4530111 Resolution 20-246, “Fire and Emergency Medical Services Major Changes Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2013”

A RESOLUTION

 

20-246 

 

In the Council of the District of Columbia

 

july 10, 2013

To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend An Act To classify the officers and members of the fire department of the District of Columbia to clarify “major changes” to the provision of fire protection, fire prevention, or emergency medical services.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this resolution may be cited as the “Fire and Emergency Medical Services Major Changes Emergency Declaration Resolution of 2013”.

 

Sec. 2.  (a)  There exists an immediate need to clarify the phrase “major changes” in order to resolve any confusion or concerns of the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department (“Department”) regarding its ability to fill its funded vacancies and spend its allocated capital funds in order to provide fire and emergency medical services in the District of Columbia.

 (b)  The phrase “major changes” was not intended to prevent the Department from utilizing its approved budget to fill vacancies, staff up paramedics as necessary, purchase apparatus required to meet the needs of the District, and include those additions in its deployment.

(c)  For the current fiscal year, the Mayor proposed, and the Council approved, an operating and capital budget for Fire & Emergency Medical Services that would meet the needs of the District with regard to fire suppression and emergency medical care.  The Department supported this budget and did not request additional resources.

(d)  For fiscal year 2014, the Mayor presented an operating and capital budget for Fire & Emergency Medical Services that was similar to the current fiscal year.  The Department supported this proposal and did not request additional resources.  The Council approved a budget that included additional resources for emergency medical services staffing and the purchase of additional apparatus.

(e)  The Department has continued to maintain a large percentage of vacancies in operations, and has failed to keep up with a fleet maintenance and replacement schedule.  Staffing and purchasing apparatus at the level the Mayor and the Department identified as appropriate in the fiscal year 2013 and 2014 budget proposals would not be a “major change.”  It would, however, equip the Department to meet current service delivery needs.

(f)  Accordingly, the Department should not interpret “major changes” to prohibit the Department from filling those budgeted vacancies and purchasing those budgeted ambulances and then adding both to its deployment; provided, that there is no reduction or downgrade to the existing deployment plan.

 

Sec. 3.  The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances

enumerated in section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Major Changes Emergency Amendment Act of 2013 be adopted after a single reading.

 

Sec. 4.  This resolution shall take effect immediately.