Ann Arbor area fire departments seek new mutual aid dispatch model
Editor's note: This story has been edited to indicate Ypsilanti Fire Captain Dan Cain attended the meeting.
As a method of continued collaboration between five Ann Arbor area fire departments, fire chiefs are pursuing a new model for mutual aid dispatch.
The new system would transfer the responsibility of calling for mutual aid from the firefighter to the dispatcher. Officials say it would provide for faster response times and safer conditions for firefighters.
The Ann Arbor Fire Department, as well as fire departments in Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township are pursuing a new method for dispatching mutual aid to the scene of a fire.
Joseph Tobianski | AnnArbor.com file photo
Formed in 2003 by Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, the group focuses on regional collaboration for services, including among fire departments.
Hieftje said the group meets based on the interest of the Chairman of the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners.
This term, Chairman Yousef Rabhi has been more engaged and wanted to pursue the meeting of the group, Hieftje said.
“We serve our residents better when we work together,” Rabhi said. “I think we’re getting some great work done together on a regional basis.”
Monday, fire chiefs and officials from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township attended the meeting, as well as County Administrator Verna McDaniel, Ann Arbor City Administrator Steve Powers, Ann Arbor Police Chief John Seto and officials from Ann Arbor and Superior townships.
Through an agreement that’s been in place since 2008, firefighters from Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Superior Township, Ypsilanti Township and Pittsfield Township can call for mutual aid through a box alarm once they arrive on scene and assess the situation.
The box alarm alerts dispatch that mutual aid is needed, and dispatchers notify each of the three other departments that their units need to respond.
“A department will pull up at an incident and call for a box, and dispatch will know which department’s trucks to dispatch (for mutual aid),” said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Chuck Hubbard.
The aid that the box alarm provides to departments with fewer firefighters has made a big difference, said Ypsilanti Fire Captain Dan Cain.
“Now we have extra crew to go in and start salvaging people’s belongings,” Cain said, explaining that it also provides a measure of relief for his firefighters when they’re on the job.
Hubbard said he believes the box alarm method has been working well, as the mutual aid has shortened the amount of time his department has been on scene for major fires.
“We’ve been doing that now and I think it’s going pretty good. Now the question becomes: What’s the next step?” Hubbard said.
Hubbard and the other fire chiefs at the meeting said they’re interested starting a new local division of a Mutual Aid Box Alarm System - or MABAS.
MABAS is a user-driven system intended to streamline the process for providing mutual aid during large-scale emergency situations including fires, train derailments, tornadoes, hazardous materials spills and terrorism events.
A number of Midwestern states have joined the program and in Michigan, there are 12 divisions.
On the local level, the system automatically triggers mutual aid to respond to a scene at the time the incident is reported to dispatch, instead of waiting for a department to call for aid once they arrive on scene as it happens now.
Under MABAS, dispatchers must make the determination if an incident requires the mutual aid response.
Should the firefighters arrive on scene and not be needed, Hubbard said they would be canceled from responding and return to service.
“As a line officer, the biggest advantage is I don’t have to think about what I want (in terms of mutual aid),” Cain said, noting many of his line officers support the move to MABAS. “(MABAS) allows that inbound officer to think about what he’s supposed to be thinking about.”
Pittsfield Township Fire Chief Sean Gleason said he attended a recent MABAS board meeting and intends to bring the idea to area fire chiefs at a meeting Tuesday.
The local fire chiefs would be responsible for getting approval from their municipal boards and councils, Gleason said.
A minimum of four fire departments in the county are required to start MABAS, Gleason said.
“It’s good for the public for safety arriving at the scene and it’s more safe for our firefighters,” said Ypsilanti Township Supervisor Brenda Stumbo.
Ypsilanti Township Fire Chief Eric Copeland said his department was previously a part of the Wayne-Westland Fire Authority that used MABAS. The township was not able to remain in the authority because of demographics and finances, Copeland said.
Copeland also expressed his interest in standardizing the incident reporting software across every fire department in the county.
“I think it’s imperative for all of us, as we come closer together and interact and respond in packages together that it’s representative of our fire codes, policies, standards and procedures,” Copeland said.
During the meeting, Mayor Hieftje asked the fire chiefs if there were any issues standing in the way of implementing the MABAS system.
Chief Hubbard said that contracts that each department has with their union employees may contain a clause about overtime hours.
If mutual aid from other departments is called in to assist on a fire in Ann Arbor, the Ann Arbor Fire Department automatically has to call the firefighters on its two shifts that are off-duty to come in to work.
Those firefighters would all have to be paid for a minimum of four hours of overtime.
“I think this is an obstacle in the contract that we can remove,” Hieftje said.
Hieftje later stated that the overtime issue in the union contracts has been on the table in previous negotiations.
However, if the Ann Arbor Fire Department assists another department on a fire, off-duty shifts are not called in to work, Hubbard said.
The next meeting of the Washtenaw Metro Alliance has been set for July 16.
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
Cendra Lynn
Sat, May 11, 2013 : 6:39 p.m.
Go, John! Find another way to reduce our public safety.... Given the current dispatchers whom we have outsourced to, having them make the decision reduces our safety even further. It's like calling Customer Service at a large company and having someone answer in greater, downtown Mumbai. Worse than useless.
Larry Ryan
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 12:35 p.m.
This is fantastic initiative and something that is happening around the state and nation. The Metro Alliance and Fire Chiefs are on the right track! BTW, I think it is correct that the AAFD has to call in all off duty firefighters and pay all who show up.
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 10:48 a.m.
This is a good initiative that would help all area municipalities improve safety. But what does it cost? This comment indicates it is not free or cheap: "Ypsilanti Township Fire Chief Eric Copeland said his department was previously a part of the Wayne-Westland Fire Authority that used MABAS. The township was not able to remain in the authority because of demographics and *finances*, Copeland said." [emphasis added] if @Bangalore's comment is correct, the article is very misleading and needs to be revised AND Mayor Hieftje's statement is way off base (not surprising since his "leadership" and vision for the fire department has been way off base for years with his "little experiment" in public safety). In fact if it was so easy to change this clause in the fire union's contract, what didn't you do it already? Also, if is facts were off why didn't Chief Hubbard speak up? The fire fighters believe the system is logical and works just fine as is. Here is @Bangalore's comment: "The article is misleading. They don't call in "two entire shifts". they call the members of the two shifts that are off duty and hire enough to replace the firefighters working in the other community. If only one rig with 3 firefighters is out of the city, they hire 3 and put them on a spare truck to cover the area vacated by the crew that responded to mutual aid."
Stephen Lange Ranzini
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 4:57 p.m.
@Peregrine: Actually, I did misread the article, so thanks for clarifying this issue for me. Having said that, the article says: ""I think this is an obstacle in the contract that we can remove," Hieftje said." As I stated, in fact if it was so easy to change this clause in the fire union's contract, why didn't he do it already? After all, he's been Mayor for 13 years.
Peregrine
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 3:41 p.m.
@Ranzini: I don't know if your mis-reading of what the article says is willful or sloppy, but you seem to excel at making nonsensical accusations against the mayor. First, note a key difference -- @Bangalore is talking about the procedures when Ann Arbor sends some of its firefighters to another community. Chief Hubbard and the mayor are talking about what the union contract requires when Ann Arbor requests aid from another fire department. Second, the article reports it as Chief Hubbard raising the issue of the union contract. The article then describes the issue in non-quoted text without attributing the text to anyone at the meeting. In other words, it's presented as reporting, not quoting. Finally, the mayor never claims it'd be easy to remove that issue from the union contract (as you state), only that he believes it is possible. Contrast that with an earlier posting of yours in which you defend this aspect of the firefighter contract. It's nonsensical as I described above, it shackles the fire chief into an all-or-none decision when flexibility is called for, and when the clause is triggered it consumes an excessive amount of the city's public safety funds for no safety gain. Or, to put it in simple terms, the mayor is right and you're wrong.
Peregrine
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 12:50 a.m.
The problem appears to be that it's an all-or-nothing decision -- call in two entire shifts to supplement one shift just because we need a little extra help. There's a useful middle ground that needs to be available. Imagine that there's a huge fire in downtown Ann Arbor and a number of stations respond. At that point I can pretty much guarantee you that the fire chief will be calling in some (but not all) firefighters from other shifts to help cover the rest of Ann Arbor. Now there's a small fire somewhere near Briarwood. The Pittsfield Twp fire station is nearby and can easily handle it. But as soon as they're called in, the fire chief must now bring in the entirety of the two remaining shifts. That does not make sense. It's not about safety at that point. In fact it could work against safety, because the next shift might not be as fully rested as it should be. The fire chief needs more flexibility, not some hard rule that makes no sense it terms of safety or other resources.
Bangalore
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 2:50 a.m.
The article is misleading. They don't call in "two entire shifts". they call the members of the two shifts that are off duty and hire enough to replace the firefighters working in the other community. If only one rig with 3 firefighters is out of the city, they hire 3 and put them on a spare truck to cover the area vacated by the crew that responded to mutual aid.
yourdad
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 2:50 a.m.
If there is a "call back" for off duty staffing, you will only get the people that are available and in a position to respond. Generally this is only done for 1 shift, not everyone off duty. So if you have a shift of 18 people you might get half. So the 4 hour minimum gets 9 people. The four hour minimum is done so that these people aren't having their lives while off duty interrupted for every silly call that just sounds good. The only time that this OT is paid out to a full shift is when the procedure isn't followed and a grievance causes a large payout. Basically if the on duty chief determines that he will need his whole staff on scene for an extended period of time, he can order the call back. But you better bet that nothing in the city is scrutinized as thoroughly as spending money. The mayor needs to crawl back under his rock.
Ricebrnr
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 12:20 a.m.
"I think this is an obstacle in the contract that we can remove," Hieftje said. Yes personnel safety and minimum staffing is an "obstacle" that should be removed?!?!? Self censoring what else I have to say about his majesty.
craig stolefield
Tue, May 7, 2013 : 7:19 p.m.
Nothing in this detracts from personnel safety or minimum staffing. This means more firefighters on the scene sooner. Who cares what department they are from? Its a dumb rule in the contract the mayor was talking about and it needs to be changed. The union should sign off on getting rid of it today.