A union that represents Phoenix fire dispatchers is locked in a labor dispute with the city over staffing levels that could lead to more regional 911 calls being put on hold.
As declining city revenues lead to budget cuts, fire chiefs shifted alarm-room personnel as part of a "critical minimum staffing" model, records indicate. The chiefs said 10 hires in training will help manage Fire Department communication traffic.
Alarm-room employees said they were understaffed even with the hires.
Nearly 60 dispatchers in the Phoenix Regional Dispatch Center field emergency calls from more than 20 Valley communities. Potentially life-threatening medical incidents are put in a holding queue during busy times, according to Frank Piccioli, a Phoenix fire dispatcher and labor leader.
"You don't know if that's a broken finger or a baby in the pool," said Piccioli, a representative for the Local 2960 chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
The union wants more employees hired faster, arguing the alarm room is short several dispatchers at a time on busy nights. But Fire Department officials said dispatchers must do more with less as brass consider trimming as much as 15 percent of the department's $300 million budget.
Through Local 2960, more than 50 Fire Department alarm-room dispatchers signed a 2007 grievance against the city that suggested a "growing volume of incoming calls will contribute to a foreseeable tragedy," documents say.
An arbitrator denied the grievance this summer, but the Phoenix Employment Relations Board filed an unfair-employee-relations-practice charge on Oct. 8.
The city is scheduled to meet with board representatives this month. Janet Smith, the city's personnel director, said she hoped to reach an agreement on alarm-room staffing before the issue goes to a hearing.
Meanwhile, the Fire Department awaits an analysis from the city Budget and Research Department that would provide a new comparison of optimal staffing levels based on rising call volumes. The study is expected sometime next year, according to Budget Department Director Cathy Gleason.
The last alarm-room study was conducted in 1997. Since then, more communities have joined the Regional Dispatch Center through automatic aid agreements with Phoenix fire.
Executive Assistant Fire Chief Steve Kreis said the department would heed the suggestions compiled through the recent arbitration process. He added that the department is committed to adjusting staffing levels as needed.
Assistant Fire Chief Todd Harms, who oversees the department's Emergency Services Division, said the Phoenix regional-dispatch system remains an example that many U.S. agencies consider a "model of efficiency."
"Today, we have about 70 dispatchers," said Harms, who counts those in training. "So we have increased the number of dispatchers significantly."
Harms added that he has 10 dispatchers in training, which would bring alarm-room staffing from 61 to 71 dispatchers by next year.
Piccioli disagreed, arguing that growth has outpaced staffing - a problem not only for residents in the midst of an emergency, but also Valley firefighters who rely on tactical radio operators to relay information to them in a timely manner.
"They're right to say they're adding bodies, but they're not talking about people leaving," Piccioli said. "Now their excuse is the money situation.
"For 10 years they had money, and they didn't do anything."
*As always, if you locate any Piccioli's Points in your daily searches that I have missed, please send them to me so I can add them!*
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