Board of Fire Commissioner's Signs LAFD Chief's Staffing Plan

by City News Service

The Los Angeles Board of Fire Commissioners tentatively signed off Tuesday on fire Chief Brian Cummings' revised plan for fielding more ambulances, though one mayoral appointee on the panel complained it was still without substance.

The issue originally stems from a late 2012 criticism of a lag in response times to the city's hillside communities, including those of the 11th District in Brentwood and Pacific Palisades.

Because firefighters are increasingly dispatched on medical aid calls, Cummings wanted to shift some personnel to ambulance units.

But some firefighters opposed that, saying some engine companies would be understaffed.

Eventually, the City Council approved $1.56 million in overtime pay to do both -- expand ambulance service and leave engine company staffing unaffected.

Since then, council members have introduced motions for giving the Fire Department $11 million more for overtime pay.

Genethia Hudley-Hayes, president of the fire commission, was among several commissioners who attacked Cummings for a report presented to the council in May ago for reassigning 22 firefighters to add 11 ambulances to the citywide fleet.

But the revised report Cummings presented today was accepted as satisfactory.
 
"This report should be considered an organic document," Hudley-Hayes said, adding that Cummings was expected to refine for another presentation to the commission in about a month.

Commissioner Alan Skobin said Cummings report does not give data on where best to deploy the additional ambulances.

"There's no data, there's no beef," he said, adding that the change itself was "badly handled." "I don't think there was any justification in terms of implementing this plan before there was a report," he said. "I don't understand why there was an urgency."

The approval of the report signaled a policy shift -- spearheaded by Cummings -- to start focusing more resources on providing emergency medical services.

The plan drew criticism from the firefighters' union, the fire chief's association, and City Council members who worried reducing the size of fire fighting crews could endanger the safety of firefighters and the public.

Cummings went ahead with the plan on May 5, with the City Council putting up $1.56 million in "rainy day" budget stabilization funds for overtime pay in order to preserve fire truck crews until June 30.

Two council members, including mayor-elect Eric Garcetti, have since introduced a motion to amend the 2013-14 budget to include $11 million to continue paying for the overtime.

The motion is headed to the Budget and Finance Committee and will be considered after a report from Cummings.

Hudley-Hayes, commenting on remarks from a member of the union representing firefighters, said the discussion seemed to have changed tack among firefighters.    

She said she got the idea that the department tends to focus more on "fire suppression as opposed to EMS (emergency medical services)."

"This is the new UFLAC," said John Cappon of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, who said paramedics have long waits at the hospitals and other problems, but still do a good job of caring for patients. "It's about patient care. There's no measurements here (in Cummings' report) for patient care," Cappons said. "Let's get the patient care numbers."