ThisWeek UA 05/04/2011
The new contract with the Upper Arlington Fire Division includes options to reduce manpower, and city administrators are exercising those options to reduce overtime costs.
“When a firefighter calls in sick or has vacation during the daytime shift (7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.), we are opting not to call in another firefighter to fill in using overtime,” fire chief Jeff Young said. “During daytime hours, we have easier access to assistance (from other fire departments) than during night shifts, if we need it.”
Under previous union contracts, the minimum-manning clause for emergency medical services was three firefighters to a medic truck and four to an engine or ladder truck. The current contract, which was approved by city council and the union in February, allows a minimum manning of two firefighters per medic truck – one to drive and one to attend to a patient in the back.
And that isn’t always a good situation, according to Lt. Jim Mild, president of IAFF Local 1521, the firefighters’ union.
“Having just one person in the back (of the truck) can’t provide medical attention as well as two, and it takes two people to carry a stretcher alone, so there will be times when a patient is alone and isn’t receiving treatment because the firefighters are just trying to move equipment,” Mild said.
According to Mild, the union accepted this lower level of manning so members would not lose the minimum-manning language entirely.
“We believed that the intention of the city was only to use this reduction in a fiscal emergency, not as a proactive financial savings,” Mild said.
In 2010, the city fire division spent $350,000 in unscheduled overtime and $283,000 in scheduled overtime (required by the Fair Labor Standards Act for 24-hour-on, 48-hours-off schedules), according to city finance director Cathe Armstrong. With the changes under the new contract, which also include a reduction in overtime pay from double time to time-and-a-half, Armstrong said the city anticipates saving at least $230,000.
City and union officials both expressed concern about continuing to meet residents’ expectations for service.
“Part of being a good steward of public resources is knowing when to be proactive and not just being reactive,” assistant city manager Joe Valentino said. “If we can track these things and make adjustments instead of hitting the panic button when there is a (fiscal) emergency, then we can make sure we continue to provide service levels residents expect.”
But Mild said he believes that the reduction in overtime pay should be the primary source of savings, and that the reduction in overtime is detrimental to service.
“With the reduction in manning, we have to bring a ladder or engine truck. That ties up even more firefighters and equipment for something we used to do with just a medic truck,” Mild said. “Also, national standards require 15 firefighters on scene at a fire in nine minutes, but with only 13 firefighters working under the current agreement, we can’t meet that standard.”
One rotation has a vacancy as a result of the hiring freeze, while another is affected by two injured firefighters. Between April 15 and 21, three of the seven daytime shifts were affected by the change, according to Young.
“We have to manage our overtime along with services. On basic life support, like a broken bone, we are comfortable with only sending two firefighters if we aren’t at full staff,” Young said.
“On advanced life support, like a heart attack, we’ll send two trucks, which is six firefighters on scene,” he said. “Fortunately, we’re so close to the hospitals that this won’t tie up resources for a long period of time.”
City administrators and city council expect Young to continue to manage overtime expenditures this way in the future.
“We really examined this overtime piece and how we could control costs while continuing services. We’ve asked Chief Young to control these costs, and he’s being held accountable for that,” Valentino said.