Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of February 11, 2020
Title
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE SERVICES AND MCCORMICK
AMBULANCE QUARTERLY UPDATE AND ANNUAL REVIEW
(Emergency Management Coordinator Brandy Villanueva)
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Receive and file the fourth quarter update for the period of October 1, 2019-December 31, 2019, and the 2019 annual review of Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance services; and
2. Provide direction regarding the frequency with which City Council reviews Los Angeles County Fire and McCormick Ambulance services updates.
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Executive Summary:
This is the fourth quarter and annual review of the fire and ambulance transport services provided by Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance. This report marks the completion of the second year of the annexation agreement with Los Angeles County Fire Department and contract with McCormick Ambulance. Staff continues to monitor the trends associated with the services provided to ensure that excellent customer services is provided to the community.
Background:
On December 31, 2017, the City of Hermosa Beach transitioned fire and emergency transport services to Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance. This report signifies the end of the second year of both contracts. Los Angeles County Fire Department has a ten-year agreement with the City while McCormick Ambulance has a five-year agreement with the City. During the initial transition of services, a fire services update was requested. At the time, it was determined that a quarterly review would be provided to City Council, with the expectation that Council would reassess the desired frequency of these reports at a future date.
Analysis:
The South Bay Regional Public Communications Authority, known as RCC is the initial public-safety answering point (PSAP) for police and fire services within the City of Hermosa Beach. When RCC receives a call for service, the dispatcher collects critical data including name, phone number, address, and nature of the emergency. For police related incidents, RCC continues to gather additional information from the caller and dispatches police personnel as necessary. For fire related incidents, the critical data is collected, and the caller is transferred to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch (LACoFD) center. A LACoFD dispatcher gathers all information needed to dispatch fire and EMS personnel, accordingly. The critical information is collected by RCC, as a safeguard, prior to transferring the call to LACoFD. Should the call be dropped during the transfer and/or there is a change in the status of the patient calling for assistance, RCC can try to reconnect with the caller and relay the information to LACoFD, who can dispatch resources based on the information gathered. Total call time begins when the call is initiated with RCC to the arrival of units on scene. During the fourth quarter of 2019, RCC received and transferred 200 fire and medical related calls with an average call transfer time of 48 seconds. Attachment 1 provides the RCC call transfer time for the fourth quarter of 2019. Attachment 2 provides the LACoFD call processing information.
In 2019, RCC transferred a total of 813 calls to the Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch center with an average transfer time of 48 seconds. Attachment 3 provides the RCC annual call transfer time for 2019. Attachment 4 provides the LACoFD call processing information for 2019. Due to equipment change over, there are some months in which the call transfer data for LACoFD is not available.
During the fourth quarter of 2019, October 1, 2019-December 31, 2019, Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 399 incidents with an average response time of 4:56 minutes. Los Angeles County Fire Department defines the Average Response Time as the time that the first-arriving units, which excludes the Lifeguard units, are en route and arrive at each incident and includes emergency and non-emergency calls. Dispatch and turnout time are not included in the Los Angeles County Fire Department average response time. Los Angeles County Fire Department received 15 less calls for service in the fourth quarter of 2019 than in the fourth quarter of 2018.
In 2018, Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 1,645 total incidents with an average response time of 5:04 minutes. In 2019, Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 1,616 calls for service with an average response time of 4:70 minutes. Los Angeles County Fire Department received 29 less calls for service during 2019 compared to 2018.
In 2019, the third quarter had the most calls for service with a total of 463 incidents and the first quarter had the least number of calls for services with a total of 371 incidents. Staff will continue to monitor the calls for service with Los Angeles County Fire in 2020.
Attachment 5 provides the incident type and average response times for all responses in 2019.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department continues to provide automatic aid to neighboring jurisdictions. The surrounding jurisdictions responded into Hermosa Beach to provide automatic aid nine times during the fourth quarter while Los Angeles County Fire Department responded 42 times into Area G cities to provide automatic aid during the quarter. Attachment 6 illustrates the fourth quarter auto aid responses provided by both the fire district (Los Angeles County Fire Department) and Area G cities (El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance Fire Departments).
Throughout 2019, the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded 213 times into Area G Cities to provide automatic aid while Area G Cities responded into Hermosa Beach for a total of 18 incidents. In 2018, Los Angeles County Fire Department responded 232 times into Area G Cities to provide automatic aid while Area G Cities responded into Hermosa Beach for a total of 19 incidents. There was one more request for assistance into Area G cities in 2018 than in 2019. Attachment 7 illustrates the annual mutual aid responses by both the fire district (Los Angeles County Fire Department) and Area G cities (El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance Fire Departments).
Special Events:
Los Angeles County Fire Department assisted with pre-planning and participated in a variety of events during the fourth quarter of 2019-Santa Sleigh ride, Beach Cities toy drive, Holiday tree and Menorah lighting ceremonies, and New Year’s Eve celebration. Fire continues to partner with City staff and event producers to ensure fire life and safety measures are properly implemented and followed during community events. Attachment 8 depicts some of the interactions Los Angeles County Fire Station 100 has had with the community within the past year.
Fire Station Construction:
During the fourth quarter of 2019, considerable progress has been made on the renovations of the fire station. The second floor has been removed, the interior demolition has been completed, the electrical and plumbing upgrades have begun, and the new roof was installed. The project is currently on track to be completed by the mid-April 2020.
Fire Prevention:
In the fourth quarter of the year, Station 100 conducted 147 inspections as part of the 2019 Annual Business Fire Inspection program. In total, Station 100 conducted 562 inspections throughout 2019. Inspections are categorized as Pass, Reinspection, and Vacant. The table below represents the fourth quarter outcomes of the inspections. In 2018, Los Angeles County conducted 978 inspections. These inspections were to determine the initial baseline of inspections required within the City. Based on the County’s inspection program, there are certain businesses such as real estate offices that are expected to be inspected bi-annually and other businesses such as restaurants that are expected to be inspected annually. For the bi-annual inspections, half of the businesses were inspected in 2019 and the other half of businesses will be inspected in 2020. Attachment 9 illustrates the 2019 Annual Business Inspection program outcomes.
Film Permit:
Community Resources and Los Angeles County Fire Department approved five film permits during the fourth quarter of 2019.
In 2018, Community Resources and the Los Angeles County Fire Department processed 54 film permits, which were 15 more permits than were processed in 2019. Attachment 10 outlines the dates and locations of the 2019 film permits.
McCormick Ambulance:
McCormick Ambulance conducted 231 transports during the fourth quarter of 2019. In total, McCormick Ambulance completed 872 transports and were cancelled 464 times during 2019.
Report Frequency:
During the transition from Hermosa Beach Fire Department to Los Angeles County Fire Department, City Council requested periodic updates to ensure City expectations were addressed. It was determined that a quarterly report would be provided to City Council outlining response data with an option to revisit the frequency of the report. The report has evolved into the current version reviewing incidents, mutual aid, call transfer data, fire prevention, fire station construction updates, film permits, special events, and McCormick services.
City Council anticipated having a discussion related to the frequency in which the report was provided to Council following the initial transition. Since the second year of the transition has been completed, staff seeks Council direction regarding the current report frequency and whether an alternate reporting timeframe would be preferable. Staff recommends a semi-annual review of Los Angeles County Fire Services and McCormick Ambulance services. Staff would continue to complete the monthly reports, which provide response data. During the monthly review, if staff identifies a change in service level, response times, and/or other changes in customer service, it would be addressed immediately with Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance management. In addition, concerns related to individual calls for service would be addressed immediately. There would be no need to wait until the report timeframe to research the calls. If Council determines that the semi-annual reporting structure is appropriate, the first report for services provided in 2020 would be presented to Council encompassing data from January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020 at the August 2020 council meeting.
General Plan Consistency:
This report and associated recommendation have been evaluated for their consistency with the City’s General Plan. Relevant Policies are listed below:
Governance Element
Goal 1. A high degree of transparency and integrity in the decision-making process.
Policies:
• 1.6 Long-term considerations. Prioritize decisions that provide long-term community benefit and discourage decisions that provide short-term community benefit but reduce long-term opportunities.
Safety Element
Goal 5. High quality police and fire protection services provided to the residents and visitors.
Policies:
• 5.1 High level of response. Achieve optimal utilization of allocated public safety resources and provide desired levels of response and protection within the community.
• 5.4Adequate emergency access. Require new development to be designed to provide adequate emergency access and to maintain current levels of emergency services.
Fiscal Impact:
Funding for fire and ambulance services is included in the annual City budget.
Attachments:
1. 2019 RCC Transfer of Calls 4th Quarter Report
2. 2019 LA County Fire call transfers 4th Quarter Report
3. 2019 RCC Transfer of Calls Annual Report
4. 2019 LACoFD Transfer of Calls Annual Report
5. 2019 Los Angeles County Fire Incidents and McCormick transports Annual Report
6. 2019 Automatic Aid 4th Quarter Review
7. 2019 Automatic Aid Annual Review
8. 2019 Community Engagement Photos
9. 2019 Annual Business Inspections
10. 2019 Annual Film Permits
Respectfully Submitted by: Brandy Villanueva, Emergency Management Coordinator
Concur: Scott Hale, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Assistant Fire Chief of Division I
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Charlotte Newkirk, Accounting Manager
Legal Review: Mike Jenkins, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager