Honorable Mayor and Members of the Hermosa Beach City Council
Regular Meeting of April 9, 2024
Title
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRE AND AMBULANCE
MONTHLY REPORT FOR FEBRUARY 2024
(Emergency Management Coordinator Maurice Wright)
Body
Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Staff recommends City Council receive and file the February 2024 Fire and Ambulance monthly report.
Body
Executive Summary:
City departments generate monthly reports to provide a snapshot of activities performed each month. Prior to the transition of fire and ambulance transport services to the County of Los Angeles, the Hermosa Beach Fire Department developed monthly response reports. After the transition, the monthly report was updated to include Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) and McCormick Ambulance information and continues to be uploaded to the website. The following report provides details regarding services provided for the month of February 2024.
Background:
At the February 11, 2020 Council meeting, City Council requested monthly reports on the City Council agenda under consent calendar. Monthly reports began to appear commencing with the July 14, 2020 City Council agenda. The enclosed report reflects the services for February 2024.
Past Board, Commission, and Council Actions
|
Meeting Date |
Description |
|
February 11, 2020 (Regular Meeting) |
City Council requested monthly reports on the City Council agenda under consent calendar. |
|
July 14, 2020 (Regular Meeting) |
Monthly reports began on City Council consent agenda. |
Discussion:
The February 2024 monthly report provides an overview of services provided by LACoFD and McCormick Ambulance (Attachment 1-February 2024 LACoFD and McCormick Ambulance Monthly Report).
Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD)
LACoFD and McCormick Ambulance work together to provide emergency medical services (EMS) to the Hermosa Beach community. LACoFD has two apparatus stationed at Station 100 including one assessment engine (Engine 100) staffed with a Fire Captain, a Fire Engineer, and a Firefighter Paramedic; and a paramedic squad (Squad 100) staffed with two Firefighter Paramedics. The paramedic squad (Squad 100) only responds to calls for service exclusively within the City of Hermosa Beach. It does not provide mutual aid, thereby remaining available for calls within Hermosa Beach.
Each LACoFD apparatus has the capability to provide basic emergency medical care known as Basic Life Support (BLS) to medical patients. In addition, the paramedic squad has advanced equipment, including medications, and responds from within the City to address Advanced Life Support (ALS) calls, such as a stroke or heart attack.
McCormick Ambulance is one of the emergency medical transport companies within Los Angeles County. LACoFD does not conduct patient transport; therefore, unincorporated areas are included in the fire department transport contracts with various providers. Contract cities are responsible for negotiating and contracting with a medical transport provider for their community. Within the South Bay, many of the cities have contracted with McCormick Ambulance to conduct emergency medical transportation including the City of Hermosa Beach.
When LACoFD is dispatched, McCormick Ambulance may also be dispatched as the City’s emergency medical transportation provider. LACoFD provides life-saving medical care on scene and continues ALS level care as the patient is transported to a local hospital. In the case of a BLS level call, monitoring and care are safely provided by one of the two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) assigned to the responding ambulance.
LACoFD follows industry standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), which outlines call transfer times and total response times. The NFPA standard for call transfer time is that each call will be answered within 60 seconds 90 percent of the time. Additionally, responding units are to be enroute within 60 seconds for EMS related calls and 80 seconds for structure fire calls. NFPA further stipulates that for EMS calls, responding units must arrive on scene within 8 minutes and 59 seconds 90 percent of the time.
The February 2024 call transfer report provided by LACoFD indicates that there were no calls with a transfer time longer than the NFPA standard. Staff is working with LACoFD to incorporate the South Bay Regional Public Communications Authority (RCC) call transfer time data, currently provided semi-annually, into the monthly reports. The RCC call transfer data provides information regarding each call for service from the time that the call first comes into the 9-1-1 system to the time that it is transferred to LACoFD.
McCormick Ambulance
McCormick Ambulances are staffed by two EMTs who can provide and transport BLS patients independently and, with the support of LACoFD paramedics riding in the ambulance, can also transport ALS patients.
In February 2024, McCormick Ambulance responded to 63 calls for services within the City of Hermosa Beach. The February 2024 report indicated that seven calls resulted in delayed Code 3 responses. A Code 3 response is one where the responding emergency units are driving with lights and sirens to a presumed life-threatening emergency, which is typically classified as an ALS call. According to the McCormick Ambulance contract, “response time must not exceed eight (8) minutes, fifty-nine (59) seconds” for a Code 3 incident. Of the seven delayed Code 3 calls, the average response time was twelve (12) minutes, Forty (40) seconds with the longest single response time at fifteen (15) minutes, fifty-four (54) seconds.
There were four delayed Code 2 responses in February 2024. A Code 2 response is one where the responding emergency units are driving with lights and sirens to an emergency classified as a basic life support or BLS call. According to the McCormick Ambulance contract, “response time must not exceed fifteen (15) minutes, zero (0) seconds” for a Code 2 incident. Of the four delayed Code 2 calls, the average response time was eighteen (18) minutes, six (6) seconds, with the longest single response time at twenty-one (21) minutes, forty nine (49) seconds.
Staff reviewed the February 2024 McCormick Ambulance monthly report. The following outlines the reasons for the delayed responses:
• Distance: (1) The responding crew encountered heavy traffic along the route;
• Multiple Calls: (10) The dispatch center received multiple calls at the same time;
McCormick Ambulance demonstrates a continuous effort to detect and correct service level performance deficiencies by identifying the reason for delayed response times, issuing personnel performance notices when mandatory response requirements are not met and releasing personnel upon continued performance issues. McCormick Ambulance also provides training and continuing education to staff to improve skills and service delivery.
Although the emergency medical transport units arrived on scene within the allowable timeframe for 52 calls in February 2024, patients were provided timely life-saving emergency medical care on scene by Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics. When LACoFD arrives on scene, it takes paramedics 5 to 10 minutes to conduct the required treatment protocols prior to commencing transport with McCormick Ambulance. During the patient treatment phase, the requested ambulance is typically on scene waiting for the paramedics to complete their treatment protocols even if the ambulance response is delayed. Los Angeles County Fire Department and McCormick Ambulance are committed to providing excellent emergency medical care, customer service, and response to the residents and visitors of Hermosa Beach.
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:
Safety Element
Goal 5. High quality police and fire protection services provided to residents and visitors.
Policy:
• 5.2 High level of response. Achieve optimal utilization of allocated public safety resources and provide desired levels of response, staffing, and protection within the community.
Fiscal Impact:
Fire and ambulance services are contracted and accounted for during the annual budget process.
Attachments:
1. Fire and Ambulance Monthly Report-February 2024
2. Link to July 14, 2020 City Council Staff Report
3. Link to February 11, 2020 City Council Staff Report
Respectfully Submitted by: Maurice Wright, Emergency Management Coordinator
Concur: Angela Crespi, Deputy City Manager
Noted for Fiscal Impact: Viki Copeland, Finance Director
Legal Review: Patrick Donegan, City Attorney
Approved: Suja Lowenthal, City Manager