- Author
-
Fire Service Institute
- Title
- Fire/EMS Town Meeting Results. A Compilation of Information Gathered From Seven Regional Town Meetings Discussing the Issues Facing Iowa's Fire and EMS Departments.
- Coporate
- Fire Service Institute, Ames, IA
- Report
-
Town Meeting Results
December 1996
18 p.
- Keywords
-
fire departments
|
medical services
- Abstract
- Firefighting and emergency medical response is an important part of any community. Fire/EMS 1 departments stand as the first line of defense for almost any emergency or disaster facing a community. Like water, streets, and sewer, fire and emergency medical services are part of the necessary infrastructure of communities. Three years ago, a study was funded by the Iowa Department of Economic Development to evaluate the services and operations of five fire/EMS departments in rural eastern Polk County. The purpose of that study was to determine what services were being provided, and what functions/resources could effectively be shared among the departments. In addition to opportunities for sharing, several barriers to effective sharing also surfaced. For example, each of the departments had different protocols, different medical directors, and provided services at various levels which would make sharing services a challenge to implement. It also uncovered issues, such as daytime coverage, the number of hours volunteers committed per week, and older equipment which raised the question "What is the condition of fire and emergency medical services departments in Iowa?' Were these departments representative of departments state-wide, or were the issues they faced specific to central Iowa? Through a grant from the Iowa Department of Economic Development to Iowa State University Extension to Communities, Fire Services Institute, a second study was conducted to further evaluate departments on a state-wide basis. The results of that study, "A Profile of Iowa's Fire Several hundred copies of that study have been sharedService" was published in July, 1996. with various communities in Iowa, and in December, 1996, seven regional town meetings were held to present the study and to facilitate discussion among communities on the issues and concerns they saw facing their local fire/EMS departments. This compilation is a result of those meetings. Nearly 500 people from 167 identified communities attended these meetings, and spoke openly about the issues and concerns emerging in their regions. Communities were asked to bring a broad-based team including locally elected officials and other local leadership. Most of the attendees were from the fire/EMS departments but also included were 83 elected officials and other representatives from the communities. Some of attendees representing fire and EMS services may have also held elected positions. The common concerns and those unique to specific meetings have been reported in this document as well as several other types of information.