POLAND — Officials say $35,000 spent to study the Western Reserve Joint Fire District will help for years to come — after issues of call response, dispatching and more are ironed out.

The fire board and district leaders last month heard a presentation on the study, which was done by McGrath Consulting Group Inc. of Illinois between Jan. 1 and Aug. 8, 2020. The report is more than 140 pages.

After reading a draft copy, Chief David “Chip” Comstock, along with assistant chiefs, compiled a response “to address deficiencies and errors in the report.”

Examples of those errors, they say, also include statistics and vehicle information.

Toward the beginning of the final McGrath report, for example, a population of 17,338 is served by the joint fire district. In the middle of the report, however, it states 15,487 people are in the district’s jurisdiction.

Still, “I think it provides us with a guide for years,” said Ed Kempers, fire board chairman, and Poland township trustee.

McGrath Consulting made 80 recommendations. Presenters said they spoke with stakeholders and personnel by telephone and in person.

Kempers said that doesn’t mean every suggestion must happen, “but it is owed to the public to look into it.”

He hopes this year to form a group or groups to begin dissecting the report.

Officials have agreed the report will lead to discussions for improvement and also on what is working within the fire district.

CRITICISM

But criticism still greeted the document.

“Dropped calls,” or calls that were unable to be answered, were identified as an area needing attention. But the report does not break down how McGrath Consulting arrived at its figures.

The firm stated that in 2019, 12 percent of calls went unanswered, with 7 percent in the first seven months of 2020.

McGrath Consulting said that between Jan. 1 and Aug. 8, 2020, there were 748 calls, and the department as a whole did not respond to 162.

In a year-end report from the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, obtained by The Vindicator through a public records request, Capt. Conner O’Halloran notes the fire district received 1,289 calls in 2020.

There were 121 calls, or 9 percent, missed — where personnel were not available to respond. Most of those calls, however, were medical calls.

Also in 2020, Medic 92 (based at Station 92) performed 169 transports to the hospital, with American Medical Response Inc. performing an estimated 355, possibly more.

Medic 92 was dispatched to 245 calls. At times, the ambulance could have been dispatched with personnel unavailable, or it could have responded and a patient refused transportation.

There were also times toward the end of 2020 when the squad vehicle for Station 92 was out of service, so Medic 92 was used to respond as a first-on-scene, in addition to AMR responding if available. That could contribute to the number of times it was dispatched versus transports.

O’Halloran’s report also stated that in 2019, Medic 92 was dispatched to 137 calls, transporting 108, performing 48 percent of tranports that year.

‘THAT CAN’T BE’

Tim McGrath, owner, said when the team asked for data, it was received and based on the original numbers, 1.9 people were responding to calls.

“We said, ‘That can’t be,'” McGrath said.

Asking for data once more, numbers crunched to 3.9 personnel on a call.

Then, for 2020, it was 5.6 personnel after Chief David “Chip”Comstock provided numbers.

McGrath said the firm went to the state fire marshal to obtain data that is handed in by the department, and the data still didn’t match.

McGrath doesn’t doubt that personnel answer calls, he said. The discrepency is how data is obtained and stored.

The conversation, he said, “is an opportunity to do a quality control” on data.

This isn’t unique to the Western Reserve Joint Fire District, McGrath said. Talking generally about fire departments around the country, he said, “they are trained to import,” but not necessarily how to export or extract that data in the same manner. Those keeping the data in the fire district may not have parameters that are uniform and align with how Comstock keeps track, McGrath said.

Data was obtained from the fire district, state fire marshal’s office and AMR.

McGrath conducts its research by statistics and data, but not in the field. If asked, it will not perform the assessment, McGrath said, due to liability of consultants and privacy of victims.

Comstock said that he and a consultant met briefly last year.

It was figured, or assumed, that the number of dropped calls were not broken down by EMS or fire calls, McGrath said.

During the interview portion of the process, McGrath said it was relayed by personnel that most calls appear to be EMS calls.

DISPATCHING

Dispatch is another point of concern. AMR handles most of the dispatching now, as well as Boardman Township.

Typically, AMR handles transports. When AMR is unable to respond, the fire district responds. In the event it is unable to respond, there is a list of “backup” places for dispatch to call.

“We all agree we need people to cover calls,” Comstock said, adding that now, discussions over technicalities need to happen.

McGrath Consulting also suggested placing part-time staffing to help answer calls, as opposed to the current volunteer basis, as well as getting a single dispatch center.

“If we don’t agree with the specific recommendations, can we at least use the points they raise as a beginning of a discussion?” Comstock said.

afox@tribtoday.com