Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council Regular Meeting of August 25, 2020
Title
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE SERVICES AND
MCCORMICK AMBULANCE SEMI-ANNUAL REVIEW
(Emergency Management Coordinator Brandy Villanueva)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file the semi-annual Los Angeles County Fire Services and McCormick Ambulance report reviewing the period of January through June 2020.
Body
Executive Summary:
This is the semi-annual review of the fire and ambulance transport services provided by Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance. This report marks the beginning of the third 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 service 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. 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 to revisit the frequency of the reports at a future date. At the February 11, 2020 City Council meeting, Council determined to transition the frequency of the report from quarterly to semi-annually with the inclusion of the call transfer data to the monthly reports. In addition, the monthly fire and ambulance report was requested to be added to the consent calendar. On the July 14, 2020 City Council agenda, the monthly reports for February through May 2020 services were approved. The June 2020 monthly report is on the August 25, 2020 City Council agenda for approval. This report signifies the review of the first six months of 2020 for services provided to the community.
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 first six months of 2020, RCC received and transferred 371 fire and medical related calls with an average call transfer time of 48 seconds. Attachment 1 provides the RCC call transfer time for January through June of 2020. Attachment 2 provides the LACoFD call processing information.
During January through June 2020, Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 829 incidents with an average response time of 5:16 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. Attachment 3 provides an overview of the fire an ambulance response between January and June of 2020.
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 11 times between January and June of 2020 while Los Angeles County Fire Department responded 63 times into Area G cities to provide automatic aid. Attachment 4 illustrates the January through June 2020 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).
Special Events:
Typically, the Los Angeles County Fire Department assists with pre-planning and/or participating in a variety of events held in the City during the first six months of year which include the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Pet’s in the Park, Safety Fair, and Fiesta Hermosa. Unfortunately, all special events were canceled as of March 14, 2020 due to COVID-19.
Fire Station Construction:
Construction of the Fire station was stopped at the onset of the pandemic. Work resumed and the station is anticipated to be completed in August of 2020. The goal is to host a virtual introduction to the station upon completion.
Fire Prevention:
Station 100 conducted 14 inspections as part of the 2020 Annual Business Fire Inspection program.
Film Permits:
Community Resources and Los Angeles County Fire Department approved seven film permits during the first six months of 2020. Due to the pandemic, film permits were not issued after March 14, 2020. Attachment 5 provides additional details related to the film permits that were approved during the first six months of 2020.
McCormick Ambulance:
McCormick Ambulance conducted 371 transports and were canceled 248 times during the first six months of 2020.
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.
• 5.4 Adequate 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. 2020 RCC Transfer of Calls
2. 2020 LA County Fire call transfers
3. 2020 Los Angeles County Fire Incidents and McCormick transports Annual Report
4. 2020 Automatic Aid
5. 2020 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: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager