NCFPD accepts SAFER grant for additional Station 3 staffing

After Fallbrook Hospital closed in December 2014, ambulances began transporting Fallbrook patients to other hospitals which increased activity for North County Fire Protection District emergency responders while also increasing the time the firefighting apparatus was not available for a subsequent call.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's U.S. Fire Administration has an Assistance to Firefighters Grants program which includes Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants. Earlier this year NCFPD applied for a $1.1 million SAFER grant to cover two additional firefighter/paramedic positions for each shift, and after NCFPD learned that FEMA would be funding the SAFER grant a 5-0 NCFPD board vote September 22 accepted the grant award and directed NCFPD staff to proceed with implementing the actions outlined in the grant.

"It is an opportunity to put federal funds to work in solving this unanticipated consequence of the hospital closure," said NCFPD fire chief Bill Metcalf.

NCFPD's Station 3 in the Olive Hill area has an engine and an ambulance for response, but currently the station is only staffed by three firefighter/paramedics. Depending on the type of call the station's three personnel on duty respond either with the engine or with the ambulance. "The other piece of apparatus is sitting unavailable because there's no staffing left," Metcalf said.

Transport to a hospital outside of Fallbrook thus precludes the entire Station 3 staff from responding to another call. "With the closure of Fallbrook Hospital our ambulances are busier so we need that ambulance staff full-time," Metcalf said.

The grant will allow Station 3 to be cross-staffed; three responders will staff the engine and two will utilize the ambulance. "Now we'll be able to staff the engine and the ambulance separately," Metcalf said. "They'll be able to cover multiple calls simultaneously."

The SAFER grant funds 100 percent of salary, benefit, and retirement costs for the funded positions for a two-year period. "This allows us to meet that challenge," Metcalf said.

The grant will fund one firefighter/paramedic and one job-shared (reserve firefighter) position for each shift. "It's two more firefighters per day," Metcalf said. "That equates to a total of six positions to cover 24/7."

The total NCFPD staffing for each shift is currently 20 positions consisting of 18 full-time responders and two reserves, so the grant will increase daily staffing to 22 positions.

"We will fill those with three new full-time firefighter/paramedics and six or seven reserve firefighters," Metcalf said. "The end result is we'll have two more people on duty every day."

The grant will not fund administrative overhead expenses, recruitment or hiring costs, personal protective equipment, or leave-related overtime other than industrial injury leave. Financial savings from the grant will include reduced reimbursement to other fire agencies who are called to transport patients from within the 92 square mile NCFPD territory, reduced overtime costs due to the reduced need to hire cover crews for in-service training, and recruit academy training costs covered by SAFER. Because the anticipated $22,000 for personal protective equipment, $16,000 for pre-employment screening, and $3,500 leave-related overtime total the same $41,500 as the $25,000 transport reimbursement, $8,500 overtime, and $5,000 recruitment academy savings the fiscal impacts of accepting the grant are considered revenue-neutral.

The grant is for a two-year period beginning with when the new firefighters and paramedics are hired. The district is not obligated to continue those positions after the end of the grant period, and the new hires will be informed that their employment may be temporary.

"We'll probably get them hired after the first of the year," Metcalf said.

The district may experiment with different response configurations once the additional staffing at Station 3 allows for such an option.