Brentwood Fire Department: $100,000 cardiac-monitor grant, ARPA radios arriving, and transport-recovery payout estimated

The Brentwood Fire Department reported multiple equipment and program updates Wednesday: a state grant to replace cardiac monitors worth just under $100,000, a shipment of Motorola radios funded by ARPA that must be programmed by county communications, and work on a state Medicaid transport cost-recovery program that will bring a modest reimbursement this cycle.

Fire grants and equipment. The Fire Chief told the committee that the Department of Health and Senior Services awarded a grant “just to dollars short of a hundred thousand dollar grant” to replace cardiac monitors, and that the department has ordered the equipment and submitted required paperwork. The department also has received Motorola radio equipment funded through an ARPA grant; radios must be inventoried and then sent to county communications for programming, a process expected to complete in early April.

Personnel, training and incidents. The chief announced the retirement of longtime employee Steve Brown after nearly 29 years of service and said the department has posted a hiring process with an accelerated timeline to build an eligibility list. He also said personnel are completing two-year certifications (advanced cardiac life support and pediatric advanced life support) with guidance from Washington University physicians, who can respond to mass-casualty incidents.

The chief described several recent emergency responses: a propane or gas-related house explosion in Glendale that produced minor injuries and total loss of property for occupants; two incidents at the Villas of Brentwood (a dumpster fire within a parking structure and a kitchen fire) that were contained; and a plow truck lost during a snow event. He said the department expects to finalize a fire-training facility permit (first reading passed in Shrewsbury) and continues design and cost-estimating work with the consultant.

Medicaid transport recovery. On billing for Medicaid patient transports, the chief described a state program that allows participating public entities to recover part of transport costs. He said the state now collects a 34% share of the recovered amount (up from 20%) and that, after consultant fees, the department expects to realize $39,336.27 from the eligible transports covering July 1, 2023 onward. He recommended continued participation.

Interoperability and dispatch. The chief briefed the committee on regional dispatch and mutual-aid updates: East Central moved to a new computer-aided dispatch system hosted by Regis, and the vendor Interra is working to link regional CAD systems so agencies can view and assign resources across jurisdictions.

Next steps. The department will continue its procurement and inventory steps for radios, finalize grant closeout steps for cardiac monitors, proceed with the hiring timeline, and continue work on ambulance replacement planning and Medicaid transport recovery documentation.