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EMS Task Force Recommendations
Recommendation 2: Reform Department structure to elevate and strengthen the EMS mission.
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Action Item |
Progress |
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a |
The Mayor shall appoint a Medical Director who shall hold the rank of Assistant Fire Chief. The Medical Director shall report to the Fire/EMS Chief but may be removed only by the Mayor. The Medical Director shall be a physician licensed to practice to medicine in the District of Columbia, board certified in a medical specialty that represents the broad patient base that EMS serves (emergency medicine, general surgery, family medicine, or internal medicine). Candidates must also have four years of substantial experience in EMS or other similar out-of-hospital care, including experience as EMS Medical Director, Assistant Medical Director or successful completion of a recognized fellowship. |
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b |
There shall be an Assistant Chief for Emergency Medical Services (EMS), reporting directly to the Chief of the Department. The Assistant Chief for EMS shall have at least 15 years of experience in the practice of emergency medicine as a paramedic or higher level of practice and leadership experience in EMS. The Assistant Chief for EMS shall have the staff needed to implement and sustain the recommendations and meet the objectives of the Task Force, and will have responsibility for analysis and planning for all medical units, including strategic planning, budgeting, program evaluation, special operations, and prevention. |
A position description is being developed for this new position and the Department anticipates launching a national search. |
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c |
The Chief shall also create additional positions of EMS Battalion Chiefs and EMS Captains for the purpose of (1) ensuring strengthened, 24 hour a day, seven days a week, supervision of EMS delivery in the field and (2) creating an EMS career track for those personnel who are specialized EMS providers at various levels of training who serve primarily in patient care. |
The position descriptions are being developed and the Department anticipates launching an external, as well as internal, search process. On February 11, 2008, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced a plan to create 31 new FTEs and provide an additional $3.7 million in FY 2008 operational reserve funding to achieve this and other recommendations of the EMS Task Force. Mayor’s Press Release on EMS Program Enhancements and Funding, 2/11/08* |
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d |
Department leadership, at all levels, shall work to facilitate the integration of the full EMS mission and of single-role providers into multi-role operations. No later than November 20, 2007, the Chief will convene a group of departmental personnel, at least half of whom are current or former single-role personnel, to identify, review, address, and report to the City Administrator conditions that may convey a lower priority for the EMS mission or complicate integration of functions and employees. These issues include, but are not limited to: Station alarm bells for fire apparatus calls but not ambulance calls; Ambulances positioned at rear doors rather than front doors, when available; Station names and insignia that omit or de-emphasize EMS apparatus; Use of "DCFD" insignia on some vehicles, uniforms, and other locations; Omission or lower emphasis on the contributions of single-role EMS providers; Obstacles, perceived and real, to incorporating single-role employees and their workload into multi-role operations. |
This group began meeting on 10/9/07 and includes participation from both bargaining units and the Office of the City Administrator. The working group's efforts at addressing these issues are ongoing. |
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