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Fire department wins $350,000 to expand medical‑supply inventory tracking pilot
Summary
The committee approved $350,000 from the Innovation Fund to scale the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Medical Supply Inventory Management System (MSIMS), including RFID, staffing and Wi‑Fi upgrades to improve supply readiness and reduce expired medications.
The committee approved a $350,000 Innovation Fund appropriation on April 21 to expand the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Medical Supply Inventory Management System (MSIMS), a program designed to track and redistribute medical supplies across stations using real‑time inventory, historical usage and redistribution modeling.
Battalion Chief Robert Barna, project lead for MSIMS, told the committee the program began as a ground‑up effort in 2022 and started pilots in high‑call battalions in October 2023. Barna said the program reduces emergency supply orders, decreases expired medications through redistribution, and creates more accurate projections for citywide burn rates during shortages. “I would never want an LAD member to hesitate or worse be unable to treat a patient because of a missing or delayed medical supply,” Barna said, describing the pilot’s safety rationale.
Why it matters: MSIMS aims to end a department‑wide “trust spiral” where inconsistent ordering and fulfillment lead field crews to over‑order, which in turn distorts inventory data and increases waste. The project uses inventories, redistribution and targeted ordering to right‑size stock at stations and reduce emergency runs to resupply.
The appropriation funds RFID tagging and tracking software, staffing for the MSIMS team, and Wi‑Fi upgrades at the department’s warehouse/shops where connectivity is currently poor. Barna said those upgrades are needed to integrate field inventory with warehouse systems and to enable real‑time tracking.
Committee members pressed on whether MSIMS constitutes an “innovation” or a request that should be part of regular departmental budget processes. Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said the program, while valuable, looks like a budget scaling of existing work. Barna and supporters replied that the RFID, software integration and dedicated staffing required to connect field data to warehouse ordering constitutes an innovation not currently funded in‑house.
The CAO’s read‑in instructs the LAFD to separately track encumbrances and to report lessons learned and any scope changes to the Innovation and Performance Commission. The committee approved the $350,000 appropriation by roll call; members present voted aye.
