Houston Fire Department FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................. IV PREFACE........................................................................................................... VI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.................................................................................. VIII Management and Organization....................................................................................... x Prevention......................................................................................................................xi Fire Operations ............................................................................................................xiii Special Operations........................................................................................................ xv Emergency Medical Services........................................................................................ xv Support Services .........................................................................................................xvii Emergency Management ............................................................................................. xix Cost of Implementation ................................................................................................ xx I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1 Scope............................................................................................................................... 1 General Background ....................................................................................................... 3 Approach......................................................................................................................... 4 Report Organization........................................................................................................ 4 II. OVERALL MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION ........................................6 The City Environment .................................................................................................... 6 Scope of Services............................................................................................................ 8 Mission Statement........................................................................................................... 9 Organization.................................................................................................................. 10 Rank Structure .............................................................................................................. 17 Internal Communications.............................................................................................. 19 Affirmative Action/Consent Decrees............................................................................ 20 Rotating Assignments................................................................................................... 21 III. FIRE PREVENTION ......................................................................................22 Organization and Management..................................................................................... 23 Code Administration and Plans Review ....................................................................... 37 Fire Inspections............................................................................................................. 42 Public Education........................................................................................................... 52 Fire/Arson Investigation ............................................................................................... 57 IV. FIRE OPERATIONS......................................................................................66 Overall Resources......................................................................................................... 66 Unit Staffing ................................................................................................................. 67 Demand for Service ...................................................................................................... 71 Demand Forecasts......................................................................................................... 75 Response Times ............................................................................................................ 79 Response Complements................................................................................................ 88 TriData Corporation i January 2002 Houston Fire Department Table of Contents FINAL REPORT Station Locations .......................................................................................................... 89 Unit Deployment........................................................................................................... 94 Unit Workloads............................................................................................................. 95 Fire Station and Unit Location Recommendations..................................................... 103 V. SPECIAL OPERATIONS .............................................................................107 Hazardous Materials Response Team......................................................................... 107 Technical Rescue ........................................................................................................ 116 Airport Operations ...................................................................................................... 122 VI. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES .........................................................140 EMS System Overview and Description .................................................................... 144 Benchmarking/Performance Measures....................................................................... 149 Analysis of EMS Operations by System Component................................................. 173 Patient Transportation and Apparatus......................................................................... 187 Administration and MIS Issues................................................................................... 194 Evaluation and CQI .................................................................................................... 200 Proposed EMS System Re-Design ............................................................................. 203 Summary..................................................................................................................... 227 VII. SUPPORT SERVICES ..............................................................................229 Training and Promotion.............................................................................................. 229 Recruitment................................................................................................................. 239 Health and Fitness Program........................................................................................ 242 Dispatch and Communications ................................................................................... 256 Maintenance................................................................................................................ 258 Management Information Systems ............................................................................. 265 VIII. EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ................................................................287 Organizational Role and Placement............................................................................ 288 Staffing........................................................................................................................ 290 Management/Supervisory Issues ................................................................................ 296 TranStar Facility ......................................................................................................... 297 Medical Strike Team................................................................................................... 300 IX. PERSONNEL AND SUPERVISORY ISSUES.............................................302 Background................................................................................................................. 302 Methodology............................................................................................................... 303 Participants’ Issues ..................................................................................................... 305 Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 319 Recommendations....................................................................................................... 322 Summary and Implementation.................................................................................... 341 X. PRIORITIZATION OF RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................343 II. Overall Management and Organization ................................................................. 343 III. Fire Prevention...................................................................................................... 344 IV. Fire Operations ..................................................................................................... 348 TriData Corporation ii January 2002 Houston Fire Department Table of Contents