Firefighters union to “vigorously oppose” loss of medical rescue unit
Friday, February 5, 2010
Vancouver’s firefighters union voted unanimously this week to “vigorously oppose” the impending loss of the city’s only remaining medical rescue unit, saying citizen lives will be in danger should it be eliminated.
Fire Chief Don Bivins announced Tuesday that the rescue unit, housed at Station 3, 1110 N. Devine Road, would be lost due to budget cuts.
With it gone, the 4,500 calls the busy station receives each year will be routed to a single engine at the station; a figure well above the national recommended maximum of 3,000 calls per unit annually, Bivins said.
If Station 3’s engine is already on a call, engines from surrounding stations will have to cover for it.
Bivins has said that could add a few minutes to the standard five-minute response time, with arrival times of up to 10 minutes possible.
“It’s a terrible game of musical chairs,” said Mark Johnston, president of the 185-member Local 452 Union. “If the response time is 10 minutes for someone who stops breathing, they’re going to die. Brain death is in four to six minutes.”
Bivins said he must cut $425,000 from his budget, and is choosing to do so through offering retirement incentives to four firefighters and getting rid of the medical rescue unit.
Friday evening was the deadline for firefighters to apply for early retirement. As of noon, Bivins said two firefighters had submitted the paperwork and two more had indicated they would do so.
The incentives are open to those in the fire department who have reached the eligible retirement age of 53 and have at least five years of service, Johnston said. Firefighters will get $1,000 for every year of service to the city, plus a lump payment to cover COBRA medical premiums for three months, he said.
If four people do not retire, Bivins said there will likely be layoffs.
Johnston said he realizes the city is grappling with a $6 million budget shortfall. But he suggested city leaders look elsewhere to make their cuts.
The city council “should find the money to protect Vancouver’s citizens,” he said.
Public safety comprises about 53 percent of Vancouver’s $131 million general fund. Personnel costs make up the majority of those departments’ budgets.
“If the grass doesn’t get mowed or the garbage doesn’t get picked up in parks, that’s not a good thing,” Johnston continued. “But when people die because we don’t have units in service, that’s a whole other deal.”
Bivins, however, said that the cuts were made citywide in order to provide a balanced approach.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable suggesting that the cuts be borne by someone else,” he said. “We have to live within the constraints of the revenue we do have.”
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