A letter accompanying the questionnaire states, “The members are being asked to review the set goals from two years ago, see where we are in the process and make recommendations for any changes or adjustments in the goals. That report then goes to the Board of Commissioners.

“This anonymous survey must be returned to your Captain who will tally the information and compile a report with all the ideas and concepts we can propose.” The anonymous questionnaire is due to be returned by May 9.

The next regular Fire Commissioners meeting is scheduled for May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at the Eastsound Fire Station.