Committee Hearing, March 28, 2007

COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - BUDGET - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, March 28, 2007 10:30 a.m. - - - PRESENT: COUNCIL PRESIDENT ANNA C. VERNA COUNCILWOMAN JANNIE BLACKWELL COUNCILMAN DARRELL L. CLARKE COUNCILMAN FRANK DiCICCO COUNCILMAN WILLIAM GREENLEE COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED MILLER COUNCILMAN JUAN RAMOS COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO COUNCILMAN DANIEL SAVAGE BILLS 070114, 070115, 070116 RESOLUTION 070128 - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services Eleven Penn Center 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2

Good morning, everyone. This is the continued public hearing of the Committee of the Whole. The first department to testify will be the Fire Department. Good morning, Commissioner. Kindly identify yourself for the record and proceed with your testimony. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Good morning, Council President Verna and members of City Council. I am Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers. With me is David Beatrice, Acting Deputy Commissioner for Administrative Services. The Fire Department's Fiscal Year '08 Operating Budget request proposes $190,107,667 for the General Fund; $5,493,025 for the Aviation Fund; and $1,410,000 for the Grants Fund, for a grand total of $197,010,692. This is an increase of $1,598,100 over the Fiscal Year '07 estimated obligations. The $176,783,434 budgeted for 3 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Class 100 personnel services includes funding for civilian and uniform members' contracted pay raises. It also includes funding to start the delivery of the Special Operations Command Technical Rescue School Class No. 2. Since last year's testimony, the Fire Department has hired 330 new firefighters. The last 160 of these recruits are due to graduate from the Fire Academy on May 25th. Overtime costs for Fiscal Year '08 are projected to be lowered by $7,561,613. 2 percent reduction from $31,279,613 to $23,718,000. The Department hired 15 paramedics on October 2006 and in this process of hiring an additional 15 paramedics, we are in the process of hiring 15 additional paramedics who are projected to start next month. The Fire Department is working with the Personnel Department to establish a new list so that we can continue to hire paramedics 4 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. as they become available. 5 percent Class 100 reduction. 5 percent Class 100 reduction in funding for civilian positions. The number of authorized dispatchers in our 9-1-1 call center is being reduced from 54 to 52. In our general support division, a support clerk position will be eliminated. The balance of the savings will be generated through delays in hiring. The total projected salary savings from this reduction are $138,985. The Class 200 total of $6,181,013 reflects a net Fiscal Year '08 increase of $138,804. One hundred and fifty thousand dollars is being added to fund the emergency medical billing services contract. In Fiscal Year '07, Class 200 was increased by $11,196. That funding was needed to pass through a state reimbursement payment to several private ambulance services that provided medical services to Hurricane Katrina 5 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. victims who landed in Philadelphia International Airport. In Fiscal Year '08, the $11,196 is being removed from the budget, as it is no longer needed. Per contract arbitration, the City now provides each member two sets of bunker gear instead of one. In Fiscal Year '07, $793,000 was added to the Class 300 budget to complete the purchase of this additional protective gear. Now that the purchase of this second set is complete, $673,000 of the funding is not required in Fiscal Year '08 and has been removed from Class 300. The total Class 300/400 budget for Fiscal Year '08 is $6,639,467. The Fire Department is charged by the Water Department for a share of the cost of maintaining the fire hydrant system throughout our City. The Fiscal Year '08 -- in Fiscal Year '08, the scheduled rate increase is projected to increase the cost from $7,033,000 to $7,313,400. This $280,400 increase is in 6 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Class 800. Service enhancements and accomplishments: The Fire Department responded to 9,523 fires in Fiscal Year '06, down percent from a five-year 7 high of 11,399 fires in Fiscal Year '02. 28 10 percent, from the Fiscal Year '05 total 11 of 2,191. For Fiscal Year '07 and '08, 12 we are projecting similar reductions. 13 In Fiscal Year '06, there were 14 50 fire deaths.

That is nearly a 17 15 percent decrease from the 60 fire deaths 16 recorded in Fiscal Year '05. At 29 of the fire death incidents, there were no 18 smoke alarms present. At an additional three fire death incidents, there was no 20 battery or a dead battery in the smoke alarm. I am saddened to report that recently there has been a spike in fire deaths. At the end of February Fiscal Year '07, there have been 39 fire deaths. 7 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. At 21 of the 39 death incidents, there were no smoke alarms present. At an additional five incidents, the battery was dead or missing. For the Fire Department even one resident injured or killed is too many. Because of this, we are redoubling our efforts to educate and remind all Philadelphians and visitors of the importance of proper installation and maintenance of smoke alarms. It further drives my efforts to provide a free smoke alarm to every citizen of Philadelphia in need. Under our Smoke Alarm Distribution program, the Department distributed 8,125 smoke alarms to low-income residents in Fiscal Year '06. That is a 30 percent increase from the number distributed in Fiscal Year '05. The Kidde Company, a major smoke alarm manufacturer, and Channel 6 ABC donated many of the alarms. Through our Operation Stand Down program, members of the field fire 8 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. companies distributed fire prevention education literature and installed smoke alarms in homes in targeted high-risk areas, such as areas with recent fire deaths. During Fiscal Year '06, the field firefighting members performed 30,117 block checks, made 1,093 Fire Code referrals, distributed approximately 20,000 pieces of fire prevention literature and visited 2,920 groups at events such as block parties and Town Watch meetings. I am pleased to report that in Fiscal Year '06 fire prevention unit staff members conducted 190 safety programs in our City schools, over 300 programs in hospitals and nursing homes and daycare centers, and 258 inspections related to high-rise buildings. In Fiscal Year '07, we are on target to meet or exceed those numbers of fire prevention programs. As part of the City's 9 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. comprehensive emergency preparedness strategy to be ready to respond to terrorist attacks or natural disasters, the Department participated in two regional anti-terrorism drills with Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. The drills, held in May 2006 and December 2006, were designed to strengthen the interoperability, communications and emergency response capabilities of the region. To support emergency preparedness efforts, the Department will initiate Special Operations Command Technical Rescue School for a new class of uniform personnel. The training curriculum encompasses the main disciplines of technical rescue operations, such as building collapse, high angle rope rescue, confined space rescue, extrication, water rescue, et cetera, as well as terrorism and weapons of mass destruction operations. The training will be provided to 48 uniform 10 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. personnel. Four utility trucks and a jet-ski water craft were acquired in Fiscal Year '07 with funds from a Pennsylvania State Homeland Security grant. The trucks will be used to transport and store equipment and supplies used by the Special Operations Command and the HAZMAT Mitigation units. The water craft will be used for river and flood rescue operations. The cost of all the vehicles was $788,698. The Department anticipates taking delivery of two new American LaFrance trucks by the end -- these are ladder trucks -- by the end of June. Each ladder truck is valued at $649,000. The Department has on order an additional four ladder trucks and five pumper trucks, delivery of these nine vehicles to take place throughout Fiscal Year '08. As a point of information, the cost of a pumper truck is $389,000. In response to the 11 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

ever-increasing demand for emergency medical services, the City Council last year added $1 million to our Fiscal Year '07 General Fund budget to increase the number of medic units. By July 18, 2006, the Department had activated Medic Units 42, 43, 44 and 45. These medic units provide added coverage during peak EMS demand periods. The Department currently deploys a total of 45 units as follows: full-time Advanced Life Support units, 14 12 peak demand Advanced Life Support 15 units, four full-time Basic Life Support 16 units and five peak demand Basic Life 17 Support units. 18 In June 2006, the Department 19 began to deploy specially trained 20 paramedic bicycle teams at large events, 21 such as the International Cycling 22 Championship, the ODUNDE Festival, the 23 Manayunk Arts Festival and the New Year's 24 Day Parade. The bikes allow paramedics to maneuver through crowds to provide a 12 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. fast medical response. The bike team paramedics provide treatment and stabilization service until a transporting medic unit arrives. The average incident response time is one minute. The Department, in an effort to further improve emergency medical services, is in the process of obtaining two Segway vehicles through a Pennsylvania Department of Health grant. In June 2006, the Fire Communications Center installed a Verizon Vesta/Plant 9-1-1 phone system. This state-of-the-art phone system is interfaced with the computer-aided dispatch system and is Enhanced 9-1-1 Phase 2 compliant. Features such as automatic call distribution and instant call replay greatly enhance our call response system capability. The Fire Communications Center also replaced all fire station 9-1-1 watch desk computers, utilizing a high speed, broadband 13 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. wireless network to supplement 9-1-1 dispatches. We are in the process of installing a new upgraded computer-aided dispatch system. Full implementation is anticipated to occur in early May of this year. This new Command Point CAD system will utilize GIS and computer mapping applications to provide more precise and effective resource dispatch and monitoring capabilities. The 9-1-1 phone system will be directly interfaced to the CAD and will provide 9-1-1 caller location information in a mapping format to the emergency dispatchers. Also, for the first time, this CAD system will be a shared City asset, promoting interoperability response amongst the Fire, Police and Public Property departments. Underway is a project to deploy Mobile Data Terminals in 18 of the Department's command vehicles. These terminals will provide members with 14 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. needed information that will be used to improve command and control operations at incident scenes. The next goal of the Department would be to install Mobile Data Terminals in all engine and ladder company vehicles by the end of Fiscal Year '09. In Fiscal Year '08, the Department plans to expand the pilot National Fire Incident Reporting System project department-wide. This software system will enable the Department to produce detailed and summary management reports useful in the operation of the Fire Department. The State of Pennsylvania has selected this firehouse software as the standard fire incident reporting system for the state. I am excitedly looking forward to fully implementing the new Fire Safety Representative program which started in June 2006. I would like to have one person on each City block to be a point of contact with the Fire Department by 15 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. e-mail to his or her local fire station. The civilian Fire Safety Representative would be provided with the most up-to-date fire safety information to pass back to neighbors. The goal of this program is to have a system of neighbors helping neighbors in preventing fires, injuries and needless loss of life.

With the Fire Safety Representatives, Station Captains and Fire Department management all working together, I see this program as an opportunity to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods citywide on a block-by-block basis. That concludes my testimony. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Council for its continued support of our members in the Philadelphia Fire Department. I speak not only for myself but for all the members of the Fire Department in saying that I appreciate everything that you do for us and thank you very much. I'll take questions if you have any. 16 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Thank you very much, Commissioner. City Council added $1 million to your FY07 budget for the hiring of additional paramedics, and you mention in your testimony you are having difficulty in filling these positions. Can you tell us what steps are being taken to ensure that you will fill those positions? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. Currently, what we are doing is working with all of the area training hospitals and training corporations that train the paramedics. We know that we have many paramedics currently in school and consistently going into school. So what we have is a constant flow coming out. And these are the 15's and the 15's and the nine's and eight's that we get periodically to come in and fill those slots. What we also have is the fact that in this flow, we have currently, the way that we operate, 30 positions that 17 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. need to be filled that are unfilled. We backfill those with overtime and with emergency medical technicians currently and we look -- we're looking at it, and at some point in the future, we will have those slots filled. But it's not as large of a gap as we had before. Slowly but surely they're coming out. And also we're working with Personnel. Personnel actually shortened the process to test and have a list ready for us, and they've been very cooperative. So once one list is --

Have you ever requested a residency waiver for these positions? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, I have not.

And you say that the Personnel Department is working with you to expeditiously go through the process -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. 18 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

-- so that you will be able to hire? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. Immediately when we finish a list, another test is given and a list is established and we start another class.

So you're not having the difficulty that you had last year this time in filling the positions; is that what you're leading me to believe? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, I'm not leading you to believe that. What I'm saying is that the process that is currently being used gives us a flow of paramedics. It's not -- we don't get 100 paramedics at once, but we do get paramedics filling these spots, and the gap is shrinking, but it's shrinking slowly.

So how many vacancies do you have? COMMISSIONER AYERS: The way the system is currently configured, there 19 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. are 30, and we're waiting to put in a class of now. 4

15? 5 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. 6

How 7 many EMS units do you currently have? 8 COMMISSIONER AYERS: We have 45 9 units. 10

And 11 how many of these are Advanced Life 12 Support units? 13 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Of the 14 Advanced Life Supported units, we have -- 15 the Department currently deploys a total of 45 medic units as follows: 24 full-time Advanced Life Support units, 12 peak demand Advanced Life Support units, four full-time Basic Life Support units and five peak demand units and they are Basically Life Support units. So that's a total of 45. And as you can see, they are deployed in a way where they would have the most impact on the demand from the citizens. 20 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Can you tell us where the ALS units are located? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, I can. I'll get that to you in a --

I ask that because I think I sent you a letter that I had received, I guess, last summer or last fall from a constituent in Southwest Philadelphia that she had to -- she had called 9-1-1 and had to wait at least 45 minutes. She said she kept hearing the sirens going around and thinking to herself, Oh, they're going to be here any second now, but apparently the firefighter could not find the street or the location. I would think that they would have a map that they would be able to refer to. I had another constituent who tells me in Southwest Philadelphia who had to call 9-1-1 and waited and waited and waited, and finally when the firefighters arrived, she said, What on 21 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. earth took you so long? They said, Well, we had to come from 12th and Shunk. Now, that doesn't seem to me to be a very logical way of dealing with somebody who may be having a heart attack, to have to come from 12th and Shunk to go to Southwest Philadelphia. I just think that public safety has to be our top priority. Now, why would that happen? COMMISSIONER AYERS: The emergency medical calls have continually been on an upswing. We do more calls every year. It's a constant bear on the system. One of the things that happened is when the system is busy and you have medic units that are running on calls all over the City, the system does bog down. That's why we have peak units to pick up this volume right now. So it's not a thing where --

Well, the peak units, have they come into 22 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. existence since last summer? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I beg your pardon?

You're talking about the peak units. Have they come into existence since last summer? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. The peak units have been in existence for a long time. We've added more.

I still think that when -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: We've added more units.

-- you have somebody from Southwest Philadelphia who has to wait for a unit to come from 12th and Shunk, that's a problem, because if one is having a heart attack, you know as I do three minutes can make a difference. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. Well, a couple of things that we have done and that we're in the process of 23 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. doing is educating the public on CPR just for heart attacks. Twenty percent of our volume is Advanced Life Support. The other 80 percent, 80 percent of our volume, is for Basic Life Support. That means it's a regular transport, no 8 lights, no sirens, just care, and people are taken to an emergency room. And that 20 percent where we absolutely need Advanced Life Support, those are the folks that we really want to get to. And in our system when we have times where units are all out -- sometimes we get to zero medic unit availability -- we run our system of first responders -- excuse me; our first responders system with the engines and the ladders, and what you wind up with is, they'll get there, they'll stabilize the patient, and when a carry unit, which we call a carry unit, comes, we will take that patient. But sometimes we do get delays in responses. I was just being reminded that that million dollars, we did put up four 24 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. additional units with what you gave us.

So has that million dollars been spent? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It's being spent currently on an ongoing basis.

You indicated that you would forward to us the ALS units locations. Would you also forward to us a list of where the Basic Life Support units are located? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, ma'am.

You mention that some of the EMS coverage is at peak demand periods versus full time. What are the peak demand periods? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We have many peak demand periods. Most of the time they're early morning from 7:00 a.m. running up into 5 o'clock, 6 o'clock, sometimes into the evening hours. And we have units that are deployed during those periods of time. And also weekends, we have deployed some of these units on 25 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. weekends and the evenings where we have a lot of demand. I can bring you a system status that would show you exactly the times that they deploy and everything else and I will include that in the list.

All right. On of your testimony, you state that you are reducing your number of dispatchers in your 9-1-1 call center from 54 to 52. What's the justification of this reduction if you say that you're getting increased calls? What would the justification be in reducing the employees in the 9-1-1 call center? COMMISSIONER AYERS: There was a 2.5 percent reduction across the board citywide for civilian positions.

With what, sir? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Civilian positions in the budget, and that is where we had to cut two dispatchers and one clerk. 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

And what were the savings for the two employees? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Total savings was $138,985.

I'm sorry. Would you repeat, please? COMMISSIONER AYERS: $138,985.

What impact does that have on the call center? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I'm sorry?

What impact does that have on the call center? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, the impact on the call center will be basically we will have to have those positions staffed. We'll have to use overtime if we have problems. If a person is out sick, we'll have to hire someone to fill the position.

Well, then there really are no savings, are there? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It 27 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. depends. We could have an incident and we'll call in extra people at any time.

I'm sure if you have 54 employees, at any given day you probably have one or two who are out sick. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

Maybe one has an emergency at home, maybe one has a death in their family and has to take off three days. I don't know that a $138,000 saving is worth our jeopardizing public safety. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, we won't have a position that's unfilled at the call center. We have a --

But how are you going to fill them if you don't have the money? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We'll have to fill it on overtime. We can't leave the -- we have a national standard that we have to keep as far as dispatch.

What 28 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. will the overtime cost? I think you would have to just guess on that, but what would the overtime possibly be able to come to? COMMISSIONER AYERS: President Verna, I will figure that cost and get that back to you as well.

Ms. Reed, do you mind coming up to the witness table, please, and maybe you could respond. I certainly don't know what the rationale would be to cut 9-1-1 call centers, two employees from there at the tune of $138,000 when we'd probably be spending more in overtime and the Commissioner said he would replace them. How would he replace them if he doesn't have the money?

Dianne Reed, Budget Director. We had to hit a $10 million reduction number to make the budget.

I'm sorry? 29 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

We had to hit a $10 million two and a half percent budget number in order to balance the Five-Year Plan, and we gave departments a number. They chose which positions to decrease. We do not tell departments what positions to decrease.

I'm sure the Commissioner didn't want to fire firefighters. And if somebody in Southwest is calling for an emergency and they have to have them come from 12th and Shunk, where is the savings supposed to be?

We held harmless uniform positions in Police and Fire, FJD, City Council and Prisons. Everyone else got a cut. It's a zero sum situation.

So are you suggesting that the Fire Commissioner voluntarily came to you and said, Listen, we could cut two people from the 9-1-1 call center? 30 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

It's the Department's choice.

Commissioner, was that your choice? Come on. Let him answer. COMMISSIONER AYERS: We cut the positions, the positions -- if we have a console -- we won't have a console that's normally filled unfilled. We have a standard that we keep. We make sure that we have a one-minute response to calls. We will keep that standard. We will keep that standard. We will fill those positions.

And how much, Ms. Reed, did you think that the firefighters could save?

$138,000, as he testified.

Is that the figure you gave them or did they give it to you?

No. We gave them the dollar number and they responded with 31 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. the position complement that would --

And supposing they said to you, I'm sorry, because of the public safety issue, in good conscience we cannot cut two people.

Well, they could have -- I'm sorry, ma'am.

What would you have done?

We would have said, We'll find some alternative. I would say that City departments are rather heavy with clerical kinds of positions that we really should seek to eliminate or upgrade other kinds of positions and duties with a streamlining kind of strategy.

I don't know how you come to that conclusion. I don't know how you come to that conclusion.

Not fun.

Well, 32 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. it's very depressing being on this side, too, and I just think it's absolutely absurd for us to be cutting $138,000 from the Fire Department when we're talking about public safety, and I don't know how you came up with the figure of $138,985. There's no logic here.

There is some logic. It's just not a pleasant logic.

Tell me how logical it is. If you think it's logical, tell me how logical it is.

The logic is that someone else's budget would have been cut by the $138,000. So the degree to which the Fire Department's budget was held harmless and has been replenished while all other departments took cuts over the last couple of years --

Can I stop you there.

-- it seemed appropriate --

Can I 33 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. just stop you there, please. Do we have any indication as to how much overtime it's going to cost?

No. In fact, the Department has projected an overtime decrease because of the fact that they are staffing up generally. They were budgeted million in overtime. 10

But 11 if the call can't go through the 9-1-1 12 call center, how can they -- you're 13 saying how they have beefed up. How 14 could they beef up on the calls if you 15 don't have the appropriate people 16 answering calls? 17

I think that the 18 Commissioner was saying that they would 19 man the stations. 20

They 21 would man them with overtime. I think I 22 also heard the Commissioner say he would 23 have to hire two people. 24 Is that what I understood you 25 to say, Commissioner? 34 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Please. COMMISSIONER AYERS: What we will do is, we will make sure that we have the consoles staffed properly at all times. That's what we do.

And that would require overtime in many instances. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Sometimes it will require overtime; other times it may not. It depends on -- as you said, there's a replacement factor --

Do we have uniform firefighters manning the call centers? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Only as back-ups. In an emergency, I can have -- the answer is no. We have civilian staff, but for emergencies, if I needed to, for whatever the reason, extend our call center or have our call center staffed by other than civilian, we have trained back-ups that are uniform that can come in and staff that. 35 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

So now we're going to have firefighters answering the 9-1-1 calls if you do not have -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: Only in an emergency. An emergency meaning it would be something where we could not get our civilian force to the call centers. We have back-ups. We would bring in engines, drop off folks, and they would staff the call centers. We train back-ups. And I'm thinking of a major emergency. This is not like someone called in sick or someone is not available to take the overtime. I'm saying an extreme emergency we have a back-up system set for the City of Philadelphia to take care of that.

So, Commissioner, I'm tired of fighting for people who won't fight for themselves. Are you saying that you could live with this budget? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I'm saying 36 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. that I will always staff each and every position in the call center because of the safety of the people in Philadelphia.

Okay. So you can live with the budget that you presently have before you? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I will manage the budget that is in front of me.

That's fine. I have no further questions. Councilman Rizzo.

And we will remember that, that you can deal with the funds that you have, and I hope that you can manage that effectively. Commissioner, I just want to go back momentarily. I have some observations and I have a couple questions, but I want to go back to the staffing issue. You recollect that I was the Councilmember that asked you the question -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: Could you 37 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. speak up.

I was the Councilmember that asked you the questions about your staffing and the hiring practices, and I heard President Verna ask you about going outside the City, and I remember when the Personnel Director called me to tell me that she was prepared at the time to give you, through the Civil Service Commission, the authority, the waiver, to be able to hire people from outside, but she says she had never heard from you. If you have an issue of employment, why haven't you not implemented the waiver that was apparently available to you if you asked? COMMISSIONER AYERS: For one, it's a City management decision from the Mayor's Office to hire outside. That's for one. And the second thing is that we have handled and we have matched the alignment that we have in the emergency medical services to, one, meet the demand 38 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. of our citizens here in Philadelphia, measured demand of what the citizens require here, and the requirement is that 80 percent of our call volume in emergency medical services, including the increases from year to year, is for Basic Life Support, where people come and basically they are using all of the emergency centers, emergency rooms around the City of Philadelphia as their primary care. And that is what's happening. And it's increasing more and more. Now, the fact that we have correctly distributed our emergency medical services, emergency medical technicians, our paramedics, in a way to service the citizens, I think that that's the right thing to do. At this point, we're looking to hire an additional 30 paramedics to bring it up to what this configuration is. When I reach that point, we will continue to hire available paramedics and then re-staff all of those units that we took 39 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. down to Basic. That is in the plan that we have currently.

If you could as the Commissioner, without the Mayor's Office making the decision for you, if you could make the decision to get that waiver and get these posts filled, would you do that? COMMISSIONER AYERS: That's the Mayor's policy. It's the City --

I didn't ask you that. If the Commissioner had the authority to get the waiver through the employment department and also through the Commission, would you ask for that waiver? You've got 30 positions you can't fill, correct? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, that's not correct.

How many can you not fill? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, we'll probably be filling -- in the next class, that 30 is going to be reduced to, 40 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. after a hiring process and everything, it's going to be reduced to or 18, and 4 then soon after that, we're going to have 5 other students coming out of these 6 universities and out of these hospitals 7 and it will continue to come down, that 8 30. So I cannot fill the 30 right now 9 only because we haven't trained them and 10 they are not out of school. 11

Would you 12 ask for the waiver? 13 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Currently 14 I don't need a waiver. 15

You have 16 positions open. You tell me it's a 17 capacity, training capacity, issue. You don't have the capacity to train additional paramedics? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I'm saying that the way our unit, this Philadelphia Fire Department emergency service delivery system, is configured right now, that we are serving the citizens and that we are going to continue to serve the 41 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. citizens.

I hear that, but you have no issue at all of employment within the emergency services part of the Fire Department? In other words, you're satisfied that your staffing is appropriate and the timetable that you just described is adequate to staff that operation? COMMISSIONER AYERS: That's right. And the people that we are hiring are citizens of the City of Philadelphia getting jobs and working, and I think we're moving forward with a good progress.

That's important, because I can accept that, but if you have a crisis where you can't get people, then you really need to do something to address that. But I believe you because of my relationship with you that you are okay with the level that you have even though it's not as speedy as you'd like it to be. 42 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Thank you, sir.

Now, my next is an observation and I have a question. The last time we had an incident here at City Hall I saw a response that was just excellent. It was impressive, even though it turned out to be a very minor, thank goodness, situation. But what I observed is some very old equipment, and I believe that what I heard today, your work with Fleet Management, that you're going to introduce a significant amount of new equipment into the Fire Department. The numbers that I have is that you have six ladders, five pumpers and possibly if the money is available in '08, you're going to have ten new pumpers. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, sir.

So the aged equipment is something that you are absolutely addressing. Because, again, I saw some equipment -- fortunately I 43 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. understand the City ID process. We have equipment that's -- let me see here. Four engines and three ladders, that only one was less than eight years of age, and from what I understand checking with Fleet Management, that the dollars to keep that equipment on the road is very, very expensive. So this is a reaction in your report today to deal with this equipment, this aging equipment? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yeah. This is a continued process that we are utilizing. Right now I have a team in Washington now at the Congressional Fire Service Institute. I'll be going to Washington tomorrow. And that is one of the things that we are doing, to lobby Congress, the Senate to increase the funding to major cities so that we can -- to help us to actually purchase apparatus. It's a big-ticket item for every fire service, every city, and we're hoping that they will increase the funding so that we can get more 44 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. apparatus.

One of the areas, Commissioner, in fire service -- I read an article -- is the fact that many fire companies spend a lot of money, and I think ours included, because we design a vehicle that is so custom that it requires hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in extras to make it. A bin that's 10 by 10, the standard bin might be 11 by 11, but we want it 10 by 10. The industry, the utility industry, the bucket trucks, the line trucks. There's a package that you can buy from a manufacturer. I understand that we're not there yet and you need to buy in to being able to save thousands of dollars on an apparatus, a ladder or most likely an engine that comes from the manufacturer that suits almost every fire company in the United States, unless it's some very specific need. Are you looking at and allowing Fleet Management to purchase some 45 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. equipment that Chicago buys out of the box, that New York buys out of the box, that some Northern New Jersey town buys and finds very acceptable? Can we get there where we can save some money on buying some equipment that the manufacturer says that, We've done thousands of hours of research and we are ready, this equipment works well? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Actually, there is a pilot that we have currently. I started a cross-functional team with Fleet, Fire Department, Risk Management to do the assessments on actually having this type of a vehicle or purchasing this type of a custom vehicle to reduce those costs, and that pilot program, hopefully we'll get a report back and we'll be able to implement something that satisfies the City where we can actually have a vehicle that can stand up to the runs that we experience here in the City of Philadelphia. So that is a current pilot that's going on. 46 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

I'm glad to hear that, because I talked to one particular utility company that saved millions of dollars buying a truck that basically here's the truck, make it work, and it worked. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, the key is that we won't sacrifice the safety of the firefighters.

Wouldn't want that for a minute. My final is now my question. There is a program that I have a lot of interest in because it makes sense, it's common sense. Could you explain why you have not moved to the ALS engine pilot program that has a paramedic? It seems as though if you have a paramedic that now is a firefighter and they're on an engine and they are at the scene but cannot participate in a paramedic function, it seems as though they could be helpful to the firefighter. They could be helpful to the entire process. 47 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Why are we not where we need to be with the ALS engine pilot program? And for my colleagues that might not be familiar with what I'm talking about, could you explain the program and explain how you're adopting or going to adopt that program? COMMISSIONER AYERS: The Advanced Life Support engine is a concept that is used in many areas of the country, mostly in areas that are really laid out where you don't have a large amount of hospitals and that where you have to have remote runs, where you would need a paramedic in the vicinity at all times, and one of the ways that they have dealt with that, those departments, is to create paramedic engines. The pilot that is proposed in the contract by Local 22, as you know, that has not been settled yet. We're still -- that has not been signed, that whole contract. But I will tell you that our Fire Department management, we're 48 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. looking at that to find out how to implement that. And one of the things that would happen is, you would have a paramedic on every engine, on every platoon. So you have to -- if you wanted to implement a system like that, you would have to have 60 engines, or if you include the ladders, now we go up to like 90 vehicles times four, and you want to put a paramedic on each one, you start looking at like numbers that are through the roof to actually have a full-blown system like that. But what we're talking about is the proposal by the union and the fact that we need to look at that proposal by the union. But right now nothing is being implemented.

Well, Commissioner, you heard President Verna talking about and I have seen many times when the engine company is the first responder because there's no unit available or they're en route from one 49 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. part of the City. I mean, that boggles my mind that we're dispatching rescue units from South Philadelphia to Roxborough, not all the time but on occasion. Where you have an engine company show up at the scene and have a person that is a paramedic on that engine that became a firefighter and not take advantage of that opportunity to save a life or communicate with that rescue unit responding across the City to me is common sense to have that ability. So, Commissioner, if you're going to continue to have engine companies and I assume ladder trucks respond as first responders, if there's a paramedic on there, Commissioner, forget the 60 for a moment, forget the 90, but where that is in fact the case, why not take advantage of having a trained Advanced Life Support paramedic able to help a firefighter that's down? I'm sure they do it anyway without the 50 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. authorization. But to have a paramedic on that ladder or engine and not utilize their services to me doesn't make any sense.

Councilman, if I could interject. The Commissioner and I have been talking about other alternatives that are used in other locations in which you do not send a ladder or an engine as a first responder but rather some other kind of vehicle that is not as expensive to use in that way, and so we're exploring a variety of solutions. It doesn't seem -- I mean, if you've ever been at a location where a ladder has shown up as a first responder, it's pretty bizarre and then two minutes later or maybe 30 seconds in the case where I was where that happened, the EMS unit shows up. It doesn't seem like the best use of resources.

What kind of vehicle would you suggest would show up 51 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. in lieu of an engine or ladder?

The Commissioner is looking into some of those alternatives. I have been reading about other kinds of small vehicles that could be mobile and so forth. I don't know if he'd choose to comment on that. COMMISSIONER AYERS: They're called chase units. Some cities use small vehicles similar to police cars; some cities use vans; some cities use Suburban type vehicles. And what they do is, they have roving units. They have paramedics on the --

You talked about a huge amount of money. What you just described is a huge amount of money, vehicles, personnel. COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. It's less money.

Could you provide to the Chair right today how many Advanced Life Support personnel, how many paramedics, are firefighters that are 52 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. right now responding as a first responder to a run that they cannot because of their lack of qualification respond as a paramedic versus a firefighter? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We could do that.

Do you think you have a few out there? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Do we have paramedics that are -- absolutely. They've crossed over from firefighter to paramedic.

But am I correct to say that they are no longer certified to perform the job of a paramedic when they are now a firefighter? COMMISSIONER AYERS: They don't perform as paramedics. They changed -- they actually left the paramedic service, went to the fire side and they are classified differently.

But you could create an environment where a 53 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. crossover, a paramedic becomes a firefighter, could still retain his certification to provide paramedic service? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Again, as far as my previous comments about the fact that we are at management looking at that based on the fact that it's part of a negotiation right now, that negotiation hasn't -- the contract hasn't taken place. And at some point, we will -- we'll entertain all of those things. All of those things that you just stated are on the table.

Commissioner, just for the record -- and that's why we're here today, because the record is what we work with here -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: Sure.

-- you could create in the Fire Department an environment where a paramedic becomes a firefighter, could be cross-trained that when they're the first responder, that 54 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. they could provide the services of a paramedic? You could create that environment within the Fire Department if you'd like? Since when is the Budget Director involved in the operations of the Fire Department? This is unusual. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, it's under contract right now and it's still being negotiated.

Could you create that environment? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Could I? It's a contract issue right now, and it's a situation that I can't say that I could. I'm telling you that we do have crossover paramedics on engines and I'm saying that --

So why can't you answer that question? I thought the contract, I thought that was already an issue that was pretty much resolved. COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, it is not. 55 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

So you're not answering the question because this is a contractual issue that is not resolved? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, if I could do it right now, then it would mean that the contract was done and resolved. And I'm telling you that even without a resolved contract, that management are looking at all of those things. We're looking at all of those things.

I didn't ask you would you make the decision to adopt that. What I'm asking you, as the Commissioner, could you create -- forget the contract for a moment. Let's start all over again. We have paramedics that are becoming firefighters. If you could create a new classification of personnel, could you create as the Commissioner, going through the process, whatever it would be, through the Administration, could you create a class of employee that 56 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. could become a firefighter, take his paramedic training with him and utilize it as a firefighter as every other paramedic that would respond in a conventional unit? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, I would have to discover what all the things that would have to happen, personnel, et cetera, and all of those processes. That's what would have to happen.

Councilman Rizzo?

Yes, ma'am.

Would you finish your line of questioning, because the board is full. Every Councilmember would like to --

I'll come back around.

So we will do a second go-around.

I just want the answer to the question, is the 57 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Commissioner --

That's fine.

-- empowered to create that class of service. We'll be back at you. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kenney.

Thank you, Madam President. Relative to recruiting, I've been banging my head against the wall too long. I'm not going to bang it anymore, but I just want to make a comment. The New York City Police Department held its entrance examination at Temple University last week and will have, during the course of the spring and summer, a recruiting van parked outside Citizens Bank Park for recruiting purposes. Now, maybe we're smarter than 58 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. the people in New York, but we have 30 positions we can't fill and they're down here recruiting our people. We've had this discussion. We've had legislation. It's been vetoed. We've gone back and forth. I just think it's insane to limit the City's ability to recruit good, competent people, people who live here for a year or more only. That being said, Commissioner, relative to firehouses and their closings, we've been through here before with lots of dire doomsday conversation and a lot of emotional situations relative to the firehouse closing. I don't hear anything about that, and I assume that there's no planned closings for FY08? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, there are not. We are funded and I am happy.

Great. Thank you very much, because we went through a lot of fun during that period of time. So we don't have to do that 59 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. again. Firehouses, relative to diesel emissions -- emissions, I'm sorry, what are we planning on trying to do to kind of keep our people out of having to breathe in those fumes inside the house? Because we know there's things that need to be done with the engine and ladders while they're inside servicing them and otherwise and the engine needs to be running. How are we going to get some of that bad air out of the room? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We have funds available. We have been talking with Risk Management, who have ran all the tests that they needed to in all of the firehouses. There is a project plan that has been set up and ongoing installment of those systems.

Also, the Mayor has been kind enough to agree to do a little bit of a tour upcoming with some of the houses that really need some repair. I mean, it is a firehouse and 60 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. people do, as you know, live in it, and the capital conditions of some of those houses are really deplorable. And I know it's not something that you sit kindly with, but it's a matter of the government moving to improve the conditions of our firefighters when they have to live, their kitchen set-ups, their bedroom areas and those kind of things. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

So hopefully we can start moving in a direction that improves the conditions of our employees when they're on the job and living in the house. So that's, I think, a good thing. The 39 fire deaths this year, do you know how many of them are related to any kind of arson? Do you have those numbers? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. On the fiscal year I'd have to break that number out. On the calendar year, last year 11 were arson. 61 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Eleven out of how many? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Eleven out of 46.

Any fire death or any other death is tragic. I just want to make sure it's clear that sometimes it's not an issue of just bad wiring or smoke detectors; it's an issue of people trying to kill somebody. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Last year was the highest single cause, was arson. And this year currently we have zero arsons, but the shame of it is that each and every fire death, all that we have 17 currently, was in a house that did not 18 have smoke alarms, had missing batteries 19 or dead batteries. 20

I know you 21 recently with, I think, Councilwoman 22 Blackwell, have conducted a program in 23 West Philadelphia, I believe, with your fire recruits who were helping her hand out smoke detectors and the like. So 62 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. hopefully that will go a long way in getting people safer. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, absolutely. And with that reduction in fires, you reduce -- as a system, when you stop and you look at what we have, when you reduce the fire deaths, you reduce the runs, you reduce injuries and those types of things. You start to get our citizenry more in tune with fire prevention, and that brings down everything, firefighter injuries, possibility of firefighter deaths, runs that you don't have to make. It brings down fuel costs. It's just doing that basic thing, which is our mission, fire prevention. When you do that, you get that done, you start to find the funds to do other things. You start to bring down the wear and tear on the apparatus. It's all relevant.

It's all related. An issue relating to the Fire 63 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. Department but also to the Police Department is radio communication, cell phone communication in the subway. It is really a difficult problem, especially when you look at urban terrorism. A lot of it centers on mass transit, and the subway is a prime target. Are there any plans or study in the works to try to get the subway system accessible to both radio communication and cell phone communication? COMMISSIONER AYERS: For radio communication there is a plan in place to actually bring the underground communication into line with the regular 800 megahertz communication. Right now what we did in the meantime between the time we get that system in and what we're doing now, we have cooperation with SEPTA. They have given radios to Fire and Police so that when we respond, we can communicate underground.

So you have the capability of communicating 64 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. underground now? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, we do, through SEPTA radios and a system which is called a Rio System whereby we have our 800 radio that is put into a special mechanism, an apparatus, electronic equipment, and it allows Police, Fire, City services, Public Property to communicate.

So when you respond to a subway incident, whether it's a medical emergency or a fire of some kind, you take a different radio downstairs with you? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We have a radio -- well, the Chief already has a radio.

All right. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilman. Let me say that I've heard the President talk about that incident she mentioned many times. I don't even think 65 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. you were Commissioner then, so that's probably why you don't recall it. But she's upset. She mentions that story every year because she's upset about that issue. But what I wanted to say was that thank you for Saturday. We gave out information. They put in detectors. And I had two Lieutenant Gilliams. In fact, when we met our block captains and Town Watch leaders there, I had just left one Lieutenant Gilliam, the one I grew up with, and my people were saying, We're with Lieutenant Gilliam. I said, No, you're not. So we were arguing over Lieutenant Gilliam. But certainly it was absolutely wonderful. The cadets were great. Everybody was motivated. My committeemen, Town Watch and block captains were very grateful, as am I, for that service, and certainly we applaud you, think you and your department are doing a great job, and thank you. 66 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Thank you.

Councilman Greenlee.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Sure.

Good morning, Commissioner. And first I just want to go on record recognizing the real proactive efforts you're putting out there in fire safety and fire prevention. Your department is doing a great job in working with the community. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Thank you, sir.

I just have a question on a different subject. On the bills that are sent out to people after they receive emergency services, is that all done privately or is that also related to the Fire Department? Does that come from the Fire Department? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It is 67 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. related to the fire service that's delivered. It is emergency medical service that's delivered. It is a private organization, a private company, that does the collections for the Department. They collect from Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross and other insurance entities to bring back the funds for the services delivered into the General Fund.

I certainly understand people's insurance being billed. I occasionally hear concern, though, from people that have given out their insurance information. The insurance company has paid what percentage they'll pay, and they still keep getting billed. And they're obviously very concerned because they just plain don't have the money to pay it. And I guess even the bigger concern is that some of them will say, Well, geez, I'm going to be hesitant next time in calling because I'm not sure -- I 68 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. don't want to get billed, and maybe I start having some pain, but I'm hoping it's indigestion instead of a heart attack or something. Is there any program or does there come a time where you just say, Okay, these people, they just don't have the ability to pay? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, I think one of the things that we have that I am sure that we have not advertised or educated the public enough to is that we do have a system. Within the company, there is a system to actually have that bill rendered null and void where they don't have to pay it. One of the things I believe that we have to do is to enhance the education, let folks know if you cannot afford to pay that bill, you won't have to pay that bill.

What is that program? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It's a 69 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. process. It's through the -- it's still through the system. They have to just contact the company, which they get in the letter. It's in the letter that they get. If they contact the company, they have a process. They have to fill out some forms and another little process, and then they can get out of it if they ask.

Because some of the people, I guess, didn't see that. I've seen those letters. I didn't notice that. Because I know there's some people, they keep getting almost dunned on those bills. Just one last question on that, if I could, coming at it from the other direction. Have you seen -- and I know you haven't been the Commissioner the whole time. Since that process has been put in where people have to pay, have the -- maybe "frivolous" is the wrong word, but the less serious calls, have they lessened because people have to pay 70 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. for that service, people that maybe didn't necessarily have to call for emergency service? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Unfortunately, no, because most of the people that really cannot afford to pay are the people that's using the service. People who really can't afford to pay, they're going -- they don't have HMOs, they don't have insurance, things like that that they could utilize to go to a regular doctor. They use the emergency rooms. The stories are out there. The doctors know the people who are there frequently, and I don't think that we'll get away from that. I think that is something that's outside of the fire service. We have tried to help folks out with that. We have a program currently where we ask people to learn how to use the 9-1-1 system. We have the brochures on our medic units. We have brochures in 71 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. all of the hospitals' waiting room areas. We have brochures in the community centers, talking to people about not sitting at home and saying, Oh, I have heartburn or what is this. We want people to go and call 9-1-1 if that's the case, but we also want them to utilize some other system if they can. We're trying to partner with the Health Department and with other agencies to help educate our citizens on other available sources that will help pay for medical coverage or at least being seen by a doctor. We currently partner with Local 22. We have a Choices program where we actually have doctors come in and do a basic survey of all the citizens that want to come to the firehouse in the area, and the Local 21 actually allows the firefighters to be 22 screened as well. So with programs like this, we believe that we can educate people, tell people, Hey, look, you have high blood 72 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. pressure, you need to see a doctor, these are available sources if you don't have money. These are the things that Choices are telling people right now, and it's just something to try to curb the demand on 9-1-1.

That certainly makes sense. I guess it takes a while sometimes to get that communicated. COMMISSIONER AYERS: It's going to take a while.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Madam President.

You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Clarke.

Thank you, Madam President. Good morning. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Good morning, sir. 73 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Real quick question. With respect to the -- well, let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you know the regs associated with rental properties and the requirements for smoke detectors? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. They must have working smoke alarms in their rental properties. They have to be one on each level. And it is the law. They have to do that. They cannot get a Certificate of Occupancy without that requirement being fulfilled.

Should it be hard-wired or batteries? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Some of the new construction is hard-wired, but it's only required that they have a working smoke alarm.

Because part of the problem is, as you know -- I don't have to tell you -- is a lot of people have smoke detectors but the batteries are dead. Is there an ongoing 74 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. requirement for property owners to check on a monthly basis? I mean, what are the regs associated with that? COMMISSIONER AYERS: The requirement is that that property should be -- those smoke alarms should be working at all times.

Period. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Period. The programs that the Fire Department put out with a one-year battery, we expect people to check them twice a year. With a ten-year battery, we expect them to check them once a month. Now, the Fire Department has taken on a policy that we will only purchase with donated funds, we will only purchase and install ten-year lithium-powered batteries from now on. That's one of the things that we've taken on. We try to encourage -- when we knock on doors, we run into folks that have rental properties, we talk to them 75 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. about it. We talk to them about the way everything is capped and try to encourage them to do a home escape plan. But when we check the batteries, if we find a batty that's missing, because it's a rental property, we don't say we're not going to put the battery in. We do it. But one of the things that we encourage that renter to do is to make sure that they check them themselves and talk to the landlord that they should be replacing the batteries. Sometimes they don't have that kind of cooperation with the landlords. Sometimes it is that kind of cooperation. We run into rental properties that's immaculate and we run into rental properties that's like, What are they doing here?

What's the penalty associated with a landlord not having an operable smoke detector? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, the only thing we can do is write them up, and it depends on how many properties. 76 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. If it's a three -- if it's apartments with three people in an apartment, then we can write them up. We'll red tag them and everything else. If it's just, say, a single-family home, usually it's just easier for us to take care of it and we'll talk to L&I sometimes, but it's not really an ongoing program to identify every rental property in Philadelphia and make sure that we bang the homeowner. It's not a lot of teeth in the law.

Okay. Do you think that it would be unreasonable -- and I know it's a relatively sensitive issue -- to have to some degree, maybe a lesser degree, for an owner-occupied property to first have a requirement to have an operable smoke detector and have a penalty attached if they don't? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I think it's reasonable. It's reasonable. If you have a property that you value, that you get some fiduciary enhancement from, 77 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. if you have that, you should make sure -- and it's the law -- you should make sure that that property is certified for occupancy, and if it's not, we believe in the Fire Department that people should pay a penalty. People should pay a penalty for that.

As the owner occupant? COMMISSIONER AYERS: As the owner occupant?

I'm asking you the owner occupant. I'm in a house. I bought a house. I own the house. I live there. Do you think it's reasonable for us to impose a penalty on that person if they do not have a working smoke detector? I understand your hesitancy, because you can imagine how -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: First of all, it would be very hard to enforce, because everybody don't let us in their house. If you have an apartment, I'm 78 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. coming in your house. You know, like apartments, three apartments, and you have other occupants, I'm coming in. I have the authority to come in. But if it's a twin or if it's just two apartments, I don't have the authority to come in. I can't just say, I want to come in and check all the smoke alarms. If it's a single family, like it's your home, I knock on the door, you don't have to let me in. The Fire Department is let in because they know we're coming to help.

Because it's a commercial property. Is that the law, if it's a commercial property, you have the authority to have access, but if it's a strict residential unit, single-family home -- is that written in the law or is that just a policy? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Okay. Let me understand you. When you say "commercial," you mean it's a rental property? 79 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Correct. COMMISSIONER AYERS: If it's a rental property and it's three units, we have to go in.

So it's three and above? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Three and above, we go in. Or rooming units that's five rooming units, four rooming units, we go in. If it's a property and it's just someone you rented to, we don't have to go in.

I'm asking from a legal perspective. COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. We legally --

You cannot go in a single-family home that's a rental property? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. We legally can't go in there. If we go in there and we see that it's not properly certed, like we see smoke alarms that's not properly certed, then I can call L&I 80 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. and say, They have smoke alarms in there that's not working or that's missing, and L&I could take an action.

Let me understand this. I understand you don't have the authority to go in anything below the threshold of three units per property. Is there a requirement to have a smoke detector, an operable smoke detector, in anything below the three-unit threshold? COMMISSIONER AYERS: There's a requirement to have a smoke alarm in every residential unit in Philadelphia, whether it's rented or you own it or whatever.

But you don't have the authority to go in the house unless it's three and above? COMMISSIONER AYERS: To go in a private house and look and see if they have it.

I thought -- okay. So you're saying there 81 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. is -- either I'm mixing you up or you're mixing me up. You're saying that there is a requirement in a single-family home to have an operable smoke detector? COMMISSIONER AYERS: There's a requirement because they get the occupancy certification. You have to have it. That's given by L&I.

At the time of -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: At the time of purchase.

At the time the Certificate of Occupancy is given? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Exactly. Whatever the business exchange is, whether you just purchased a house where you have an inspector go through and look at it or just sold the house and before the sale can be complete, that cert has to hit the table at the closing. All of those things have to be in place. Now, after it's done, it don't 82 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. mean that I have the authority to come in your house and, I want to see your smoke alarms. What we do is, we say it is the law, you have to have smoke alarms, working smoke alarms.

At the time of the sale or the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy? COMMISSIONER AYERS: At the transaction.

But subsequent to that, there's really no law or there's really no enforcement capability? COMMISSIONER AYERS: The exception with two units is if one of the units is a commercial unit like a store or restaurant and an apartment above. Then we have the authority to go in.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Okay.

One last question. I've been thinking about this 83 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. for a while and actually a staff member suggested that I do a bill that requires everyone to have a smoke detector with a penalty attached to it, be it owner-occupied or a single-family dwelling, and before I embarked on such a mission, because I think it could possibly be a mission, I thought it was appropriate to have that conversation with you first. Okay. All right. That's sufficient. Thank you. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Hopefully the Fire Safety Representative program will help get smoke alarms in many, many more houses.

Thank you, Commissioner. The Chair recognizes Councilman Kelly.

Thank you, Madam President. Good morning, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Good morning. 84 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

You mention in your testimony that you have reached your authorized budget position level. What is that level? How many firefighters do you have? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Currently, we're budgeted for 2,503. That's total firefighters, civilian, everybody.

What's your attrition rate; in other words, people who are leaving the Department each year? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It's close to 80 a year.

Eighty a year? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

What is your class size? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Currently, we have two classes of 80 firefighters. We started out with a few more firefighters in the classes, like closer to 90, because we have --

A few of 85 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. them drop out? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, we lose only a couple. We only lost a few firefighters in this class, and most of them say, This is not for me, and they leave. And sometimes people fail out that can't do the work, but for the most part, they'll go through. Currently, we'll graduate -- we have two classes of 80 in now. We're going to graduate on May 25th those candidates. They'll go out and they'll populate the vacancies.

So, in other words, you have two classes during the year? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

Of approximately about 80 to 85, so that even through attrition, it would be reduced by 80 so you would still be up -- COMMISSIONER AYERS: From the class end, yeah, but just to be clear, now we are -- we weren't allowed to hire 86 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. for -- we're not allowed to hire -- we didn't hire because of the threat of the company closings. The threat is gone. The money has been replaced. So in order to populate those firehouses for safety reasons, not just on the backfill and the overtime but also for safety reasons, putting teams together, we put together two double classes. In the years moving forward, we will probably only be putting in one class, possibly two classes a year, but mostly just one class a year.

Okay. I want to get back to the paramedics. I just want to be clear about this. You have a class right now which probably has 15 paramedics in it? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes, sir.

Is that the limit that you can train paramedics? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No, sir.

You can have a class of 30, in other words? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yeah. I 87 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. think --

My question is, even with these paramedics, are 5 you still short? 6 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yeah, we 7 will be short. 8

You'd be 9 short by 15? 10 COMMISSIONER AYERS: By 15, 11 unless paramedics go into a fire class or 12 unless they leave the system, which -- 13

So it's more 14 or less a recruitment problem then, 15 because you could hire 30 and have them go through a class and be at full strength? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yeah. It's a possibility we could hire 30 paramedics. If we, say, like didn't have the restrictions or we had all of the --

Are you budgeted for that? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Oh, yes. We're budgeted for it. 88 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

So it's just that you're missing right now? 4 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Exactly. 5 And as soon as Personnel sets up this 6 next list, which the process usually 7 doesn't take more than 30 days or so, 8 once they set up this next list, we'll 9 immediately start another class and we'll 10 immediately -- we have this chain going, 11 so until we get to that 30. And then 12 after that 30, the next available class, 13 we'll hope to be repopulating some of the 14 Basic units we took down. We'll put them 15 in now, start bringing back up.

If you're at full strength with paramedics, what's your average response time? When someone calls for an emergency, what is the average response time before a paramedic arrives? COMMISSIONER AYERS: It was seven minutes and -- I believe it was 7:53. Let me double-check. 7:09 was actual for '06. It was 6 minutes and 53 89 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. seconds in '05.

Council President Verna mentioned something about the response time in South Philadelphia which you found that the nearest paramedic responded was quite a distance away. And I can tell you, I was speaking to a civic association person up in Somerton. Her neighbor who had a heart attack called for an emergency for the response. Where the paramedics came from was Allegheny Avenue to go to Somerton. Now, I don't know how long that took, but I know it took over 6 minutes and 53 seconds. If you're at full strength, would that be reduced in any way, the response time? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. That does not --

I don't know the reason for that. The reason for it, of course, is because the closest ones were already out on a call, so they had 90 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. to come back and they finally found one at Allegheny Avenue to respond to it. COMMISSIONER AYERS: The response time is a fact of the volume and the number of calls. To put another paramedic on the unit or to -- you would have to put more units into service to affect the unit-per-hour usage. That's what you would have to do. So it's not whether it's a paramedic or emergency medical technician. They still may have to come a long way based on what the use of the system is currently.

Can I make a point of information, Councilman Kelly?

Sure.

On that point. Point of information, Madam President.

Yes.

The assumption, Commissioner, on the 91 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. statement that you just made to Councilman Kelly -- and I don't like assumptions -- that they are out on another run, tell us the facts. A day like today or some day of the year, do you have units that aren't staffed that would normally respond that are parked in the garage in the firehouse that could have responded but weren't available to respond? Not because they're out busy; because you have staffing issues. COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. The system status squads, medic units, they run at a certain time. Now, it's based on peak demand. And if that unit is not on -- say if it's a 12-hour unit, it's not on -- then that would be correct, that it's not running, but it's running because there's no demand.

I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about let's say that you have this very complicated schedule, peak, off peak. On any given day, is there a unit that is 92 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. scheduled that isn't available because of staffing issues? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. 5

So, in other words, today whatever this complicated schedule is, that everything is in place even if people don't show up for work? COMMISSIONER AYERS: That is correct.

Thank you for that point of information, Councilman Kelly.

Thank you, Councilman. I just want to follow up on what Councilman Rizzo was just saying. If you had a paramedic on one of those engine companies or whatnot who might be a lot closer than, say, going quite a distance to reach a paramedic unit, that would probably help immensely, I think, if you send out an engine company or one of those special cars that you mentioned or special vehicles, which would save us, 93 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. of course, a lot of money than sending out a ladder or an engine company. In your opinion, would that be correct? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Well, when we send a ladder or an engine or a medic unit, when that person comes on the scene, it depends on what's facing the paramedic or the emergency medical technician.

And that would only be a temporary situation anyway, wouldn't it, until a paramedic unit could arrive? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Exactly.

In other words, you would be just giving an emergency treatment. COMMISSIONER AYERS: That's for the intervention. The most important and critical thing for a patient, one of our citizens that's in trouble, is the intervention, the fact that they get someone on that person if they went down with a heart attack, that we have hands 94 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. on that person's chest and doing cardiac compressions as soon as possible. And with our first responder system, we have the time down around four minutes and something. It's a lower time. They've actually carried a person away -- to actually get them packaged and to carry them away, that response is at 6 minutes and 53 average. But like the Council President said, there are times when you're going to have stretched times based on --

Peak times. COMMISSIONER AYERS: -- peak times.

I want to get back to what Councilman Rizzo alluded to a little while ago. What's the lifespan of one of our fire equipment? I noticed you're purchasing new equipment now, but what is the average lifespan of a fire apparatus? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Several years ago we were looking at trying to 95 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. keep a pumper or an engine company for to 20 years, which now we know it is not -- in Philadelphia, it's not a good thing. We should be looking at getting the lifespan of our vehicles down around ten years, where we can actually sell them off and then --

That was my 10 next question of what we do with the old 11 equipment. 12 COMMISSIONER AYERS: Fleet 13 handles it. They actually process the 14 equipment through sales and other ways. 15

But we don't have a process right now where saying that after ten years, a certain equipment could be just eliminated or actually replaced? COMMISSIONER AYERS: That is what we're trying to implement now, where we can have apparatus that are no more than ten years old. With the plans that we put forward, with the processes that we're trying to do with the federal 96 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. government, that's what we'd like to do. If it's 15, we wouldn't be squawking, but if we could get it at ten, it would be ideal. But we don't get that all the time.

Okay. And that's your recommendation, ten years? COMMISSIONER AYERS: That's what I would like to see.

I would like to touch on another thing, fire stations. Now, it's my impression that these fire stations were going to have a system to deal with the emissions, actually an exhaust system placed in each of these fire stations. Do you know how many fire stations have been completed so far? COMMISSIONER AYERS: We have several fire stations that were completed, but they were completed with an exhaust system that was not in the agreement between the local and the City, and right now we have an ongoing project plan to replace all of the -- to put in 97 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. systems that will be full-capture systems. Right now I'm not exactly certain of the exact number that's in. I can get that for you.

Can you get that for me? COMMISSIONER AYERS: I certainly will.

Now, in my understanding, there's two different systems. One is a source capture system and the other is a smoke eater. Is there much of a difference in cost compared to those two systems, and which would you recommend? COMMISSIONER AYERS: There is a difference in the cost, and Risk Management and the City has worked out an agreement with the local and they're both satisfied with them. I think they're going to have -- well, I'm pretty sure the system is going to be full capture.

Full capture? All right. I'm saying source 98 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. capture. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Source.

Source capture? All right. And I'd appreciate that to see what the progress is in doing that, because I think that's one of the things that we want to make sure, that we're protecting the people who are going to protect us, and if we fail to do that, then if we put them in jeopardy, we're all in jeopardy. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

So I would like to ask you to see what you can do to really implement that program. I think it's very, very important. COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes.

Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Madam President.

You're welcome. The Chair recognizes Councilman Ramos. 99 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC.

Thank you, Madam President. Commissioner, you mention in your statement that you had some bad news, and, that is, that there have been 39 fire deaths thus far this year. Are you making a projection that you'll probably go beyond the fire deaths that we have had in the last two years? COMMISSIONER AYERS: No. That is the fiscal year count. Right now on the annual count it's projecting that we are behind last year. We had on the same date 29 deaths. And now I'm talking the calendar year. We have right now, 17 fire deaths. And hopefully we won't. 18 The things that we're doing 19 over the past several years, the things 20 that we have done with education, with 21 smoke alarms, with the partnering in the 22 community, all of those things, we expect 23 that we'll raise the level of education for our citizens and the level of fire protection through the smoke alarm 100 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. program. More and more people have started to donate and give us the opportunity to get those smoke alarms in the homes of folks that don't get the message, can't understand the reasoning. But that personal contact that we have in going door to door and with the Fire Safety Representative program, we believe that we're going to make a difference and that we will see the outcomes of this effort in lower fire deaths and injuries.

You've noted very clearly and I see you on the news talking about smoke detectors and giving out smoke detectors for free and putting them up yourselves, but the cause of the fire is something else, and you have talked recently about electrical wiring, the electrical heaters, the other space heaters and so forth. I mean, is the electrical wiring, is that something that you see or is that something you're seeing that is a cause of a lot of these 101 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. fires? COMMISSIONER AYERS: Yes. We still see electrical causes as a large part of the fire deaths and injuries, permanent electrical wiring due to the age of many of the homes that we have to fight these fires in. Many times we'll see electrical appliances that are utilized in these homes that draw on the older wiring systems, some infrastructure problems that have to be taken care of. One of the things that we have done is, from a program perspective, was to protect people first, get in and have the fire safety issue, protection, getting people out of harm's way, showing folks how to make sure they have smoke alarms up, have a home fire escape plan. And then the third part to this program is actually telling people what they need to do to keep themselves fire safe in the first place. Our goal is not to have the fire. The Charter charges us with fire 102 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. prevention, going and swearing that we go fight the fire, which we do. We put the fires out. Then the Fire Marshal makes the determination, the cause and the origin. And then that information is given to the Fire Prevention Division, where they are charged with creating programs for the citizens, programs for the firefighters to prevent the fire in the first place. Our home fire safety checklist, which we're really pushing now into all of the communities, and the Fire Safety Representative program is to help mitigate the chances to have the fire, electrical safety, smoking safety, people that smoke in the house, storage of flammable liquids and things like that. The charge now is to get yourself fully safe. So we want to not have to go out the door to a fire. We don't want to go out the door to a fire. We know that we're going to have fires until we get 103 3/28/07 - WHOLE - BILL 070114, ETC. the infrastructure done, until we get people in housing that is suitable to live in and help change behaviors and things like that. Once we do that, we're going to continue to see everything go down. That's what we want. We want runs down, we want fires down, injuries down and everything. So the emphasis now is on those three things: protection, home escape planning and fire prevention in the first place.