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Commission asks association to draft SOP on mutual aid and secondary EMS coverage after funding concern
Summary
Members discussed a county policy that penalizes agencies’ statistics when they provide mutual aid; commissioners asked the association to draft a clear SOP that documents coverage and prevents agencies from being discouraged to respond.
Pittsylvania County commissioners discussed longstanding concerns that the county’s current reporting practice discourages agencies from providing mutual aid because coverage statistics can be negatively affected when an agency’s primary resources are committed elsewhere.
Speakers said the current practice can penalize stations that respond to mutual‑aid calls and then are unable to staff other calls within a short window, which in turn affects funding benchmarks. Commissioners and chiefs described prior consultant recommendations that the practice be discontinued.
Commissioner Alan Casper proposed changing the policy but ultimately retracted a formal motion and asked Chief Fowler and the Fire and Rescue Association to draft a clearly defined SOP that documents when coverage counts as fulfilled, how backups are recorded, and how statistics should reflect units on other calls.
Deputy Director Scott Hutcherson and others agreed that a written SOP would remove ambiguity about what constitutes coverage, how overlapping calls are tracked, and what documentation is required to protect agencies’ funding and encourage mutual aid.
The association will take the issue up at its next meeting and return recommendations to the commission.
