* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [Public Safety Committee on June 9, 2026.] [00:00:21] AHEAD AND START OUR JUNE PUBLIC SAFETY MEETING. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE TODAY. I'M AMY PECK, CHAIR OF THIS COMMITTEE. WE ARE JOINED TODAY BY COUNCIL MEMBERS RAMIREZ, MARTINEZ DAVIS, AND ALCORN AND ONLINE COUNCIL MEMBERS CARTER AND JACKSON, AND WE ARE JOINED TODAY, UM, IN CHAMBERS BY STAFF FROM, UM, VICE CHAIR JACKSON'S OFFICE, COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS'S OFFICE MAYOR PRO TEM KASEK STADIUM'S OFFICE, COUNCILOR CARTER'S OFFICE AND COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO'S OFFICE. I THINK I GOT EVERYBODY. UM, TODAY WE HAVE ONE PRESENTATION. IT WILL BE FROM THE HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION THAT THEIR, UM, WORK DEMANDS ANALYSIS. AND THIS IS THE ANALYSIS FROM THE PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION. UM, SO WHENEVER YOU ARE READY. THERE WE GO. MADAM CHAIR, UH, COMMITTEE. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HAVING US. MY NAME IS MARTY LANGTON. I'M THE PROUD PRESIDENT OF THE HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION. I AM, UH, PROUD TO BE HERE TODAY TO PRESENT, UH, THIS IN-DEPTH, UH, FIRST OF ITS KIND DATA RESEARCH PROJECT, UH, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, AND OF COURSE, WITH THE HOUSTON PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS ASSOCIATION. UH, I HAVE WITH ME TO MY RIGHT, UH, JEREMY BERMAN, WHO IS ONE OF OUR DATA ANALYST AT THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS IN WASHINGTON, DC. ALSO, MARSHALL CLOUD, WHO IS AN EMS DATA SPECIALIST, UH, FROM WASHINGTON DC WHO MADE THE TREK DOWN TO PRESENT THIS. AND I KNOW THIS WEEK IS GONNA BE A LONG WEEK, SO WE WILL GIVE YOU THE ABBREVIATED VERSIONS OF THE REPORT, BUT ALSO WANTED TO LEAVE TIME, UH, TO ASK QUESTIONS AT THE END, BECAUSE THIS IS VERY CRITICAL, BECAUSE WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO IS BUILD THE FOUNDATION IN WHICH TO ADDRESS THE ISSUES. AND AS THE MAYOR WHITMEYER HAS ALWAYS SAID, UH, WE CANNOT FIX A PROBLEM IF WE DON'T IDENTIFY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS OR SAY THERE IS A PROBLEM AND THEN WORK TOWARDS A SOLUTION TOGETHER. UH, AND SO REAL QUICK, A A BRIEF BACKGROUND. THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIREFIGHTERS, UH, REPRESENTS, UH, NEARLY 360,000 PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. UH, OUR DATA ANALYST TEAM FROM WASHINGTON DC IS SECOND TO NONE. WE PULLED THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST. UH, AND WHAT IT IS MEANT TO DO IS TO HELP, UH, COLLABORATE WITH CITIES, UH, AND WITH FIRE DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO LOOK AT THE DATA, NOT A SLANTED VERSION OF THE DATA, THE REAL DATA, AND THEN TO IDENTIFY WHERE WE CAN FIND, UH, EFFICIENCIES, BUT ALSO WHERE WE NEED TO FOCUS ON FOR THE DEMAND OF THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT. AND SO VERY PROUD, UH, THAT HERE TO BE HERE WITH THEM. ALSO, THE TEAM BACK IN DC UH, THERE'S ABOUT, UH, 10 12 DATA ANALYSTS THAT DO THIS FULL-TIME, UH, FOR US AT NO COST TO THE CITY. I WILL SAY THOUGH, THAT THIS IS AN UNPRECEDENTED COLLABORATION. AS IN, UH, ALL OF THIS DATA CAME STRAIGHT FROM THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT CAD DATA SYSTEM. UH, SO IT TOOK US ABOUT A YEAR, AND I THINK THAT THE COST OF THIS STUDY, IF WE WERE IN, UH, THE PRIVATE SECTOR, WOULD BE A MILLION PLUS DOLLARS. AND SO THIS IS NOT ONLY A SNAPSHOT IN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, BUT WE HAVE AN EVEN MORE IN DEPTH, UH, PRESENTATION THAT IS ONLINE INTERACTIVE. AND WHAT WE DID FOR THIS PRESENTATION BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO MY TEAM, WAS WE WENT A STEP FURTHER INTO IDENTIFY EVERY SINGLE COUNCIL DISTRICT AND TO SHOW YOU WHERE THE CALLS ARE, WHAT THE NEED IS, WHAT THE CALL TIMES ARE, NOT JUST ARBITRARILY MAKING UP, UM, THINGS TO, TO SOUND LIKE WE NEED MORE. WE OBVIOUSLY KNOW THAT THE CITY COMMISSIONED A STUDY BACK IN 2015. UH, THEY PAID ABOUT A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO THE FACETS REPORT. UH, THE CITY COMMISSIONED IT, IT WAS PRESENTED IN 2016. AND AT THAT POINT IN TIME, THE NEED WAS THERE. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NEARLY 10 YEARS LATER. UH, SPOILER ALERT, IT HAS NOT GOTTEN BETTER. UH, BUT REALLY THIS IS ABOUT THE SERVICE DELIVERY MODEL TO, UH, THE CITIZENS THAT WE SERVE AND A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS. UH, WE ARE A DEMAND SERVICE, MEANING WHEN, UH, THE RESIDENTS AND CITIZENS CALL 9 1 1, THEY EXPECT TO HAVE THEIR FIRE EMS RESCUE, UH, DEPARTMENT SHOWING UP. AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS SOMETHING THAT HAS TO BE ADDRESSED, AND WE WANT TO BE GREAT PARTNERS TO WORK TOGETHER TO, TO DO THAT. UH, SO THE DATA ACQUIRED AND ANALYSTS PERFORMED, UH, OBVIOUSLY, LIKE I SAID, IS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, AND WITH OUR INTERNATIONAL FIREFIGHTERS. IT IS A DATA-DRIVEN STUDY, UH, INFORMS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TO MEET THE INCIDENT DEMANDS IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. UH, THE STUDY EXAMINED CAD PCR OUTTA SERVICE DATA, UH, FROM [00:05:01] 2018 TO 20 24, 7 YEARS STUDY, SEVEN YEARS WORTH OF CALLS. UH, WHEN THE FACET STUDY WAS PRESENTED, IT WAS ONE YEAR, UH, EVERY CALL THAT HAD RUN THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT FROM JANUARY ONE 15 TO DECEMBER 31ST. UH, WE DID AN ANALYSIS, UH, BACK IN 2017 BASED ON THIS INFORMATION. AND WHEN WE WENT FURTHER, THIS STUDY COVERS SEVEN YEARS OF EVERY SINGLE CALL THAT HAS EVER BEEN RUN. SO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL, UH, THE COUNCIL, THE COMMITTEE OR THE STAFF HAVE, UM, WE CAN PINPOINT THE SPECIFIC, UH, PIECE OF THE DATA AND GET ANY FOLLOW UP THAT YOU MAY NEED. AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING WITH YOUR OFFICES AFTERWARDS TO SHOW YOU THE INTERACTIVE PORTION, WHICH WE ARE NOT GONNA HAVE TIME TO GET INTO TODAY, THAT ALLOWS YOU TO TAKE OUT UNITS BASED ON EVERY SINGLE CALL THAT WE'VE RUN AND WHAT THAT DOES TO THE RESPONSE TIMES, THE DEMAND FOR SERVICE. AND ALSO IT USES REAL-TIME DATA TRAFFIC MODELING BASED ON THOSE DAYS. SO A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO THIS, AND LIKE I SAID, IT TOOK ABOUT, UH, OVER A YEAR. UM, IT ALSO CONTAINS THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL DISTRICT THAT WOULD MEET, UH, THE STANDARDS. UH, THE STANDARDS FOR THE NATIONAL FIRE SERVICE AND FOR EMS RESPONSE ARE COVERED UNDER THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION. I'M HONORED TO SIT ON ONE OF THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEES ON THE STAFFING COMMITTEE, BUT, UH, THIS IS ABOUT, UH, THE DEPTH OF THE NEED IN THE FOURTH, ABOUT TO BE THE THIRD LARGEST CITY IN THE NATION, AND THE THIRD LARGEST FIRE DEPARTMENT. WE'RE MUCH DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER MAJOR CITY BECAUSE THE SCALE THAT WE HAVE IS 650 PLUS SQUARE MILES, AND WE'VE GOT ABOUT 10, 15, 20 DOWNTOWNS. IT DEPENDS ON HOW YOU LOOK AT IT. UH, OBVIOUSLY THE ZONING IS AN ISSUE. SO MUCH DIFFERENT THAN EVEN SAY NEW YORK AND CHICAGO. UH, EVERYTHING IS A LITTLE BIT MORE COMPACT, AND THE NEED THAT THEY HAVE, UH, IS NOT AS MULTIDIMENSIONAL AS THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT. AND TRAFFIC IS A HUGE ISSUE WITHIN, UH, THE CITY OF HOUSTON. AND WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE DATA, YOU'LL, UH, I'M SURE BETTER UNDERSTAND, BUT EVERYTHING HERE IS A DOMINO EFFECT. SO THE MINUTE THAT SOMEBODY CALLS FOR A FIRETRUCK OR AN AMBULANCE, UH, IT IS NOW PULLING RESOURCES FROM DIFFERENT COUNCIL DISTRICTS. UH, AND THE PROBLEM THAT YOU SEE WITHIN THE DATA IS THAT WHEN YOU'RE DOING THAT SO MANY TIMES A DAY AND YOU'RE IN FIRE, EMS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE LESS THAN 20% CAPABILITIES WITHIN THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, IT BECOMES A, A BIGGER PROBLEM. I DID, I FORGOT TO MENTION, I WANNA THANK, UH, ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF JAMES CAMPBELL, UH, EMERGENCY OPERATIONS FOR BEING HERE AND, UH, DON'T SEE THE FIRE CHIEF YET, BUT, UM, UH, WE APPRECIATE THE TIME. UH, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO JEREMY. HE'S GONNA GO THROUGH THE PRESENTATION, UH, AND THEN WE WILL FOLLOW UP AT THE END FOR ANY QUESTIONS. AND I THINK EVERY COUNCIL DISTRICT GOT ONE, BUT YOU HAVE YOUR OWN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BROKEN DOWN BY COUNCIL DISTRICT AS WELL. WONDERFUL. THANK YOU, PRESIDENT. LIKE FOR THE INTRODUCTION. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE. IF YOU COULD PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 10. UH, WE'LL GET STARTED. THANK YOU. UM, SO FIRE AND EMS INCIDENTS HAVE BOTH INCREASED OVER THE STUDY PERIOD FROM 2018 TO 2024. UH, THERE'S BEEN A 34% INCREASE IN FIRE INCIDENTS PER DAY, AND A 21% INCREASE IN EMS INCIDENTS PER DAY CALL VOLUME IS LARGELY DRIVEN BY POPULATION, RIGHT? THERE ARE SOME AGGRAVATING FACTORS, BOTH FOR FIRE, LIKE VACANT HOUSING UNIT HOUSING UNITS, AND FOR EMS, UH, LIKE UNINSURED POPULATION. BUT THE US CENSUS ESTIMATES THAT HOUSTON'S POPULATION HAS RISEN BY ABOUT 300,000 PEOPLE FROM 2010 THROUGH 2025. SO THAT'S AS IF MORE THAN THE POPULATION OF LUBBOCK HAS BEEN DROPPED INTO THE CITY OF HOUSTON IN THE LAST 15 YEARS. AND THAT POPULATION GROWTH IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE. UM, BUT WHILE LUBBOCK RIGHT OPERATES A 20 STATION FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, AT LEAST SINCE 2018, UM, THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS ONLY ADDED FIVE 12 HOUR EMS UNITS. UM, THIS TREND OF CALL VOLUME GROWTH, OUTPACING RESOURCE GROWTH, UH, HAS HAD A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON HFDS OPERATIONS, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE HERE TO TALK ABOUT TODAY. TEST, TEST. HI, COMMITTEE. THANKS FOR HAVING US TODAY. SO, FOR THE BASIS OF OUR ARGUMENT, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT TIME ON TASK. TIME ON TASK IS A METRIC THAT THE INDUSTRY USES TO FIGURE OUT HOW MANY FRONTLINE AMBULANCES NEED TO BE DEPLOYED TO TREAT, TRANSPORT, AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR COMMUNITY. SO IT'S CALCULATED, UM, BY DIVIDING THE TOTAL TIME ON TASK AND HOURS BY THE AVAILABLE UNIT HOURS WITHIN THE SYSTEM. SO, JUST FOR A REAL BRIEF EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE ONE AMBULANCE THAT WORKS A 24 HOUR SHIFT, IT WOULD BE ASSIGNED 24 UNIT HOURS. IF THAT AMBULANCE RUNS 12 ONE HOUR CALLS [00:10:01] THROUGHOUT ITS 24 HOUR PERIOD, IT WOULD RESULT IN A 0.5 UTILIZATION 12 DIVIDED BY 24.5. SO THE GOAL FOR, UM, A GOOD SYSTEM, AN IDEAL SYSTEM IS A 0.3 UTILIZATION. POINT THREE IS THE RECOMMENDED TARGET BECAUSE IT BALANCES SYSTEM USE WITH SYSTEM AVAILABILITY. WE HAVE ENOUGH AMBULANCES RUNNING CALLS THAT WE CAN PRODUCE SOME INCOME FROM REIMBURSEMENT, BUT THEY'RE ALSO AVAILABLE TO RESPOND FOR HIGH ACUITY CALLS, FIRES, ET CETERA. IT ALSO, WHEN WE'RE AT A 0.3 FOR SYSTEM UTILIZATION, LEAVES TIME FOR AMBULANCE CREWS TO PARTICIPATE IN WHAT WE CALL INDIRECT WORK. SO TOTAL TIME ON TASK IS SPECIFIC TO DIRECT PATIENT CARE, BUT AMBULANCE CREWS ARE REQUIRED TO PERFORM SOME MISSION CRITICAL DUTIES THAT ARE NOT CAPTURED IN TIME ON TASK AND SYSTEM UTILIZATION. THINGS LIKE WRITING REPORTS, DECONNING THE AMBULANCE, RESTOCKING THE RIG, THEY HAVE TO TRAIN, THEY HAVE TO EAT, THEY HAVE TO SLEEP. THOSE ARE THINGS THAT AT A 0.3 FOR SYSTEM UTILIZATION, THEY'RE ABLE TO DO THOSE THINGS. IN RESPOND TO EMERGENCY CALLS, IT'S BEEN REPORTED THAT IF A SYSTEM, IF A FIRE DEPARTMENT IS OPERATING AT OR BELOW THAT THRESHOLD OF A 0.3, WE HAVE LOWER INCIDENCES OF BURNOUT FROM CREWS. WE HAVE LESS ATTRITION FOR PEOPLE LEAVING FOR SLOWER FIRE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE A BETTER MANAGED SYSTEM. WE HAVE LESS CLINICAL ERRORS IN THE FIELD, LESS VEHICLE CRASHES. IT INCREASES PROVIDER SATISFACTION WITH THEIR JOB, AND ULTIMATELY, MOST IMPORTANTLY, IT INCREASES BETTER PATIENT OUTCOMES. TURN IT BACK OVER TO JEREMY. THANK YOU, MARSHALL. SO HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT CURRENTLY STAFFS FIVE TYPES OF EMS UNITS. MEDICS PROVIDE 24 HOUR ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT OR A LS TRANSPORT. AMBULANCES PROVIDE 24 HOUR BASIC LIFE SUPPORT OR BLS TRANSPORT, UH, PEAK HOURS. AMBULANCES ARE LIKE AMBULANCES BUT ONLY OPERATE DURING PEAK HOURS. SO CURRENTLY THAT'S 6:30 AM TO 6:30 PM UH, SQUADS PROVIDE 24 HOUR A LS FIRST RESPONSE. UH, SO NO TRANSPORT CAPABILITIES. UH, AND AIRPORT EMS FIRST RESPONSE PROVIDE, UH, SORRY, AIRPORT EMS FIRST RESPONSE UNITS, UH, PROVIDE 24 HOUR FIRST RESPONSE AT THE AIRPORTS IN 2016. UH, PRESIDENT LANGTON ALLUDED TO THE FACETS CONSULTING STUDY THAT WAS COMMISSIONED. UH, THIS STUDY RECOMMENDED THAT HFD STAFF 70 ADDITIONAL, UH, PEAK HOURS AMBULANCES BACK IN 2016. IF THOSE 70 AMBULANCES HAD BEEN STAFFED, HFD WOULD'VE MAINTAINED A TIME ON TASK OF AROUND A 0.25 DURING BOTH PEAK SHIFTS AND OFF PEAK SHIFTS. UH, HOWEVER, RIGHT, AS WE'VE DISCUSSED, ONLY FIVE PEAK HOURS, AMBULANCES HAVE BEEN STAFFED SINCE THAT REPORT WAS RELEASED. UM, THAT HAS LED TO LARGE INCREASES IN TIME ON TASK. SO BACK IN 2018, ONLY 31% OF HFDS, UH, EMS UNITS EXCEEDED THAT TIME ON TASK RECOMMENDATION DURING OFF PEAK HOURS BY 2024, THAT HAD JUMPED FROM 31% OF UNITS UP TO 86% OF UNITS BACK IN 2018, RIGHT? ALREADY DURING PEAK HOURS, 86% OF EM UNIT EMS UNITS EXCEEDED THAT TIME ON TASK RECOMMENDATION. BY 2024, THAT'S JUMPED FROM 86% UP TO 96%. SO ALMOST EVERY EMS UNIT IS EXCEEDING THAT TIME ON TASK RECOMMENDATION. NOW, THIS TIME ON TASK NEGATIVELY IMPACTS SYSTEM READINESS. UH, IN ADDITION TO ALL THE OTHER FACTORS THAT MARSHALL JUST DESCRIBED OVER THE LAST 200 DAYS OF THE STUDY PERIOD, 56% OF MEDIC UNITS WERE EITHER BUSY, SO ACTIVELY RESPONDING TO A CALL, UH, OR OUTTA SERVICE. SO PERFORMING THAT INDIRECT WORK LIKE MAINTENANCE OR TRAINING, UH, DURING THE MEDIAN INCIDENT FOR WHICH A MEDIC WAS DISPATCHED. SIMILARLY, OVER THE SAME PERIOD, 65% OF AMBULANCES WERE EITHER BUS OR OUTTA SERVICE DURING THE MEDIAN INCIDENT FOR WHICH AN AMBULANCE WAS DISPATCHED. THIS MEANS THAT DURING THE TYPICAL INCIDENT, FEWER THAN HALF OF EMS UNITS ARE AVAILABLE TO RESPOND. OVER THE SAME 200 DAY PERIOD, THERE WERE 200 AND 211 INCIDENTS, UH, DURING WHICH EVERY SINGLE MEDIC UNIT WAS UNAVAILABLE. AND 63 INCIDENTS DURING WHICH EVERY AMBULANCE WAS UNAVAILABLE, RIGHT? THAT'S ACCOUNTING FOR 41 UNITS IN THE MEDIC FLEET AND 57 OR 62 DURING PEAK, UH, AMBULANCES IN THE AMBULANCE FLEET. THIS RECOMMENDATION OF 65 AMBULANCES, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE IF YOU TURN TO PAGE 11, UH, WOULD BRING THE SYSTEM TIME ON TASK ROUGHLY TO THE 2018 LEVEL. SO YOU CAN SEE THIS GRAY LINE SHOWS THE HISTORICAL TIME ON TASK, UH, DURING PEAK HOURS. AS YOU'RE SEEING HERE, IT'S RISEN FROM, YOU KNOW, IN 2018, AROUND A 0.45, UH, TO OVER A 0.6, UH, IN 2024. UM, ADDING THOSE 65 UNITS, [00:15:01] SO THAT'D BE 30, 24 HOUR UNITS AND 35 PEAK HOURS UNITS, UH, WOULD LOWER THAT TIME ON TASK DURING PEAK HOURS TO A LITTLE BELOW 0.4, WHICH IS A SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT, UH, FROM 2018. ON PAGE 12, YOU CAN SEE A SIMILAR CHART, UM, SHOWING TIME ON TASK DURING THOSE OFF PEAK SHIFTS. UH, THIS WOULD BE A SLIGHT INCREASE, UH, FOR CURRENT TIME ON TASK RELATIVE TO 2018, UH, BUT STILL AROUND THAT RECOMMENDED LEVEL OF A 0.3. COULD YOU PLEASE MOVE TO PAGE 13? THANK YOU. UH, SO TO SOLVE THE TIME ON TASK ISSUE, UH, THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT WILL NEED TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF UNITS IN SERVICE, BUT IT WILL ALSO NEED TO DECREASE ITS TOTAL WORKLOAD. THE DEPARTMENT IS ALREADY TAKING SOME IMPORTANT STEPS IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THAT. ONE OF THOSE STEPS IS, UM, AIDED, UH, BY THE EMERGENCY TELEHEALTH AND NAVIGATION PROGRAM OR THE ETHAN PROGRAM. UH, THIS IS HELPFUL FOR DECREASING THE WORKLOAD WHEN IT'S PROPERLY UTILIZED. THE ETHAN PROGRAM WAS LAUNCHED IN 2014, AND IT USES TELEMEDICINE TO CON TO CONNECT EMERGENCY RESPONDERS WITH PHYSICIANS IN REAL TIME. UH, THIS ENABLES LOW ACUITY PATIENTS, UH, TO RECEIVE APPROPRIATE CARE WHILE REDUCING UNNECESSARY TRANSPORTS BY DIRECTING THESE PATIENTS TO ALTERNATIVE CARE PATHWAYS. WHEN THAT'S A SUITABLE OPTION. DIVERTING A PATIENT TO THE ETHAN PROGRAM RATHER THAN TRANSPORTING A PATIENT YIELDS APPROXIMATELY 50 MINUTES OF TIME SAVINGS, UH, FOR THE RESPONDING UNIT PER RESPONSE. AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, IN THIS CHART ON PAGE 13, UH, THE MEDIAN TASK TIME, UH, FOR ETHAN RESPONSES VERSUS TRANSPORT RESPONSES, UH, WAS ABOUT, UH, HAS ABOUT A 50 MINUTE DISCREPANCY. UH, IN 2024. UH, BOTH MEDIAN TASK TIMES HAVE BEEN INCREASING OVER THE STUDY PERIOD. UH, HOWEVER, THE ETHAN PROGRAM CURRENTLY SUFFERS FROM LOW UTILIZATION. IN 2024, THERE WERE OVER 178,000 PATIENT TRANSPORTS, AND ONLY A LITTLE OVER 1300 ETHAN PROGRAM DIVERSIONS. UH, SO IT'S ONLY 0.7% OF ALL PATIENT TRANSPORTS. UH, HIGHER ETHAN UTILIZATION WILL LOWER TIME ON TASK, BUT EVEN UNDER OUR MOST OPTIMISTIC PROJECTIONS FOR ETHAN UTILIZATION, THE ADDITIONAL UNITS ARE STILL A NECESSITY. ONE OTHER, UH, PATHWAY THAT WE INVESTIGATED FOR REDUCING THIS WORKLOAD WAS DISPATCH IMPROVEMENTS. SO WE EVALUATED DISPATCH OPTIONS FOR A LS, UH, ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT, UH, EMS CALLS. SO IF YOU COULD PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 14, I'D APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. UH, THE OPTIONS FOR A LS DISPATCH INCLUDE ONE MEDIC, ONE MEDIC, AND ONE AMBULANCE, OR ONE SQUAD OF ONE AMBULANCE. UH, AND REGARDLESS OF WHICH A LS DISPATCH OPTION WAS UTILIZED, UH, A SUPPRESSION APPARATUS, SO LIKE A FIRE ENGINE OR A LADDER, UH, WAS DISPATCHED FOR APPROXIMATELY 55% OF INCIDENTS. THE FINDINGS INDICATED THAT OVERALL WORKLOAD COULD BE REDUCED, UH, BY CHANGING DISPATCH STRATEGY FOR THESE CALLS TO DISPATCH ONLY ONE MEDIC UNIT AND A FIRE SUPPRESSION APPARATUS WHEN POSSIBLE. HOWEVER, UH, THIS STRATEGY WOULD BE EXPECTED TO, UH, INCREASE WORKLOAD, UH, FOR MEDIC UNITS WHILE DECREASING OVERALL WORKLOAD AND MEDIC UNITS ARE ALREADY A HEAVILY CONSTRAINED RESOURCE. LASTLY, I'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TRAVEL TIME. IF YOU COULD PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 17. SO, THE FOCUS FOR THE EMS PORTION OF THE REPORT IS LARGELY WORKLOAD, RIGHT? SO CALL VOLUME AND TIME ON TASK, UH, ARE KIND OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EMS RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE REPORT. THE FOCUS FOR FIRE SUPPRESSION AND ALSO EMS TO SOME EXTENT, UH, IS TRAVEL TIME INDUSTRY STANDARDS REQUIRE FOUR MINUTE TRAVEL TIME TO 90% OF INCIDENTS. THIS APPLIES BOTH TO THE FIRST ARRIVING ENGINE AT FIRE SUPPRESSION INCIDENTS, AND IT APPLIES TO THE FIRST ARRIVING UNIT WITH A ED OR HIGHER LEVEL CAPABILITY AT EMS INCIDENTS WHEN ENGINES WERE THE FIRST NON-COM COMMAND UNIT ON SCENE FOR INCIDENTS WITHIN THEIR OWN RESPONSE AREA. SO NOT EVEN COVERING FOR OTHER ENGINES THAT ARE OUTTA SERVICE, UH, THEY ONLY MET THE TRAVEL TIME STANDARD FOR 35% OF INCIDENTS ON THIS MAP. HERE YOU CAN SEE BIG GAPS, UM, BETWEEN THE GREEN LINES, WHICH INDICATE ROAD NETWORK THAT'S EXPECTED TO BE WITHIN FOUR MINUTES OF TRAVEL, UH, FROM A STATION THAT HOUSES AN ENGINE. UM, AND THE UNDERLYING LAYER, WHICH IS THE INCIDENT DENSITY IN 2023 AND 2024. UH, THIS INDICATES, UH, BOTH THE MAP AND THIS 35%, UM, MEETING THE STANDARD STATISTIC INDICATE THAT CURRENT STATIONS ARE INSUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE FIRST RESPONSE COVERAGE WITHIN THAT FOUR MINUTE [00:20:01] THRESHOLD. UH, OUR RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDED A RECOMMENDATION FOR 10 NEW STATIONS. NOW, THESE 10 STATIONS ARE NOT ENOUGH TO INCREASE, UH, COVERAGE FROM 35% OF INCIDENTS TO 90% OF INCIDENTS. UM, TO MAKE THIS RECOMMENDATION, WE USE THE VALUE ADDED METRIC. WE ONLY RECOMMENDED STATIONS, WHICH WOULD PROVIDE AT LEAST AS MUCH VALUE AS THE MEDIAN CURRENT STATION. SO MORE VALUE THAN HALF OF THE CURRENT STATIONS, UH, TO AVOID DIMINISHING RETURNS AND TARGET ONLY THE MOST HIGH IMPACT AREAS. WE'RE DEFINING VALUE ADDED HERE AS THE NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL INCIDENTS. UH, SO HERE WE'RE LOOKING AT 2023 AND 2024, UH, TO FOCUS ON THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT DISTRIBUTION. UM, SO THE NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL INCIDENTS, WHICH WOULD'VE BEEN EXPECTED TO RECEIVE A FIRST RESPONSE WITHIN FOUR MINUTES. IF A STATION HAD EXISTED AT A GIVEN LOCATION, THE CUTOFF WAS ROUGHLY AROUND THREE ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS PER DAY, WHICH WOULD'VE RECEIVED THAT FOUR MINUTE RESPONSE, UH, FOR EVERY RECOMMENDED STATION AT A MINIMUM. UH, THESE NEW STATION LOCATIONS ARE HIGHLIGHTED BOTH IN THE FULL REPORT. UH, YOU CAN USE THAT REPORT RIGHT TO INTERACTIVELY, EXPLORE BOTH THE RECOMMENDED LOCATIONS AND, UH, SUITABLE ALTERNATIVES, UH, AND IN THE COUNCIL DISTRICT SUMMARIES, UH, THEY'RE NOT IN THIS OVERALL GENERAL SUMMARY REPORT. I'D LIKE TO NOTE, UH, THAT WE PERFORMED SIMILAR TRAVEL TIME ANALYSES, UH, BOTH FOR LADDERS AND A LS UNITS, WHICH HAVE THEIR OWN RESPECTIVE TRAVEL TIME STANDARDS. UH, WE WILL NOT BE COVERING THAT TODAY JUST FOR THE SAKE OF TIME, BUT YOU'RE WELCOME TO EXPLORE THIS BOTH IN THE FULL REPORT. AND WITH THAT, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO PRESIDENT LINKEDIN. UH, THANK YOU AGAIN. AND WE WANT, UH, TO HAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS, BUT ALSO, UH, TO REALLY DRILL DOWN INTO THE DATA. THE REPORT DEFINES AND QUANTIFIES, UH, HD'S MAIN OPERATIONAL ISSUES. THE WORKLOAD GROWTH IS OUTPACING RESOURCE GROWTH, ESPECIALLY FOR EMS. AND I WANNA BE CLEAR, UM, WE DIDN'T JUST COME IN HERE WITH THE RECOMMENDATIONS. WE UNDERSTAND THIS IS STUFF THAT HAS TO GET LOOKED AT, BUT THE REALITY IS, IS THAT IT IS MUCH DEEPER. UH, IF YOU GO LOOK IN THE, THE MAIN REPORT, THE ACTUAL, UH, METADATA REPORT, IT IS, UH, SHOWING THAT THE NEED FOR FIRE STATIONS, FOR FIRE ENGINES TO KEEP UP WITH, UH, THE WORK DEMAND THAT'S GOING ON WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, THESE ARE JUST REALLY HIGH LEVEL THINGS THAT WE CAN FOCUS ON AND THAT WE CAN MEET THE NEEDS AT A, UH, UH, AT A COST FACTOR THAT I CAN, UH, GET INTO ON A GENERAL BASIS. BUT THE HIGH TIME ON TASK, UH, IS LEADING TO POOR SYSTEM READINESS. WE'VE HEARD, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE SAW DURING THE PANDEMIC WAS THE FIRST TIME THE PUBLIC HAD REALLY HEARD WHAT SURGE CAPACITY WAS. BUT IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, IN THE FIRE SERVICE, SURGE CAPACITY IS SOMETHING WE LIVE EVERY DAY. UH, THAT IS WHAT I REFERENCED AT THE BEGINNING WHEN WE GO INTO WHAT'S CALLED FIRE OR EMS RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU HAVE ABOUT 20% OR LESS AVAILABLE UNITS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY. SO WHAT WE ARE DEALING WITH AND HAVING TO ADDRESS IS THE DOMINO EFFECT OF HAVING, UH, A MEDIC UNIT OR AN AMBULANCE FROM THE KINGWOOD AREA COMING DOWN AND RESPONDING TO, UH, INSIDE DOWNTOWN. BECAUSE EVERY TIME THAT WE TAKE A UNIT OUT OF SERVICE AND WE DON'T HAVE SOMEBODY CLOSE, UH, IT CONTINUES TO STRAIN THE SYSTEM. WE'VE BEEN DEALING WITH THIS. WE KNOW THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE. WE'VE SEEN THAT THROUGH THE INDEPENDENT REPORTS. BUT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO, UH, IS TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN HAVE A STARTING POINT TO SAY, LISTEN, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? BECAUSE IT IS A VERY BIG ANIMAL. UH, YOU CAN'T BE THE THIRD LARGEST FIRE DEPARTMENT, UH, IN THE NATION. AND THINGS NOT BE A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING. I'M NOT SAYING TO YOU ALL I'M SAYING AS A SYSTEM, THE INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM OF THE FIRE EMS BASED MODELING IS THE MOST EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE, AND NOT ONLY WHAT THE CITIZENS OF HOUSTON EXPECT, UH, BUT THIS GOES DIRECTLY TO IDENTIFYING DOWN TO THE COUNCIL DISTRICT BASED ON ALL OF THE DATA POINTS, UH, WHAT IS MOST NEEDED, UH, WHERE IT IS NEEDED MOST, AND WHERE IT IS GONNA CREATE THE BIGGEST IMPACT. SO, UH, WE KNOW THAT THE CALL VOLUME CONTINUES TO GO UP BOTH ON FIRE AND EMS INCIDENTS. UH, IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT JUST COVERS YOUR TYPICAL THINGS THAT GO ON FIRE OR JUST, UH, SOMEBODY THAT MAYBE, UH, FELL DOWN AND IS NON-LIFE THREATENING, BUT NEEDS AN AMBULANCE. THESE ARE SPECIALIZED DIVISIONS THAT WE HAVE WITHIN THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, OF COURSE, THE HAZMAT DIVISION. WE HAVE THE RESCUE DIVISION, WHICH WE SAW YESTERDAY, THEM GOING OUT AND DOING, UH, SWIFT WATER RESCUE ON, UH, A RESIDENT IN HOUSTON THAT WAS IN BUFFALO BAYOU. UH, THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT AS A SYSTEM WE HAVE TO BE PREPARED AND BE READY FOR AND, UH, THAT WE CAN AT LEAST START TO BE MAKING PLANS. SO THE OTHER, UH, THINGS THAT WE LOOKED AT AND TOLD THE TEAM IS THAT ANYTIME THAT WE PUT OUT DATA, WE DON'T NEED IT TO JUST SOUND LIKE MORE AND MORE, MORE, WE WANT TO SAY, LISTEN, LOOK AT IT [00:25:01] OBJECTIVELY, AND, AND WHAT ARE WE DOING THAT NEED EFFICIENCIES? AND WHAT WE DID, UH, WAS LOOK AT, UH, THE THINGS THAT I THINK A LOT OF YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE E ETHAN PROGRAM. UH, THE BIGGEST THING THAT STOOD OUT TO ME DURING THE SUPPORT IS, IS IF WE WERE ABLE TO DO THINGS THAT, UH, LESSON IN THE SHORT TERM THAN THE, THE CALL TIMES OR THE CALL TYPES, THEN WE CAN HAVE MORE TIME TO BE RESPONDING TO, TO OTHER CALLS. BUT 50 MINUTES. SO I KNOW THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ IS, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE AN AMENDMENT FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM DIVERSION FOR SOME CALLS. THESE ARE ALL THINGS WHEN WE'RE DEALING WITH A SYSTEM THAT'S VALUE ADDED, WHEN YOU CAN SAVE TIME, NOT JUST ON THE RESPONSE TIMES, BUT ON THE UTILIZATION. AND IT GOES BACK TO, UH, REALLY A MUCH BROADER REPORT OF COST PER MILE WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR FIRE TRUCKS, YOUR AMBULANCES, AND WHAT IS IT COSTING US? SO THAT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE THOSE NUMBERS. AND WE KNOW THAT THAT'S A REAL ISSUE. UH, AND LASTLY, I'LL SAY THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING THAT A LOT OF THE PURCHASE ITEMS THAT COME FROM INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CIP VERSUS WHAT THE GENERAL OP OPERATING ACCOUNTS ARE, UH, IF YOU'RE LOOKING, AND I WENT THROUGH THIS EXERCISE, I THINK ACTUALLY WITH COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ, UH, PROBABLY THREE YEARS AGO. HE ASKED A A GREAT QUESTION ABOUT HOW MUCH DOES AN AMBULANCE COST? WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO GET, UH, IT FUNDED FOR A WHOLE YEAR. SO WE'RE ROUGHLY LOOKING AT ABOUT 325,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT ON THE AMBULANCE ITSELF TO RETROFIT IT, MAYBE 50 OR 60,000 TO GET ALL THE MEDICATION. BUT ON A YEARLY ONGOING BASIS, IT WOULD BE ROUGHLY ABOUT A MILLION DOLLARS TO OPERATE ONE ADDITIONAL AMBULANCE WITH SALARIES. AND THEN YOU'D COST RECOVER ABOUT 200 TO 300,000. SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A NET COST TO THE CITY, UH, AT, AND THESE ARE ALL GENERAL FIGURES. I'M NOT TRYING TO, UH, GET YOU ALL TO, UH, HOLD ME TO SPECIFIC COST, BUT THIS IS WHAT, UH, OUR ANALYSIS HAS PROVIDED. SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT SEVEN TO 800,000 THAT WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL DISTRICTS, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE WHAT THAT VALUE HAS FOR YOUR INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL DISTRICT. SO WITH THAT, UH, MADAM CHAIR, THANK YOU. WE TRIED TO BE BRIEF, BUT WE DEFINITELY WANT, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY. I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE A LONG DAY TODAY, SO THANK Y'ALL FOR LETTING US COME IN HERE AND PRESENT THIS. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS, WE WERE JOINED EARLIER ONLINE BY COUNCIL MEMBER PANZELLA AND IN CHAMBERS BY COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN AND COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, AND THEN ALSO STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PANZELLA'S OFFICE. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. UM, UP FOR, OH, BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS ALSO, UM, OUR OFFICE DID DISTRIBUTE THE DISTRICT, UM, ANALYSIS TO ALL THE DISTRICT COUNCIL OFFICES, AND WE WILL SEND ALL OF THE ANALYSIS IS ALL OF THE, UM, DISTRICT ANALYSIS DOCUMENTS TO ALL THE AT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL. SO, UM, FIRST OFF IS, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. THE 34% INCREASE IN IN FIRE INCIDENTS. IS THAT JUST FROM GROWTH IN THE CITY OR IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE TRIGGERING THAT, THAT SURPRISED ME. UH, THAT'S BY CALL VOLUME. OH, SORRY. BUT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THAT MARTY, DO YOU THINK THAT'S JUST CALL VOLUME? 'CAUSE THERE'S JUST MORE PEOPLE? I THINK WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN THE TRENDS BASED ON THE LAST REPORT THAT WE HAD BASED ON THE FACETS AND OUR INDIVID OR INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS THAT WENT A LITTLE BIT DEEPER WAS, YES, YOU'RE GETTING OBVIOUSLY MORE PEOPLE THAT ARE COMING INTO HOUSTON. THE MORE THAT'S GOING ON HERE. UM, I THINK ONE OF MY COLLEAGUES PUT IT BEST, I CAN'T REMEMBER THE CITY NOW, I'M, I'M GETTING EMBARRASSED, BUT BASICALLY, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, GROWTH OVER THE PAST TWO DECADES, UH, THAT FAR. OUTREACH IS WHAT, UM, WHAT YOU SEE IN NORMAL CITIES LIKE NEW YORK AND CHICAGO WHERE THEY'RE ALL KINDA LANDLOCKED, BUT YOU SEE THE NEED FOR FIRE AND EMS CONTINUING TO GROW. A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH POPULATION. A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH, IF IT'S AGING, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE IN CERTAIN AREAS, WE'RE NOT ZONED. UH, SO AS I SAID, THE MORE WE DEVELOP, THE MORE WE MOVE OUT, THE MORE DOWNTOWNS WE HAVE, IF YOU WILL, WHICH IS GREAT. SO BASICALLY JUST GROWTH, NOT ANYTHING THAT SAFETY WISE OR WHATEVER THAT'S CAUSING MORE FIRE INCIDENT CALLS OR, I, I WOULD NOT THINK THAT. OKAY. BECAUSE WE HAVE, OBVIOUSLY THE NATIONAL FIRE, RIGHT? WE HAVE ALL THE RIGHT ADOPT THAT RULES. I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S GROWTH AND IT'S DEMAND, YEAH. OKAY. AND THEN ON TIME ON TASK, THE RATIO THAT IT TAKES TO DO EVERYTHING, GET THERE, TREAT IN HOURS TO THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES, UNIT HOURS, WHAT ARE THE AVAILABLE RESOURCES? UNIT HOURS? YEP. SO FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU HAD ONE UNIT THAT WAS ON A 24 HOUR SHIFT, IF WE WERE CALCULATING RIGHT TIME ON TASK OVER THAT DAY, IT WOULD BE 24 HOUR, 24 UNIT HOURS, RIGHT? SO 24 HOURS. SO IT TOOK AN HOUR OVER THE 24 HOUR, CORRECT? CORRECT. OKAY. EXACTLY. IF YOU WEREN'T, IF YOU WERE ON A CALL FOR ONE HOUR AND YOU WERE ON SHIFT FOR 24 HOURS, RIGHT. YOU'VE A ONE OVER 24, GOT TIME ON TASK. OKAY. AND THEN THE VALUE ADDED FOR THE STATIONS, EXPLAIN THAT AGAIN. SO WE'RE YOU WANNA BE AT FOUR MINUTES? CORRECT. WHAT IS OUR KIND OF AVERAGE, WHAT IS OUR AVERAGE, DO WE HAVE A CITYWIDE [00:30:01] AVERAGE? YEAH, CURRENTLY THE AVERAGE ENGINE, UH, IS ONLY MEETING THAT FOUR MINUTE THRESHOLD FOR 29% OF INCIDENTS, UH, WITHIN THEIR OWN RESPONSES. SO WHAT ARE WE USUALLY SIX MINUTES, 10 MINUTES? BUT I MEAN, DO YOU KNOW, YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T LOOK AT THAT. I HAVEN'T CALCULATED THAT. WELL, I DON'T HAVE IT WITH ME. OKAY. YEAH. DO YOU KNOW THAT MARTY? I THINK, UH, FOR THE, THE OTHER MAJORITY, I THINK IT'S EIGHT. IS IT EIGHT MINUTES? DO YOU I HAVE LOOK IT UP. WE'LL GET YOU THAT ANSWER. OKAY. BUT IT IS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER. SO, SO, BUT THE GOAL IS FOR FOUR OUR, SO THE 10 STATIONS MM-HMM . YOU BASED ON ONES THAT COULD GIVE YOU VALUE ADDED. EXPLAIN THAT AGAIN. LIKE WHAT, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ABSOLUTELY. OKAY. YEAH. SO THE GOAL WAS TO RIGHT, EVALUATE CANDIDATE LOCATIONS. SO WE EVALUATED CANDIDATES, UM, MEANING JUST EVERY LOCATION, 200 METERS ALONG THE ROAD NETWORK WITHIN HOUSTON. AND FOR EACH OF THOSE CANDIDATES, WE EVALUATED HOW MANY ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS RIGHT? OVER THOSE 20, 23 AND 20, 24 YEARS. THE DEPARTMENT WOULD'VE BEEN EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO REACH WITHIN FOUR MINUTES IF A STATION HAD BEEN PLACED AT THAT CANDIDATE LOCATION. AH, OKAY. YEAH. OKAY. OKAY. I GOT IT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THIS IS GREAT INFORMATION. UH, I REMEMBER WHEN THE FACETS THING CAME OUT. WE GOT YOU A BIG FIVE AMBULANCES. YEAH. UM, OVER 10 YEARS. SO, UM, THIS IS DATA'S IMPORTANT AND REALLY APPRECIATE THE GOOD WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER. AND ALSO JUST TO, UH, WE, WE DO HAVE AN ONLINE THAT WILL PROVIDE, UH, AN INTERACTIVE TO WHERE YOU GET ON THERE AND PLAY WITH IT YOURSELF. WE'LL MAKE IT AVAILABLE TO THE COUNCIL, UH, AND TO THE COMMITTEE. IT IS REALLY AMAZING. AND THOSE THAT KNOW ME, I LOVE DATA, UH, LOVE ANALYTICS BECAUSE YOU CAN'T, YOU KNOW, THIS IS ABOUT TRYING TO FIX A PROBLEM OR TRYING TO HELP, YOU KNOW, GROW IT. AND WE WANNA BE GOOD PARTNERS. COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ, THANK YOU CHAIR. AND, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AS WELL. UM, AND I WAS ACTUALLY A LITTLE CURIOUS ABOUT THAT INCREASE IN, UH, IN FIRES. UM, IT, I THINK THE NUMBER ENDED UP BEING SOMEWHERE AROUND ANOTHER EXTRA 20 OR SO, UH, FIRES SINCE 2018. BUT, UM, IF IT'S NOT, SO DO Y'ALL TAKE DATA ON WHETHER IT'S STRUCTURAL FIRES? I KNOW THAT WE'VE, WE'VE SEEN A LOT MORE BECAUSE OF ENCAMPMENTS. THERE'S ENCAMPMENT FIRES. ARE Y'ALL INCLUDING THAT IN THE NUMBERS AS WELL? EVERY SINGLE CALL THAT WE RAN? UH, THE, I WILL SAY THAT AS A, AS A CAVEAT, AND, AND THEN I'LL LET JEREMY ANSWER IF HE HAS SOMETHING TO ADD, IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE REALLY TRIED TO DO, AND THIS GOES BACK TO THE DISPATCH, SOME GOOD IDEAS FROM LOW HANGING FRUIT TO ADDRESS SOME DISPATCH STUFF, IS TO BETTER EXTRAPOLATE BECAUSE SOMETHING MAY BE COATED AS AN EMS OR A FIRE, BUT THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN IT WAS ON FIRE, RIGHT? MEANING IF YOU HAVE A RESCUE, IF YOU HAVE A PIN IN IT REQUIRES ALL THE SAME PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT ON THE FIRE TRUCK, YOU CAN'T DO IT ON AN AMBULANCE. AND SO, UH, THOSE ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. UH, BUT WE HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE JUST BASED ON YEAH. SIZE OF, OF THE CITY. IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD, JEREMY, AND, AND I THINK TO THAT, RIGHT, IF, AND IT SEEMS LIKE MOST OF THE PRESENTATION WAS ON EMS, RIGHT? UH, WHICH IS, WHICH IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE AS WE'RE, I WAS LOOKING AT THE, THE TREND OVER, I GUESS, UM, SOMEWHERE AROUND 87% ARE EMS COSTS. AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT, HOW DO YOU RIGHT SIZE SOME OF THAT, THAT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT AS WELL. UM, SINCE I GUESS IT SAYS 2018, IT'S ABOUT 87% ON AVERAGE IS, IS, UH, EMS COSTS. WHAT, WHAT IS IT, UM, HOW MANY ENGINES, LADDERS ARE WE SENDING OUT FOR EMS COSTS RIGHT NOW? A LOT. UM, I CAN GET YOU THE EXACT FIGURE, BUT WHAT I WILL TELL YOU IS, IS THAT THE, THE, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL STUDIES THAT WE DID, BASED ON ALL THE CALLS FROM FACETS, WHEN WE GOT THE, THE ANALYSIS, ALL THE DATA FROM THE CITY OF HOUSTON WAS TO LOOK AT PERCENTAGES VERSUS TIME ON TASK VERSUS DEMAND. YEAH. AND SO THE 87%, YOU SEE, THAT'S THE ONES THAT ARE, AGAIN, CALL TYPE AS EMS, BUT THAT COULD REQUIRE ALL OF THE THINGS FROM FIRE. SO THAT GOES BACK TO THE DISPATCHING AND SOURCING OF WHERE IT'S COMING FROM. YEAH. I THINK IT, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO BREAK THAT OUT BECAUSE, UM, WE, WE DO KNOW, OF COURSE, THAT THERE'S A GROWING AGING POPULATION AND, AND EMS IS PROBABLY DEFINITELY MORE THAN LIKELY THE, THE PRIORITY, RIGHT? UM, AND SO AS WE START LOOKING AT, UM, THIS TIME ON TASK, UH, WHAT DOES IT TAKE, HOW MUCH MORE EFFICIENT CAN WE, CAN WE BE AS A DEPARTMENT, UM, IF WE HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT? AND FOR ME, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT 65 EXTRA UNITS FOR EMS, WHICH IS IMPORTANT, I THINK, UM, SHOULD WE BE LEANING MORE INTO E UH, E AMBULANCE RATHER THAN LADDERS AND PUMPERS? UM, UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE ARE SOME RESERVES OUT THERE IN SOME OF THE DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT I JUST REALLY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, AS AS, AS WE CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE WITH FINANCES AT THE CITY THAT WE PRIORITIZE, UH, WHAT, WHATEVER, WHATEVER WOULD HELP Y'ALL BE MORE EFFICIENT ON EMS CALLS SPECIFICALLY. UM, BECAUSE AGAIN, UH, YOU KNOW, TO ASKING FOR THE [00:35:01] 10 STATIONS ASKING FOR MORE APPARATUSES, UM, I THINK IT'S, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE KIND OF START LOOKING IN THE MIRROR AND FIGURING OUT WHAT WE CAN DO TO INCREASE MORE AMBULANCE ABOVE ANYTHING. AND, AND I THINK WHAT OUR TEAM TRIED TO DO IS LOOK FROM A LENS, UH, DO YOU WANT ME TO STOP? GO AHEAD. UH, WAS TO LOOK FROM A LENS OF UNDERSTANDING THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT, UH, THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE THAT HAS BEEN ONGOING, BUT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE, 'CAUSE THE BIGGEST THING THAT WE HAD TO DEAL WITH UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS WAS, UH, THE NOTION THAT HEY, FIRES SOMEHOW WE DON'T NEED TO FIRE. ABSOLUTELY YOU DO, RIGHT? THAT IN ORDER TO HAVE THE, THE SERVICE DELIVERY. BUT WHEN YOU ADD THE AMBULANCES, IT'LL TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF OF, UH, THE FIRE TRUCKS. IT WILL ALSO, IF YOU ADD THE AMBULANCES, 'CAUSE WE AGREE ON THAT POINT, IS IT WILL, IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL AMBULANCES, IT'LL REDUCE THE WORKLOAD. 'CAUSE OUR MEDICS RIGHT NOW, OUR PARAMEDICS ARE WORKING YEAH, LONG HARD. AND WE WENT THROUGH A PHASE WHERE WE HAD TO ADDRESS THE SYSTEMIC ISSUE WHERE WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH PARAMEDICS AND THEY'RE JUST GETTING WORKED TO THE BONE AND THEY CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE. NOW THANKS TO THE COUNCIL, WE HAVE GRADUATED. WE'RE GETTING MORE PARAMEDICS THAN WE'VE EVER HAD AND TRAINED UP. BUT IT TAKES TIME. AND SO ALL OF THAT GOES TO HELPING WITH THE DOMINO EFFECT OF THE SYSTEM AND THE DEMAND THAT WE HAVE. BECAUSE WHEN THE TRUTH IN THE NUMBERS, IT'S ALL BAD, IF YOU WILL, MEANING THE DEMAND IS, IS VERY HIGH. YEAH. AND JUST LAST QUESTION, HOW MANY, HOW MANY TOTAL PARAMEDICS DO WE HAVE RIGHT NOW WITH HID FOUR? OH, UH, I THINK 400 PLUS. BUT WE ARE ADDING TO THAT CURRENTLY WE HAVE MULTIPLE CLASSES IN PARAMEDIC SCHOOL, WHICH IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO THAT. AND WHAT THAT DOES IS THAT THEN ALLOWS THE PARAMEDICS THAT HAVE BEEN HAVING TO WORK, UH, MULTIPLE SHIFTS IN A ROW FOR YEARS AND YEARS AS PARAMEDICS TO, TO GET OFF AND GET A BREAK TO GOING TO WHAT JEREMY HAD MENTIONED, WE HAVE TO FACTOR IN THE, THE HUMAN FACTOR. UM, WE DON'T GET TO TAKE A LUNCH BREAK AND SAY, HEY, WE'RE CLOCKING OUT. UM, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE AVAILABLE AND WE'RE TAKING CARE OF THE MEN AND WOMEN BECAUSE THE STRAIN AND THE THINGS THAT THEY DEAL WITH IS REAL. AND WE'VE ADDRESSED THAT FROM A MENTAL HEALTH PERSPECTIVE AS WELL. SORRY, JUST ONE LAST NOTE ABOUT YOUR QUESTIONS. UM, ON THE CALL VOLUME SIDE, UH, FOR THIS PRESENTATION, WE ONLY ADDRESSED INCIDENT GROWTH. UM, FOR A MORE ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF WORKLOAD, UH, I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT YOU LOOK INTO UNIT RESPONSES AS WELL. UH, FOR EMS INCIDENTS, UM, USUALLY HFD IS REQUIRED TO RESPOND WITH FEWER UNITS, UH, VERSUS FIRE INCIDENTS. SO THE DISTRIBUTION RIGHT IN UNIT RESPONSES IS STILL SLANTED TOWARD EMS, BUT IT'S A LITTLE MORE BALANCED, UH, THAN THAT. LIKE 87% YOU'RE SEEING ON THE INCIDENT SIDE. UM, NOW THEIR NOTE IS ON THE CATEGORIZATION. UH, SO THOSE CATEGORIZATIONS ARE PROVIDED BY HFD IN THE CAD, UM, LIKE PRESIDENT LANGTON MENTIONED, RIGHT? THERE COULD BE CHANGES RIGHT. OPERATIONALLY AND HOW THOSE ARE CATEGORIZED, UM, AS YOU RIGHT MENTIONED. MM-HMM. RIGHT. WE'RE NOT GETTING AS DETAILED ON THE BREAKDOWN OF SPECIFIC INCIDENT TYPES. UH, WE'RE JUST USING THOSE OVERALL CATEGORIZATIONS. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN. THANK YOU. AND THANK YOU HFD FOR EVERYTHING YOU DO. WE REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOUR HARD WORK. YOU MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION, UM, YOU MENTIONED TRAFFIC BEING AN IMPEDIMENT TO HFD RESPONSE TIMES AND SPECIFICALLY, UH, I'VE HAD CONCERNS FROM THE RESIDENTS IN DISTRICT G ABOUT FIRE STATION NUMBER TWO RIGHT THERE AT WOODWAY AND CHIMNEY ROCK AND THE TRAFFIC THERE, WHERE DURING PEAK TIMES, TRAFFIC IS BACKED UP AT THE LIGHT AT SAN PHILIPPI, GOING NORTH TOWARDS STATION TWO, THERE'S CARS COMING NORTHBOUND ON CHIMNEY ROCK. AND SO AMBULANCE IS TRYING TO MANEUVER DOWN THAT. HAVE YOU PINPOINTED SPECIFIC AREAS OR INTERSECTIONS WHERE IT'S SPECIFICALLY WORSE FOR HFD OR IS IT JUST TRAFFIC EVERYWHERE IN HOUSTON? UH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. WE HAVE NOT PINPOINTED SPECIFICALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, AREAS FOR ROAD NETWORK IMPROVEMENTS, BUT HERE'S, UH, CAVEAT TO THAT IS, UH, WHAT I'VE LEARNED IS OUR TEAM IS PRETTY AMAZING. ANYTIME WE'VE HAD MULTIPLE MEETINGS, OBVIOUSLY WITH THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ADMINISTRATION, WITH OTHERS, UH, TO EDUCATE THEM, GET THEIR FEEDBACK, IF THERE IS A PARTICULAR AREA THAT YOU SEE, EVEN IF IT'S ANECDOTAL, IF YOU CAN GET THAT OVER TO US, WE WILL PUT THAT IN THE SYSTEM AND WE WILL GET AN ANSWER. WE'LL AT LEAST BE ABLE TO MODEL IT. BECAUSE EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE HAVING IS INTERCONNECTED. SO WE CAN ACTUALLY TAKE, UH, CERTAIN LOCATIONS AND CERTAIN THINGS AND PLUG IT IN AND SEE WHAT COMES UP WITH IT. AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF IT'S SPECIFICALLY AN ISSUE. IT WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, CONCERNS FROM RESIDENTS THAT WHAT THEY'RE SEEING ON THE STREETS, YOU KNOW, NOTICING THAT HFD IS HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING DOWN CHIMNEY ROCK, UM, SPECIFICALLY IN THAT AREA. SO THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW. IS THERE A WAY, I KNOW THAT TRAFFIC'S BAD IN HOUSTON, BUT IS THERE A WAY TO HELP, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE SOLVE THIS PROBLEM? IS IT, IS IT ABOUT PUBLIC EDUCATION, YOU KNOW, LETTING PEOPLE KNOW THAT, HEY, YOU NEED TO PULL OVER TO THE SIDE WHEN YOU [00:40:01] SEE AN AMBULANCE COMING OR A FIRE TRUCK COMING. UM, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS OR WHAT ARE SOME PRACTICAL THINGS THAT, THAT WE COULD DO? UH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. I WILL TELL YOU THAT WHAT I HAVE LEARNED, I USED TO KIND OF NOT, NOT LAUGH AT IT, BUT I USED TO THINK IT WASN'T REALLY RELEVANT. WHEN WE DON'T DO PSAS OR WE DON'T REMIND THE PUBLIC THAT WHETHER IT'S GARBAGE AND, YOU KNOW, MOVE YOUR CAR SO THE GARBAGE TRUCKS CAN GET IN, OR WHETHER IT'S IF YOU SEE AN AMBULANCE OR A FIRE TRUCK OR POLICE CAR, MOVE TO THE RIGHT, DON'T MOVE TO THE LEFT, MOVE TO THE RIGHT. UM, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT I ABSOLUTELY BELIEVE IS WHEN YOU REINFORCE THOSE. IT DOES. WE DO SEE BENEFITS AND WE SEE CHANGES ON THE GROUND LEVEL. AND SO I THINK THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY WORKING TOGETHER OF ABSOLUTELY REEDUCATING PEOPLE ON THOSE POINTS. UM, ALSO JUST, UH, HAVING A FOCUS, WHETHER IT'S AN EDUCATIONAL PIECE OR NOT, JUST HAVING A FOCUS ON, HEY, REMIND YOURSELF, LOOK AROUND, PAY ATTENTION. UH, YOU HEAR SOME SIRENS, LOOK WHERE IT'S COMING FROM. 'CAUSE WE'RE RESPONDING TO SOMEBODY ON THEIR WORST DAY. SO WE ARE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOUR OFFICE TO DO WHATEVER YOU THINK MIGHT BE MOST HELPFUL, UH, FOR YOUR RESIDENTS, BUT WE'RE ON BOARD. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR. AND THANK YOU GENTLEMEN FOR THE PRESENTATION. VERY, VERY INTERESTING. UM, UH, CONTENT, I, I THINK ALL OF US UNDERSTAND THE NEED FOR MORE AMBULANCES, RIGHT? SO IT WAS EITHER LAST WEEK OR WEEK BEFORE LAST, WE APPROVED TWO CONTRACTS FOR, UH, ADDITIONAL AMBULANCE SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED WHEN, WHEN NEEDED. AND, AND SO, UM, I, I CAN CERTAINLY SEE THAT. UM, IS THERE, IS THERE A DIFFERENT MODEL WHERE AMBULANCES CAN BE STATIONED IN THE COMMUNITY WITHOUT HAVING TO CONSTRUCT, YOU KNOW, A TRADITIONAL, UH, FIRE STATION WITH, WITH EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITH THAT? IN OTHER WORDS, ANOTHER, UH, ENGINE, UH, A LADDER TRUCK AND, YOU KNOW, FULL COMPLIMENT OF EVERYTHING. THE ANSWER IS, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU CAN ENVISION A LOT OF THINGS AS A PRACTICAL MATTER. THERE'S A LOT OF INFRASTRUCTURE. SO YOU'RE THEN HAVE TO DEAL WITH, WELL, UH, ARE THOSE UNITS GONNA BE 12 HOUR UNITS, 24 HOUR UNITS? IF THEY ARE, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A PLACE FOR THEM TO GO. THIS IS WHERE THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS VASTLY DIFFERENT AND WHY IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE WITHIN OUR SYSTEM AS OPPOSED TO PLACES LIKE PITTSBURGH, CHICAGO, NEW YORK. UM, THE REALITY IS, IS THAT WE ARE SO FAR SPREAD. YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE ENOUGH RESOURCES TO RESPOND, AND YOU ALSO HAVE TO HAVE THAT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR THE MEDICS. FOR THE PARAMEDICS. THEY HAVE TO GO SOMEWHERE. THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO, UH, HAVE A HOME, HAVE A PLACE FOR MULTIPLE REASONS. BUT ALSO IF YOU DON'T HAVE, SAY FOR INSTANCE, UH, IT, IT'S A 24 HOUR AMBULANCE, WHICH IS THE MOST COST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE, UH, TIME FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO TAKE A BREAK AND REST. REMEMBER, THE CRITICAL THING, A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT ABOUT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, EVEN POLICE, IS THAT IF THERE THERE ISN'T REALLY A BREAK, WE CAN'T JUST SAY, HEY, UH, WE'RE RIGHTFULLY SO. WE'RE GONNA GET SOMETHING TO EAT. UH, YOU HAVE TO REMAIN IN SERVICE WHEN YOUR UNIT IS NOT COMMITTED OR BACK AT THE STATION. SO THERE'S A NUMBER OF THINGS I THINK YOU CAN DO. IN THEORY, WHAT IT COMES DOWN TO IS HOW DOES IT LOOK? AND THE REALITY IS WE'VE TRIED TO LOOK AT THIS PIE FROM 50 DIFFERENT WAYS, AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY THAN TO ADDRESS THE NEED FOR MORE AMBULANCES. AND YOU COULD PROBABLY DO THAT WITH SOME EXISTING FIRE STATIONS ON MAKING THOSE SAME STRUCTURES OR MAKING A, A SMALL ADDITION. IT REALLY COMES FROM THESE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING NOW MM-HMM . AND, AND I'M TOTALLY WITH YOU ON, ON THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE CITY, MAKING IT CHALLENGING TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO EVERYONE. WE SEE THE SAME THING IN SOLID WASTE, RIGHT? UH, IT'S JUST A HARD, UH, AREA TO SERVICE, UH, COMPLETELY. AND, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN. I DO WANT TO, UM, INVITE YOU GUYS TO RETHINK THE ASSUMPTION ABOUT POPULATION GROWTH. I KNOW THAT HOUSTON HAS EXPERIENCED, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF GROWTH IN IN RECENT DECADES, BUT, AND I SEE, UH, FORMER COUNCIL MEMBER SUE LOVELL HERE, I NEED TO GET SUE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THIS GUY NAMED BILL KING , WHO HAS, HAS DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH. I'VE HEARD ON, ON, ON POPULATION GROWTH AND JUST QUOTING FROM ONE OF HIS RECENT, UH, COLUMNS OVER THE LAST DECADE. HARRIS COUNTY'S GROWTH HAS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY COME FROM INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRATION. AND, UH, THE COUNTY ACTUALLY SUFFERED A MASSIVE NEGATIVE DOMESTIC OUTMIGRATION OF ABOUT 300,000 RESIDENTS. AND ALL OF THIS SUGGESTS THAT, UH, THE DAYS OF THE GROWTH THAT WE'VE SEEN IN RECENT DECADES, UH, [00:45:01] ARE OVER. AND FUTURE GROWTH IS LARGELY GONNA DEPEND ON FEDERAL IMMIGRATION POLICY. AND SO WHEN, WHEN MOST PEOPLE FROM THE ADMINISTRATION COME TO TALK TO US, YOU KNOW, IT'S THEIR, THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE BASED ON, UH, ASSUMPTIONS THAT THE GROWTH IS GONNA CONTINUE. BUT THAT'S, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE. AND SO YOU MIGHT RETHINK THAT, BUT AT ANY RATE, I, I APPRECIATE THE, THE INFORMATION AND LOOK FORWARD TO DISCUSSING IT FURTHER. THANK YOU AND UNDERSTOOD ON, ON YOUR POINT ON THE GROWTH. I THINK ALSO WHAT YOU, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, WE TALK ABOUT GROWTH IS PEOPLE COMING INTO CITY OF HOUSTON, THE SERVICE WE'RE PROVIDING TO NOT JUST RESIDENTS OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BUT THAT'S, I THINK, REFLECTED IN THE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE CALLS IN THE INCREASE IN CALL VOLUME BASED UPON A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT FACTORS. AND WHEN WE GO THROUGH AND GIVE YOU ACCESS, HAPPY TO GIVE YOU THE ONLINE ACCESS, YOU CAN GO THROUGH AND ACTUALLY DIG AS DEEP AS YOU WOULD LIKE INTO IT. UH, BUT THIS WAS BAD 10 YEARS AGO. AND SO I THINK ANYBODY THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY LOOKING AT THIS FROM, UM, A MODELING PERSPECTIVE, MY TEAM TOLD ME WE, WE COULD HAVE, COULD HAVE PUT WAY MORE THINGS IN THERE IF WE WERE BEING AS TECHNICAL AS WE SHOULD, BUT WE UNDERSTAND THE, THE WORLD WE'RE LIVING IN. WE'RE TRYING TO SET THAT STAGE TO SAY 10 YEARS AGO WE HAD AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM THE CITY OF HOUSTON, SAID WE NEEDED 35 FULL-TIME OR 70 PEAK TIME, AND NOW WE'RE TELLING YOU 10 YEARS LATER, UH, THAT THE CALL VOLUME THEN HAS INCREASED SINCE THEN DRAMATICALLY, AND WE'RE DOING IT WITH THE SAME NUMBER OF UNITS, LESS THAN FIVE ON PEAK. YEAH. APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU, MARTY. THANK YOU. COUNCILOR COUNCIL MARTY DAVIS. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. UH, THANK YOU GUYS FOR THE PRESENTATION. A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION. JUST HAD, UH, THREE POINTS I'D LIKE TO LIFT UP. THE FIRST ONE, UH, MARTY IS, I'M LOOKING ON PAGE 17. UH, THIS IS THE 2324 DATA RECORDING, RIGHT? MM-HMM . GOT IT. SO THIS IS, UH, TIME VERSUS DENSITY MORE OR LESS, CORRECT? YEAH. YEAH. THAT'S ROAD NETWORK THAT THE STATIONS ARE, WELL UNITS FROM THE STATIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL TO. SURE. AND THEN THE, AND I'M LOOKING AT IT, THE HIGH RED AREA THAT'S THE CENTER, IS THAT VIRTUALLY THE CENTER OF THE CITY? YEAH, THAT'S DOWN, THAT'S RIGHT ABOUT WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. OKAY, PERFECT. SO THEN THE PURPLE AREAS REPRESENT A HIGHER CALL OR INCIDENT AREAS, IS THAT THE, THE YELLOW IS THAT, YEAH, THE YELLOW IS THE HIGHEST AND THEN IT MOVES DOWN INTO RED AND THEN GOT IT INTO BLUE IS THE LOWEST. GOT IT. OKAY. BUT IT'S RELATIVE. YEAH. OKAY. SO QUESTION, UM, TOWARD THE TIME VERSUS THIS, THE, THE TIME VERSUS DISTANCE MM-HMM . HOW DOES THAT AFFECT IN TERMS OF PEOPLE BEING TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL? DO YOU HAVE A NUMBER IN REGARDS TO THE, TO THE AREAS? BECAUSE WE KNOW MANY OF OUR HOSPITALS ARE SPREAD OUT IN DIFFERENT AREAS FROM CENTRAL MEDICAL CENTER TO EAST WEST. DOES THAT, IS THERE A NUMBER THAT RECORDS THAT AS WELL? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. YES. THAT'S A NUMBER THAT COULD BE CALCULATED. YES. IT WAS NOT CALCULATED. THERE'S NO STANDARD THAT DIRECTLY GOVERNS TRANSPORT TIME. RIGHT, RIGHT. UH, SO IT WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT, BUT YES, IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO CALCULATE THAT FOR SURE. RIGHT. BECAUSE THAT, THAT WOULD ALSO GIVE, YOU KNOW, UH, TO ME IT WOULD ALSO PRESENT TO THE COUNCIL ALL THE NUMBERS OF THE LOAD, THE WORKLOAD FOR FIREFIGHTERS, YOU KNOW? ABSOLUTELY. THE EMS, RIGHT? MM-HMM . SECONDLY, UM, IS THERE, IS THERE A PARTICULAR, I SEE THE RED IN THE CENTER, BUT IS THERE ANOTHER LEVEL OF WHAT PARTICULAR PART OF THE CITY BY COMMUNITIES THAT YOU GET MORE, UH, INCIDENTS? IS THERE, IS THERE, YEAH, THERE'S A BREAKDOWN. I THINK, UH, ONE OF THE MOST RELEVANT PARTS OF THE REPORT IS THE BREAKDOWN BY UNIT, UH, OF RESPONSES. YES. SO YOU CAN SEE BY RESPONSES AND BY TIME ON TASK, YOU KNOW, UH, SO YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF WHICH UNITS ARE THE BUSIEST THROUGHOUT THE CITY. OKAY, COOL. AND THE TIME ON TASK TOO. THE REASON WHY I THINK THAT THAT HAS BECOME THE NEW STANDARD, NOT JUST FOR THIS REPORT, BUT NATIONALLY, RIGHT, IS BECAUSE THAT INCORPORATES THE TIME THAT WE'RE BEING CALLED TO THE TIME THAT YOU ARE BACK IN SERVICE FROM THE HOSPITAL. RIGHT. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE ADDRESSED, WE STILL NEED TO ADDRESS THAT LOVE Y'ALL SELF IS, IS HOW LONG IT TAKES OUR, OUR MEDICS TO DROP PATIENTS OFF AT THE HOSPITAL. MM-HMM . UM, IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SOMETHING WE'VE DEALT WITH, BUT THAT'S A, THAT'S A HOSPITAL ISSUE THAT THEY HAVE TO START, UH, ADDRESSING WHEN IT COMES TO STAFFING. MUCH LIKE US, WHEN THE DOMINO EFFECTS HAPPEN AND YOU'RE TRANSPORTING AND YOU'RE TAKING PEOPLE AND YOU'RE TAKING YOURSELF OUTTA SERVICE MM-HMM . EVERY MINUTE YOU'RE OUTTA SERVICE THAT YOU'RE HAVING TO, TO STAND THERE AND WAIT FOR THE PATIENT TO GET TRANSFERRED IS A MINUTE YOU'RE NOT IN YOUR DISTRICT ABLE TO RESPOND TO A CALL. ABSOLUTELY. [00:50:01] WELL, LET ME JUST ALSO LAST, UH, POINT IS THAT I'M, I'M REALLY, UM, HAPPY THAT WE HAD A CHANCE TO ADDRESS THE PROBLEMS OF THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT BY GIVING MORE PEOPLE MARTY. UM, WHICH WE KNEW THAT WAS A TASK, YOU KNOW, TO ADD. AND WE'D SEE THE NUMBERS, THOSE OF US WHO COME TO THE GRADUATIONS. UM, WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE ADDITION OF NOT ONLY FIREFIGHTERS WHO LEFT BUT CAME BACK TO THE DEPARTMENT, WHICH I THINK, UH, IS A CREDIT TO THE ADMINISTRATION AS WELL AS TO THE COUNCIL FOR LOOKING A LITTLE BIT BEYOND AND ADDRESSING THE PROBLEM THAT WE COULD HAVE WORSE AND LAST, UH, THE PREPARATION FOR FIFA. ARE YOU READY IN, IN, IN TERMS OF, OF PREPARATION? I'M SURE THE CHIEF IS NOT HERE, BUT THAT, THAT WOULD BE PROPER QUESTION FOR THE CHIEF AS WELL. WELL, THE, THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT HAVING THE GREATEST FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE NATION, IF NOT THE WORLD, IS THAT, UH, NO MATTER WHAT, WE'RE ALWAYS PREPARED, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE GET TO THE CITIZENS ON THEIR WORST DAY. BUT I'LL TELL YOU, THAT GOES TO THE CREDIT OF THE MEN AND WOMEN. IT REALLY DOES. AND YOU ALL THINKING AHEAD TO YOUR POINT AND FIXING AND STARTING ADDRESSING THE SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS. FOR INSTANCE, WHEN THE, THE FIRE CHIEF, UH, WAS APPOINTED, UH, WE GOT THE CONTRACT COMPLETE, WE PUT WORDING IN THERE THAT ALLOWED, UH, TO THE CITY TO SAY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO BRING PEOPLE BACK. WE'RE NOT HAVING TO SPEND TAXPAYER MONEY JUST TO HAVE THEM GO OUT THE DOOR. ALL THESE DIFFERENT COMPONENTS. WE WERE TOLD BY, UH, BASED ON THE TRENDS OF THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION, IT WOULD TAKE US FOUR YEARS TO GET NET 100, MEANING MINUS ATTRITION FIREFIGHTERS IN THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT BACK IN, TAKE US FOUR YEARS. WE DID IT IN EIGHT MONTHS. UH, AND THAT'S A CREDIT TO THE FIRE CHIEF, UH, TOM MUNOZ TO MAYOR WHITMEYER, UH, AND TO THIS COUNCIL. AND WE TALKED ABOUT THE PARAMEDIC, UH, SHORTAGE. IT WAS YOU ALL, THE COUNCIL THAT VOTED TO, UH, ADD AN ADDITIONAL 2.5 MILLION TO SEND THEM TO CLASS. AND I THINK WHAT THE CHIEF HAD HAD MENTIONED WHEN HE CAME FOR THE BUDGET HEARING WAS WE HAD TO FIX THESE PROBLEMS THAT WERE LEFT FOR ALL OF US. UH, AND THEY TAKE AN INVESTMENT, BUT THE RETURN ON IT, YOU'RE NOW STARTING AND YOU WILL SEE THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR IN ORDER TO AFFECT THESE PROBLEMS. WE JUST HAD TO FOCUS ON, UH, WHAT WAS THE ROOT CAUSE. SO I DO WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND THE WORK'S NOT DONE. WE HAVE MORE WORK TO DO. UM, WE WERE ALSO JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD STAFF AS WELL. UM, NEXT UP IS COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER. THANK YOU, THEN APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATIONS. UM, TO KIND OF FOLLOW UP ON COUNCILMAN RAMIREZ'S POINT, I HAD MY STAFF LOOK AT THE POPULATION AND FROM 2018 TO 2024, WE INCREASED BY 65,000, WHICH IS 2.7%. SO OBVIOUSLY THAT'S ONLY A SMALL PIECE OF WHAT WHATEVER THE OTHER ISSUES ARE. UM, I KNOW SOMEBODY FROM THE HFD COMMAND STAFF TALKED TO US ABOUT AMBULANCE ONLY STATIONS. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT IS NOT GOING FORWARD OR NOT BEING IMPLEMENTED? IN FACT, SPECIFICALLY I THOUGHT THEY TALKED ABOUT A, A LOCATION IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF TOWN THAT MAYBE THEY WERE GONNA BE CLOSING DOWN A FIRE STATION, MOVING IT TO A NEW, NEW LOCATION AND THEN USING THE PREVIOUS ONE AS AN AMBULANCE ONLY. UH, I MEAN, I THINK THERE'S BEEN MULTIPLE DISCUSSIONS. I THINK WHAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT POINTS. I CAN'T SPEAK SPECIFICALLY TO THAT. I'LL FOLLOW BACK UP WITH YOU. YOU, BUT WHAT I'M SAYING IS IT, REGARDLESS OF HOW YOU LOOK AT IT, IT'S AN INFRASTRUCTURE COST. AND WHAT I WILL SAY IS THAT, UM, HAVING THE EMS UNITS AT THE FIRE STATIONS IS EFFICIENT FOR THE CITY. I KNOW THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WANT TO CUT, UH, MAYBE THERE'S A DIFFERENT WAY TO DO IT. I'M TELLING YOU, AS SOMEBODY THAT HAS, HAS BEEN NOT ONLY IN THE, THE FIRE SERVICE FOR 27 YEARS, BUT ALSO LOOKING AT THE DATA TO SAY, HOW CAN WE MAKE THIS BETTER? THAT THERE IS NO OTHER ANSWER OTHER THAN TO SAY THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO DO IT IS TO HAVE THE AMBULANCE, UH, THERE WITH THE, THE FIRE STATION FOR MULTIPLE REASONS. UM, BUT IT WOULD BE THE SAME INFRASTRUCTURE COST IF YOU HAD TO BUILD ANOTHER STATION FOR A ONE UNIT, YOU KNOW, FIRE STATION. THEY'RE ALL GREAT IDEAS. THE THE POINT IS, IT IS AN INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM AND THE INTERCONNECTIVITY OF THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT IS WHAT MAKES THE RESPONSE TO THE CITIZENS WORK. AND IT'S VERY DETAILED IN HOW IT'S ALL, UH, DISPERSED. BUT THESE ARE THE, THIS IS THE DATA AND THE INFORMATION THAT WE'RE PULLING STRAIGHT FROM THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT TO SHOW THIS IS WHAT WE HAVE, THIS IS WHAT WE NEED, HOWEVER WE CAN GET IT DONE. WE'RE, WE'RE HERE TO WORK WITH Y'ALL. THE INCIDENTS PER DAY. DO WE BREAK OUT WHAT IS MUTUAL AID? I KNOW IN KINGWOOD WE GET A NUMBER OF CALLS ANSWERED BY NEIGHBORING, UH, DEPARTMENTS THAT WE'VE GOT AGREEMENTS WITH. DO WE, I MEAN, I I I'M SURE WE HAVE, UH, I'LL ASK JEREMY, BUT I I'M SURE WE CAN GET THAT. WE HAVE THAT IN THE CAD DATA, BUT DO WE HAVE THAT HERE? UH, NOT WITH ME AT THE MOMENT, NO. OKAY. WOULD, WOULD THE 810 BE INCLUSIVE [00:55:01] OF THAT NUMBER OR WOULD THAT BE IN ADDITION TO, DO YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD BE INCLUSIVE. OKAY. UM, YOU KNOW, I, I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOUR POINT ABOUT THE PSAS AND IN FACT, WE DID ONE ON TRASH TRYING TO TELL PEOPLE, HEY, TRASH DAY, PLEASE DON'T PARK IN THE STREET. YES. IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. IT DOES. IT REALLY WORKS. AND THE NICE THING ABOUT THE PSA IS IT'S LITTLE TO NO COST. SO WHATEVER BENEFIT WE GET, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A GOOD, SO WE, WE CERTAINLY NEED TO DO THAT. UM, I, I DO THINK WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO WORK ON THE AMBULANCE. UH, I ALSO THINK THAT A LOT OF TIMES WE'RE SENDING OUT A FIRE TRUCK, WHICH IS A VEHICLE THAT COSTS EXPONENTIALLY MORE THAN WHAT THE AMBULANCE DOES. IN FACT, I JUST HAD A GOOD ACQUAINTANCE OF MINE. HE'D HAD A HEART CATHETERIZATION, SENT HIM HOME. NEXT DAY HE WAKES UP, HE'S GOT A HUGE HEMATOMA ON HIS LEG, CALLS THE DOCTOR, AND HE SAYS, YOU NEED TO GET HERE. YOU NEED TO GET HERE RIGHT AWAY. YOU NEED TO GET HERE BY AN AMBULANCE. CALLS A FIRETRUCK SHOWS UP. MM-HMM . UH, THEY ACTUALLY ENDED UP SENDING AN AMBULANCE FROM HUFFMAN, WHICH GOING AROUND LAKE HOUSTON. YES. THAT'S A HALF HOUR. SO, YOU KNOW, ALTHOUGH IT WAS RESPONDED TO QUICKLY, AND YES, THE FIREFIGHTERS WERE THERE WITH, GOD FORBID, SOMETHING GO TERRIBLY WRONG, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THEY COULD DO NOTHING. SO, EXCEPT WAIT FOR THE AMBULANCE. WE, WE ARE, UH, YOU AND I WILL SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY, BECAUSE AGAIN, THOSE THAT KNOW ME, I'M PRETTY DIRECT AND I LIKE TO, UH, UH, TO AT LEAST PUT THE INFORMATION OUT THERE IF, FOR YOU ALL TO LOOK AT OR ASK QUESTIONS. BUT THE REASON WHY YOU SEE A WHOLE LOT OF FIRE TRUCKS IS BECAUSE, UH, TWO MAYORAL ADMINISTRATIONS AGO, UH, PREVIOUS TO THE LAST ONE, UH, WE SAID THERE'S A PROBLEM. AND THE RESPONSE TIMES ON THE AMBULANCES AND THE MEDIC UNITS WERE, WERE TRICKLING UP. AND THE SAME QUESTION HAPPENED, WHICH WAS, WELL, HOW CAN WE BE MORE EFFICIENT? AND, UH, WE DON'T WANNA FOCUS ON THIS. AND GUESS WHAT HAPPENED? SO THEY SAID, WE'LL SEND THE FIRE TRUCKS. WELL, THERE ARE A LOT OF CALLS THAT WE RUN IN OUR SYSTEM ON A DAILY BASIS WHERE YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FIRE TRUCK, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE EQUIPMENT, THE TOOLS, AND THE, BUT UH, ARE THERE CALLS THAT AND INSTANCES YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT? ABSOLUTELY. AND THE ONLY REASON THAT'S HAPPENING IS BECAUSE FOR A DECADE AND A HALF, WE DIDN'T ADDRESS THIS PROBLEM. SO THE AMBULANCES WILL HELP NOT ONLY THE, THE REDUCTION IN FIRETRUCK USAGE GOING TO MEDICAL CALLS, IT'LL REDUCE, UH, THE MEDIC UNIT OR THE PARAMEDICS, UH, WORKLOAD BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A SYSTEM THAT CAN TAKE CARE OF THE NON, UH, A LS ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT CALLS, AND THEN FREE THEM UP TO DO THE ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT CALLS. SO THAT'S WHY WHEN I SAY IT'S A ALL AN INTERCONNECTED SYSTEM, AND THE SECOND THAT YOU TAKE A PIECE OUT, IT'S NOT CONNECTED ANYMORE. SO WE AGREE AND, AND, UH, WE'RE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOU. NO, IN FACT, I PUT IN AN AMENDMENT TWO YEARS AGO TO GET 10 ADDITIONAL AMBULANCES IN THERE. SO YES, I COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH THAT. AND IF YOU WANNA DO A PSA, WE'LL GET YOU IN A FIRE TRUCK, AND THEN WE'LL JUST GO DOWN AND, AND VIDEOTAPE IT. . THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MARTINEZ. THANK YOU, CHAIR. UM, AND SO I, I FORGOT TO ASK THIS ONE ABOUT THE ETHAN. UM, SO WHAT DO YOU SEE IS THE REDUCTION IN, IN USE FOR, WHY IS THAT HAPPENING? IS IT, IS IT THAT, UM, YOU'RE OFFERING IT AND FOLKS ARE NOT WANTING IT? OR IS IT PART OF THE, THE WORKFLOW OR MAYBE FIREFIGHTERS ARE NOT PUSHING IT AS MUCH? WHAT DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE? UH, , GREAT QUESTION. UM, TRYING TO BE, UH, UH, THOUGHTFUL IN MY RESPONSE. I THINK THE ANSWER THAT I'M GONNA GIVE YOU MAY NOT SOUND LIKE IT MAKES SENSE, BUT CONSISTENCY IS ONE OF THE THINGS. AND UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS, AGAIN, WHEN THINGS AREN'T FOCUSED ON, OR WE'RE NOT PUSHING THAT OUT, MUCH LIKE THE PSAS FOR MOVE OVER TO THE RIGHT, UM, WE KIND OF CUT CORNERS. WE, WE THOUGHT THAT THAT WAS EFFICIENT, BUT THEN IT WASN'T. AND NOW WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD BACK UP A SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLE REASONS. AND I KNOW YOU ALL FUNDED, UH, THE PROGRAM, I THINK A LITTLE WHILE AGO. NOW IT'S, IT'S GOING BACK TO THE EDUCATION PIECE BECAUSE IT, IT TAKES, YOU'RE, YOU'RE EDUCATING AN ENTIRE SYSTEM. YEAH. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE A DAY THAT ARE ON DUTY, 800 PLUS, YOU KNOW, NEARLY 4,000. SO WE'VE GOTTA WAIT FOR THAT TIME TO CATCH UP. BUT I THINK IT'S A VALUABLE TOOL. WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT, WHAT DOES THAT TIMELINE LOOK LIKE, WOULD YOU ANTICIPATE? AND THEN, UH, WHAT, UH, WHAT COULD WE DO TO BE HELPFUL, I GUESS ON OUR END? UM, YOU KNOW, I WILL GET WITH, UH, UH, THE CHIEF AND THE EMS AND WE WILL GET THAT ANSWER FOR YOU. UH, BUT WE'VE ALWAYS, UH, H-P-F-F-A HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED, UH, THE ETHAN PROGRAM BECAUSE THE PARAMEDICS OR THE, THE FIREFIGHTER EMTS THAT ARE RESPONDING RECOGNIZE THAT THIS SITUATION ISN'T A, UH, ADVANCED CALL OR DOESN'T NEED TO GO TO AN ER. SO NUMBER ONE, IT HELPS WITH THE ERS. AND THEN NUMBER TWO, UH, IT HELPS WITH THE DEMAND BECAUSE YOU'RE, YOU'RE SAVING 50 MINUTES ON AVERAGE, RIGHT? RIGHT. SO, UH, I WILL GET BACK WITH YOU AND, AND WORK WITH YOU. BUT ANYWAYS, THAT WE CAN HAVE TO, TO INCREASE THE ABILITY [01:00:01] TO HAVE THE WORKLOAD, UH, REDUCED FOR THE UNITS AND HAVE THEIR AVAILABILITY INCREASE. WE'RE ALL FOR, OH, AGAIN, UH, APPRECIATE EVERYTHING Y'ALL ARE DOING AS WELL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU COUNCIL AND COUNCIL MEMBER. WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET AN UPDATE ABOUT ETHAN TO THE COMMITTEE, UM, IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS, BECAUSE I WAS UPSET TO HEAR TOO THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT MOVING ALONG AS MUCH AS I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AT THIS POINT. SO, UM, WE'LL REQUEST AN UPDATE TO THE COMMITTEE BY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AS WELL. UM, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. THANK YOU. UM, I DIDN'T ASK YOU ABOUT STAFFING AND I'M, I MIGHT HAVE MISSED IT, BUT HOW ARE WE DOING, UH, STAFFING THE AMBULANCES ESPECIALLY? OH, WE, WE HAVE THE ENOUGH FIREFIGHTERS, UH, EMTS, PARAMEDICS ARE THE FIREFIGHTER PARAMEDICS AND THE ENGINEER OPERATOR PARAMEDICS ARE SOMETHING THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION, THE FIRE CHIEF, UH, AND THE COMMAND STAFF AS WELL AS H-P-F-F-A HAVE, HAVE FOCUSED ON TRYING TO FIX, WE NEED MORE PARAMEDICS SO THAT THEY'RE NOT GETTING BURNT OUT BECAUSE THEY ARE. AND, AND I WANNA REMIND PEOPLE, THE PARAMEDICS THAT ARE OUT IN THE FIELD DOING LIFESAVING WORK, IN ESSENCE, CAN DO A LOT OF WHAT AN ER DOCTOR DOES IN THE ER. UH, AND THEY'RE DOING IT OUT IN AN UNCONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT. AND SO THESE ARE CRITICAL, YOU KNOW, PATIENTS, THEY'RE CRITICAL TRAUMA CALLS, UH, THAT REQUIRE ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT, HIGH STRESS, AND SO WE NEED TO GET THEM THE HELP. UH, AND SO WE HAVE BEEN MAKING THAT A FOCUS. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID WRITE IN OUR CONTRACT, AS WELL AS TO TRY TO INCREASE THE STAFFING OF THE PARAMEDICS. SO WE NEED MORE FIREFIGHTER PARAMEDICS. DOES THE FIRE DEPARTMENT REQUIRE CROSS TRAINING OF ITS PARAMEDICS? EVERYBODY IN THE STATE OF TEXAS? SO IN ORDER TO BE A CLASSIFIED FIREFIGHTER, UH, YOU HAVE TO BE REGISTERED, YOU HAVE TO BE LICENSED AS AT LEAST MINIMUM, AN EMT. UH, AND THE PARAMEDIC NOW, UH, SO I'M A PARAMEDIC AND FIREFIGHTER, AND SO YOU HAVE TO BE DUAL LICENSED. UH, AND THAT'S PART OF THE INTERCONNECTIVITY OF THE SYSTEM, BUT ALSO A STATE LAW REQUIREMENT. HMM. WHAT ABOUT A SYSTEM TO ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE WHERE PARAMEDICS DIDN'T HAVE TO BE CROSS-TRAINED AS FIREFIGHTERS? UM, YOU'VE RUN INTO A NUMBER OF, OF ISSUES AND PROBLEMS. UH, NUMBER ONE, UH, IT DOESN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM. NUMBER TWO, IT CREATES, UH, MANY, MANY MORE. AND FROM THE BROAD VIEW, I WILL TELL YOU THAT, UH, THESE ARE CLASSIFIED MEMBERS OF THE HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, SO THEY'RE ABLE TO BE, UH, UTILIZED IN MANY DIFFERENT AREAS. AND THAT'S WHERE THE INTERCONNECTIVITY COMES FROM. BUT ALSO AS VERY PRACTICAL MATTER, IT'S AGAINST THE LAW. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER PAN'S OFFICE. THANK YOU CHAIR. UH, THANK YOU PRESIDENT TON AND MR. BERMAN AND TO ALL OF OUR HFD LEADERS, UH, IT'S GREAT TO SEE ALL HERE TODAY. UM, A COUPLE QUESTIONS THAT I THINK WE'VE MOSTLY TOUCHED ON, BUT JUST TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND. AS WE SPEAK ABOUT FIRE TRUCKS RESPONDING TO LIKE MEDICAL CALLS AS OPPOSED TO AMBULANCES RESPONDING TO THOSE, IS THAT JUST GENERALLY DUE TO SHORTAGES OF AMBULANCES? OR ARE THERE SPECIFIC CRITERIA DETERMINING WHEN A FIRETRUCK MUST BE DISPATCHED DESPITE THE CALLER INDICATING FIRE IS NOT NEEDED? NO. IF, IF YOU SEE A FIRETRUCK USUALLY SHOW UP FIRST, A DEPENDS ON THE ACUITY OF CALL. SO IF IT'S CARDIAC ARREST, UH, OR IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE A LOT OF PEOPLE REMEMBER, AN AMBULANCE HAS TWO PEOPLE AND ONE OF, IF, IF IT'S AN A LS CALL AND YOU HAVE A PARAMEDIC, ONE'S TREATING IN THE BACK. AND AS SOMEBODY THAT WAS A PARAMEDIC ON THE STREETS FOR A LONG, LONG TIME IN MANY AREAS OF HARRIS COUNTY, UM, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WHEN YOU GO INTO AN ER, YOU'VE GOT A DOCTOR, YOU'VE GOT NURSES, YOU'VE GOT TECHS, YOU HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE DOING LIFE SAVING GREAT WORK. WELL, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, ONE PERSON, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'VE GOTTA INTUBATE SOMEBODY, START AN IV, DO ALL THESE THINGS. AND SO IT MAY REQUIRE, UH, THE FIRETRUCK AND ITS TOOLS TO MOVE THE PATIENT. THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE DON'T THINK ABOUT MM-HMM . BUT FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF IT, THE REASON WHY YOU'RE SEEING A FIRE ENGINE IS BECAUSE THE AMBULANCE IN THAT DISTRICT IS ON ANOTHER CALL AND WE'RE PULLING FROM ANOTHER DISTRICT. GOT IT. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UM, AND YOU MENTIONED THIS A BIT EARLIER, PRESIDENT, I UNDERSTAND FROM THE BUDGET WORKSHOPS THAT HFD HAS BEEN WORKING TO PUT MORE FIREFIGHTERS THROUGH EMS TRAINING OR MORE PARAMEDIC TRAININGS. UM, AND I THINK THAT, IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THAT'S ABOUT NINE MONTHS. AND IT CAN SOMETIMES RESULT IN STRAINS ON THE MINIMUM STAFFING, BUT IT'S NEEDED SO THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH PARAMEDICS. UM, AND I BELIEVE CHIEF MUNOZ PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED IT WAS 25 PARAMEDICS, NOW WE'RE UP TO 150 GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS. MM-HMM . DO WE KNOW, THIS MAY BE HARD TO CALCULATE, BUT HOW MANY MORE INDIVIDUALS WE WANT TO PUT THROUGH PARAMEDIC TRAINING TO LIKE GET TO THAT CATCH UP POINT, UH, AND TO GET TO THE NEEDED LEVELS OR, AND LIKE HOW LONG THAT MAY TAKE? UM, I THINK THAT'S A PERFECT QUESTION. UH, THE, THE ANSWER IS, IS THAT, UH, BECAUSE OF THE INVESTMENT THAT THE COUNCIL MADE, UH, IN FOCUSING ON THE ROOT CAUSE AND THE SYSTEMIC PROBLEM, WE'RE NOW SEEING THAT RESULT. AND THAT CAME FROM YOU ALL SAYING, YES, WE'VE GOTTA DO THAT. UM, I THINK IN MY PERFECT WORLD, YOU KNOW, YOU NEED ENOUGH PARAMEDICS TO WHERE, UH, THEY'RE GETTING A BREAK. MM-HMM . UH, WHAT WE HAVE, UH, IN THE CONTRACT IS NOT ONLY MEANT FOR THEIR SAFETY, BUT ALSO FOR FATIGUE AND PATIENT SAFETY. REMEMBER, THESE [01:05:01] ARE MEDICALLY LICENSED INDIVIDUALS. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE FRESH, THAT THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE NOT, THEY'RE SO STRESSED OUT THAT IT'S, IT CAUSES, UH, ISSUES. SO ALL OF THAT, GOING BACK TO, UM, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE A LOT OF PARAMEDICS THAT ARE CREDENTIALED, EVEN IF MAYBE YOU DON'T NEED THEM INTO ONE DAY. UH, WE ADDRESS THIS TO WHERE YOU HAVE PARAMEDIC ENGINES. WE HAVE SOME NOW. UM, BUT HAVING IT TO WHERE YOU HAVE AT LEAST A COUPLE PARAMEDICS ALWAYS THAT HELPS EVERYBODY. BUT THE TIME IT TAKES IN THE INVESTMENT OF THE NINE MONTHS, UH, TO BE OFF. THAT'S WHAT I THINK. WHEN CHIEF MUNOZ WAS GIVING THE BUDGET WORKSHOP, WHAT I THOUGHT WAS MOST IMPACTFUL IS THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN A PROBLEM CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD, OR IT COULD HAVE BEEN SOMETHING THAT SAYS, LISTEN, WE'RE IN A HOLE, AND YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE THE HOLE START FILLING UP UNTIL YOU ACTUALLY START FIXING IT. AND NOW WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE FRUITS OF THAT LABOR. BUT IT TAKES TIME. IT TAKES TIME TO FIX A LOT OF PROBLEMS THAT WERE EXISTING THAT, UH, THAT WE DIDN'T, UH, PAY ATTENTION TO. AMAZING. AND LASTLY, I, WE JUST TOUCHED ON THIS, BUT YEAH, THE 52% REDUCTION IN ETHAN UTILIZATION DOES SEEM HIGH. SO, UM, DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT ARE THERE SPECIFIC STEPS THAT THE UNION OR THE DEPARTMENT ARE TAKING TO EXAMINE THAT LOW UTILIZATION OF ETHAN TO LIKE IDENTIFY LIKE LINE ITEMS OR THINGS THAT WE CAN CHANGE AND IMPROVE ON MOVING FORWARD? ABSOLUTELY. I MEAN THAT'S, AND I WILL SAY THAT AS SOMEBODY THAT SAT IN THE CHAIR THAT ADVOCATED ON BEHALF OF THE MEN AND WOMEN AGAINST, UM, YOU KNOW, MULTIPLE ADMINISTRATIONS, UM, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'RE SEEING THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN, UH, MAYOR WHITMEYER, UH, CHIEF PINEO, THE ENTIRE FIRE DEPARTMENT. WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BE GOOD STEWARDS OF THE CITY RESOURCES WE WANT TO GIVE BACK AND WE WANT TO DELIVER EXCELLENT SERVICE IN ORDER TO DO THAT. UH, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THIS HOLISTICALLY, WHICH IS WHY IT'S ONE IN THERE. UH, BUT ALSO, UM, THE DISPATCH PROTOCOLS. I MEAN, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HAVE TO GET IN ALIGNMENT THAT COULD HELP. AND I THINK GOING TO COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S, UH, AMENDMENTS, YOU KNOW, ABOUT THE DIVERSION, IT'S THE FOCUS ON IT. AND WILL THAT HAVE A MEASURABLE RESULT? WELL, DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW ISN'T GOING TO HELP WITH THE WORKLOAD. UNDERSTOOD. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. STAFF FROM MAYOR PRO, TIMM CASTEX, TATUM'S OFFICE. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, AND THANK YOU FOR PRESENTATION TODAY. MY QUESTION IS MORE SO CENTERED AROUND, UM, HOW HOSPITAL SELECTION IS MADE, ESPECIALLY IF WE HAVE SOMEONE WHO IS RESPONDING FROM A PARTNER AND NOT NECESSARILY A CITY OF HOUSTON, UM, EMS VEHICLE. IS IT, ARE WE GOING TO THE, THE FIRST AVAILABLE, HOW, HOW DO WE SELECT AVAILABILITY AND HOW FAR FROM THE RESIDENT'S HOME THAT, UM, THE HOSPITAL THEY WILL BE LOCATED AT? I THINK I UNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION, BUT IF I DIDN'T, PLEASE INTERRUPT ME. IS ARE YOU SAYING HOW DO WE CHOOSE THE HOSPITALS? CORRECT. UM, MULTIPLE FACTORS. NUMBER ONE, IF IT IS A, UH, WE HAVE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TRAUMA. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ADVOCATED FOR WHEN IT COMES TO LBJ AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING WITH, WITH THE, UM, BUILDING THE NEW HOSPITAL IS MAKING THAT A LEVEL ONE TRAUMA CENTER. 'CAUSE CURRENTLY RIGHT NOW WE HAVE TWO LEVEL ONE TRAUMA CENTERS, HERMAN AND BEN TAUB, WHO ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER IN THE MEDICAL CENTER. SO THAT DOESN'T HELP US, UH, MEET THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY. IF EVERYBODY'S KIND OF RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO HAVE, UH, DIFFERENT LEVELS OF CARE. SO THAT GOES TO THE QUESTION, IF IT'S A STROKE, WE HAVE TO GO TO A CERTAIN STROKE FACILITY. IF IT'S A, UH, NON, UH, ACUITY CALL. IF IT'S A LOW ACUITY CALL, UH, THAT'S PROBABLY A DIFFERENT SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. SO IT IS IN COORDINATION WITH THE PARAMEDICS AND THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT ARE ON SCENE TREATING THE PATIENT. UH, AND THERE COULD BE A NUMBER OF FACTORS, BUT WE DEFINITELY, UH, TRY TO GO TO THE CLOSEST APPROPRIATE FACILITY IS WHAT WE SEE. OKAY. MY OTHER QUESTION IS, IN TERMS OF THE CREW THAT'S WITHIN THE ACTUAL AMBULANCE, ARE YOU HAVING THE SAME PEOPLE THAT'S KIND OF WORKING TOGETHER EVERY TIME THEY GO INTO THE AMBULANCE? OR IS IT LIKE WHOEVER'S AVAILABLE? HOW DOES THAT WORK? HUH. UH, FOR A WHILE WE WERE, WE WERE THROWING HODGEPODGE TOGETHER, IF YOU REMEMBER, UH, JUST A FEW YEARS AGO, UH, WE WERE COMING IN, I THINK 700 AND SOMETHING FIREFIGHTERS WHERE WE NEED ABOUT A 850 A DAY ON MINIMUM. SO WE WERE ALREADY COMING IN UNDER, AND WHAT I HAD MENTIONED ABOUT THE PARAMEDICS AND THE WORKLOAD THAT THEY'VE HAD, UH, IS THAT THEY'RE, YOU CAN'T JUST FLIP A SWITCH AND SAY, OH, THERE'S ANOTHER PARAMEDIC. BASED ON WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IT, TAKING AN INVESTMENT TAKES NINE MONTHS. IT'S A VERY DIFFICULT PROGRAM. UH, THE NATIONAL REGISTRY AND BEING ABLE TO, TO PASS NOT ONLY THE SKILLS PORTION, THE WRITTEN PORTION, BUT THERE'S A LOT THAT GOES INTO IT. SO THE INVESTMENT THAT WE'RE MAKING IS WE NEED TO FIX THIS SYSTEM FROM THE GROUND UP. UH, AND SO ALL OF THAT TIED INTO, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW WE REALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, ENVISION, UH, THE FIREFIGHTER PARAMEDIC ROLE BEING HERE. UH, WHETHER IT BE ON ENGINES, WHETHER IT BE ON MEDIC UNITS, UH, AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO INVEST IN GETTING MORE. BUT WE DEFINITELY NEED MORE, UH, FIREFIGHTER AND PARAMEDICS. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER. DO WE HAVE ANY [01:10:01] HFD PERSONNEL THAT ARE PARAMEDICS ONLY THAT DID NOT GO THROUGH FIRE. IT'S, THAT WOULD BE ILLEGAL. NO. OKAY. SO THAT'S ACTUALLY BY LAW, THEY HAVE TO HAVE BY BOTH. MM-HMM . OKAY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . ALRIGHT. I DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE IN THE QUEUE. WE'LL MOVE ON TO PUBLIC SPEAKERS. THANK YOU BOTH FOR THE PRESENTATION. THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. THANK YOU. UH, FIRST IS DOUG SMITH. YES, I, GOOD MORNING. MORNING. UH, IF I WAS TO SUMMARIZE THIS, UH, THE MOST IMPORTANT POINT I TOOK AWAY FROM THIS WAS WE NEED MORE AMBULANCES. UH, I THINK THAT'LL SOLVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS, BUT I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS. FIRST OF ALL, I'LL BE VERY INTERESTED IF YOU HAVE A REPORT ON ETHAN SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE, BECAUSE I REMEMBER WHEN THAT PROGRAM WAS INSTITUTED AND THE YEAR AFTER IT WAS INSTITUTED, THERE WAS TALK ABOUT WE CAN'T REALLY AFFORD TO CONTINUE THIS. AND I CAME TO COUNCIL AND SAID, PLEASE, THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT PROGRAM. YOU NEED TO CONTINUE IT. AND THEY DID. AND I THINK THEY'VE CONTINUED IT EVER SINCE THEN. UH, AND I'M REALLY SORRY TO SEE THAT THE UTILIZATION IS NOT WHERE IT SHOULD BE AND IT'S SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GOING TO BE ADDRESSED. SO I THINK THAT'S GOOD. SECONDLY, UH, I HAVE A QUESTION ON DEFINITIONS. ON PAGE SIX, UH, IT DEFINES FIVE TYPES OF EMS UNITS. MEDICS PROVIDE 24 HOUR ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT AMBULANCES PROVIDE 24 HOUR BASIC LIFE SUPPORT, PEAK HOURS DO THE SAME THING FOR 12 HOURS A DAY. AND THEN AGAIN, SQUADS PROVIDE 24 HOUR A LS FIRST RESPONSE. AND THAT SOUNDS LIKE THE SAME THING AS, UH, MEDICS. I, I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEDICS AND SQUADS, HOW, HOW THEY RELATE TO EACH OTHER. AND THEN THEY MENTION, UH, AIRPORT EMS FIRST RESPONSE, WE PROVIDE, UH, SERVICE TO THE AIRPORT. AND I'M WONDERING, UH, THE SAME THING I ASKED, UH, RELATIVE TO THE POLICE, A LOT OF THE POLICE OVERTIME WAS DUE TO THE AIRPORT. AND I DON'T KNOW WHETHER THAT SAME THING HOLDS TRUE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. IF IT DOES, WE NEED TO KNOW THAT BECAUSE THAT'S REIMBURSED BY THE AIRPORT AND PEOPLE ARE ALWAYS COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW MUCH OVERTIME THERE IS WITHOUT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT A LOT OF IT IS REIMBURSED BY THE, BY THE AIRPORT. AND FINALLY, UH, ON PAGE 10, UH, OF THE REPORT, THERE'S DATA QUARTERLY, UH, OF INCIDENTS. UH, AND IF YOU COMPARE THAT DATA, UH, I THINK IT TOTALS ABOUT 120,000 INCIDENTS FOR UH, 2024. AND THEN YOU LOOK AT PAGE OR YOU PAGE 13, IT SHOWS 176,000 INCIDENTS. THOSE TWO DON'T COMPARE AND IT'S QUITE A LARGE DIFFERENCE. AND I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN WHAT THAT IS. I'M SURE THERE'S AN EXPLANATION FOR IT. BUT THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTIONS. UM, YES. ANY UM, FIREFIGHTER OPERATIONS AT THE AIRPORT IS REIMBURSED FROM THE ENTERPRISE FUND, UM, BACK TO THE GENERAL FUND. RIGHT. UM, AS FAR AS YOUR OTHER QUESTIONS, WE WILL GET ANSWERS FOR YOU AND WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE. SURE. UM, I DON'T THINK THAT ANYONE ELSE HAS SIGNED UP. IS THERE ANYONE ELSE THAT WANTED TO ASK A QUESTION OR A COMMENT? ALRIGHT. SEEING NONE, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE TODAY. OUR NEXT PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE ON JULY 14TH. WE STAND ADJOURNED. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.