The department traditionally has relied heavily on volunteers, including city employees who could leave their jobs during the day to response to emergency calls, said Chief Keith Larsen, a consultant and retired Columbus area fire chief. Those city employee volunteers no longer are available and other volunteers have more commitments and less availability, he said.
The staffing recommendation for the Fire and Emergency Services is transition to on-station paid personnel. “You need to put bodies in the station. It is up to the community to decide if they are full or part time,” Larsen said.
Over time there should be seven to eight people on station around the clock to allow the department to meet EMS response and fire needs, the consultants said.
The department this year budgeted for five personnel around the clock, Tipp City Fire and Emergency Services Chief Cameron Haller said.
The department was commended by consultants for its efforts toward change so far including encouraging dual certification in fire and emergency medical services for employees.
The list of some of the recommendations include:
- Transition from the present volunteer system of providing fire protection and rescue services to a combination system of staffing using ‘on-station” part-time paid personnel.
- Establish a dual-certified shift supervisor or commander in the daily staffing
- Work with the Miami County Communications Center staff and other partner agencies to resolve service-related emergency communication issues
- Develop response procedures for technical search and rescue and hazardous materials incidents that include specific actions that can be taken by initial responding companies
The council has discussed the eventual need to move away from a reliance on volunteers for the emergency departments for several years. Council President Katelyn Berbach said the report conclusions were not surprising.
“We knew this was coming and was something we needed to plan for,” she said. “We have what our needs are now and can work with the township … It is nice to finally see it on paper.”
The next steps on the road to the future of Tipp City Fire and Emergency Services will be discussed between Tipp City and Monroe Twp. at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 on a Zoom meeting coordinated by city.
The Monroe Twp. trustees contract with the city for fire and ambulance services.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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