AgdaPkt 2006-03-27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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78 Quantitatively, since August of 2003, there has been a difference in Fire and Page 2 Emergency Medical Service delivery in the downtown of Redwood City, as well as the areas peripheral to the downtown. Prior to the capacity reduction, there were five fire engines (carrying hose, water and pump for fire extinguishment) and one ladder truck (carrying large ladders, forcible entry equipment and vehicle extrication and other rescue tools) in Redwood City full-time. Following the budget cut, on the days that E9 is out of service, there are four engines and one truck. The net loss is one engine company when E9 is out of service. Each of the remaining fire companies (four engines and one truck) provide paramedic staffing and deliver Advanced Life Support level EMS care. Discussing the qualitative effects of reducing on-duty capacity by one engine on an intermittent basis makes it important to have a common understanding of a few terms referenced in this report. Hazard - The term "hazard" is used to identify a relative potential threat posed by either a building or a material. For instance, an old wood frame building with no fire sprinkler system is a higher relative hazard than a building constructed of steel and concrete with a sprinkler system. It is estimated that only 18% of the buildings within the scope of the downtown specific plan have fire sprinkler systems installed. Risk - "Risk" refers to what happens in a building or process that couples with the hazard of a building or material. A vacant wood building that may be considered a high hazard type of construction is not at great risk if the building is vacant and there are no activities that will cause a problem. A steel frame building with a large concentration of people may pose a greater risk to the occupant than the previously mentioned vacant building. Response Time - For the purpose of this report as well as one of the fire department's annual performance measures, "response time" means the time it takes a fire company to arrive on-scene including time to leave the station after being alerted by communications (turnout time) and the driving time to reach the reported address (travel time). This time does not include call transfer or call handling times during the dispatch process. Fire Company - A fire company is comprised of the personnel, equipment and vehicle under the control of a fire captain. Renovated property within the scope of the theater complex has changed the hazard profile of that block. Buildings have been removed and replaced with modern building construction methods and codes, thereby reducing the hazard in this area. The new buildings have modern fire detection and suppressions systems. They are also constructed to current seismic standards. The hazard profile for this area has been reduced. The risk issues for this same area, considering past use of the removed buildings when compared to the new complex, have increased because of the population of anticipated visitors. Vacant buildings generate few calls. It is the occupants of buildings that either need fire department services or create situations requiring fire department attention. 2