Okay, great. Hi. Please identify yourself for the record, and don't forget to pull the mic up close so that we can hear you, 117 4.28.10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 and proceed with your testimony.
Good morning. My name is Matthew Flanagan. I proudly work as a fire service paramedic with the Philadelphia Fire Department and have done so for the past twelve years. I am currently stationed at Ladder 5 and Medic 35, at Broad and Fitzwater. I come here today to testify in support of Bill No. 100214. This bill 12 makes clear what all of us who work for the Fire Department already know: That the mission of the department is to save lives and property, and that fire service paramedics perform a crucial role in that mission. Fire service paramedics not only provide emergency medical services, but we also provide assistance at vehicle accidents, hazmat sites, building collapse, and, yes, fire scenes. Our work is dangerous and, at times, involves tasks normally associated with putting out fires. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 part of the emergency response team that the City of Philadelphia provides its residents, workers, and visitors. In order to provide the diverse services that we provide the Fire Department, all fire service paramedics are cross-trained in a variety of types of emergency-response techniques. While that training includes the provision of emergency medical services, it also includes fire abatement and extinguishment of fires -- ladder- climbing, ladder-raising, and hydrant operations. Like firefighters, fire service paramedics are provided protective gear to be worn at fire scenes. Throughout my career, I and other fire service paramedics have been deployed to multiple fire scenes. Paramedics are deployed to virtually every fire. We are a necessary part of the Fire Department's response to fires. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 to establish a forward first aid station, typically in front of the fire building. In high-rise fires, we are stationed inside the burning building, typically a floor or two below, with the incident commander at the fire scene. This area is a part of the fire ground. On the fire ground, we face many of the same risks as firefighters, including building collapses, explosions, and dangerous fumes. As a fire service paramedic, I myself have faced risks of fire injuries in the performance of my job. I've entered burning structures to rescue victims, I've treated victims on the front door of structures that are on fire. While our principal role at a fire scene is to provide emergency medical services, I have also performed actual fire-abatement tasks. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 on the fire, raised ladders, established hose connections, and used fire extinguishers. I also have been deployed as part of the Rapid Intervention Team, or RIT team, which is a team of firefighter personnel that exists to rescue fallen firefighters. I have received multiple citations for my performance at fire scenes. Like my brothers and sisters who are firefighters and fire service paramedics, I have been deployed to countless vehicle accidents and hazmat sites. At accidents, I have assisted in rescue operations and have extinguished fires. At hazmat sites, I have been deployed in what is known as "the warm zone," close enough to provide emergency medical assistance. In summary, my job as a fire service paramedic is wide-ranging. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 can see that it is far more than that. In order to accomplish the mission of the Fire Department, this must continue to be the case. I personally don't feel like paramedics should be treated like second-class citizens in the Fire Department. We all work together, we all face the same risks. There is no reason why paramedics should be given watered-down bargaining rights. With all due respect, I submit that we deserve much better than what the Administration is putting us through. So I encourage you to pass Bill 17 No. 100214. The bill recognizes the overall mission of the Fire Department, which is the protection of lives and property. It also recognizes the important role that fire service paramedics play in the achieving of that goal.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214
Thank you very much. Please identify yourself for the record and proceed.
Good morning. My name is Richard Bossert. For over twenty years, I have served as a proud uniformed member of the Fire Department. I have served twenty years as a fire service paramedic; and for the past fifteen years, I have served as an officer, fire service paramedic lieutenant, and fire service paramedic captain, which I hold that rank currently, which has been for the past ten years. In my capability as a fire service paramedic, I supervise the duties of half of the BLS and ALS units in the City at one time. BLS units are staffed with two firefighters. ALS units are staffed with one fire service paramedic and either another fire service paramedic or a BLS-trained firefighter. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 Consequently, it is not uncommon for firefighters to be under my operational command. As all fire service paramedics, I received training at the Philadelphia Fire Academy to become a member of the Fire Department. That training included instruction not only in fire suppression, but also emergency medical services. With respect to fire suppression, our instructions included discussions about hose evolutions, putting water on fire, ventilating structures, placing ladders on buildings, search and rescue, vehicle extrication, and use of fire extinguishers. Today, I provide some of all that training to both firefighters and fire service paramedics at the Fire Academy; I am an adjunct instructor. My specialty is emergency medical services and vehicle extrication. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 that we do at the Fire Academy is absolutely necessary because firefighters and fire service paramedics work in tandem to achieve the overall goal of saving lives and property for the City of Philadelphia. While the bulk of the work performed by fire service paramedics is emergency medical services, we also perform a variety of tasks outside that specific area. Fire service paramedics and firefighters work together to remove victims from automobile crashes, at times using tools to do that task. Sometimes we provide medical care in the vehicle, where the extrication is in process. Other times we assist with the extrication itself. We cannot separate one function from another. Fire service paramedics are also called upon to work side-by-side with firefighters at building collapses and hazmat incidents. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 Department responds to that does not involve paramedics and emergency medical services. We are an integral part of the Fire Department's service-delivery system. At fires, fire service paramedics perform a wide variety of tasks that are vital to the department's mission. First and foremost, paramedics provide emergency medical services at the fire scene. Fire service paramedics establish four first aid stations in close proximity to the fire, often right in front and included in high-rise fires, as previously stated by my counterpart here, inside the fire building, just a floor or two below the actual fire itself. Paramedics face the same dangers faced by firefighters on a day-to-day basis. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 been there, done that, many-a-times. We remove victims from burning structures, and don't forget that we regularly treat injured firefighters also. Fire service paramedics also perform tasks at fire scenes that are not specifically related to providing emergency medical services. We have occasionally moved the fire hoses, we have helped put ladders on buildings, we absolutely help foot ladders for firefighters that go up and down so it's a lot safer for them. Because we are performing these tasks in the fire zone, we are required to wear the same turnout gear as the firefighter does. In other words, if you were to show up at a fire scene, you could barely recognize the difference between us and them because we work so close together. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 functions for the Fire Department.
We are a virtual and necessary part of the team in its effort to protect lives and property. That is why I fully support the passage of Bill No. 100214. The bill 8 will ensure that the Fire Code clearly reflects the multi-facetted emergencies handled by the Fire Department, including fire service paramedics as well as the other different types of duties all fire personnel are expected to perform. I believe the passage of the bill will improve the change that fire service paramedics remain within the uniformed Fire Department bargaining unit along with our brother firefighters and sisters. I trial hope so, because you simply cannot have one without the other. There is no reason why paramedics should be treated like second-class citizens in the Fire Department, and this bill will help prevent that from happening. 10 - PUBLIC SAFETY - BILL 100214 I appreciate this opportunity to speak on behalf Bill No. 100214. I urge this passage in order that the Fire Department remains one of the best in the country, as a united team.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Any questions or comments? (No response.)
Okay, thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Again, I'll ask, are there any other witnesses who wish to testify on this bill? (No response.)
Seeing none, this concludes the Committee on Public Safety. We will now go into the public meeting. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney for a motion on Bill No. 100214.
Thank you, Madam Chair. 129 4.28.10 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING I move that Bill No. 100214 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and a request made for a rules suspension to allow for first reading at our next Council session. (Motion duly seconded.)
Okay. It's been properly moved and seconded that Bill No. 100214 be reported out of this committee with a favorable recommendation and that the rules of Council be suspended. All those in favor? Opposed? Okay. The ayes have it, and this bill has been properly moved and seconded; and furthermore, the rules have been suspected so as to permit first reading at our next session. This concludes this hearing. Thank you. (Applause.) (Proceedings end at 11:20 a.m.) 130 4.28.10 - PUBLIC SERVICE COMMITTEE MEETING * * * 131 C E R T I F I C A T E I HEREBY CERTIFY that the proceedings of the City of Philadelphia Council Committee on Public Safety are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me on Wednesday, April 28, 2010, and that this is a true and correct statement of same. __________________________________ JOSEPHINE CARDILLO Registered Professional Reporter (The foregoing certification of this transcript does not apply to any reproduction of the same by any means, unless under the direct control and/or supervision of the certifying reporter.)