Problem
This section will dissect our problem statement into smaller pieces and discuss each component to provide you with a better understanding of the issues at hand.
The Branford Fire Department will provide the highest level of service to our community by valuing our members, promoting positive leadership, and dedicating ourselves to excellence.
Problem Statement
The problem is that the Branford Fire Department currently has a deficient level of staffing in relation to its high volume of calls for service. It cannot meet the staffing and deployment standard for fire response or provide an equitable level of service to all areas of Town due to a resource deployment model from a singular location.
The goal is always mission-focused, to provide the highest level of service to our community as a leader in cost-efficient emergency response, prevention, and risk reduction services.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this report is to communicate deficiencies and to provide information and data in support of staffing and deployment proposals, that if implemented would extend the exceptional level of service that the community expects from their fire department.
Breaking Down our Problem
Understanding a complex problem is often best achieved by breaking it down into small, manageable pieces. Four components are contributing factors to our problem statement:
1. A decline in the number of volunteer firefighters.
2. An increase in calls for service.
3. The recent development and future projected growth of Branford.
4. An inequity of service related to response times.
This next section will elaborate on our problem and provide a discussion that has aided in developing our conclusion and recommendations.
Issue 1: Decline in Volunteer Staffing
The history of volunteerism in the Branford Fire Department is rich. The Branford Fire Department began as an entirely volunteer department in 1899 and provided exceptional service to the community for a century. The Town started adding career staff to supplement the volunteers in 1963. Over the past 25 years, volunteerism in our Branford Fire Companies has declined, resulting in a transition from a majority volunteer to a majority career fire department.
Until 1997, Branford had seven volunteer companies strategically located throughout Town to respond rapidly to fire emergencies. These Companies consisted of MP Rice Hose Company 2, located in the Fourth Ward, Short Beach Hose Hook and Ladder Company 4, Stony Creek Rescue Company 5, Pine Orchard Hose Company 6, Headquarters Engine Company 8, Indian Neck Company 9, and Aerial Company 1. With the steady decline in volunteerism, Company 6, Engine 8, and Aerial 1 have all formally disbanded.
Our volunteer companies are not just a backup to the career staff. The companies are strategically located within densely populated areas where people live and sleep, and in the past, would be the first responders in their districts. They also provide the additional workforce needed for various call types that require a multiple-company response. Today, Branford currently has approximately 27 active volunteer firefighters distributed unevenly between the four volunteer companies as follows:
Company 2
341 Main Street
Pumper
8 Firefighters
M.P. Rice
Company 4
64 Shore Drive
Pumper
4 Firefighters
Short Beach
Company 5
41 School Street
Pumper, Light Rescue, ATV, Marine Unit
9 Firefighters
Stony Creek
Company 9
6 Linden Avenue
Pumper, Brush
6 Firefighters
Indian Neck
Having only 27 volunteer firefighters between four companies makes it difficult for any one company to succeed in maintaining a reliable response. The following charts show a downward trend for each company in their ability to respond to their calls for service. The bars indicate the number of calls the company was dispatched to annually and the lines indicate their actual response. Company 4 and Company 9 are on the verge of being shuttered due to staffing and response troubles.
Company 9
Company 4
Company 2
Company 5
Branford Fire Department leadership has been and will continue working with the volunteer leadership to identify strategies to bolster the volunteer membership and to determine new ways to adapt for operational success with a smaller pool of firefighters (Appendix 2). As of February of 2023, the four fire companies are trialing an effort to act as one, with an increased focus on getting one unit in service when dispatched. This pooling of resources is supported by volunteer leadership (Appendix 3) and has allowed for a viable response to incidents more frequently. However, “robbing Peter to pay Paul" masks our volunteer staffing shortage and is not a long-term solution to our overall staffing issue.
The Department has also worked to increase the recruitment and retention of volunteers, including women and minorities, by participating in Everyday Hero CT, a program dedicated to increasing the number of volunteer firefighters throughout the state. A partnership of the Connecticut Fire Chiefs Association (CFCA) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Everyday Hero CT campaign is a Volunteer Workforce Solutions (VWS) initiative designed to address the shortage of volunteer firefighters in Connecticut. The Department has also implemented incentive programs as part of our ongoing recruitment and retention efforts. These include an annual cash stipend, a pension program, and an Explorer Program in partnership with the Scouts of America.
While we continue to on-board new members, we still have a net loss of volunteers each year. This attrition includes our most experienced and seasoned members. The reasons for the decline of the volunteer system are complex and beyond the scope of this paper. It is, however, a reality and not likely to recover enough to make a significant difference.
Learn More about the National Decline of Volunteer Firefighters
Issue 2: An Increase in Calls for Service
Our calls for service have been on a steady upward trend over the past decade. The model reflects a peak in the volume of calls in 2018 just before COVID-19 struck our nation. The pandemic resulted in a downward deviation indicating the community’s reluctance to use the healthcare system to avoid exposure to the virus. However, call volume has increased and surpassed previous record-breaking years since society reached a post-pandemic state. It’s important to note that this chart represents emergency incident responses only. Behind every incident is a report to document our findings and actions taken. While the extent of each report is dependent on the seriousness of the incident, our healthcare system is incrementally requiring additional data points to collect that result in a longer time commitment for report writing.
We don’t just respond to emergency incidents. There are several other services provided by our department such as fire investigation, code enforcement, inspections, plan review, fire prevention, public education, and community events. Additionally, firefighters must also complete activities related to training, equipment maintenance and repair, and fire station cleaning and upkeep.
Our annual emergency incident response call volume in 2022 was 6,415 and 2023 is on track to easily outpace our record high last year. This uptick in calls for service, along with the many required additional duties mentioned, has our staff operating under a prolonged and intense workload, creating a higher risk for burnout or injury.
Community Comparison
In comparison to our neighboring communities, Branford easily takes on a higher call volume with less than, or an equivalent level of staffing for their lower calls for service. The staffing comparison shows that Guilford more closely matches Branford’s model with 100% full service EMS transport and 10 firefighters on duty. In 2022, Branford responded to almost 2500 more calls for service than Guilford. East Haven and North Haven still responded to fewer calls for service than Branford, but they utilize a commercial ambulance service for transports, leaving firefighters in their respective jurisdictions for fire incidents or additional calls for service. Though a commercial ambulance service offers that benefit, there is a significant loss of revenue that helps offset municipal costs when passing incidents to a for-profit private entity. Additionally, the use of a private service does not guarantee the highest quality of service that the Branford Fire Department provides to its citizens.
Drawdown
The decrease in volunteer company responses and our increase in calls for service have compounded to create a very real issue with resource drawdown. Concurrent calls for service are inevitable and occurring more frequently with our high call volume. When multiple calls for service occur simultaneously, resources are quickly drawn down leaving no one available for the next call.
Concurrent Calls for Service - 6 Months (3317 Total Calls)
This chart represents concurrent calls for a six-month period (Nov 2022 - May 2023). Column one depicts scenarios of two concurrent calls for service up to 10 concurrent calls for service. Column two indicates the number of times a scenario occurred, and column three is the number of impacted calls. For example, in the past six months, we have had four calls for service at the same time, 116 times, involving 464 incidents.
The department responded to a total of 3317 calls for service during this same period. Concurrent calls for service occurred 1166 times and involved 3185 incidents or 96% of our call volume. There were only 132 instances where there was a single call for service at one time, or 4% of our call volume.
The high frequency of concurrent calls illustrated here highlights our vulnerabilities. Volunteer crews who previously offset drawdown are no longer responding regularly, leaving frequent periods of time where adequate staffing is not available for medical or fire emergencies.
EMS Transport Time
The frequency of concurrent calls for service is only one of two related variables. The second is the length of time that a unit is committed to an incident, prolonging the drawdown period. Calls for service, especially those that required medical transport to a healthcare facility, take a considerable amount of time. To summarize, when drawdown occurs and our resources are committed, the time duration is not just a few minutes; we are often vulnerable for hours at a time.
Out of the 4,900 patient encounters we had in 2022, 3,792 required transportation to healthcare facilities outside our town. On average, each ambulance spends approximately one hour and ten minutes on a medical transport call. This duration starts when the ambulance receives the call and includes our response time, patient assessment, care provision, patient loading, transport, and transferring care to the hospital. The clock stops when the ambulance reaches the Q Bridge and returns to service for the next call. When multiple calls for service occur, even more staff are committed to patients leaving scarce resources available in town for these extended periods.
This graph further breaks down the number of calls within an incident commitment block of time. Note that 358 incidents took over an hour and a half to complete. Increased calls in Branford and our region are filling our local emergency rooms, and we are more frequently diverted to hospitals remote from Branford (Milford, Bridgeport, Derby, Waterbury, and Hartford). These diversions increase our transport times and contribute to our problem.
Issue 3: Development that is Outpacing our Service Ability
Over the last several years, Branford has undergone significant development. There are currently several large apartment buildings under construction with more working their way through Town approvals. We are only beginning to feel the impact of these developments. Our current daily call volume already routinely exceeds our available resources. It is not only the large developments that increase the workload of the department. All over Town, new or redevelopment is taking place on any available property; many of these are duplex style residential properties and cluster housing. Cumulatively, these contribute to the need for additional services. Branford is already considered an urban response district under NFPA 1710/1720 who defines that as having a population density of >1000 people per square mile. Our population density is currently 1,285 per square mile. More people in smaller spaces cause more problems. The type of development also impacts
Healthtech Park - 21 Sycamore Way - 495,000 SF Office and Medical Space
Proposed Metro Star Development - Atlantic Wire
our services. Branford has a large elderly population with several nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and over age 55 housing. We’ve also become a health care hub; doctors’ offices, clinics and surgical centers are significant users of our emergency medical services. The addition of the proposed 500,000 square foot development, along with other proposed projects on the east side of Town necessitates adding a long overdue fire station in that area.
Mariners’
Landing
New Development/Completed or Under Construction:
Metro Star Apartments, 373-375 East Main Street – 188 Units with Retail
Parkside I, 115 South Montowese Street - 60 Units
Mariners’ Landing, 60 Maple Street – 147 Units
5, 14, 21 Summit Place, Three Buildings – 50 Units (Proposed), 56 Units (Approved), 162 total
61 Burban Drive, Micro Apartments – 30 Units
65 Goodsell Point Rd, Marina Village – 17 Units Redeveloped Marina
245 East Main Street – 12 Unit Apartment Building
New Development/ Proposed
Former St. Elizabeth’s Church 65-99 Burban Drive – 40 Townhouses with Large Apartment Building
Atlantic Wire (Approved) 1 Church Street - 200 Units with Retail
Branford Square, 329 East Main Street – Storage, Multi-Unit Apartments, Restaurant
81-111 Commercial Parkway, Apartments – 436 Units
Healthtech Park – 21 Sycamore Way – Healthcare/Research
1300 New Living Units
1-4 Occupants/Unit
3250 Population Increase
Issue 4: Inequity of Service
Response times matter. Regardless of the cause of your emergency, if the condition is acute, or if the injury is life-threatening or limb-threatening, immediate care is needed. An inequity of service related to response time has evolved as the decline in volunteer responses has increased. A fire station near your home that once provided immediate care may give you a false sense of security as most calls for service are now handled by the career staff stationed at Fire Headquarters on North Main Street. Further distance from Headquarters equals a longer wait for services when needed most.
A redistribution of resources and additional staff are needed to improve response times in areas remote from Fire Headquarters. The new Indian Neck Fire Station is ready to house career firefighters. The Town owns property at 32 Acorn Road and is working with Town officials to earmark its use for a fire station in the quickly developing east side of town. Career staff assigned to Headquarters and these two additional stations will vastly improve our response time, allowing for improved outcomes in medical and fire emergencies. This deployment model will make for a more equitable level of service across our entire community.
These graphics represent each of the three response areas discussed above. Headquarters is shaded in green, Indian Neck in blue, and the proposed east station at 32 Acorn Road is red. The shading represents an approximation of coverage with a 4-minute response time using a road speed computer-based model. In reality, our resources will likely extend beyond the shaded areas within the four-minute mark while responding in an emergency mode, protecting more areas represented in these graphics.
The area shaded in green shows shows a reliable 4-minute response from Headquarters only.
The area shaded in green shows shows a reliable 4-minute response from Headquarters. Blue, the Indian Neck Station.
The area shaded in green shows shows a reliable 4-minute response from Headquarters. Blue, the Indian Neck Station, and red, the propsoed East Station.
Problem Summary
The Branford Fire Department takes immense pride in being a premier all-hazards emergency service, dedicated to serving our community in times of crisis. However, we recognize that we face several significant challenges that require our attention to continue to deliver a quality service.
Our substantial increase in call volume is placing a strain on our resources and personnel. This surge in demand necessitates action to ensure we can effectively respond to emergencies while maintaining the highest standards of service.
Volunteers have long been the backbone of our organization, selflessly giving their time and expertise to protect and serve our community. The decrease in volunteer participation poses a serious concern, requiring us to take steps to sustain our operational strength.
We must address the impact of recent and projected growth in our community. As our population expands, so too does the demand for emergency services. It is crucial that our service proactively matches our growth, ensuring adequate resources, infrastructure, and personnel are in place to meet the evolving needs of our community.
Photo Credit: Doc Johnson
Lastly, an inequity of service related to response times has become apparent. Every individual in our community deserves swift and efficient emergency assistance, regardless of their geographic location. We must address this disparity head-on, working to implement equitable resource allocation and strategic positioning of our emergency assets.
While these challenges are complex, they present opportunities for growth and improvement. It is our goal to address these obstacles to meet our mission and to continue to deliver the highest standard of emergency response to our community.