FY 2007 Fire and EMS Annual Report

New Search

eartent Reorganization One of the first major decisions made by new Fire & EMS Chief Randy Groves was to reorgan- ize the department into three divisions from the previous two,. The reorganization led to the hir- ing oftwo new Deputy Chiefs, along with the promotion of the department's Training Chief to Deputy Chief, forming and entirely new -but highly experienced - leadership team. The three divisions are: Shift Operations; Special Operations, Training & Prevention; and Ad- ministrative Services &,Support. Formerly, the department's divisions were Operations and Administration, with Operations being the largest division in the entire City of Eugene organ- izational structure, larger even than some entire departments. Chief Groves outlined the reasons for the reorganization in a memo to the department. "Our operating environment continues to become more complex and demanding and we are increas- inglyfinding ourselves without adequate capacity to do the important work needed to run our organization;" he wrote. "Over the course of time we have found ourselves digressing into a mode of reaction rather than pro-action. "This means that under the current structure, we just don't have the resources to champion im- portantinitiatives like correcting and stabilizing our ambulance transport system, completing our prop area and building a regional training program, working with LCC to build elements of a college program here on our campus, raising the profile of our special teams and operations, and working on additional initiatives ..." Heading up the Shift Operations Division is Deputy Chief Karen Brack. Chief Brack served 24 years with Fulton County Fire. Department in the Atlanta, GA area, achieving the rank of Battalion Chief in Operations. She is a National Registry Paramedic and a Hazardous Materials Technician, and she was supervisor of the department's Bomb Squad dur- ingthe 1996 Summer Olympic Games. Chief Brack holds Associate degrees in Fire Science and Paramedic Technology and a Bachelor's of Science in Biology. She is currently en- rolled in aMaster's-level program in Public Administration. As Deputy Chief for Shift Operations, Chief Brack supervises all six District Chiefs, who in turn supervise the department's emergency responses and other activities from the 11 Ere sta- tions in the city. This is a staff of approximately 160 sworn firefighters. In addition to regular operations, Chief Brack is Deputy Chief Brack continuing the oversight of the 3-Battalion Concept for Eugene (see next section) and is responsible for high-rise operations, development of Standard Operating Procedures, and the department's automatic and mutual aid relationships, among other assignments.