PGFD is a combination department, meaning career firefighters and volunteer firefighters work collectively to provide emergency services to the county. However, both entities are facing unprecedented staffing challenges. Currently, career members are stretched exceedingly thin across the county as a result of nearly 100 vacant firefighter positions. At the same time, volunteer members are only able to provide reliable staffing in less than half of the county's 45 fire/EMS stations.
While volunteers provide a great service to our county, the numbers of operational volunteer personnel available to respond to emergencies decline each year. Increased call volume, higher training standards and a weak economy have all contributed to decreased participation in the volunteer service. The county government continues to provide a false sense of security to our citizens by inflating the numbers of volunteers available to respond to emergency calls. They include administrative personnel, fundraising staff and members who live out of the area in their statistics, which fails to paint an accurate picture of the volunteers regularly providing emergency services.
PGFD is the only fire department in the region that frequently staffs its firetrucks with only two people. Prince Georgians endure this reduced service while surrounding jurisdictions with equal or lower tax rates are protected by a minimum of four people on each piece of apparatus. Nearly 20 years ago, combination fire departments in Montgomery, Howard and Fairfax counties implemented successful staffing models that guarantee ambulances and firetrucks are always staffed. Meanwhile, Prince George's County provides a deficient municipal service by failing to increase staffing levels to ensure that guaranteed protection is available at all times.
In 2009, PGFD units responded understaffed a total of 30,516 times. During the same calendar year, units failed to respond (never made it out the door) a total of 7,997 times. This results in an increase in response times for units from surrounding communities to get to the scene of an emergency. This situation occurs so frequently that in 2009, PGFD met national response time standards only 40 percent of the time for engine company responses and only nine percent of the time for ambulance responses. When every second counts, this is unacceptable.
The bottom line is that the current system has been inadequate for several years, even prior to the economic downturn. The fire/EMS department has now reached a melting point in that there is nothing left that can be sacrificed. The only real solution is a painful one: the reallocation of funds from supplemental government programs to hire much needed personnel and ensure that fire protection and emergency medical services, two of the most fundamental responsibilities of government, are guaranteed to every citizen during their time of need.
Andrew Pantelis is president of the Prince George's County Professional Fire Fighters Association.
Prince George's County Professional
Fire Fighters & Paramedics Association
13701 Old Jericho Park Road
Bowie, Maryland 20720-3228
Phone: (301) 805-5300
Phone: (301) 805-5301
Fax: (301) 262-6747
E-mail: IAFF1619@AOL.COM