21st Century Fire and Emergency Services PDF

21STCENTURY Fire and Rescue Emergency Service Services Leaders at the Core of Better Communities ® Acknowledgments Thank you to the entire Subject Matter Expert group and the CPSE and ICMA staff that brought their experience, insight, and dedication to the development of this white p...

21STCENTURY Fire and Rescue Emergency Service Services Leaders at the Core of Better Communities ® Acknowledgments Thank you to the entire Subject Matter Expert group and the CPSE and ICMA staff that brought their experience, insight, and dedication to the development of this white paper. Co-Chairs Randy Bruegman, CFO, FIFIReE (ret) Fire Chief, Anaheim Fire & Rescue, CA Pat Martel, ICMA-CM, (ret) City Manager, Daly City, CA CPSE Members Micheal Despain, CFO, Fire Chief, Lincoln Fire & Rescue, NE Casey Grant, P.E., (ret) Executive Director, NFPA Research Foundation Sam Pena, Fire Chief, Houston Fire Department, TX Trisha Wolford, CFO, FM, Fire Chief, Anne Arundel Fire Department, MD ICMA Members JJ Allen, City Manager, Clearfield City, UT Mike Boynton, Town Administrator, Medway, MA Tom Harmer, ICMA-CM, Town Manager, Longboat Key, FL Melissa Stevenson Diaz, City Manager, Redwood City, CA Staff Contacts: Preet Bassi, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Public Safety Excellence Tad McGalliard, Director, Research and Development, International City/County Management Association Center for Public Safety Excellence | CPSE | Chantilly, VA | www.cpse.org International City/County Management Association | ICMA | Washington, DC | www.icma.org Table of Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................................2 White Paper Development Process.....................................................................................................................................4 Critical Issue A: RE-IDENTIFICATION.....................................................................................................................................9 Critical Issue B: CULTURE.........................................................................................................................................................11 Critical Issue C: ROBUST USE OF DATA............................................................................................................................13 Critical Issue D: HEALTH AND WELLNESS......................................................................................................................16 Critical Issue E: PARTNERSHIPS.............................................................................................................................................19 Critical Issue F: SUSTAINABILITY..........................................................................................................................................21 Critical Issue G: TECHNOLOGY.............................................................................................................................................25 Critical Issue H: INCLUSIVENESS..........................................................................................................................................27 What the Future May Hold...................................................................................................................................................29 Next Steps........................................................................................................................................................................................30  Introduction The changing role of local government and its impact on the 21st Century Fire and Emergency Services As the role of the federal government shifts away from responding to everyday needs, local governments have also begun addressing such issues as climate change, affordable housing, homelessness, immigration, the opioid epidemic, and behavioral health. This reality has led local fire and emergency services to become the health and safety net for communities. The DNA of fire departments is to respond to EVERYTHING and help EVERYTIME. While fires may be diminishing due to better engineering, codes, and enforcement along with an increased focus on community risk reduction activities, calls for service are up for every department. These calls are for help, and the calls received today are much boarder in scope. The services required often fall outside the traditional scope of fire and emergency services. Yet these departments are uniquely positioned to respond to such calls. This paper outlines several critical issues that are impacting local governments today and others that will have an effect over the course “ of the next three decades. Additionally, it outlines initiatives that local government and the local response agency will need to consider to remain viable in the future. The objective is to remain relevant for our jurisdictions, have “The whole 20th century, because the greatest impact in a rapidly changing we’ve been speeding up to this environment, be sustainable, and address the point, is equivalent to 20 years of needs of the whole community — its residents, progress at today’s rate of progress, and we’ll make another 20 years of businesses, governing body, and the personnel progress at today’s rate of progress who will be tasked with carrying out the equal to the whole 20th century mission. in the next 14 years, and then we’ll do it again in seven years. And The speed of change because of the explosive power of Regardless of how long you have been a part of a exponential growth, the 21st century community – whether serving in local government, will be equivalent to 20,000 years of living there, or owning a business there – if you reflect progress at today’s rate of progress, on the changes you have witnessed, you will agree which is a thousand times greater that the speed of life has transformed dramatically. than the 20th century, which was no A reflective look shows just how much the fire and slouch to change.” emergency services have evolved in just the last two Ray Kurzweil, American Author, decades. From the equipment in use, new applications Inventor, and Futurist in technology, changes in the workforce, use of social media, the speed of information, and the shift and 2 increase in the calls responded to -- all have made for comprised of city managers, fire chiefs, and associated a dramatic difference as we transformed into the 21st industry professionals to provide the structure for this century fire and emergency services. white paper. The political dynamic at all levels of government in the It is our hope that this white paper stirs debate, creates past, while still challenging, was less polarized and much dialogue, and promotes the critical conversations more collegial than exists today. This shift has resulted in needed about the changes facing our next generation organizations needing to position their efforts at times as of leaders -- not only in the fire and emergency services much to address political dynamics as to do what is best but also in the entirety of local government. While local for the community. government leaders have always faced change, it has never been greater, more rapid, or occuring within an In the 21st century fire and emergency services are more unforgiving political environment. destined to experience much more change than the last several generations. Along with this rapid change, there This white paper outlines eight emerging issues that are several critical global issues that will have long-term will have either positive or negative impacts on local impact not only on the fire and emergency services but government and the fire and emergency services, on local government as well. Thus, the purpose of this depending on how they are handled now and in the white paper is to not only spur dialog around these critical future. Two critical themes have emerged that must be issues, but also to motivate local government to prepare addressed today to provide a healthy and sustainable and position their organizations for these anticipated environment for the future. changes. If organizations hope to maintain their First, the past strategies of deferring conclusive action effectiveness and remain sustainable in the future, they on critical issues with short-term solutions and leaving must act today to address these issues and develop the them for the next set of leadership is not a sustainable organizational bandwidth needed to resolve them. strategy for the future. To continue to do so will worsen the eventual correction(s) that will have to be made. Co-Chairs Statement Second, we must begin recruiting talent with the It has been our honor to co-chair the 21st Century Fire mindset, skill sets, and resolve to help build a core and Emergency Services White Paper on behalf of the organizational culture that can adapt and respond to International City/County Mangers Association and rapid changes and that are not vested in a 20th century the Center for Public Safety Excellence. With more than fire service paradigm or antiquated local government 70 years of experience in local government between bureaucracy. us, we bring a depth of perspective in the role and the importance of local government to every resident, visitor, While there are challenges, the next 30 years hold and those passing through a local community. In the great potential to refine and improve how services are course of our careers, we have experienced a significant provided at the local level. It is our hope that this white amount of change and realize the importance of this paper will help achieve that result. white paper to the future of the fire and emergency Representing the Center for Public Safety Excellence services. Chief Randy R. Bruegman (Retired), CFO, FIFIReE This white paper is a culmination of several years of discussion between our two organizations and more Representing the International City/County than two years of work that included seven focus groups Management Association at national and regional conferences and two online City Manager Pat Martel (Retired), ICMA-CM surveys. Combined these efforts provided more than 1,200 responses from labor, fire department leadership, and city/county managers. That information was coalesced by a group of subject matter experts (SME) 3 White Paper Development Process The SME group did not work in a vacuum in developing the white paper. From the onset, the importance of engaging numerous and diverse voices was repeatedly expressed. Seven in-person feedback sessions were held between January and May 2019. Coupled with the two web surveys, this generated feedback from more 1,200 fire and emergency services professionals and local government management professionals. January 2019 – International Association of Fire Fighters Affiliates Leadership Training Symposium, Los Angeles, CA February 2019 – ICMA Southeast Regional Conference, Greenville, SC March 2019 – CPSE Excellence Conference, Garden April 2019 - ICMA Northeast Regional Conference, New Grove, CA Brunswick, NJ March 2019 – ICMA West Coast Regional Conference, May 2019 – ICMA Midwest Regional Conference, Reno, NV Evanston, IL March 2019 – ICMA Mountain Plains Regional Conference, Omaha, NE In the web surveys administered by both CPSE and ICMA, identical patterns for fire and emergency services organization and staffing models emerged. Staffing model | all respondents Organization model | all respondents 19 3 77 99 763 All Career City/county department 155 Combination 288 592 Regional district/ All volunteer authority Public safety Non-profit department organization For profit organziation 4 Expected future challenges for the fire and emergency services Attendees at the IAFF feedback session were asked the and emergency services personnel. same question as CPSE and ICMA survey respondents: The SME group saw an interesting connection between Thinking about the fire and emergency services in your the highest rated future challenge of all three groups. community, what are some of the major challenges CPSE respondents noted increased demand for services that you expect your department to face in the future? as the top future challenge, while ICMA respondents While the exact order of the provided challenges differed were most concerned with how to continue to supply among the groups, three expected future challenges fire and emergency services in an era of increased costs rose to the top for ICMA groups – an increase in the and declining financial resources. The IAFF respondents number and/or type of calls for service, an increase in indicated that health, safety, and wellness of fire and costs of service and/or declining financial resources, emergency services personnel would be most impacted additional health, safety, and wellness concerns for fire in the future. Comparison of expected future challenges An increase in the numbers and/or types of calls for service An increase in costs of service and/or declining financial resources Additional health, safety, and wellness concerns for fire service personnel A lack of cultural and gender diversity among fire service personnel Aging or costly equipment and facilities A lack of training in new approaches and techniques An inability to adopt new technologies IAFF respondents CPSE respondents ICMA respondents 5 How can the fire and emergency services innovate and be sustainable? The three most important ways to facilitate a culture varied from enhanced medical training focused on new of innovation in the fire and emergency services were drugs and techniques, to increased decontamination the same for both CPSE and ICMA respondents. During training, and training with and on new technologies (e.g. the IAFF feedback session, attendees were asked what virtual reality-based scenarios, unmanned aerial vehicles, changes in skills would be necessary for the fire and and electric/hybrid vehicles). A frequent response for emergency services in the future. An overall increase necessary future skills were leadership skills -- ranging in training emerged as a major theme during the in- from public speaking, program development, strategic person feedback session. Specific examples of training thinking, and research. Three most important ways to facilitate a culture of innovation in the fire and emergency services Encouraging greater use of Ensuring that the services Creating a spirit of data to assess and use of are up to date on the latest partnership between analytics to solve complex professional education, the fire and emergency community problems training, and credentialing services and local government management Given the unique perspectives of IAFF, CPSE, and ICMA from the three groups began to diverge. While the respondents, the SME group was not surprised to learn environments they work in are identical, the changes that, when asked to select the three most important impacting them are similar, and they agree on the ability changes the fire and emergency services must of the fire and emergency services to innovate, their implement to remain viable in the future, responses specific solutions were very different. Most important changes to be implemented IAFF CPSE ICMA Increasing awareness Identifying and Researching and and resources dedicated 1 implementing community implementing alternative to personnel health and risk reduction efforts service delivery options wellness Identifying new partnership Increasing professional opportunities with Increasing usage of data and 2 development opportunities neighboring jurisdictions data analytics for personnel and private and/or nonprofit organizations Fostering a culture Fostering a culture Researching and of innovation in the of innovation in the 3 implementing time and life- department and among department and among saving technologies personnel personnel 6 Forces Impacting the 21st Century Fire and Emergency Services When we began the process of creating a vision for As the SME group investigated each area of influence, the fire and emergency services in 2050, the SME eight overarching themes emerged. These are areas of group began to brainstorm the specific factors having such importance that each individually, or collectively, significant impacts today and how they could change will create significant stresses and shocks within the profession’s appearance in 30 years. Over the last the existing fire and emergency services. The SMEs decade, local governments have witnessed an emerging reviewed the survey and in-person sessions feedback set of issues including changing political dynamics and determined that the feedback could be categorized within the community we serve, new expectations from into eight critical issues for the fire and emergency the electorate, a demand for greater transparency, and services in the next 30 years. These critical issues a continual shifting of services from the federal and demand attention if the fire and emergency services is state level to local government. These dynamics have to thrive in the future: realigned the services we provide. The following graphic 1. Re-identification of the fire and emergency services illustrates the initial brainstorm of factors that are impacting the 21st century fire and emergency services 2. Culture of the profession today and will continue to do so into the foreseeable 3. The robust use of data future. While each will individually impact the fire and emergency services of the future, collectively these 4. Health and wellness threats create the most change this profession has ever seen. 5. Opportunities for partnerships 6. Sustainability challenges 7. Technology advancements and adoption 8. Inclusiveness of the fire and emergency services Homeland Security/ Service Emergency Demands Management Health & Research Wellness Technology Management Performance The 21st Politics Century Fire & Emergency Services Equipment Culture Training and & Vehicles/ Professional Workforce Apparatus Development Economics/ Funding Emergency Medical External Services Environment Community Fire & Life Risk Facilities Safety Reduction Initial brainstorm of factors 7  Inclusiveness Re-Identification Technology Culture 21st CENTURY Fire and Emergency $ Services Sustainability Robust Use of Data Partnerships Health and Wellness Forces impacting the 21st Century Fire and Emergency Services 8 CRITICAL ISSUE A: RE-IDENTIFICATION Re-identification is the action of establishing a new identity for the fire and emergency services. Today, most agencies that respond to medical emergencies, fires, rescues, and many other types of calls still carry the legacy name “fire department.” The fact is that for most agencies, fire response is less than 5 percent of the call types to which they respond. As the fire and emergency services begin to expand their services into mobile integrated health care, and many other related service deliveries, the legacy name fire department may no longer be relevant. While reidentification is not uncommon in the corporate world, this will be an emotional issue for this profession. Even so, creating a new identity is essential for the service to remain relevant and sustainable. Initiative 1: Celebrate the heritage of the fire and emergency services while recognizing that services provided have evolved and will continue to experience significant changes over the next 30 years. Strategies: Establish messaging strategies for clarifying 1. Explore changes to agency names to better reflect the and supporting the role of first responders in services provided. addressing risk reduction, medical and injury prevention, and social services support. 2. Engage storytellers and fire and emergency services Set agency goals and strategies to reduce experts who can provide a modern perspective of the the number of 911 emergency calls, which adaptability of the fire and emergency services. reduces risk to the community and the first 3. Recognize that the fire and emergency services are responder. well positioned to be the hub of service delivery outside the typical emergency response system. 6. Provide for better service to the customer, through the 4. Establish focus on the community as the deployment of personnel with the appropriate skills organizational priority. needed for the service(s) to be provided. For example, 5. Implement risk reduction, medical and injury use advanced medical providers, social workers, prevention, and related social service support efforts mental health professionals, and other support service for their community. providers as a component of an agency’s resource deployment. Actions Exalt and reward internal and external activities that support risk reduction and medical and injury prevention efforts. 9 Case Study: Mesa Fire & Medical Department (MFMD) Location: Mesa, AZ Coverage Area: 511,000 residents over 138 square miles No. of Employees: 561 Annual Calls for Service: 68,000 With more than 75 percent of calls for service being medical in nature, in 2012 the department re-identified itself by changing its name to Mesa Fire & Medical Department. Building from this name change, MFMD began reidentifying itself in additional ways. These include deploying smaller medical response units, partnering with crisis counselors to staff a behavioral health unit, and coordinating regular immunization clinics that provide free vaccinations to the insured. MFMD has developed a community outreach division focused on reducing non-emergency 911 calls by providing education and social services. This division conducts such varied functions as training children on CPR, safe driving, and installing grab bars in homes. 10 CRITICAL ISSUE B: CULTURE Culture is often defined as the learned behavior patterns of people – including what they think, say, do, value, and feel. Professional culture is the pervasive values, beliefs, and attitudes that characterize a profession and influence how it operates. The culture of the fire and emergency services is built upon a strong legacy and is steeped in tradition. These traditions are deeply engrained in the way services are provided, the image of the fire and emergency services, beliefs about how it should look, and in many cases, who should be included. The culture often drives decisions that are counter intuitive to what is best for the long-term health of the organization or the provision of better services to the customer. At its worst, the focus on tradition results in resistance to change, adaptation, and/or innovation. This creates a tremendous risk for the emergency services over the next 30 years, as we are entering a period of time which will undoubtably be an era of rapid change. Successful organizations will be able to adapt quickly, try new things, be willing to fail, and be accountable for the outcomes the organization needs to achieve. In the private sector or local government, agility will be the new capital for organizations as we move into the next three decades. As W. Edwards Deming once stated, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” This is a great reminder that all organizations are vulnerable if they fail to adapt to their changing environment. As we look to the future, the rate of change will be faster than ever, and culture will play a significant part in an organization’s ability to sustain through such a period of rapid change. Initiative 1: Enhance alignment between community, elected officials, management, labor/volunteer representatives, and overall workforce. Strategies: 1. Create a process that allows for goal setting, the opportunities and challenges that will face strategic planning, and periodic feedback by all organizations in the future. stakeholders of the community and the members 4. Foster alignment between the community, of the organization. elected officials, management, labor/volunteer 2. Encourage regular communication between all representatives, and the overall workforce to create stakeholders on strategic issues, while continuing to a culture of inclusion, adaptability, and innovation. address operational issues through the established 5. Establish a mechanism within the agency chain of command. to monitor and promote cultural awareness 3. Embrace the differences in generational understanding and sensitivity reflective of the culture of the and approach to issues to be successful in addressing community served. 11 Initiative 2: Promote an organizational environment that is adaptable, open to change, innovative, and focused on continuous improvement. Strategies: 1. Select and promote leaders and managers in the the organization can evaluate those practices and organization who model the desired organizational implement those that are relevant in their own behavior of self-assessment and continuous organization to improve performance. improvement. 4. Develop an organizational culture that embraces 2. Encourage members of the organization to be continuous improvement for the organization and its engaged in outside organizations, both professional employees. and community based. 5. Recruit and hire employees who demonstrate the 3. Adopt a philosophy that promotes seeking out necessary knowledge, skill sets, and abilities to the best industry practices of other professional develop an effective and innovative organizational organizations and establish a process by which environment. Initiative 3: Establish organizational expectations for employee education, credentialing, and continued professional development. Strategies: 1. Encourage and provide incentives for personal growth 3. Develop a reverse mentoring program where new through a comprehensive organizational professional employees engage with senior leadership to familiarize development plan that includes training and them with the latest technologies and thought education, that is incorporated into the requirements processes of the emerging workforce and community. for promotion to leadership positions, and that 4. Establish a process to continually assess the skills, results in the increased professionalism of the fire and knowledge, and abilities needed by the organizational emergency services. workforce to meet the changing community 2. Develop a professional mentoring process to assist demands for service, to meet the external challenges individuals in creating and achieving their professional placing pressures on the organization, and to development plan. help address the changes and innovation that are occurring or will need to occur in the agency. Case Study: Charleston Fire Department (CFD) Location: Charleston, SC Coverage Area: 150,000 residents over 104 square miles No. of Employees: 401 Annual Calls for Service: 24,000 Serving one of the most historic cities in the United States, CFD is steeped in a rich history and tradition. An unfortunate part of its history is the 2007 Sofa Super Store fire that resulted in the line of duty deaths (LODD) of nine CFD firefighters. Since then CFD strategies have taken two distinct paths: those that advance the modern fire department and those that reinforce what it means to be a CFD firefighter. A recent recruit class was tasked with researching every LODD in the department’s history, CFD has become a leader in incident command, fire tactics, and regional partnerships through strong strategic planning and a focus on constant improvement. Such traditions as company pride and badge pinning ceremonies remain integral to CFD’s culture. 12 CRITICAL ISSUE C: ROBUST USE OF DATA Data are individual units of information. In analytical processes, data are represented by variables. Although the terms data, information, and knowledge are often used interchangeably, each has a distinct meaning. While there have been significant improvements in data use during the last 20 years, the fire and emergency services have just scratched the surface of the full potential of using data effectively to manage daily operations and make decisions based on an agency’s desired outcomes. Available data is often limited due to the poor documentation of an incident by the officer responsible for filling out the report. The exception to that is medical response, which requires substantially greater documentation due to medical and legal oversight. Therefore, establishing systems to ensure collection and management of quality data is critical if it is to be used effectively. Over the next 30 years, the amount of data available to the profession will transform the way the service operates, not only in emergencies, but in all the services provided. Smart cities, smart buildings, medical biometrics, artificial intelligence, predictive analytics, and real-time streaming insights into data are all on the horizon along with many others not yet imagined. Just think of where data use was 30 years ago and where it is today. We can only imagine what it will be like in 30 years. However, if the fire and emergency services hope to harness the true power of data, there has to be a transformation of mindset and culture to leverage data for effective decision making. Initiative 1: Utilize quality data for evidence-based decision making to assess and produce the best outcomes. Strategies: 1. Educate and develop accountability for company replace it with another system capable of integrating officers, field inspectors, educators, and others with new innovative data systems to provide advance deployed to capture the appropriate data at the analytics, and support evidence-based decision incident to provide information that can be analyzed making, built upon the receipt of quality data for local to achieve the organization’s desired outcomes. agencies. 2. Champion a federal requirement that all fire and 4. Leverage technology(s) to assure real-time data emergency services agencies regardless of size and capture and analytics that provide insights for use by structure be required to complete a National Fire fire departments at the local level. Incident Reporting Systems (NFIRS) report for each call 5. Assure a process is in place to track physical and and submit to the state or federal government. traumatic event exposure(s) for all response personnel. 3. Champion a substantial update to NFIRS to become a more relevant and technologically robust system or 13 Initiative 2: Implement advanced data analytics to make informed decisions. Strategies: 1. Employ advanced analytics to assist in making data to other organizations, the media, and the predictive and prescriptive decisions that are focused general public. on the outcomes the agency is trying to achieve. 4. Establish best practices for data cleansing and for 2. Cultivate a data-driven culture that utilizes data tracking data access to safeguard its integrity. insights to modify strategies, deployment models, and 5. Establish clear roles and responsibilities among city programs. data managers, private-sector data collection entities, 3. Ensure departmental personnel are aware of public and records management software (RMS) companies. disclosure laws, rules, and best practices in providing 6. Establish a clear definition of the data ownership the agency produces. Initiative 3: Develop comprehensive records management systems (RMS) to collect and analyze data effectively. Strategies: 1. Urge RMS vendors to design systems that bring 2. Establish data warehousing best practices for together all data needs in the agency into an collecting data from multiple data sources, including integrated platform, that can provide analytical RMS, for complete and faster data analysis. evaluation for the data collected toward the outcomes 3. Require department IT managers to use best practices trying to be achieved by the agency. and transmission law(s) relevant to cybersecurity, data collection, and storage. Initiative 4: Focus on developing outcome-based data for all measurable operations and functions within the organization. Strategies: 1. Develop an outcome-based performance The consequences for the agency and the measurement system consisting of four elements: community being served if the goals are not met. The goals of the agency to support the health and 2. Use aggregated data to inform and improve system welfare of the community. performance. The performance metrics relevant to the goals the 3. Champion legislative changes to allow for sharing agency is trying to achieve of patient data between hospitals and responding agencies and encourage interagency cooperation to The benchmark level of performance the agency is promote the evaluation of patient outcomes based striving to achieve. upon the entirety of the response to that patient. 14 Case Study: Edmonton Fire Rescue Service (EFRS) Location: Edmonton, AB Coverage Area: 972,000 residents over 303 square miles No. of Employees: 1,300 Annual Calls for Service: 55,000 Combining incident data with non-fire databases (such as census and other demographic information) EFRS has harnessed insights to guide planning, development, and community risk reduction. EFRS conducted longitudinal analysis of river rescue operations before and after the closure of a station located along the North Saskatchewan River. Highlighting the negative impact on the outcomes of the rescues following the closure compelled the City Council to reopen the previously closed station. Cross referencing of response data with fire investigator’s data has determined the locations for EFRS’ smoke alarm program. EFRS robust use of data has aided other governmental entities namely the geocoding of overdose events and naloxone administration by firefighters for the provincial government showing the impact of recently opened supervised consumption services. 15 CRITICAL ISSUE D: HEALTH AND WELLNESS The increase in emergency responder health concerns including post-traumatic stress (PTSD/ PTSI), and other health related problems is a critical issue for the profession. Daily exposures in the fire and emergency services include sleep disruption and deprivation, the continual witnessing of tragic events, and exposures to toxic environments. These exposures are all contributing factors to the increased cancer rates in firefighters and their predisposition to many health-related issues and psychiatric disorders, including suicide. To understand the interrelationship of all these factors and their impact on response personnel will require research specifically directed at fire and emergency personnel, necessitated by the fact that similar research conducted in other professions will likely be discounted and not be accepted by the 21st century fire and emergency services. While use of battle-worn gear has been a source of pride for many in the service and is embedded in the tradition and culture of the profession, it has contributed to extended exposure to toxins and many of the health-related issues experienced by fire and emergency services personnel. As such, decontamination plays a vital role in protecting fire and emergency services personnel and their long-term health. The focus for decontamination goes beyond the emergency scene and includes all the transport mechanisms (e.g., personal protective equipment (PPE), hand tools, hose, and apparatus) and facilities where exposure is intensified because of extended time frames and other exposure pathways (e.g., respiratory, dermal, and digestive). Further, there is a real concern that personnel are bringing contaminants outside of fire stations and exposing friends and family members. A prime example is the volunteer firefighter who, because of limited agency resources, takes gear home to be cleaned, cross contaminating their personal vehicles and home washing machines. Initiative 1: Champion research on the health impacts specific to the fire and emergency services to evaluate the health risk of consecutive hours worked, sleep disruption, and the impacts on employee health. Strategies: 1. Conduct research on the impacts of current work 2. Utilize the results of that research to make any needed cycles on the health of the workforce and the impacts operating policy changes, incorporate research results of sleep deprivation and sleep hygiene on the long- into appropriate standards, and pursue potential term health of the individual and their cognitive legislative changes to protect the health of the abilities while on duty. workforce. 16 Initiative 2: Proactively address the increased mental health challenge(s) facing the fire and emergency services. Strategies: 1. Engage outside professional assistance to allow 4. Develop a comprehensive plan to address the need employees a confidential process to seek assistance for for employee assistance in those situations that themselves or family members who may be struggling warrant immediate intervention. with mental health concerns. 5. Develop on-going mental health assessments for 2. Embrace an organizational atmosphere that removes emergency responders to promote early recognition the stigma and barriers for those seeking mental of developing mental health issues aligned with a health assistance while safeguarding employee mental health assistance process if issues are detected. confidentiality. 6. Develop pre-employment hiring processes that 3. Develop organizational processes that protect the provide for professional mental health pre-screening confidentiality of what an employee is being treated of candidates to avoid exposure for those that are for, while alerting the agency to any recommended highly susceptible to post-traumatic stress. restrictions to the employee’s essential job functions and assignments.. Initiative 3: Adopt and support fitness and wellness best practices throughout the whole organization and incorporate this philosophy in every aspect of operations. Strategies: 1. Institutionalize employee wellness and fitness into the 3. Evaluate the level of fitness of each employee, and for culture, practices, operational procedures, and training those found to be unfit, assist employees in attaining practices of the organization. a proper fitness level. If unsuccessful, address the issue with the employee. 2. Provide structured support to maintain a healthy workforce. Initiative 4: Ensure ongoing physical fitness and wellness requirements are standardized, adopted, and used within every department. Strategies: 1. Adopt physical performance and annual fitness 2. Once these policies are developed, engage the testing requirements for fire and emergency services workforce to adopt and implement strategies that will employees to ensure the responder can safely do the be employed by the agency. job without injury or risk to their health. 17 Initiative 5: Continue research toward the development of comprehensive decontamination procedures for the fire and emergency services. Strategies: 1. Address the traditional culture of the profession that testing to help ensure a safer environment for the promotes the wearing of soiled gear and transform it workforce. to one that sees it as contamination. 3. Use research to develop best practices, 2. Conduct continued research to develop a comprehensive standards, and potentially, new comprehensive approach to reducing exposures, the legislation to protect the workforce. best method(s) for decontamination, and periodic Initiative 6: Urge personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers to develop new PPE and bio-metric sensors to ensure effectiveness, reduce equipment weight, and provide for the enhanced ability to monitor the physiologic health and stress markers for personnel during response to an incident. Strategies: 1. Urge the PPE manufactures to develop a more 3. Urge PPE manufactures to design a more effective ensemble that offers the protection needed comprehensive ensemble for wildland firefighting and reduces the weight. that provides for better protection of personnel. 2. Champion the research and development of 4. Provide recognition awards to manufacturers and technologies to monitor the physiological health vendors that make meaningful improvements to PPE. indicators of personnel during incident response 5. Challenge the existing practice of allowing the PPE and to determine when those indicators indicate manufacturing industry to vote on standards that personnel are at risk. affect their business while recognizing their input is critical to the design of the PPE. Case Study: Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue and Emergency Services Department (Broward) Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Coverage Area: 1.95 million residents over 1,323 square miles No. of Employees: 775 Annual Calls for Service: 50,000 Broward formalized its health and wellness initiatives under a division chief of health and safety. A departmental joint occupational safety and health committee meets bi-monthly to discuss safety issues and concerns. Broward conducts mandatory biannual Life Scan physicals for all personnel. Numerous exposure reduction steps, such as use of particulate filtration/blocking structural firefighting protective hoods and synthetic radio straps, issuance of post exposure reduction decontamination kits, and deployment of “healthy cab” initiatives, have been implemented by Broward. All front-line personnel have been issued ballistic protection. Working with the local University of Miami Sylvester Cancer Center, Broward has participated in a research project for the education and reduction of cancer exposures. 18 CRITICAL ISSUE E: PARTNERSHIPS A partnership is often thought to be a form of business, where two or more people come together to share ownership, responsibility, and profits from a given business venture. In every community across our nation, a partnership exists between the fire and emergency services and the general public that is built upon a shared commitment to the health and safety of its residents. The fire and emergency services are in an enviable position in communities, as they are well positioned to be the hub of service provision for many supporting services already found within their community, and that align with organization’s core mission. The importance of this has been clearly proven during homeland security threats, through the interagency cooperation, intelligence sharing, and joint response to those events by law enforcement and the fire and emergency services. There are significant opportunities to create partnerships with allied health care, mental and behavioral health providers, and various social service agencies to leverage the talents of each agency with a focus on improving service to the community. Too often agencies respond multiple times to the same individual who calls 911 as their only known access for assistance, when the need is truly not an emergency, but could be met by another service provider in the community. Over the next 30 years, the fire and emergency services will need to partner with related service providers to create a local response network that can provide a host of services under the umbrella of a multifaceted organization, if it hopes to meet the needs of the community served. Initiative 1: Acknowledge the need to work with a wide range of partners to serve the community and develop local strategies to create new approaches to providing services more effectively. Strategies: 1. Inventory and leverage the allied services 2. Partner with insurers and health providers to innovate (law enforcement, health, social services, non- existing response strategies, improve patient governmental organizations) in the community to outcomes, and reduce system costs. provide more effective and efficient services. 19 Initiative 2: Promote a symbiotic relationship with other internal departments and outside agencies that are routinely allied responders to an incident. Strategies: 1. Routinely meet, train, develop standardized 3. Promote regular communication between all operational response plans, and share real-time stakeholders on strategic issues, while continuing to intelligence of what is happening in communities handle operational issues through the established with allied responders to increase response capability chain of command. and coordination during a homeland security event. 4. Develop opportunities for stakeholders to appreciate 2. Develop goals and outcomes with a wide array of the roles and responsibilities of all other stakeholders agency stakeholders, both internally and externally, to toward better alignment of service delivery. meet the objective of providing for a safe and healthy community. Initiative 3: Continue to expand community emergency response capabilities. Strategies: 1. Promote individual and neighborhood self-sufficiency 2. Focus on creating personal accountability in though existing programs (e.g. community preparation for community-wide emergencies. emergency response teams, the radio amateur civil 3. Identify and support community functions that emergency service, volunteers in patrol, and senior are critical for recovering from and adapting to Medicare patrol volunteers) to create greater resiliency community-wide disasters. in the community. Case Study: Rockford Fire Department (RFD) Location: Rockford, IL Coverage area: 147,000 residents over 65 square miles No. of Employees: 318 Annual Calls for Service: 29,000 Identifying the increase in EMS calls and understanding that collaboration would benefit the department and community, RFD partnered with Swedish American Health System to develop a mobile integrated health (MIH) program. Twelve patients with chronic illnesses were selected for the 2015 pilot. As a result, ER visits were reduced by 54 percent, hospital admissions by 28 percent, and ambulance transports by 38 percent for this group. Enrollment in the program has grown with visits, admissions, readmissions, and transports continuing to be reduced. The MIH program scope expanded through a partnership with Winnebago County Health Department to train community members to recognize opioid overdoses and treat with them naloxone kits. In a one-year period, 1,500 people were trained, and more than 1,200 naloxone kits were distributed. 20 CRITICAL ISSUE F: SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability is often defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The concept of sustainability has three pillars: economic, environmental, and social. If we look through the lens of local government today, there are reasons to be concerned that local government may not be sustainable in the future. Many agencies across the United States are struggling with the cost to provide services at the levels needed to meet a growing population, an aging population, and a population with changing service demands. Those cost pressures are exacerbated by unfunded pension costs along with and the cost to maintain and replace aging infrastructure and response vehicles. Shifting responsibilities from federal and state governments to the local level have forced many local governments to provide new services. These factors have placed tremendous strain on local government to balance ever growing service demands with funding available within their jurisdiction. This will be an on-going issue and will necessitate doing business differently in the future, not only in the fire and emergency services but throughout all services provided by local government as well. The volunteer fire service has struggled in the last decade in many parts of the United States to recruit and retain enough volunteers to provide adequate services. With the mission of providing services to more than 70 percent of U.S. jurisdictions, volunteer recruitment and retention is becoming a national problem. Today business, government, and society are learning from the science of change that they must recreate themselves even when they would like to believe the old way of business will go on forever. As Peter Drucker put it, “the best way to predict the future is to create it.” The future of the fire and emergency services will rest upon those who are in it. If the fire and emergency services hope to sustain itself in the future, it must be willing to redesign itself and address the issues that are having a negative impact on the service today. Failure to address these issues will lead to what author Max Bazerman calls “predictable surprises.” Predictable surprises are those events or outcomes that catch us by surprise, yet both were predictable and preventable. If this occurs, the fire and emergency services will be placed at risk to continue to be the community’s safety net. Ultimately, local government will be faced with making difficult choices about how to provide the services needed and the level of services to be provided. That is why the issue of sustainability is so important and must be addressed now, rather than being left to the next generation of leaders to resolve. 21 Initiative 1: Address aging fire and emergency services vehicles and building structures. Strategies: 1. Establish a comprehensive building renewal and for the future designs needed by the fire and replacement plan and provide the needed funding to emergency services to address changes in response address the short- and long-term community needs. and deployment methods, building constructions, building densities, road infrastructure, and SMART 2. Urge the architectural profession and equipment cities and SMART building design. manufacturing industry to anticipate and plan Initiative 2: Reconsider and revamp current deployment methods. Strategies: 1. Ensure response protocols and opportunities for 3. Evaluate consolidation of seldom used specialty and consolidation are explored to ensure effectiveness of single-purpose pieces of equipment to maintain service delivery is balanced with cost efficiency. effective cost management and capacity of those services for the threat environment that exists within 2. Adopt staffing models based on statistically known the jurisdiction. call demand factors, such as time of day, special events, and seasonal changes while maintaining an 4. Develop a better understanding of community needs adequate baseline deployment required to meet and their changing demands for services so as to the health and safety needs of the community and modify the service delivery model(s) to meet them. employees. Initiative 3: Develop sustainable pension model. Strategy: 1. Promote collaboration between labor groups, local while ensuring adequate service levels within the government, and state government to ensure communities being served. existing pension financial commitments are met Initiative 4: Adopt and implement a community risk reduction strategy Strategies: 1. Embrace a comprehensive strategy to minimize changes that prohibit building in the wildland urban incidents and, if an incident does occur, to minimize interface. the impact on the people, the community, and the 4. Embrace the use of fire sprinkler technology in all emergency responder. buildings through the rapid adoption of codes and 2. Adopt the concepts outlined in “Vision 20/20 – ordinances at the federal, state, and local government National Strategies for Fire Loss Prevention,” and levels to dramatically reduce the incidence of deadly incorporate these recommendations into the daily and costly fires.. agency operation to minimize the impacts to the 5. Urge the sprinkler industry to develop a more cost- community and emergency responders. effective means to retrofit existing buildings with 3. Develop strategies locally and nationally that reduce sprinklers or other fire suppressant technology. risk through proper vegetation management, 6. Develop standards and a tiered code methodology designing new fixed fire protection systems that that would support a phased in retrofit plan for can be used in wildland urban interface, and zoning existing buildings. 22 Initiative 5: Improve resource allocation by focusing on the outcomes trying to be achieved. Strategy: 1. Evaluate resource allocation using department 2. Alter deployment methods to assure better outcomes response data. and desired services levels for communities including EMS, community paramedicine, or increased prevention efforts. Initiative 6: Examine fixed costs associated with current delivery models and associated contracts. Strategy: 1. Negotiate labor contracts with the flexibility to benefit, and pension package for the workforce that is promote innovation in service delivery and servicing economically sustainable. models, while still providing a fair and equitable wage, Initiative 7: Explore public/private partnership opportunities. Strategies: 1. Solicit success stories and best practices of effective 2. Create, maintain, and regularly update a national public/private partnerships related to capital repository of best practices available to all agencies at investments and operating costs. no cost. Initiative 8: Research strategies to assist communities in sustaining their volunteer fire and emergency services or, if needed, how to transition to a new model. Strategy: 1. Champion the establishment of a federal commission volunteer fire and emergency services agencies to develop a national plan of action to ensure remain viable in the future. Initiative 9: Dramatically revamp the fire and emergency services education and training model to provide the needed skill sets, knowledge, and abilities required for the anticipated changes in the future and to remain current with the application of emerging technologies. Strategy: 1. Urge academic institutions to develop the means to 2. Encourage academia to use of state-of-the-art speed up their course development model and to be technology to meet the educational learning styles of able to quickly adapt and develop new courses that future generations. will be required to sustain the needed workforce skill sets. 23 Case Study: South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) Location: Centennial, CO Coverage area: 540,000 residents over 287 square miles No. of Employees: 716 Annual Calls for Service: 45,000 Serving 12 municipalities and unincorporated areas of three counties, SMFR has addressed the critical issue of sustainability. A 2016 merger with Parker Fire Protection District lowered the mill levy saving taxpayers $11.2 million over 3 years. An upcoming merger with Cunningham Fire Protection District will result in additional savings of $4.7 million. Consolidating dispatch centers and adopting more efficient coverage models has delivered better service to the community with SMFR rated as an ISO Class 1. Funding is now available for staffing community risk reduction efforts that in turn lead to a reduction in demand for service. Enhanced community connectivity and less susceptibility to changing politics has permitted SMFR to adopt long-term strategic initiatives furthering its sustainability. 24 CRITICAL ISSUE G: TECHNOLOGY Futurist Ray Kurzweil’s predictions about trends in technological advance, which have been correct 86 percent of the time, are widely used by governments and large companies to prepare for the future. He has predicted that every 12 to 18 months computers will double their capabilities along with the information technologies that use them. Among his predictions are that in five years, we will experience 32 times more technological advancement, and in 10 years, a thousand times more. It is hard to imagine what that will translate to for the 21st century fire and emergency services, but it will undoubtedly change the way the local response agencies are doing business today. Initiative 1: Adapt to and leverage rapidly evolving technology to improve service delivery. Strategies: 1. Anticipate that artificial intelligence, smart technology, emergency responders (e.g., robotics for the military, and robotics will shape future service delivery training simulation tools for the gaming industry, dramatically in the next 30 years and will change aviation flight simulation) to provide for better response methods requiring a new skill set and response and training. strategic processes for fire and emergency services 3. Develop data sharing between departments/agencies agencies. that could benefit from shared applications and 2. Leverage technology developed for other hardware, thus reducing the silos of data information applications, professions, and purposes for use by in order to improve services. Initiative 2: Develop a change mindset to help anticipate and support appropriate use of emerging technology and encourage the development of new technologies. Strategies: 1. Champion the United States Fire Administration, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in concert with other national organizations, to challenge utilized by the Department of Defense. develop a fire advanced research challenge to 2. Coordinate national organizations to recognize promote application of technology developments and celebrate successful applications of emerging for use in the emergency services through proof of technology and help to spur future innovation at a concept and competitive challenges, similar to the more rapid pace for the fire and emergency services. 25 Case Study: City of Lenexa Fire Department (LFD) Location: Lenexa, KS Coverage Area: 50,000 residents over 34 square miles No. of Employees: 96 Annual Calls for Service: 6,300 On the cutting edge of technology adoption, LFD received a FAA Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in 2014. The COA permits LFD to use several UAS for aerial viewing and videography of both apparatus and personnel. LFD has utilized UAS for such varied activities as wildland hot-spot recognition, fire investigation, incident mission, and recruit training review. LFD requires interconnected smoke detectors in all new home-based day cares and permits Bluetooth detectors in older properties. Both configurations result in faster alerting of LFD to fire incidents in these high-risk properties. To protect its personnel, LFD has experimented with a waterproof arm band transmitter for its recruits monitoring their biometrics and pushing notifications during adverse situations. 26 CRITICAL ISSUE H: INCLUSIVENESS Communities served have continued to become more diverse in their culture, languages spoken, and norms. The workforce of many fire and emergency services agencies no longer reflect the people they serve. A workforce demographic that mirrors the community make-up helps to build trust with the community and promotes a better understanding by the agency. While firefighting is now a relatively small part of what agencies do, it is the most technically and physically demanding. Many fire departments are working with underrepresented groups to prepare them for the rigorous testing processes of joining the fire and emergency services. If the fire and emergency services hope to attract the right workforce to deliver the services conducted, then changes in culture and current perceptions are necessary to achieve more representative service. Initiative 1: Make it an organizational priority to recruit, select, and promote members who reflect the demographic makeup of the community they serve. Strategies: 1. Remove economic barriers to candidates desiring to 4. Create pathways to attract, prepare, and hire participate in the fire and emergency services. underrepresented personnel into the fire and emergency services. 2. Remove social barriers to candidates desiring to participate in the fire and emergency services. 5. Establish an agency goal for the optimal demographic make-up of the agency. 3. Remove non-validated physical ability barriers for candidates desiring to participate in the fire and 6. Develop a plan to achieve that optimal goal for the emergency services. agency within a specified time period. Initiative 2: Understand the community characteristics, culture, and diversity that exist and determine the most appropriate way to serve and interact with all community members. Strategies: 1. Provide opportunities for employees to engage with 3. Engage the community in helping to develop cultural various community groups. humility within the agency. 2. Promote cultural understanding and humility within 4. Involve the community in agency decisions that the workforce to increase the quality of interactions affect them. and the services provided to the community. 27 Case Study: Hartford Fire Department (HFD) Location: Hartford, CT Coverage Area: 124,000 residents over 17 square miles No. of Employees: 361 Annual Calls for Service: 30,000 A majority-minority community, Hartford’s residents are 44 percent Hispanic, 35 percent African American, 15 percent White, and 3 percent Asian. Striving to be a more inclusive fire department to better serve their diverse community, HFD has adopted strategies focused on enhanced two-way communication, team building, and fostering a department identity while permitting individuality. Meetings with all affinity groups allowed the chief to discuss challenge and concerns. These groups included the Emerald Society (Irish), Latin Society of Firefighters (Latino/Hispanic), Phoenix Society (African American), St. Florian Society (Italian), and Women in Fire & Emergency Services. Wide department representation on health and safety, strategic planning, and apparatus committees along with involvement of members in the development of HFD’s first professional development program led to a greater sense of inclusion. Custom-designed company logos are permitted on apparatus while intra-mural activities bring together the entire department. 28 What the Future May Hold The responder of the future and how agencies deploy society will evolve to accommodate this emerging and available resources will likely differ significantly from symbiotic relationship. today’s fire and emergency services system of response. For this first time in history, we have five generations in While the system will have to rely on a strong core the workforce. Two new generations are just entering: response team to adequately respond to emergency Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Gen Z is the first that is a true situations, the responder of the future will likely come digital generation. This generation has been exposed from a variety of disciplines, with varying education, to the internet, mobile systems, and social media from certifications, and training to provide the array of a very young age. They are hypercognitive, comfortable needed services to their community. multitasking, and often have multiple devices in Calling 911 may result in dispatching units to an operation at the same time. Generation Alpha, also emergency response or deploying an advanced medical known as the iGeneration, are the first entirely born in provider, a social worker, a behavioral health specialist, the 21st century. This generation is set to be the most community risk reduction officer, or other specialist who transformative generation yet. Alphas haven’t just can provide the most appropriate set of skills needed grown up with technology, they’ve been completely by the caller. The fire and emergency services must be immersed in it since birth. prepared to play a much larger role in the health and During the next 30 to 50 years, a nearly equal welfare of the community and anticipate that there will distribution of population bands will emerge. This will be a variety of specialists that make up the response be a shift in global demographics and will undoubtably team, creating a larger network of professionals that are have dramatic impacts on the workplace and the deemed first responders. workforce. Technologies and robust data analytics will have Whether it’s a more diverse workforce, a more dramatic impacts on society, the workplace, and the demanding community, a more complex response fire and emergency services and will create a time of system, or a shift caused by societal changes, as we look substantial organizational transformation. As smart to 2050, the fire and emergency services will look vastly cities develop during the next 30 years, the amount different that it does today. of data readily available to local government, the response agency, and the citizen will be substantial. Data will drive decisions as local governments focus to deliver better services, promote economic growth, and provide for a safe and healthy community. But to do so will require a new way of thinking for most local governments and the agencies that work with in them. The quickly advancing fields of automation and artificial intelligence will most certainly revolutionize every aspect of human life and are already making an impact on everything from military strategy to medical procedures. As robots take over increasingly complex tasks, new forms of human-machine interaction will emerge, and the structure of both industry and 29 Next Steps If you have been working in local government during hopes to sustain the fire and emergency services so it the last decade, you have experienced some of the can continue to serve as the health and safety net for most dramatic shifts in how it operates. Whether our communities. it’s the political dynamic, the elevated threshold for We invite local governments and institutions to transparency, the lack of civility, or the demands placed begin addressing the initiatives and research efforts on local government to provide more services, it has outlined in this white paper. It is our hope that national been a time of real change. As we look to the future, organizations, such as CPSE, ICMA, and others, will those dynamics may continue, but other forces of address the topics outlined in the critical issues and change will emerge, making the leading and managing prepare their members to meet these challenges going of tomorrow’s governmental system very exciting, very forward. challenging, and very fast. The more than 1,200 people that shared their vision for the 21st Century Fire and Emergency Services all agreed that the fire and emergency services is an integral local government function. However, they felt that changes will be needed in how these vital services will be provided. The subject matter experts and the CPSE and ICMA boards indicate that a collaborative effort will be needed to address the rapid societal changes coming and should include city/county managers, elected officials, community members, fire and emergency response leadership, and the representative workforce. The changes foreseen and the rate at which change may occur will undoubtably accelerate the transformation of the fire and emergency services. Thus, it is critical that we address the issues outlined in this white paper. We must begin today to position our agencies to be able to create an organizational DNA that can adapt quickly, embrace new technologies, and be open to unforeseen changes. These will need to be critical organizational characteristics if local government 30  ® Leaders at the Core of Better Communities