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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02021999 - D7 Contra. TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ;* � � ." Costa FROM: PHIL BATCHELOR County County Administrator CHIEF KEITH RICHTER Contra Cosh County Fire Protection District DATE: February 2, 1999 SUBJECT: STATUS OF INTEGRATED PARAMEDIC PROGRAM AND THE FEASIBILITY OF ESTABLISHING PARAMEDIC CERTIFICATION AS MINIMUM QUALIFICATION FOR FIREFIGHTER .Specific Request(s) or Recommendation(s) & Background & Justification R MIVIENDATIONS: 1. ACCEPT status report on integrating pilot paramedic program and DIRECT staff to return with a progress report in 90 days. 2. ACCEPT status report on feasibility of requiring paramedic certification for firefighters and proceed with developing recommendations. REASM FOR R COMMENDATIC)N/BACKGROUND: On March 19th the Board of Supervisors discussed a proposal by Supervisor Rogers to consider requiring applicants for firefighter to be certified as paramedics. The Board both referred the matter to interested parties and requested further report on implementation on March 24th. (Attachment 1) On March 24th the County Administrator advised that the proposal had a number of implications involving affirmative action, ,recruitment and legal issues and should be further evaluated by the Human Resources Department, County Counsel, Affirmative Action Officer and the management audit review team. (Attachment 2) W Continued on Attachment:—X— YES Signature. Recommendation of County Administrator Recommendation of Board Committee Approve --- Other Signature(s): Action of Board on: Approved as Recommended -Otbar— !tote of Supervisors: I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN - Unanimous(Absent `' } AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE Ayes: Noes BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON DATE SHOWN. Contact:Terry McGraw(925) 335-1055 Attested: L L tj 2. cc: County Administrator Phil Batchelor, Leri of Contra Costa County Fire Protection District the Board of Supervisors Contra Costa County Fire Advisory Commission and County Administrator Contra Costa County Taxpayer Association County Grand Jury By: " , DEPUTY Loca€ 1230 Luca€250 American Medical Response Health Services Department The Management Audit of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, dated June 15, 1998, contained the following recommendation which was considered by the Finance Committee on July 13th and subsequently discussed and adopted by the Board of Supervisors on August 4, 1998: "X11. �armedlc Certification Finding,l Expansion of the District's pilot paramedic program has been suspended. So far the 1997-98 fiscal year cost of this training, including related overtime payments, is estimated to be $275,000. if the paramedic program is to continue at the currently staffed level future training costs will be reduced substantially. However, if the program is to expand to district-wide coverage, these training and related overtime costs will increase significantly to an estimated $572,000 by the year 2001- 02. R_eqQMMg0Ad:tqn A25 If It is the Board of Supervisor's policy to expand the District'sparamedic program beyond Its current level, require as a minimum qualification that future applicants for firefighter positions have valid California paramedic certification." Integration Flan Cin August 4th the Board of Supervisors froze the pilot paramedic program and directed staff to prepare a plan that would integrate district paramedics and the private ambulance system. On November 3rd (after a continuance from September 22nd and removal from the October 13th agenda) the Board of Supervisors approved expansion of paramedic engine companies from four snits up to eight units. Three of these new units will begin service on February 1 and the fourth will follow soon after. These units will be staffed by incumbent firefighters who have just recently completed training as paramedics. Future openings for paramedics will be created through attrition of existing staff or newly created positions by expansion of the paramedic engine program. While it is the intention of the Fire District to continue adding paramedic staffing to the engine companies, the financing for this expansion has not been determined. Earamadic Q91 Ifi Minimum ifi t'o for F` fl ter Until a policy decision is made to expand the pilot paramedic program beyond the eight units currently authorized and sustainable funding is identified, it does not appear to be practical to establish paramedic certification as a minimum qualification for firefighter at this time for the following reasons: S Foremost among these is the question of sustainable funding for the program and whether there is sufficient revenue within the County EMS structure to support a district-wide fire-based paramedic engine model. As you are aware, the cost of expanding the four paramedic engine companies has been covered by a transfer of Measure H subsidies. This was achieved after extensive discussions between the Fire District. the EMS agency, and the private sector ambulance provider. M The pilot study currently under way will provide additional information which will be used to assess the benefits and costs of the program. s It is not a practical goal to have all firefighters trained as paramedics. The expense would not be warranted by the outcome in terms of emergency medical services provided. Having one firefighter from each three-person crew trained as a paramedic is an efficient and reasonable goal. The maximum number of paramedics needed in the future should not exceed one third of the total force. The Fire District has enough paramedics for the current authorized pilot program which is approved to run through 1999. One option that would provide the flexibility to recruit and hire both firefighters and paramedic/firefighters would be to test simultaneously for both classes and establish an eligibility list from which appointments may be made. The Fire District could select according to the minimum qualifications needed to fill the open position. Candidates not having paramedic certification can still be hired for the position of firefighter. As openings occur for paramedics, the other eligible candidates with paramedic certification can be selected to fill these positions. This type of selection process will allow for the routine hiring of both firefighter and paramediclfirefighters. The long- term result will be that the appropriate qualifications and skills of the workforce can he maintained at the least expense. FS"f+F. To aid in the selection process, the Human Resources Department is proceeding with a firefighter job analysis. This job analysis will take a comprehensive look at the minimum qualifications for firefighters including paramedic certification. Cance the job analysis is completed, revised requirements can be produced addressing the identified needs. Summa Implementing the requirement of paramedic certification for firefighter will be further considered as policy decisions are made to expand the current pilot paramedic program, sustainable funding is identified and the results of the job analysis are known, Additionally it should be noted that the County will meet and confer as necessary with I.A.F.F. Local 1230 regarding future proposed changes to the minimum qualifications for the firefighters and will address any comments concerning this Board Order. ac ment 1 . ] k 'I o: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS r r CONTRA FROM: Jim Rogers, Supervisor, District I � �� �� COSTA COUNTY DATE: March 4, '1998 SUBJECT: Establishing Criteria for Firefighter Applicants SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(S); CONSIDER requiring that applicants for firefighter positions be certified as paramedics and referring the proposal to interested parties for comment. BACKCRQ!jNQ/REAS0NCSI FOR RECQMMENDATION[S : I am proposing that certification as a paramedic be a minimum qualifiation for firefighters that are hired in the future. Although hiring from a pool of applicants who are certified as paramedics will not increase the salary, it will ensure that new hires have an important set of skills. If the Board should, in the future, decide to institute a new formal paramedic classification, it will be substantially less expensive. Even though the differential is potentially an added expense, the County would avoid the significant expense of paying for paramedic training. This proposal is based on the clear benefit to the public of getting first responders with paramedic skills at no additional cost to the taxpayers. This proposal does not imply anything about the issue of instituting a formal paramedic program, with added costs. iA CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE: � RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR _REC MENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE _OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTioN OF BOARD ON REM 115. 1248 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X �OTHER X Following Beard discussion of the above matter, IT I5 BY TI' BOARD ORDERED that the above matter is REFERRED to an internal committee of the Centra Costa County Eire Protection District for input to the Board of Supervisors and the County Administrator- is dministratoris DIRECTED to provide for Board of Supervisors consideration on 'March 24, 1998, a report on the implementation plan for the proposal. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT IV I TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN:_ ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF - SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN, contact: Supervisor Rogers cc: Chief,Contra Costa County Fire Protection District ATTESTED March 10,_ 1998 County Administrator PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BARD OF SUPERVISORS AND TY INISTRATOR 13 BY PUTY Attachment Z d TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS y.._..: w�� k� CONTRA FROM: Phil Batchelor, County Administrator I `';; COSTA • 4 COUNTY t yam, DATE: March 18, 1998 SUBJECT: Proposal for Paramedic as a Minimum - Qualification for Firefighter ` M+ SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATION(Sk Approve the Fire District management review team to study the proposal for paramedic as a minimum qualification for firefighter to ensure a comprehensive interdepartmental evaluation. BACKGROUND/REASON(S) FOR RECOMMENDATION(Sl: Recently, the Board of Supervisors referred a proposal to include paramedic as a minimum qualification for firefighter classification to the County Administrator. The proposal has a number of implications involving affirmative action, recruitment, and legal issues. We believe that in order to properly evaluate the proposal, it should be reviewed by the Human Resources Department, the County Counsel and the Affirmative Action:Officer. This can be accomplished in the context of the management review that is currently under way and which will provide a number of recommendations to the Board of Supervisors on the organizational changes, personnel practices and policy issues by June 1, 1998 CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: —YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMME! A CSF st1A1iD COMMI EE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON MARZ7H 24r APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X r,OTHER VOTE OF SUPERVISORS XI HERESY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A UNANIMOUS(ABSENT _ 'TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ABSENT: ABSTAIN:__ -___. ON MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Contact: cc: ATTESTECf '� ,� PH ATCHELOR,CL.E K OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Bl' EPUTY