Welcome to PFD Support Services!
Field Services
Resource Management
Emergency Transportation
Apparatus and Equipment Services
Field Services
Members of the Field Services staff provide for the maintenance and repair of all Fire Department facilities. These members also provide for minor remodelling when needed.The construction of new Fire Department facilities is coordinated by a Chief Officer assigned to Field Services. New fire stations and replacement fire stations are currently in the works!
Resource Management
The Fire Department’s Resource Management Division is a component of Support Services. Resource Management staff provide services such as purchasing, warehousing, equipment and apparatus purchase and maintenance, and facility construction and maintenance.
Purchasing and Warehousing
All Fire Department purchasing is processed by the Department’s Resource Management Division. All purchases, regardless of their size, are routed through Resource where staff utilize standing contracts or internal purchase orders to procure supplies. Larger purchases are referred to the City’s centralized Purchasing Department. All Fire Department purchases, with a few exceptions such as ice, are delivered to Resource Management, checked in, and then passed on to the individual, section, or station that placed the order.A warehouse located within Resource Management provides most commodities used in the fire station and on emergency scenes from knives and forks to pike poles and oxygen masks.
A Clothing Store allows firefighters and other Phoenix Fire Department members to purchase their uniforms, custom printed with the member’s name and rank. The Clothing Store also issues protective clothing - there is no cost to the firefighter for this safety equipment.
Emergency Transportation
Prior to 1985, the Phoenix Fire Department relied on private ambulance companies to transport its patients. At that time, seven ambulance companies participated in our rotational dispatch policy. Average response times were unacceptable; approaching 20minutes and a standard of a 10 minutes response time was met only 50% of the time.
The City of Phoenix chose to change to a single transportation service. The Phoenix Fire Department was permitted to compete in the bidding process for this service and was chosen as the ambulance provider for the City of Phoenix. In November 1985, Phoenix Fire Department Emergency Transportation Services (ETS) was implemented. Since its inception, ambulance response times to all areas within the boundaries of Phoenix have improved substantially. The service consistently maintains a response time of under 10 minutes 92% of the time with a majority arriving on the scene in less than 5 minutes.
Services for ambulance billing has been contracted to a private sector medical billing vendor, but the ETS administrative staff performs quality control and support functions that have improved cash receipts well above the service delivery cost. The direct cost for emergency ambulance service is presently about $7.7 million per year. Cash receipts total over $12 million. The collection rate of adjusted accounts receivable experiences an average of 71% -- well within the 60% required by contract.
The State of Arizona regulates the ambulance industry and mandates a standardized fee schedule. Currently in 2001, the rate table includes an ALS (Advanced Life Support) base rate of $409.20, BLS (Basic Life Support) base rate of $304.51, plus $11.40 per mile, and cost recovery only for disposable medical supplies.
Although some of our service delivery goals are imposed by the State (e.g. response time, staffing, training, fees for service), the Department remains committed in its efforts to constantly improve service delivery. As part of the Department's approach to Total Quality Management, the Department has implemented labor management teams as a tool to evaluate, develop and implement program improvements. These teams consist of management personnel, members assigned to ambulances and representatives from United Phoenix Fire Fighters Association, Local 493.
Apparatus and Equipment Services
The Department manages a fleet of over 500 vehicles - including engines, ladders, ambulances, ladder tenders, staff vehicles, and specialized apparatus.
The pumper fleet is primarily Emergency One "Hush Pumper" apparatus. Eight new Saulsbury pumpers, equipped with compressed air foam systems, have recently joined the fleet along with a 65 foot Saulsbury telesquirt. Reserve pumpers include a mix of Emergency One, Pierce, and Van Pelt models. The Hush Pumpers include 1500 GPM pumps and roll up doors. Average front line life expectancy for a pumper is approximately six years with two or three years of reserve service prior to retirement. This frequency is necessitated by an extremely high level of activity by fire companies and the extended travel distances that are normal in Phoenix.
Ladder trucks are a mix of Seagrave, Mack, LTI, Van Pelt, and American LaFrance apparatus. The Department has established a 15 year replacement cycle for ladders.
A new innovation to the ladder fleet is the "Ladder Tenders". The ladder tender concept was developed to decrease the mileage and wear and tear on the senior ladder fleet by providing an alternate response vehicle when an aerial device will not be needed.
The ladder tenders, based on four-door International medium duty trucks with custom "rescue" type bodies, carry most of the typical ladder company equipment - except ladders. This equipment includes hydraulic rescue extrication equipment, EMS equipment, basic ventilation equipment and duplicate SCBA and bunker clothing for each crew member. All eleven Phoenix ladder companies are equipped with ladder tenders. The ladder tenders are designed to respond to calls such as medical emergencies and special rescues, etc., while the "senior ladders" are utilized for structural fire response.
The Ambulance fleet is comprised of Type II Ford 350 van conversions and Type I Ford chassis units with diesel engines. A dozen Type III ambulances will join the fleet in the near future.
Resource Management staff provide apparatus support services, excluding mechanical maintenance. Those services are provided by another City department, Equipment Management, in a Fire Department facility.
The Department’s complement of fire fighting and EMS tools are maintained by members of the Resource Management staff with individuals dedicated to hoses, motorized equipment, SCBA’s, and other types of equipment repair services.
A Fire Engineer on duty 24 hours a day acts as the Department’s "service manager" coordinating the movement of apparatus in the field, preventive maintenance, repairs, and breakdowns.