Subject:
Title
Emergency Medical Services Advanced Life Support First Responder Growth Management Agreement with four municipalities and one independent fire district. (Companion to Item No. 21)
label
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Sitting as the Pinellas County Emergency Medical Services Authority, approve the EMS Advanced Life Support (ALS) First Responder Growth Management Agreement with four municipalities and one independent fire district.
• The agreements with Clearwater, Largo, Lealman Special Fire Control District, Safety Harbor, and Seminole are the result of a cooperative effort by our Data Driven Focus Group at the request of some of the larger cities.
• The agreements provide OPT-IN options for any ALS provider’s participation.
• The agreements confirm the existence of currently funded “seats” as part of the crew aboard various types of response units as Authority funded foundational units that currently exist.
• Priority Dispatch in addition to other growth management strategies are necessary in assuring emergency situations will have highly reliable emergency response.
• Non-emergency/non-urgent service requests will still receive an appropriate response but in a select subset of non-urgent situations, not the dual ALS emergency response as currently exists.
Authorize the Chairman to sign and the Clerk of the Court to attest.
Body
Strategic Plan:
Ensure Public Health, Safety, and Welfare
2.1 Provide planning, coordination, prevention, and protective services to ensure a safe and secure community
Deliver First Class Services to the Public and Our Customers
5.1 Maximize partner relationships and public outreach
5.3 Ensure effective and efficient delivery of county services and support
Summary:
The Authority and participating Provider Agencies desire to collaborate to manage the growth of EMS incidents through a multi-faceted and cooperative effort. The goal is to ensure ALS First Responder Units are available for life-threatening emergencies, potentially life-threatening emergencies and fire suppression.
Background Information:
The Growth Management Plan is designed to reduce the growth of 911 response requests while also assuring the responses are safe and appropriate. Priority Dispatch is the system employed to triage the severity of the service request to assure ALS First Responder Units are available for rapid response time to life-threatening medical emergencies and are available for fire suppression and other hazardous emergencies. Use of Ambulances only to non-life-threatening and routine patient transportation requests for service, fire first response units will be more often available for Emergency Level Response within the primary response area.
The plan also contains provisions for other growth management initiatives to reduce the demand for EMS services through public education, community outreach, pathway management and alternate response configurations for segments of patients not experiencing life-threatening or potentially life-threatening emergencies.
The Data Driven Focus Group (DDFG) consisting of Fire Chiefs, R911 Dispatch, Ambulance Company, County EMS has done extensive review of this plan and associated data, calculating the impact to call volumes ensuring the safe guards are in place for accuracy. Stakeholder groups such as Medical Control Board (MCB),the Emergency Medical Service Advisory Council (EMSAC) and DDFG have expressed support for the proposal. Although there has been no opposition from any DDFG stakeholders a few members have remained neutral pending phase one implementation.
Fiscal Impact:
N/A
Staff Member Responsible:
James G. Fogarty, Director, Safety and Emergency Services
Partners:
City of Clearwater
City of Largo
Lealman Special Fire Control District
City of Safety Harbor
City of Seminole
Attachments:
ALSFR Growth Management Agreement - Clearwater
ALSFR Growth Management Agreement - Largo
ALSFR Growth Management Agreement - Lealman
ALSFR Growth Management Agreement - Safety Harbor
ALSFR Growth Management Agreement - Seminole
EMS Advisory Council Recommendation