Title
Phoenix Fire Department Staffing, Hiring, Response Times, and Ambulance Service Report
Description
This report provides an update to the Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee on the Fire Department’s current staffing, hiring, activity levels, and ambulance services.
THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Report
Summary
This report serves as an update on the Phoenix Fire Department’s (PFD) Key Performance Indicators related to:
• Sworn staffing levels
• Recruitment efforts
• Emergency incident response times
• Overall demand for services
• Ambulance transport activity
Attachment A includes additional details of these areas and other efforts by the Phoenix Fire Department.
Sworn Staffing
The Fire Department Human Resources staff work throughout the year to recruit, test, and hire new firefighter recruits, striving to ensure that all vacant sworn positions are filled timely. With the fire academy lasting 14 weeks, staff must plan for attrition and coordinate efforts to minimize vacancies. As of July 1, 2023, the number of sworn positions increased to 1,798 to improve staffing levels and prepare for future fire station growth. With recent recruitment efforts, PFD has filled 1,786 positions.
Recruitment Efforts
Historically, PFD experienced high interest during recruitment efforts. While significant interest remains, staff must work to ensure a robust pool of candidates remains available for future opportunities. PFD prioritized creating a Labor Management Resource By Objectives (RBO) subcommittee to focus on developing recruitment strategies this calendar year. The RBO recruitment subcommittee engaged with multiple affinity groups, recruitment captains, community partners, and schools to collaborate and collectively address recruitment as a priority.
Emergency Response Times
Emergency response time is measured from the time of dispatch of an emergency apparatus to when the unit arrives on the emergency scene. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) establishes the objective standard that fire departments utilize to measure performance. Currently, the fire department’s response times exceed the NFPA-established standards. To address this challenge, multiple changes have been initiated to include the following:
• Monitoring the existing emergency resources to ensure units are assigned in the most effective locations.
• Developed a comprehensive, prioritized plan for additional resources.
• Implemented alternative, cost-effective response resources to increase capacity.
• Conducted a comprehensive review of existing dispatch protocols to ensure resources are effectively and efficiently dispatched.
Calls for Service
PFD monitors emergency response activity levels to understand how the system is performing and what capacity level for additional service delivery may exist. The historical trend for the department activity levels has consistently been a year-over-year increase. After a comprehensive review of dispatch protocols, the fire department has reduced the overall activity level in 2023 by an average of eight percent compared to 2022. The reduction in calls for service can be attributed to the following:
• Changes in dispatch protocols after assessment of dispatch criteria, which led to more effective dispatching of existing resources.
• Expansion of the Community Assistance Program (CAP), which allows for improved processing of 9-1-1 calls and response of CAP units to incidents best served by mental health resources.
• Implementation of the Telehealth call diversion program, allowing for 9-1-1 callers to be diverted to a medical professional and telehealth services, based on protocol and with the caller’s consent.
Patient Transport Activity
The Phoenix Fire Department operates a fire-based, emergency patient transportation system. This system has been in place for almost four decades. This system ensures that the residents of Phoenix receive the highest level of care from the point of calling 9-1-1 to the hospital arrival. While the number of transports remained consistent for many years, the department has experienced an average increase of 20 percent more transports each shift. Due to the significant increase in patient transportation, the Fire Department obtained two new ambulances in Fiscal Year 2023-24. Additionally, the Department has developed a strategy for future changes to the existing program that would provide the needed resources to manage the increasing demand for service.
Next Steps
The Fire Department will continue to seek innovative solutions to manage hiring and recruitment challenges to meet future needs. Response times and activity levels will continue to be monitored regularly to allow for proactive solutions and development to meet the community's current NFPA standards and needs.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays and the Fire Department.