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Municipalities investigate consolidation for fire & EMS
In a recent piece published by The Chicago Tribune, there's an intriguing discussion about a collaborative study aimed at examining the potential benefits of consolidating fire and EMS services among the fire departments of Highwood, Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Lake Bluff. These municipalities are anticipated to establish a task force in early 2013 to explore cost-saving strategies through collaboration, specifically focusing on the unification of fire protection and emergency medical services for their combined population of around 60,000 residents.
According to a study conducted by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), following this national trend toward consolidation could potentially result in annual savings ranging from $1 million to $1.8 million for these four communities.
Lake Forest currently manages its own fire/EMS and police dispatch services while also handling the dispatching for Lake Bluff's century-old volunteer fire department and providing ambulance services to it. In contrast, Highwood outsources its police dispatch to Lake Forest and relies on Regional Emergency Dispatch (RED) in Northbrook for fire and EMS support. Highland Park, which handles nearly 2,000 fire/EMS calls each year, manages all of its public safety dispatches independently.
One alternative being considered is contracting with an established universal dispatch center like Northbrook's Regional Emergency Dispatch. Another possibility involves creating a unified dispatch hub for fire, EMS, and police operations under one roof, as suggested by Irvin. Leonard Matarese, director of research and project development at the ICMA Center for Public Safety Management, analyzed the fire and EMS requirements of these four jurisdictions. He noted that the traditional approach nationwide has been to maintain consistent staffing levels for fire and EMS services around the clock. However, recent global insights reveal that workload patterns and demand for services fluctuate throughout the day and week. For instance, fire and EMS calls tend to peak during business hours and decline significantly after 9 or 10 PM.
The ICMA report outlines three potential approaches to managing firefighting and emergency medical services:
"Functional consolidation" entails cooperation across jurisdictions for shared services while maintaining the individuality of each department.
"Operational consolidation" keeps legal distinctions intact but combines operations and administration to operate as a single entity.
"Full consolidation" integrates the four fire departments into one cohesive unit, eliminating jurisdictional boundaries and centralizing all service demands under one department.
The ICMA predicts that functional and operational consolidation options could yield savings between $950,000 and $1.5 million annually, whereas full consolidation might save between $1.4 million and $1.95 million.
Matarese pointed out that political, financial, labor contract, and retirement system considerations often pose significant challenges. Nevertheless, these four cities are already engaged in various forms of shared resources, cooperative efforts, and standardized equipment procurement.
For the complete article, you can read it HERE.
This initiative reflects a broader movement towards optimizing municipal services through strategic partnerships, aiming not only to reduce costs but also to enhance efficiency and responsiveness in emergency situations.