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Public Safety Services <br />Service Issues and Accomplishments <br />1. In 2001, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) adopted a new staffmg and <br />deployment recommendation for both. career and volunteer fire departments across the country. <br />NFPA 1710 (career department) and 1720 (volunteer department) sets standards for emergency <br />response, fire ground operations, and single company staffing. In response, the Oregon Fire <br />Chiefs' Association (OFCA) took the proactive step of developing a comprehensive community- <br />based risk analysis process to consistently address this national initiative on a state-wide basis. <br />The resulting Oregon Fire Resource Deployment Standard Process provides for a detailed <br />assessment tool that allows each agency to systematically evaluate its specific public safety <br />resources, community risks, target hazards and fire problems,. and then develop a staffing and <br />deployment plan that meets the particular needs of the community. The Eugene Fire and EMS <br />Department first completed this extensive process in early FY04. During FY06 the organization <br />completed the annual recertification process of the department's accreditation from the <br />Commission for Fire Accreditation International (CFAI). <br />2. The Ambulance Transport Fund (ATF) is facing increasing costs and, due to the federal <br />capitation of rates, revenues are not sufficient for long term sustainability. The ATF is in the <br />process of rapid change and retooling in response to this funding challenge. <br />3. Continuing development activity is extending our primary coverage area in the northern and <br />western portions of the community, which also increases the service demands on the <br />organization. In response, the Eugene Fire & EMS Department continues the planning and <br />preliminary development work for the eventual addition of a new Fire Station 4 (Willow Creek) <br />slated for location on the City's rapidly developing west side. The next steps. in this process are <br />to identify the funds necessary to acquire a suitable site for a future facility. <br />4. Ongoing community growth is also placing. new burdens on the region's established Urban <br />Growth Boundary. As a result, there is less land available for development and the central city is <br />beginning to experience the increasing density of infill development. This often necessitates <br />high-rise construction, which creates unique stresses on a fire and emergency medical services <br />(EMS) agency, as it takes additional time and resources to marshal sufficient firefighting and <br />emergency medical forces to the upper floors of taller structures. <br />This type of urbanization brings increased congestion.. More vehicles sharing an aging street <br />network. The proliferation of enhanced traffic control systems/techniques, and the construction <br />of narrower streets all serve to reduce the overall response and reliability capabilities of <br />emergency response resources. This means that it will take longer for outlying fire and EMS <br />crews to respond back into the core of the city. Consequently, downtown and inner city crews <br />must have an enhanced ability to provide hazard mitigation, reducing their dependence on <br />additional resources from the city's periphery. <br />As the population of the community increases and response reliability decreases, adding units to <br />existing fire stations is a method of increasing the concentration of resources that must be <br />seriously considered. At the same time, additional units add to safety as well as increase overall <br />coverage, service delivery and response reliability, while decreasing response time. <br />44 <br />