EMERGENCY AND PROTECTIVE SERVICES COMMITTEE
M I N U
T E S
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EPSC-2007-1 |
The Emergency and Protective Services Committee met on Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 9:42 a.m., in the Council Chamber, Regional Administrative Headquarters, 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton.
Members Present:
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E. Adams; E. Kolb; M. Morrison; P. Mullin; P. Palleschi; R. Paterak | |
Members Absent:
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S. McFadden | |
Also
Present:
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D. Szwarc, Chief Administrative Officer; R. K. Gillespie, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor; D. Labrecque, Treasurer and Commissioner of Finance; P. Dundas, Director, Peel Paramedic and Emergency Programs; L. Button, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Policing, Peel Regional Police; T. Irwin, Fire Chief, City of Brampton Fire and Emergency Services; J. McDougall, Deputy Chief, City of Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services; T. Lippers, Deputy Chief, Caledon Fire and Emergency Services; J. Payne, Legislative Co-ordinator |
J. Payne, Committee Clerk, presided.
1. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR
RECOMMENDATION EPSC-1-2007:
That Councillor Palleschi be appointed Chair of the Emergency and Protective Services Committee for the term ending November 30, 2008, or until a successor is appointed.
RECOMMENDATION EPSC-2-2007:
That Councillor Morrison be appointed Vice-Chair of the Emergency and Protective Services Committee for the term ending November 30, 2008, or until a successor is appointed.
Councillor P. Palleschi assumed the Chair.
2. DECLARATIONS OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
RECOMMENDATION EPSC-3-2007:
That items related to Reports - Items 5 b) and 5 c) be brought forward to be dealt with as the first items of business;
And further, that the agenda for February 22, 2007 Emergency and Protective Services Committee meeting be approved, as amended.
Items 5 b) and 5 c) were dealt with.
5. REPORTS
b) Regional Fire Coordination - Annual Report
RECOMMENDATION EPSC-4-2007:
That the 2006 Annual Fire Coordinator's Report dated January 30, 2007 from Terry Irwin, Fire Chief, City of Brampton and 2006 Regional Fire Coordinator, be received;
And further, that Chief Terry Irwin be thanked for his efforts during 2006.
Peter Dundas thanked Chief Irwin, City of Brampton Fire and Emergency Services, for his dedication in carrying out the responsibilities assigned to the Regional Fire Coordinator for 2006. Highlights of the annual report included:
- 13 formal mutual aid requests between the area municipal fire and emergency services.
- Formalization of a tiered response agreement to establish six life threatening criteria (shortness of breath; uncontrolled bleeding or severe bleeds; unconsciousness; suspected heart attacks; motor vehicle accidents with paramedics dispatched; and seizures for persons 12 years of age or older) that initiate fire services response as dispatched by the provincial Central Ambulance Communication Centre (CACC).
Councillor Morrison inquired if consent from the Central Ambulance Communication Centre (CACC) was required prior to the implementation of the six life threatening criteria in the tiered dispatch process. Peter Dundas, Director, Peel Paramedic and Emergency Programs, advised that consent from CACC is not required to implement the tiered response agreement with area municipal fire services as it forms part of the Peel Paramedic Services deployment strategy and thus within Regional control. Councillor Morrison inquired if the six new criteria would reduce the number of fire service dispatches to non-life threatening medical calls. Peter Dundas explained that the current call triaging system employed by CACC, which utilizes three life threatening criteria (shortness of breath; uncontrolled bleeding or severe bleeds; and unconsciousness) automatically results in a simultaneous dispatch of paramedic and fire services, with no further questioning of the caller. He explained that there is no guarantee that fire services would not be dispatched to non-life threatening medical calls. It is hoped that the adoption of the six criteria will help to screen calls and reduce the number of unnecessary fire service dispatch situations.
Councillor Morrison asked for a brief explanation of the current 911 call routing process. Peter Dundas explained the process as follows:
Councillor Morrison sought clarification of where the response determination was made in this process. Peter Dundas indicated that the level of response is determined by CACC for ambulance; fire dispatch centre for fire calls; and PSAP for police calls. Mayor Morrison further inquired as to why fire is dispatched by CACC prior to ambulance. Peter Dundas responded that fire services tend to be more readily available compared to the more fluid ambulance deployment, thus CACC dispatches accordingly. Councillor Morrison stated that there would be significant financial and resource control benefits that could be realized through a Region of Peel operated ambulance dispatch.
Regional Chair Kolb asked if there were any technological improvements that could be made to allow for simultaneous dispatch of the various emergency services. Peter Dundas responded that currently the three systems, Police, Fire and the Central Ambulance Communication Centre can not interface. CACC is operated provincially and they are unlikely to change the system to accommodate municipal technical differences. Peter Dundas suggested that if the Region was able to move forward with the operation of a Regional CACC, at that time it might be possible to find ways to integrate the various technologies used by the three emergency services. Chief Irwin, City of Brampton Fire and Emergency Services confirmed that technology does exist to better integrate the various systems but that local control over CACC is essential if integration is to be accomplished.
Regional Chair Kolb asked Peel Paramedic Services and the three area municipal Fire Chiefs to prepare an estimate of the cost for providing the necessary technology to the provincially operated CACC to allow for better integration of the emergency dispatch process in Peel Region, including any labour related concerns and potential cost savings that might be realized.
R. Kent Gillespie, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor, reminded members of the Committee that, in large part, the barrier to integration is jurisdictional, in that the Province has long maintained that it needs a seamless province-wide integrated system for ambulance dispatch. He explained that the provincial pilot project currently underway with a limited number of municipalities in Ontario to operate CACC's is very restrictive.
Regional Chair Kolb further requested that Peel Paramedic Services work with the area municipal Fire Chiefs to review the possibility of providing ambulance Automated Vehicle Locating (AVL) technology to Fire Dispatch, thus allowing for partial integration of the two systems. R. Kent Gillespie responded that providing the ambulance AVL system to the fire dispatch would not be a problem, the problem is that CACC currently does not download the dispatch information to fire thus preventing fire services from being able to see the call details or monitor the call in progress.
c) Peel Regional Paramedic Services 2006 Annual Report
Presentation by Peter Dundas, Director, Paramedic and Emergency Services
Received
4. DELEGATIONS/PRESENTATIONS
a) Joe Freedman, Program Manager, J.D. Freedman and Associates, Regarding Recommendations for Capital Planning and Development of the Peel Regional Paramedic Service - Feasibility Study
Received
See also Item 5a
Councillor Mullin requested that a full briefing on the current status of the feasibility study and the implementation of the recommendations from the HealthAnalytics report be provided to Regional Council. She stated that Councillors are both stakeholders and decision makers, as such their input should be sought and they must be kept informed throughout the process. Further, Councillor Mullin requested that at the appropriate time a presentation to Council include pertinent information regarding the following:
- Evaluation of the Paramedic facility opportunities that have been identified to date including:
1. Renovation within existing area municipal or Regional facilities;
2. Planned redevelopment of existing area municipal or Regional facilities; or
3. Incorporation into a planned or proposed new area municipal or Regional facility.
- Identification of the type of facility (fire, police, paramedic or other);
- Correlation between the identified facilitation sites and Peel Paramedic Services deployment needs; and
- Determination of the facility accommodation requirements for Peel Paramedic Services.
Councillor Palleschi requested that the focus of the paramedic response time study clearly be to reduce, not seek justification of, the 12 minute response time average. Further, he requested that frontline paramedic and fire staff be included in each of the stakeholder groups identified across the five areas of study (Five study areas: Response Time Framework; System Oversight and Reporting; Deployment and Scheduling; Facilities; and Hospital Medic Study).
Councillor Palleschi sought clarification on the response from Regional staff in relation to the Bramalea Paramedic Station that was declared surplus by the City of Brampton and the decision not to participate in greenfield acquisitions for future joint facility opportunities between the City of Brampton and the Region of Peel. R. Kent Gillespie responded that the direction given to staff by the Emergency and Protective Services Committee (EPSC) and from Regional Council has been for staff not to look at any property acquisitions. Staff has been authorized to seek opportunities to facilitate paramedic within existing, redeveloped or planned/proposed area municipal or regional facilities. Councillor Palleschi responded that the surplus Bramalea station and the greenfield acquisitions fit the criteria of the opportunities that staff has been instructed to explore, in tandem with the City, not through a separate process. R Kent Gillespie clarified that the facilities component of the study is still in the feasibility stage, seeking to gain the level of detail that Councillor Mullin previously requested, it is only after the feasibility detail is garnered that acquisition opportunities can be explored based upon the study results. Councillor Palleschi suggested that if viable opportunities present themselves that they should be brought before Council in a timely manner, and not wait until the completion of the study when it may be too late. Councillor Palleschi suggested that a meeting between staff from the City of Brampton and the Region of Peel would help to address the concerns raised regarding regional participation in reviewing greenfield acquisitions and the surplus Bramalea paramedic station. Peter Dundas advised the Committee that he has talked with both Brampton and Mississauga Fire Chiefs and indicated to them that he is interested in greenfield opportunities but that he could not commit to any property acquisitions at this time with out direction from Regional Council. Kent Gillespie added that the Bramalea station may not be an opportunity that meets the current deployment needs for paramedic services in the Region. Councillor Palleschi responded that if that is the case then that is the explanation that should have been provided, rather than suggesting that the City of Brampton was forcing Peel Paramedic Services to relocate. R. Kent Gillespie replied that the Region would be interested in entering a lease agreement for the Bramlea station, and Regional property services staff has been working with City of Brampton staff to this end, in an effort to meet the short term needs pending the completion of the Peel Paramedic Services facilities plan.
Councillor Palleschi indicated that co-habitation (same building/same space) of fire and paramedic services in the same facility is not feasible given the different nature of the work and the shift duration differences between the two services. He suggested that it is feasible for the two services to coexist (same building location/separate space) in a joint facility, and these opportunities should be pursued as they have proven to be a mutually acceptable and practically workable solution elsewhere.
Councillor Palleschi noted that the five areas of study being undertaken are extremely complex and that it may be more realistic to present preliminary findings in June with a final report in the third quarter of 2007. R Kent Gillespie indicated that the facilities component is being resourced in such a manner as to try to move it forward as expeditiously as possible, and acknowledged that the complexity of the other four areas of study may require additional time to complete.
Regional Chair Kolb stated that some form of agreement between all of the key stakeholders will be essential prior to bringing the findings back to Regional Council, if the Region is to move forward with a solution that all parties will be willing to support.
Councillor Morrison agreed that an update to Regional Council is necessary and the update should include information on the proposed timeline for reporting the findings of the five areas under study. Further, Councillor Morrison agreed that the rank-and-file of both paramedic and fire services need to be included in the consultation process.
Councillor Adams raised the concern that committees such as EPSC and Waste Management invest significant time in these types of issues and in the end, the full debate occurs before Regional Council, causing one to question the time invested at Committee reviewing issues. She requested that every effort be made to bring the report forward in the second quarter of 2007 and agreed that a briefing for all of Council would be appropriate at this time. Specifically, she inquired about an area of her Ward that was not identified in the presentation, which is underserved by Peel Paramedic Services and what the status of this area was within the scope of the study. R. Kent Gillespie responded that it has been identified and that he will ensure that further information in this regard is included in the study.
5. REPORTS
a) Evaluation and Recommendations for Capital Planning and Development of the Peel Regional Paramedic Service - Feasibility Study
RECOMMENDATION EPSC-5-2007:
That the structure for the HealthAnalytics Report Feasibility Study including five Feasibility Study projects being:
- Response Time Framework;
- System Oversight and Reporting;
- Deployment and Scheduling;
- Facilities; and
- Hospital Medic Study
as set out in the report of the Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor, dated February 12, 2007, titled "Evaluation and Recommendations for Capital Planning and Development of the Peel Regional Paramedic Service - Feasibility Study", be endorsed;
And further, that notwithstanding resolution 2006-1120, the Special Meeting of Regional Council proposed for the first quarter, 2007 to receive the HealthAnalytics Report Feasibility Study, be rescheduled to the end of the second quarter, 2007 to allow staff sufficient time to conduct the study, including receiving Stakeholder input.
See also Item 4a
b) Regional Fire Coordination - Annual Report
This item was dealt with earlier in the meeting
c) Peel Regional Paramedic Services 2006 Annual Report
Presentation by Peter Dundas, Director, Paramedic and Emergency ServicesThis item was dealt with earlier in the meeting
6. COMMUNICATIONS
a) Diane M. Watson, RN, Letter and Power-Point Presentation Describing a Personal Experience at Credit Valley Hospital and Offering a Solution to the Problem of Underutilization of Paramedic Services and Ambulance Availability
Received
7. OTHER BUSINESS
8. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE MEETINGS
Thursday, June 7, 2007
9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Regional Administrative Headquarters
Council Chamber, 5th Floor
10 Peel Centre Dr.
Brampton, Ontario
9. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 11:33 p.m.