By RYAN LANCASTER
Staff Reporter
As part of an effort to have better daytime emergency services, Medical Lake's 2011 budget could include $62,400 from the general fund to increase pay for volunteer firefighters who sign up for the weekday shift.
Fire Chief Jeff Estes has said that most volunteers hold regular jobs during the week, leading to a significant number of unanswered fire and medical calls in past years and an overreliance on help from neighboring fire departments. Spokane County Fire District 3 officials recently said they would start billing the city $1,000 for each in-city call on which the district is the only responder unless the problem is resolved.
Medical Lake City Council held a special meeting Dec. 2 to discuss Estes' proposed solution – a pilot program that would offer premium pay of $10-$15 per hour to keep two firefighters at the station for 8-12 hours on weekdays. The current $1 per hour stipend keeps firefighters on call at home. Estes said the new rate would make Medical Lake more attractive to potential firefighters looking to join a volunteer department in the area.
Premium pay shift duties would include equipment testing, maintenance and daily upkeep of the station while not on a call. Other assignments could also be arranged, such as helping with department recruitment, clearing snow or assisting other departments.
Council members asked numerous questions about the draft proposal and many wanted assurances that the program would entice enough volunteers to resolve the problem of missed calls.
“We have to set some type of a goal,” Councilman Art Kulibert said. “At what point are we getting acceptable results, are we getting our money's worth?”
Estes said it's impossible to guarantee all shifts will be covered 100 percent of the time without regular full-time employees, which the city can't afford. He did say he has identified 12 firefighters who would meet the eligibility requirements to work in the premium pay timeslot, which include EMT and wildlands fire certification.
Estes also said he fully expects to have at least one firefighter on duty every day, with officers and American Medical Response EMTs on-call to assist. Internal policies will assure weekend and evening shifts are still covered. “Anybody that would be working in that premium spot would be capable of being on their own,” he said. “Our intent is to have two people go out as much as possible but it will be set up where we have the capability to go solo.”
City attorney Cindy McMullen said that if this policy is put into practice, the fire department's standard operating guidelines must be revised to reflect new minimum requirements for how many firefighters are on a response crew in order to avoid liability claims.
McMullen also pointed out that the city has to consider when an individual can no longer be considered a volunteer due to their rate of pay. “The law does require that the money we pay volunteers is minimal, only covering expenses or inconvenience,” she said. Federal and state requirements for regular employees would apply if a position was disqualified from volunteer status, a matter McMullen said she will look into.
Councilman Howard Jorgenson raised the idea of giving a lower rate of premium pay for weekday volunteers, putting the extra money toward higher pay for all volunteers who respond to in-city structure fires.
Others suggested offering volunteers pay on a per-call basis instead of per hour, but Estes said that wouldn't solve the central issue of weekday staffing.
In the end, the Council asked Estes to amend the proposal as it stands in order to reflect a $10 per hour pay rate for two firefighters who will staff staggered 10 hour shifts during weekday hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The pilot program would be instigated at the beginning of 2011 and would run for six months, with Estes giving continual progress reports to council. If it's deemed to be working, an EMS levy increase could be brought before voters to help pay for its continuance.
Ryan Lancaster can be reached at [email protected].
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