Recommendation 4 - Enhance responsiveness and crew readiness by revising deployment and staffing procedures.
Title: Recommendation 4a
Action Item:
The Mayor shall establish a goal of providing ALS response times according to the National Fire Protection Association Standard 1710, 100% of the time, as well as a goal of providing transport responses within 13 minutes, 100% of the time. The Department shall conduct quality improvement review of those calls where the goal is not achieved. No later than March 20, 2008, and every six months thereafter, the Mayor shall certify that the District of Columbia has met this goal, or announce what steps are being taken to achieve this goal.
- Progress:
The Department follows National Fire Protection Association Standard 1710, as described on its Performance website [See Link]. NFPA 1710 calls for meeting its standards 90 percent of the time.
Status: Incomplete
Title: Recommendation 4b
Action Item:
The Mayor and Chief shall work together to come with a recommendation to the Council to implement shorter shifts for all employees and other recommendations to ensure the goal of having alert and awake employees who can provide competent patient care.
- Progress:
Status: Incomplete
Title: Recommendation 4c
Action Item:
The Chief shall establish, no later than March 31, 2008, and as available staff allows, a practice for assignment to transport duty in which employees are permanently assigned to ambulance service for periods of not less than 90 days, rather than intermittently with fire apparatus duty.
- Progress:
Status: Complete
Title: Recommendation 4 d
Action Item:
The Chief shall report, no later than March 31, 2008, on procedures for peak load staffing of transport units, that enable an adequate number of units to meet response time targets. The Chief shall also establish by the same date a procedure for dynamic deployment of units to provide coverage when any particular area of the District experiences a shortage of available units.
- Progress:
The Department introduced a Draft Redeployment plan in 2012 that would have restructured the deployment of transport units to match peak load times and call density. The Council did not approve this plan.
Status: Complete
Title: Recommendation 4 e
Action Item:
The Chief shall develop and implement a series of service delivery alternatives that provide efficient, rapid response with a variety of apparatus and personnel.
- Progress:
The Street Calls Program began on March 27, 2008: an innovative mobile outreach initiative designed to provide alternative services to high-volume individual 911 system users. The Street Calls Program uses FEMS paramedics in a mobile response vehicle to perform pro-active prevention, intervention, and response to at-risk individuals (including the homeless, mentally ill, hoarders, and chronic public inebriates). These interventions also reduce the demand on other emergency units, increasing their availability for other responses.
DC Fire & EMS remains a national leader in the use of alternative vehicles to manage EMS needs during special events and other planned and unplanned events of high crowd density. The Department has an EMS Bike Team with specialized training and advanced life support capabilities, and the Special Operations Division utilizes specially modified utility vehicles such as the Gator™ and the ASAP/Polaris ATV mini-ambulance to safely deliver EMS care and evacuate patients from areas of limited access.
In 2018, the Department launched the Right Care, Right Now nurse triage line program, which diverts non-emergency callers to 911 to community clinics for the most appropriate care. It also provides non-emergency transportation to Medicaid beneficiaries and DC Healthcare Alliance enrolles. Additional information on this program is available here: https://fems.dc.gov/page/frequently-asked-questions-right-care-right-now
Status: Complete