Agenda - 10-03-2013 - 1 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Comprehensive Assessment of Emergency Medical Services 122 and 911 /Communications Center Operations Study Determination of Communications Center Staff Requirements First, the obvious; what the above calculations just shown illustrate is that four (4) Shift Supervisors, four (4) Lead Telecommunicators /Assistant Shift Supervisors, and four (4) Communications Training Officers cannot cover their respective positions 24/7/365 without some or all of them working a lot of overtime or, working short staffed, or a combination of the two; i.e. it takes 5.10 bodies to cover one 24/7/365 position, there are currently four (4) assigned to each position. Subsequently, in this instance staffing requirements will be calculated two ways: The first method will include a calculation of the requirements on the basis of the staffing configuration currently in place. Note that "in place" is emphasized here in that the basis for the number of positions and in turn the number of personnel filling those positions is essentially, based on "history" versus the calculation of needs based on call data or work load. The second method, which will utilize the Relief Factor calculations identified in the first method, will calculate the Communications Center staffing requirements based on an industry accepted formula matrix that is based on the County's peak call volume and call duration data identified during this study. In -Place Position Requirements Once the current Telecommunicator trainees have completed their training the Communications Center will be able to provide an additional Telecommunicator to each existing shift; bringing the total positions assigned per shift to six (6). With existing Staffing Configuration, at six (6) positions per shift, the minimum number of personnel required to cover each position 24 hours /day, 365 days /year would be: Position Title # Positions Per Shift Relief Factor # Required per Position Shift Supervisor 1 5.10 5.10 Lead Telecommunicator 1 5.10 5.10 Communications Training Officer 1 5.10 5.10 Telecommunicator 3 5.10 15.30 6 30.60 This number (30.6) corresponds very closely to the number of employees currently allocated to the Communications Center (30), not including the Operations Manager, there are still five (5) vacant positions including, most critically, an Assistant Shift Supervisor and a Shift Communications Training Officer. Also, this staff requirement is based on the number of positions "in place" versus the number calculated as "needed ". Determination of Positions Needed The methodology used to determine the level of staffing required for a primary PSAP such as Orange County's was one initially developed by the U.S. Department of Justice, and since utilized by agencies and organizations such as FEMA, the National Emergency Number Association (NENA), and the Assoc- iation of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO). Solutions for Local Government, Inc. 78