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Monona fire and EMS report shows rising call volume and staffing constraints
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Summary
Fire and EMS leaders told the Public Safety Committee the city's call volume is up, staffing is lean (6 of 9 authorized positions), mutual-aid reliance has crept up and a new engine is due for delivery this spring.
Fire and EMS leaders told the Monona Public Safety Committee on April 26 that call volume is up and the department has been operating with minimal staffing for several months.
"This week alone, we're on call 30 from Monday," the fire chief said during a brief annual report, and later estimated the department was running at roughly 15.6% higher call volume than last year. He said the department has been authorized for nine firefighter positions but has been operating with six, with two members out for extended medical leave and one recently hired to fill an immediate gap.
Committee members asked about mutual aid for EMS calls. The chief said mutual-aid responses average about "12 and 13 per month," and that the department's goal is to keep mutual-aid reliance under 10% (and ideally around 5%) to avoid overburdening neighboring agencies.
The chief said the majority of EMS calls are fall-related because of an aging population; on the fire side, he reported roughly 85 responses last year to car accidents on the BeltLine. He described an active fall-prevention outreach program at the senior center and offered department assistance for individualized inspections at assisted-living and 55-plus facilities.
On staffing and retention, the chief described participation in Wisconsin's Task Force 1 (a state specialty rescue team) as a recruitment and retention tool and said FEMA reimburses the city for backfill time when members deploy. He also said a new engine is on order with an expected delivery and in-service preparation in mid-May and that the department reduced projected procurement costs from about $900,000 to $621,000 during purchase negotiations.
The chief highlighted the department's internship program as a pathway to full-time hiring and described a recent authorization allowing a non-officer to issue parking citations to address safety and parking issues.
The committee approved the meeting's previous minutes earlier in the session; no formal votes on staffing or equipment purchases were taken at this meeting.
The chief said he expects staffing to be fully restored by midyear and thanked the committee and council for support of training and equipment purchases.
