9 Fire and ambulance services CONTENTS 9.1 Profile of emergency services for fire events 9.2 9.2 Framework of performance indicators for fire events 9.5 9.3 Key performance indicator results for fire events 9.8 9.4 Profile of emergency services for ambulance events 9.37 9.5 Framework of performance indicators for ambulance events 9.43 9.6 Key performance indicator results for ambulance events 9.45 9.7 Future directions in performance reporting 9.69 9.8 Jurisdictions’ comments 9.70 9.9 Definitions of key terms 9.79 9.10 List of attachment tables 9.83 9.11 References 9.85 Attachment tables Attachment tables are identified in references throughout this chapter by a ‘9A’ prefix (for example, table 9A.1). A full list of attachment tables is provided at the end of this chapter, and the attachment tables are available from the Review website at www.pc.gov.au/gsp. Emergency management aims to reduce the level of risk to the community of emergencies occurring, reduce the adverse effects of emergency events, and improve the level and perception of safety in the community (sector overview D). This chapter reports on government services for fire events and emergency ambulance services (pre-hospital care, treatment and transport). Information regarding the policy context, scope, profile, social and economic factors, and FIRE AND 9.1 AMBULANCE SERVICES objectives of the emergency management sector (and related data) are included in the Emergency management sector overview (sector overview D). Major improvements in reporting on fire and ambulance services in this edition include: • ten year time series are presented for 14 fire event measures and 11 ambulance service measures (previously five years were reported) • a 30 year time series is presented for ‘fire event deaths’ to place the impact of emergency events in historical context • data quality information (DQI) are available for the first time for the fire events indicators confinement to room/object of origin and residential structures with smoke alarms • DQI are available for the first time for the ambulance events indicators ambulance response locations, satisfaction with ambulance service organisations, and workforce by age group. For this Report, performance reporting on road crash rescue has been discontinued. An overview of the involvement of emergency services at road crash rescue events and the impact of road traffic deaths is provided in the Emergency management sector overview. Data on the number of road crash rescue incidents attended to by emergency service organisations is provided as context to the fire incidents indicator reported in this chapter. 9.1 Profile of emergency services for fire events Fire events overview A fire event is an incident that is reported to a fire service organisation and requires a response. Fire events include (but are not limited to): • structure fires (that is, fires inside a building or structure), regardless of whether there is damage to the structure • landscape fires, including bushfires and grass fires, regardless of the size of the area burnt • other fires, including vehicle and other mobile property fires, and outside rubbish fires. 9.2 REPORT ON GOVERNMENT SERVICES 2013 Roles and responsibilities Fire service organisations are the primary agencies involved in providing emergency management services for fire events. The role of fire service organisations varies but commonly includes prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities/services for each jurisdiction (see the Emergency management sector overview, table DA.2). The full range of activities include: • developing building fire safety codes and inspecting fire safety equipment and practices • training and educating the community to achieve community awareness and behavioural change in relation to fire and road safety issues • assisting individuals and communities to prepare for bushfires and other hazards • responding to structure, bush, vehicle and other fires • providing rural land management advice on the role and use of fire • providing road crash rescue and other rescue services • managing hazardous material incidents • administering legislation relating to fire safety, hazardous materials facilities and hazard mitigation • investigating fire cause and origin • wide ranging industry research activities • a number of specialist rescue capabilities, including Urban Search and Rescue • providing emergency medical services such as Community First Responder • counter-terrorist preparedness work with police agencies and consequence management relating to a terrorist attack. While governance arrangements differ across jurisdictions, separate urban and rural fire service organisations deliver fire services in most jurisdictions (table 9A.1). Land management agencies typically also provide fire services within designated areas. However, currently only NSW, Victoria, WA and Tasmania are able to report fire activity for land management agencies, and financial information relating to these agencies is limited to Victoria. Jurisdictions with more than one fire authority can separate services in different ways — for example, NSW separates fire services based on service function and geographic area, whereas Victoria separates fire services by geographic area only. Fire service organisations work closely with other government departments and agencies which may also have responsibilities in the case of fire events. These FIRE AND 9.3 AMBULANCE SERVICES include ambulance service organisations, State/Territory Emergency Services, police services, and community services (see the Emergency management sector overview — attachment, table DA.1). Some jurisdictions have particular arrangements for the provision of fire services in Indigenous communities. (For more information on fire services in Indigenous communities see SCRGSP 2009, p. 11.35.) Funding Total funding of the fire service organisations covered in this chapter was nearly $3.4 billion in 2011-12. Real funding to fire service organisations grew, on average, 5.3 per cent annually over the period 2007-08 to 2011-12. Within this period there are fluctuations for individual jurisdictions resulting from expenditure related to specific major emergencies (table 9.1). Table 9.1 Real funding of fire service organisations (2011-12 dollars) ($ million)a, b NSWc Vicc Qld WAc SA Tas ACT NT Aust 2007-08 876.8 867.8 413.5 265.5 189.5 65.1 55.5 21.9 2 755.5 2008-09 969.7 1 309.0 436.0 252.2 189.8 65.6 55.0 26.1 3 303.4 2009-10 987.3 1 022.3 481.7 267.8 184.9 73.8 56.4 27.8 3 101.9 2010-11 973.9 1 018.1 497.8 402.4 169.1 66.0 50.2 29.9 3 207.4 2011-12 954.8 1 166.7 503.6 409.9 179.0 68.3 64.5 36.3 3 383.1 a Data are adjusted to 2011-12 dollars using the gross domestic product (GDP) price deflator (2011-12 = 100) (table AA.51). Recent volatility in the GDP deflator series affects annual movements of real expenditure. See the Statistical appendix (section A.5) for details. b Figures vary from year to year as a result of abnormal expenditure related to the response to specific major emergencies. c NSW: From 2009-10 data include funding for the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. Vic: Increase in 2008-09 is due to emergency funding arising from the Black Saturday Bushfires. WA: DFES provides a wide range of emergency services under an integrated management structure. Source: State and Territory governments (unpublished); table 9A.2. Fire levies were the primary source of funding in all jurisdictions except the ACT and the NT, where Territory governments were the largest source of funds. Governments usually provide the legislative framework for the imposition of fire levies. In 2011-12, fire levies were raised from levies on property owners or, in some jurisdictions, from levies on both insurance companies and property owners (table 9A.2). In addition to relying on funded resources, all states and territories rely on volunteer firefighters, who make a significant contribution to community safety. Data on the resources allocated by all emergency service organisations to manage fire events is currently unavailable although, work is underway to improve data for future reports. The descriptive information provided below on funding, incidents 9.4 REPORT ON GOVERNMENT SERVICES 2013 and human resources relate to fire service organisations only. More information on fire service organisation funding and expenditure can be found in section 9.3. Human resources Human resources refers to any person delivering a firefighting or firefighting-related service, or managing the delivery of this service, including: • firefighters (qualified paid and volunteer firefighters) • support personnel (any paid person or volunteer directly supporting operational providers, including administrative, technical and communications personnel). Nationally, 17 854 full time equivalent (FTE) paid personnel were employed by fire service organisations in 2011-12, of which 76 per cent were paid firefighters. A large number of volunteer firefighters (211 898 people) also participated in the delivery of fire services in 2011-12 (table 9A.3). Fires incidents Various urban and rural fire service organisations operate within jurisdictions (table 9A.1). The focus of the chapter is the government services addressing emergency fire events. Nationally, fire service organisations attended a total of 99 841 fire incidents (table 9A.12). 9.2 Framework of performance indicators for fire events Figure 9.1 presents the performance indicator framework for fire events,