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Residents
and businesses expect a high level of fire and rescue service from their
community. This service increases
their sense of safety and protects their investment. The intent of the Public Safety Plan is to
establish Fire and Rescue level of service (LOS) standards for Lee County,
and to encourage new development to achieve those standards.
The
Public Safety Plan will help design a system of Fire and Rescue response
units distributed throughout the county that can respond to the first call
for each unit in a timely fashion and that meet established LOS
standards. The Plan is also intended
to provide additional units when the workload increases to the extent that
multiple incidents consistently create delays. Where these response units are judged, through application of
the LOS standards, to be too far from any proposed development, these
standards provide for additional fire and rescue mitigation measures.
Level of Service Standards (LOS) for Fire and Rescue Facilities
New development presents
demands for countywide fire and rescue service that affect the ability of
facilities to meet established LOS standards. It is important; therefore, that Lee County provides fire and
rescue services countywide that address that demand. The demand for countywide fire and rescue
service and facilities must be measured, and means must be identified for
maintaining the established countywide LOS standards for fire and rescue
facilities after new development occurs.
The
LOS standards are based upon recognized and accepted professional and county
standards. They also reflect resident
demand for such service. These LOS
standards ultimately quantify per capita monetary costs for providing
countywide fire and rescue service to new residential and nonresidential
development in the county. These LOS
standards are the basis for the maintenance and expansion of fire and rescue
services.
The
LOS standards for fire and rescue services address the location of new
development relative to a travel time standard (or Response Area) emanating
from an existing station. Levels of
Service Standards mitigation measures have been established for proposed new
development that falls within or outside of each Response Area.
The
LOS standards also address workload capacities, expressed as calls for fire
and rescue service. These standards
incorporate facility and equipment costs generated by new development.
Response 2020
GOAL PS-1: To achieve and ensure an adequate and timely response to
emergencies, including fire, medical, hazardous materials, and natural
disaster emergencies.
Action Strategies
1. Ensure new development is located within
an area where the LOS standards are met in terms of travel time from existing
stations, and does not result in the erosion of LOS standards in terms of
work load capacity and facility size, acreage, and equipment.
2. Encourage future development locating in
areas where the LOS standards are not met in terms of travel times from
existing stations to provide mitigation measures to compensate for the
increases in demand, according to LOS standards for workload capacity and
facility size, acreage, and equipment.
3. Encourage the installation and maintenance
of fire and safety features in all buildings, beyond the minimum
requirements, as set forth in the Iowa Uniform Statewide Building Code.
4. Ensure that road networks, water systems,
and related parts of the service delivery system are built in the early
phases of development projects.
GOAL PS-2: Continue and/or increase funding and
support of existing Fire and Rescue Departments throughout the county.
Action Strategies
- Work with Federal, State, and Local agencies on obtaining more
monies for fire and rescue.
- Education the public on how much of their taxes goes for public
safety and the need to maintain a high level of service.
- Work with all fire and rescue departments in the county to
identify their needs (personal, equipment, facility, etc.) and ways to
meet those needs.
- Provide higher subsidies to fire departments for non-funded
mandates (i.e., Haz-Mat training, Firefighter 1 Certification, N.F.P.A.
and OSHA compliance.).
- Support additional training for hazard transport resources, hazard
mitigation, and Meth. Lab training.
GOAL PS-3: Educate and inform
the public and private sectors on the importance of fire safety.
Action
Strategies
- Encourage CPR training and certification among the county’s
general population.
- Evaluate and recommend programs and standards to increase the
number of CPR-trained staff available and on-duty at commercial and
industrial locations during business hours.
- Evaluate and recommend programs and standards to increase the
number of occupants with training in fire survival skills and the use of
fire extinguishers in large structures (i.e., over 50,000 sq. ft. in
area, or over 40 ft. in height).
- Develop, and present to consumers and developers, information on
the value of fire and safety features.
- Encourage infection control training, hazardous material
identification, and CPR training and certification of all county and
school system employees.
GOAL
PS-4: Encourage continuous
coordination among all fire and rescue departments and jurisdictions in the
county, to provide the best public safety for all residents.
Action Strategies
1.
Develop a method to evaluate services
provided by those jurisdictions, which may be involved in regional services
and cooperative efforts.
2.
Pursue and/or maintain mutual response
agreements with the existing fire and rescue departments, and surrounding
counties for regional planning and the cooperative provision of fire, rescue,
and hazardous materials response services.
3.
Become a leader
in coordinating bi-monthly meetings with all fire and rescue departments to
keep the communication lines open.
4.
Determine if there is a need to combine
some services in order to provide a more standardized delivery of service.
5.
Ensure that affordable ambulance
coverage is available for all Lee County residents.
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