HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.3 Letter of Understanding for EMS CITY CLERK
File# 0600-40
AGENDA STATEMENT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: March 7, 2000
SUBJECT:
Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) between the City of Dublin and the
Alameda County Fire District regarding provision of Emergency
Medical Services
Report Prepared by: Christopher L. Foss,
Economic Development Director
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution approving a Letter of Understanding between the
City of Dublin and the Alameda County Fire District regarding
Provision of Emergency Medical Services
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt the resolution approving a Letter of Understanding between
the City of Dublin and the Alameda County Fire District regarding
provision of emergency medical services.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT:
The approval of the Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) will clarify the
obligations between the City and the Alameda County Fire District
with regards to the First Responder Advanced Life Support
(FRALS) agreement and will allow the City of Dublin to receive a
$90,000 annual subsidy from the First Responder Agreement
DESCRIPTION: Pursuant to the Fire and Emergency Response Services Agreement,
the City of Dublin's fire protection service is provided on a contractual basis with the Alameda County
Fire Department, also known as the Alameda County Fire District. On February 15, 2000, the City
Council, by a 4-0 vote, authorized the Mayor to execute a First Responder Advanced Life Support
(FRALS) Agreement with the County of Alameda. Due in part to the use of different language and
terminology in the two agreements, they created potential discrepancies between the mutual obligations of
the City and ACFD. The draft Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) eliminates those discrepancies and
provides that the Alameda County Fire Department (ACFD) will satisfy the City's obligation under the
First Responder Agreement, as well as the specific staffing and record keeping requirements outlined in
the agreement. It also provides that the ACFD will continue to meet the response time requirements in
both the Fire Protection and the First Responder agreements.
H:\Chris\Fire\FORM-agenda statement.docLOU.doc
COPIES TO:
ITEM NO..~
The draft Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) clarifies the following issues:
Staffing: The current City/County agreement calls for the County to staff only engine
companies with paramedics. This proposed letter requires ACFD to staff both the engine and truck
companies with paramedics who meet the related certifications and accreditation requirements. This
requirement is already a practice of ACFD as they currently operate three (3) FRALS units. ACFD also
agrees to staff both engine companies and the truck company with two (2) EMT-D trained personnel each.
Service Area: The FRALS agreement requires that the City respond to all emergency medical
services within the City limits. The existing City/ACFD agreement limits the response area to preclude
service to federally-owned land and County Sheriff property, unless provided under mutual aid
agreements. The City has requested, and received, a letter from the County of Alameda - Local
Emergency Medical Services Agency and Emergency Medical Services District, stating that the City has
no obligation to respond to calls for emergency medical services on federal and county property within the
City limits, despite the City-wide service requirements of the recently-adopted First Responder Advanced
Life Support (FRALS) agreement. The letter also states that ACFD will satisfy the City's FRALS
obligations by responding to all such calls for emergency medical services within the City limits and not
federally-owned land and County sheriff s property unless requested through mutual aid.
Response Time: The City's current agreement with ACFD calls for ACFD to arrive at the
scene of a single emergency incident within five (5) minutes from the time dispatched 90% of the time.
The FRALS agreement allows for a ten (10) minute arrival on scene from the receipt of an emergency
(911) call. The L.O.U. provides that ACFD will continue to meet the five (5) minute response time from
dispatch of the first responding unit to its arrival on the scene of an emergency incident.
Record Keeping and Reporting: The L.O.U. provides that ACFD will satisfy the reporting
requirements outlined in the FRALS agreement and will provide City with a copy of the report provided
to the County. It also provides that ACFD will use the patient report forms as outlined in the FRALS
agreement.
ANALYSIS: The proposed Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) assures the City of Dublin that the
ACFD, as the City's provider of emergency medical services, satisfies both the City's obligation under the
First Responder Agreement and existing Fire and Emergency Medical Services agreement, as well as
entitles the City to receive the financial subsidy outlined in the First Responder Advanced Life Support
(FRALS) Agreement.
RECOMMENDATION: It is staffs recommendation that the City Council adopt the resolution
approving the Letter of Understanding (L.O.U.) between the City of Dublin and the Alameda County Fire
District regarding provision of emergency medical services.
\\DUBL1NFS2\PCCOMMON~Chris\Fire\FORM-agenda statement.docLOU.doc
RESOLUTION NO. - 00
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN
APPROVING A LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
ALAMEDA COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT AND CITY OF DUBLIN
REGARDING PROVISION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
WHEREAS, the City of Dublin (hereafter "City") presently intends to enter into the First
Responder ALS Agreement with Alameda County, which among other things, requires the City to provide
certain forms of emergency medical assistance by staffing at least three (3) fire department vehicles with at
least one paramedic each, in re{urn for specified compensation; and
WHEREAS, there already exists between the City of Dublin and the Alameda County Fire District
(hereafter "ACFD") an Agreement Regarding Fire and Emergency Response Services, which requires
ACFD to satisfy the City's obligations under any such First Responder Agreement; and
WHEREAS, the City and ACFD desire to clarify their respective obligations under the Fire and
Emergency Response Services Agreement, in light of the City's new obligations under the First Responder
Agreement, the parties have entered into a Letter of Understanding, attached as Exhibit A; and
WHEREAS, a staff report was submitted recommending the City Council approve the Letter of
Understanding; and
WHEREAS, the City Council did hear and used its independent judgement and considered all said
reports, recommendations and testimony here and above set forth.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin does hereby
authorize and direct the City Manager to sign the Letter of Understanding (Exhibit A) between the City of
Dublin and Alameda County Fire District.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED, this 7t~ day of March, 2000.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Mayor
ATTEST:
City Clerk
K2/G/3-7-00/reso-fire-lou.doc (Item 8.2)
ATTACHMENT 1
ALA~AE DA COUNTY
?
PUBLIC HEALTH DEPART/'AENT
ALAN~EDA COUNTY HEALTH CARE SERVICEs AGENCY .... Da¥id J. Keats, Director
P U B L I C H E ALT H D E PA RT4A E NT ,), ~,}, ~:~ ,~.~.n~oj~; Perkins, Director
1000 Broadway, Suite 500
Oakland, CA 94607
February 25, 2000
Richard. Ambrose, City Manager
City of Dublin
100 Civic Plaza
Dublin, CA 94568
Dear Mr. Ambrose:
As approved, Section 4 of the FRALS agreement requires that the City respond to all emergency
medical services with the City limits. The City of Dublin does not have jurisdiction or authority
to respond to federally owned property within the City limits, except as provided for under
mutual aid agreements. This exclusion would eliminate service to the Parks Reserve Forces
Training Area and the Federal Correctional Institution properties, as well as the Alameda County
Sheriff s property.
The Alameda County Emergency Medical Services District recognizes that the City a~nd its
agent, ACFD, do not have the authority to provide emergency medical services to the federal and
county installations. For that reason, the Alameda County Emergency Medical Services District
will provide the City of Dublin a limited exemption from the FRALS service limit requirements
and will not require service to the federally-owned, as well as County Sheriff-owned, property
with Dublin's city limits. This has been discussed with Chief Bill McCammon, Alameda County
Fire Department and he concurs.
I look forward to working with you in the future to provide quality emergency medical services
to the residents of Dublin.
Sincerely,
Director
Alameda County EMS Agency