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Photo by Westwood Minute/Darlene Wong Cancell. By increasing Westwood Fire Department staff on the night shift, WFD will maintain the human resources needed to deploy a second ambulance, instead of just one.
8-23-2023 11:50pm
Select Board Increases Fire Department Night Staffing, Approves Overtime at Estimated Cost of $350K+
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Select Board unanimously authorized Westwood Fire Chief John Deckers on August 14, 2023, to implement overtime staffing, in order to immediately increase Westwood Fire Department’s employees to nine during the night shift.
Nine is short of the minimum of eleven employees recommended in a recent operational study by the town’s consulting firm, Criterion Associates. The consulting firm recently recommended a minimum fire department staff level of eleven employees at all times. However, nine employees represent the minimum number of staff that is necessary in order to avoid a shift commander leaving a command post in order to provide necessary help to staff a fire apparatus.
Chief Deckers explained that with a minimum of nine employees on the night shift, the fire department can maintain a shift commander, one ambulance and one engine to respond to a service call at any hour of any day. A minimum of nine employees on staff allows for coordination to deploy a second ambulance if needed, possibly with the assistance of a nearby town that is a mutual aid partner. With eight on staff at night, there is an inability to get a second ambulance to respond.
“This could be over budget. . . but nine is the minimum, and it doesn’t get us two ambulances 24 hours a day,” said Chief Deckers, who also noted that he would implement the staff increase quickly, by August 15th.
The chief further explained, “Anytime you’re under eleven [employees], you are taking an engine or ambulance out of service…We need eleven [employees], but it’s not inexpensive.” Implementing overtime to ensure Westwood Fire Department always has a staff of nine employees at night will mean the department will be over its budget this year by $385,000 to $400,000, said Chief Deckers.
After hearing from Chief Deckers and Criterion Associates, Select Board Chair Maryanne LeBlanc Cummings proposed to immediately increase the fire department’s night staff to nine, and to work toward a budget that allows Westwood to staff its fire department with eleven employees for every day and night shift, as a priority.
“We can’t sail across the ocean in one trip. I agree with you, Maryanne. That’s a great start,” said Select Board Member Joe Previtera.
Town Administrator Christopher Coleman added that the town follows a “sustainable budget model,” and stated that a proposed budget for FY 2025 that incorporates the Select Board discussion will adhere to that model.
Select Board Clerk Robert Gotti noted that the challenge that Town of Westwood now faces in its goal of hiring four new fire department employees is similar to the issue that the town faced last year when the school department budget experienced shortfalls due to “unfunded mandated programs.” He said, “We are starting the budget steering process with a hole to fill.”
Chief Deckers also informed Select Board that in February of this year, the fire department applied for a “SAFER grant” in the amount of $1,038,227. The Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants are federally provided grants for the purpose of increasing or maintaining trained, front-line firefighters in communities across the United States. A decision on Westwood Fire Department’s grant application is still forthcoming.
