Springfield City Council — February 12, 2024

0:06 good evening everyone uh I would like to start the work session for the Springfield city council with roll call Mayor Van Gordon councelor Weber here Mo here rodley here Blackwell here Doyle here and pisher here and mayor van Gordon's please first item is the Eugene Springfield Fire update Chief Caven is here for this item good evening Council by K fire chief Eugene Springfield Fire happy to

0:51 be before you guys tonight and provide just a brief update of all the things that we've had going on here at ESF over the the last year or so and uh hopefully leave some time to answer some questions I apologized I have to run out right at 7:00 to get my boy to a medical appointment but um so without further Ado let's see if I get this right perfect um so one of the things we've been talking a lot about you've seen in the news um and in discussions with legislative concept is the impact of the closure of the University District Hospital and the ongoing issue with apot times or ambulance patient offload times you sometimes hear us refer to that as wall time it's the amount of time our ambulances spend

1:37 waiting to offload a patient at the hospital um as you see in the statistics um you know in July we implemented uh fee ordinance in both Eugene and Springfield to charge for uh time in excess of 30 minutes waiting to offload our patients uh we issued our first quarterly bill in uh October of 2023 to the tune of $336,000 between the three hospitals and as we closed out the year with the second quarter um that bill was $337,000 we haven't seen any of that um come through yet uh the hospitals are still kind of evaluating their their options our tools which we expected um throughout this time um despite you know expected increase in wall times uh both

2:23 Hospital Systems have remained engaged with ESF and other stakeholders in um tools and methodologies to to limit that time and we're also implementing some policies to address our ability to leave a patient in the care of the the facility and and get back to service in the street um University Hospital closures you know it closed on December 1st um during that time we added ambulance capacity um and then also which is just one unit a day and then for the month of December we added a squad or a two-person like pickup truck type vehicle uh to answer calls in the downtown core of Eugene expecting that people might look for alternative means or alternative ways to access care uh we

3:08 saw uh that unit run about 225 calls in the system during that time frame but the overall saturation in the system um we didn't see you know warrant extending that unit beyond that time period until we can uh discover other uh resources uh across the system in December um as you can see total call volume dropped about 9% year-over-year uh but then climbed 5% year-over-year in that core which is is what we expect and so we continue to track the the Trends on that um as an outcome from the hospital closure uh we've got legislative support um with a bill spearheaded by nany NA representative Nancy Nathanson from Eugene um she pulled together some

3:54 stakeholders from the local hospitals the county the university Bally those impacted by the closure and brainstorm some options for what might we fund um so for Eugene Springfield Fire um there'll be two years of funding for a peak hour basic life support ambulance um to help mitigate the the movement of patients and then investment in an innovation fund um how that's being kind of laid out is a fund that will go to Lane County um as a way for EMS uh local Primary Care Providers the emergency rooms uh to come together and provide some solutions that get people better access to care um during more expanded

4:39 hours uh same day type care but important to us is also uh 911 in in emergency room diversion programs uh we brought Global Medical Readiness uh in back in the fall of 2023 to give a presentation on a system called nurse navigation that system is uh designed basically to be a tool for the 911 Center to take a call treeage the patient like they do if it's not a life-threatening emergency they're able to send that call uh to a call center that's staffed with an RN and then LPNs uh who have come to our area they spend three months out here learning all the different tools that we have that the community has for access to care um to

5:24 care for things that don't belong in the emergency room or don't belong in an ambulance um and get people to the right place um one of the interesting things for us and what we see is people utilize uh EMS when they don't have another way to get to the uh hospital or an urgent care or those Solutions uh a contract uh should this be one of the outcomes U with Global Medical Readiness is uh they have a rid Source program um contract built in and so if you need a ride to the clinic a ride to Urgent Care um or the emergency room that doesn't require require uh an ambulance you can get it to and from um and so that being said um the other option that we looked for in that Innovation

6:09 funds a community Response Unit um it's that twers unit that responds to low-level EMS call so we don't have to roll a firetruck to um things that don't need uh a quick response or all that Staffing in there um I did add the measure 110 impact to the legislative side just as a um an indication we rounded out the year in uh 2023 averaging well over a 100 uh overdose responses per month and averaging over 35 deaths per month um and I gave this presentation uh in in Eugene I think last month and U kind of described it like this the the overdose epidemic in our area is Imagine any one of the

6:55 commuter planes that that comes in and out of the Eugene Airport crashing and all 100 people on board are injured all 150 people on board are injured some months but at least 35 people die every single month um that would leave an indelible mark on our communities and so that you know as we think about the impact of this overdose crisis on our community it's like a plane crashes every single month um and so I appreciate the work that council's done uh here in Springfield to um advocate for um some revisions to that so that you know we're not experiencing and and watching our community experience such a um an impact to uh

7:40 residents uh so alternative response planning we talk about that legislative support or um The Innovation fund and and how we imagine it um dispatch Trio's call like I said if there's a life threat it's going to get an emergency response it's it's what we're built for um and what our system has become overwhelmed with is everything below that line the the blue and green levels um and so addressing if there's no immediate threat to life can we refer to a nurse uh phone line can refer to Urgent Care uh Cahoots other Street Outreach programs are they experiencing an issue where they need to access the 988 system um which is still working through some some challenges to get up to what was originally imagined um and then again the the ability for us to

8:26 imagine what other resource needs there are uh when we go back to the conversations with rep Nathanson and uh Peace Health in the county um we've thought about the idea of what's it look like to put an advanced provider unit in the street meaning a paramedic paired with a nurse practitioner or physician's assistant who can treat you where you are uh bill in that way which we've seen just in the last few months Medicare add a billing code like a clinic um but for the street for for people that don't have an address which will be big in fostering um these systematic changes so um we have an alternative alternative response planning position that was funded in the City of Eugene last year

9:13 um that will help bolster our ability to plan for this and uh bring proposals forward of of how we might deploy in the future um that sustains the the critical time dependent resources uh for what they're what they're needed for um quick governance update um you know for councelor Mo and and rodley on the governance review panel they know that uh that's ramping back up I think we have our next meeting on the 22nd of February and then we'll be back to see uh the council for an update with our uh contractor on March 4th um and so we're really excited to to see that start to come to fruition and uh all the stakeholder input that has

10:00 been given along the way from this Council and other employees within the city about what the need is and what the options are and and what it means for the future of ESF as you recall this process I mean it began way back in 2010 but um this latest iteration of governance review began in 2022 um we had some bumps along the way with you know right vendor or not to to lead through that um we've got a great vendor that was hired in the fall of 2023 um AP Triton lot of subject matter experts on there um and I think you all will be pleased to hear what they have to say and um you know how how they took everybody's input on what our future needed to be um to fit within both of

10:47 our community's expectations and um the needs of of the councils and and everybody in between and so um again we'll tune in to the governance review meeting on the 22nd but we'll be here in person uh with the full Council on March 4th um EMS redesign we talked to you all a little bit about this when we initiated it uh in early 2023 um the concept as a whole is um taking our historical ambulance Staffing model of utilizing uh cross Trin firefighter paramedics uh to staff all of our ambulances and look into a meth meod where we're able to leverage our single rooll BLS program into um program

11:36 where people could enter a career within the fire department as a single Ro EMT or a single rooll paramedic um what it does for us in the fire department is it really opens up the recruiting pool um to a much larger population uh we were hearing as we're trying to figure out how to bolster our numbers in recruitment that half of the people entering paramedic programs uh didn't want to be firefighters and we were letting those people leave our communities after they got their training when we absolutely had um very important work for them to do um and so uh we embarked on the beginning to to build out part of our system uh it may become our entire system in the future uh that utilizes uh these cross train or

12:23 these uh single roll EMTs and single roll paramedics in place of the Cross train firefighter paramedics we've transitioned two of the four initial planned out of our our seven total 24-hour ambulances uh the third one uh will go into service on March 1st at uh station 4 at Fifth and Centennial um and so most of the time it's already staffed with these folks while they're getting their field training time with more experienced firefighter paramedics that's been our our challenge in the transition is making sure that uh we're putting people out there who' got good training got uh solid background in the system and uh they're doing amazing they're well respected by the crews they're they're performing well um it definitely increased our recruiting numbers uh and our ability to fill uh

13:10 the first couple ofies our last one we were only able to Net One paramedic um it's not an indication of of our own Department it's an indication of an issue Statewide with the lack of of available paramedics um and so we're working on some tools that I'll touch on here in a moment um with uh who all we're recruiting where we're assigning them um so that we can leverage uh the limited amount of paramedics the best we can um we were able to add so that these positions don't cost as much as cross trining somebody um and so in places where we would look to add capacity in the system or ask for uh funding to do so um or add the 24-hour supervisory component um we were able to leverage those savings um to pay for those

13:56 Investments uh early on in the program which which has uh been very helpful especially with the the wall times the apot times um and just the growing need and demand for somebody to be focused on on EMS in the system uh as far as ESF our staffing our goals in 2024 um we continue to be challenged with Staffing uh we had eight retirements at the end of 2023 which uh some great employees some storied employees but it it left us a bit short and when you imagine our last paramedic recruitment only getting one um you know that leaves us a little short as we enter the year um however I'm excited to announce at 5:00 today our most recent firefighter uh recruitment closed with 270 applicants um we haven't exceeded

14:44 you know between 30 to 50 applicants in more than a decade uh now there's a key to that recipe uh you know we took a hard look on what our minimum standards were for the job or our minimum entry requirement as we make our our moves with the EMS redesign it allows us to free up the number of paramedics that that we need for fire assets and so we opened up to uh firefighter EMT basic intermediate or paramedic and what we saw um is exponential growth in our pool of applicants um what we've seen in kind of some initial views we don't see a whole lot of information in the front phase but a lot of veterans um a much greater

15:29 proportion of minority candidates and we're used to seeing and so we're really excited to see uh what the outcome of this because it it lowers the entry requirement instead of committing to get a degree to start a career here at ESF um you can go you can become an EMT get hired on our single roll program our BLS program and now uh even as a firefighter and so we're really excited that we'll be able to bolster our ranks and not struggle to to fill them because we're always looking for the most advanced position across the board um 2024 goals for ESF Wildfire planning and M fuels mitigation is a is a big one um and so we're having some conversations as we prepare for fy2 um we secured funding um from the

16:17 payroll tax in Eugene OR the community safety payroll tax um that's funding a manager for the program uh that person has been appointed and has a a pretty decent materials and services budget to build up our education and um Outreach programs we're working with the Western Fire Chiefs uh Innovation and uh development manager around this this space um as we do our Outreach and and learn to do it in a way that uh gets to the community more effectively um we're kind of a blank slate for them and offering up let's let's use whatever Innovative tools you have um and grant funding to have a really great Wildfire program when we're done so um Department embarked one of its one

17:04 of our goals that we set at the end of 20203 was U kind of reviewing all of our plans our standards of cover how we do our work um how we show up how we respond our strategic plan then our vision mission and goals and making sure that um they reflect who we are today our changing environment we've changed our Workforce um and so we look forward to updating those plans it's good timing with the um governance discussions going on and we're looking to leverage uh technology we've got a couple different technology platforms coming our way that will one will help us be more interconnected with our rural Partners um that's going to be important when it comes to stopping fires that start just on the out outside fringes of our communities um but also working together

17:49 in in bigger Disaster Response um and then the next one uh we purchased a program that will help us um really ident identify with science and predictive modeling uh with a decades worth of response data where and how we staff um so that when we come and address and most importantly our elected bodies U we have a conversation about how we're Staffing units where we're recommending putting a new unit you can see in real time the impact to the system unit reliability response times all of those those metrics uh you can ask questions and we can make changes right here and you see um what the impact is there really help us plan not only today um but far out into the

18:38 future and just a quick 2023 year in review um so we ran a lot of calls as you can tell almost 50,000 uh so first year we capped a 100 more than 100,000 individual unit responses um of those we had 260 uh building fires in 12200 or a little over 12200 um fires that include bark dust uh wildfires dumpster fires U any other fires 756 cardiac arrests we transported over 23,000 people um and so we're busy our crew is do an amazing job uh covering these calls a lot of days we're out of resources more often out of ambulances than we are out of fire trucks but um both do happen and one note that's not here when we look at

19:24 from 2015 to today uh our call volumes increased 35% um and so um where that uh perspective lands is you know we took some moves in 2023 to evaluate the types of calls that we're going to and whether um we needed to go um or there's other resources to send and so what you see is uh we've been relatively flat you over um 2022 to 2023 and that's um because we looked at calls that didn't end up having a disposition or um you know we're checking smoke when there's a large wildfire in the area and there's you know only a single Coller um all of those things combined held our call volume relatively flat 88 calls um

20:11 increase year-over-year when we're used to seeing you know three to 5,000 all increase year-over-year um that's how that's where we're leveraging data and input from our crews that are going on these calls and then as we move forward um back to the alternative response planning is is leveraging more of that data um being data informed in our decision- making of how we respond how many people how many units or whether or not there's some other Service uh that should be responding uh to some of these calls and so there's a lot of space uh to think about that into the future um we know as as public budgets get a little tighter for everybody um that we have to be more Nimble and thinking of new and innovative ways to meet the The public's demand for

20:57 service this a question time C Mo go ahead thank you Chief uh when I was interviewed a few weeks ago on that on the merger team I just had had a copy of the of the annual that you put out each your services and I went in there and he says whatat do you think the fire department's for and I says you're in the medical transport business yeah and you just the numbers here these things don't work remember there's 23,000 ambulance calls 5% of them of those or there's 5% for fire and a fire track goes out with many of those

21:44 ambulance call so how can we change that you're already working on that I see the Innovative thing thinking that you're doing right now that's I encourage that I want you to do that in Australia years ago I was in Sydney I heard heard a siren going but and it was EMT on a motorcycle first one to a BRI wow how was you know and they use uh city buses for school buses during school hours you know Innovative uh we need to be thinking more creative like this and you're doing that I like that so and I look at other countries how they do it just see what's going on and uh we got the best Fire Department in the world I know that but I want to make this better and and we're also talking about budgets we're limited too you know and and we're always already look at it how can we do the same thing with less

22:32 and uh that's G that's going to hit us thank you yeah be Clint Chief thank you I really appreciate your presentation that was a lot of great information and um considering the challenges you have I think you're doing a ton of fabulous things with the department and the um going away from the Dual role being one of them I think that's just um something that I've always wondered why ESF has done that for so long um just open that up to having EMT Basics I think that's um really smart and I'm glad to see that happening the I have a question with the the time on the call increasing 177% is that directly related to the uh wall yeah y it's the

23:20 time to clear for our ambulances driving that okay that's yeah thank you anyone else a quick comment you mentioned there I really appreciate your presentation it's very clear very concise and very informative much appreciated well done the uh and I I definitely like you like councelor Mo mentioned expanding your horizon so to speak and looking at for how else can we uh increase in the interest in in signing on board at a lower cost for us and I think that's fantastic keep going my support there for sure you did um you mentioned on

24:15 um slide eight or page eight of your attachment under Staffing and goals for 2024 um I saw that what stuck out in my head just from recent history here where it says Wildfire planning and fuels mitigation I'm really concerned about the 16,000 trees that was broke in this last ice storm and that the city is taking some huge steps I mean it's a very successful program and collecting debris for the citizens Etc and it's huge I'm very concerned though about um The Many Many lots and yards that the folks either didn't have the money to pick up or didn't get a chance or just haven't rental Lots whatever I'm really concerned about the amount of fuels that are going to be sitting on these Lots I know know that Ela in a city went through and asked elppa for um expanding

25:02 the the backyard burning but it was basically just expanded by an early start in allowing for Greenwoods but my concern too is that is that enough and do you think that based on the amount of fuels on the ground now are going to cause some significant problems or potentially cause some significant problems and if there's a plan to maybe mitigate that prior to those H prior to that happening great question uh it's a concern we share I've been gone at a development Institute in Virginia over the last week but uh one of the last conversations we had ET talking about the um the cleanup efforts or Unity Federal relief was I'm just passing the idea of you know what does

25:47 it look like to you know get Federal funding to help clear those out um we don't yet know if that's possible um but that's one of the the conver ation had um is is providing that as a as a tool for sure it look like city manager Newton do you have something you know that is a a a topic that we're looking at as part of our overall um budget deliberations um so you know we have some some proposals that have come before us but we're we're looking at um getting a little bit more information so Chief I did receive your you know proposal to that so I'll be following up with you on that um shortly um one quick thing I don't want to go totally off topic but I did want that you to me tell a little bit about what

26:34 you were doing last week and why that's important and why that I I'm just so proud of you so I just wanted to give a little air time um yeah so I participated in a program it's called the fire service executive development Institute it's a year-long cohort with 25 other Chief officers from large departments across the country and so we spent the week together in Virginia I think our first class was Saturday night when when we arrived and it was 8 in the morning till 8:30 at night uh all the way through midday Friday uh it was a great opportunity um as they put it you know there's all these education things that we can get as firefighters become Fire Chiefs um but no real program that teaches you how to do it um and so it's

27:20 facilitated program from some of the best Chiefs uh in the country and we're going to be together four times throughout the year uh you know studying kind of talking about our our shared issues it's a very diverse uh group of of leaders in the fire service it's it's pretty cool um there's about 250 applicants and was fortunate to be in the the top 25 it's a program funded by a grant through Motorola we're the 12th cohort that they've funded um which is pretty I mean it's pretty awesome I can tell you from being there you know when you think about the future what you can do in this in this job it will it will be very very helpful for

28:05 me well that's good to hear so looking forward to hearing something in regards to the mitigation of the excess fuels in our city yeah yeah that that conversation is is ongoing Beyond just the budget discussions on a program that we might establish but what other tools are out there grants are out there um to help us make make resources available for those that that can't clear their Lots especially in those risk areas um you know counselor Doyle and I tour Jasper Meadows the end of January I think yeah yeah um and so we're we're looking we're we're making sure that that we can put some plans in place excellent appreciate it right if there's no other questions next item in two

28:59 kids no more items okay well I will adjourn the uh work session and we'll be open up the Ceda session in two minutes