“What you have now is brass individuals coming before you making presentations and I have to tell you, with all due respect, that most of the things you say I would not even believe anymore. You have a high hurdle to overcome in terms of being honest and truthful...if it becomes clear to me that this (merger) is no longer appropriate I have no problems what so ever to introduce a measure to undo this merger.” - Supervisor Leland Yee

As you can see from the quotes above, things are about to get really, REALLY interesting in the next few weeks. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors are looking to cut Operator jobs and possibly

Look for more heated meetings in front of the Board of Supervisors, with the possibility of legislation being introduced to undue the merger of the SFFD and the DPH. The Public Health and Environment Committee convened a special session to hear about the Department’s plans to implement the “one and one” split paramedic system and all hell broke loose with Supervisor Leland Yee telling our EMS Brass that he does not believe anything they say, and that he is “seriously considering introducing a measure to undo the merger of the Fire Department and the Department of Public Health.”

Any attempt to act contrite and lobby the Supervisors for support was undone by the performance of Marshall Isaacs, who called the one and one system “the most important development in the history of modern EMS in San Francisco” and then rattled off the support of all of his esteemed colleagues citywide. There are only two groups whose support he didn’t seem to mention, paramedics and firefighters. Then again, he never asked for our support did he?

Over sixty speakers attended the meeting, and nearly all of them spoke against the “one and one” system. Perhaps Supervisor Sophie Maxwell summed it up best when she said, “I have a lot of concerns when I see so many employees of a City Department waving red flags.”

Supervisor Gavin Newsom had an excellent command of the Depart-ment’s problems, and was most concerned with the fact that “sick and disability rates are at an all time high, and morale is at an all time low.” Newsom also seemed inclined to delay the implementation or at least seek to shrink down the size of the “pilot program” to a more manageable level. Let’s see what happens in the coming weeks...

Currently, the “one and one” ambulance/Rapid Paramedic Response System is looming over the Department, with no real implementation date in sight. Further, at this time, engines in the City are not properly equipped to deliver the level of care professed by our esteemed leaders at the Presidio. Even worse, the Presidio “visionaries” also forgot to calculate that nearly every rig they proposed to put a medic on also has a probie on every watch. If implemented in its current form, the City would have approximately 23 engines with two probationary members working together, and still staff only 19 ambulances, only now they will have an inexperienced EMT working alongside a Paramedic still handling the same number of calls.

Sound good? Wait it gets better ... the Emergency Communications Department (ECD) has no way to program the computers to recognize ALS engines... so the officers at Radio are looking to buy butcher paper so each dispatcher can keep a scorecard in their cubicle in order to keep track of what rigs are ALS and what ones are not. That’s right, butcher paper and magic markers. Still convinced that the “one and one” plan has merit and is “the most important development in the history of modern EMS”?

Lastly, the long awaited audit of the San Francisco Fire Department should be released sometime in the next two weeks, and again, look for more bad press. What’s most unfortunate though, is that the audit is actually a snapshot of the Department’s demise under the previous administration, and is not wholly reflective of our current situation. What’s even more unfortunate is that it is being released in the middle of our contract negotiations, and it will be the impetus for our new Board of Supervisors to look for ways to make cuts in the Department so they can fund their pet projects. Especially vulnerable will be our Operator position, whose job is still not fully understood. Perhaps our new Chief will have the wisdom to encourage “ride alongs” for our Supervisors with our busier, and more competent, Battalion Chiefs. A little PR goes a long, long way. Hell, even throw in a free T-shirt and a decent meal. Anything, just don’t let them cut our jobs...

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