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Their is not enough information in the article to really form a good opinion.
Has the call volume increased since the last time staffing was updated and by how much?
Are Firefighters being held past their scheduled shifts to help provide coverage?
How many calls are being handled by mutual aid ( a concept where neighboring jurisdictions will assist each other in times of need)
Is the the ReedyCreek Fire Department scratching on calls due to not enough people?
A good union president taking their case to the media would have given these facts to bolster their cause.
On the other hand Disney has been known to be anti-union and hostile towards organized labor and the RCID Fire Department had to go to mediation last time (2016) which they were successful in presenting their case there.
I'd like to know how this works with Disney/Reedy Creek in general. Are they like most other cities in the country where they just call neighboring jurisdictions to assist or is there more too it because Reedy Creek isn't your typical city?How many calls are being handled by mutual aid ( a concept where neighboring jurisdictions will assist each other in times of need)
I'd like to know how this works with Disney/Reedy Creek in general. Are they like most other cities in the country where they just call neighboring jurisdictions to assist or is there more too it because Reedy Creek isn't your typical city?
A good union president taking their case to the media would have given these facts to bolster their cause.
I'm not quite sure where you came up with the information you posted, it sounds like you are a strong IAFF supporter. Nowhere in any of the information provided was there ever a statement made that RCFD never responded to assist Orange County. In addition, an earlier poster provided factual data that showed that less than 0.06% of Orange County responses were to assist RCFD. You can provide that information I'd like to see it."Just like it does with other local fire departments, Orange County Fire Rescue has a mutual aid agreement to help Reedy Creek firefighters, spokeswoman Carrie Proudfit said."
It sounds like Disney's/Reedy Creek's concept of mutual aid is actually a one-way street. Mutual aid agreements are not designed for day-to-day operations. Reedy Creek cannot use the agreement as a way to supplement their own low manpower. Orange County most likely has their own calls to handle and cannot be constantly assisting Reedy Creek. Mutual aid is designed for large or extreme emergencies where one department is suddenly overwhelmed. It's not for Reedy Creek to skimp on staff and then say "oh well Orange County can help us out." If you open new hotels and theme park areas you add employees to those areas correct? Why wouldn't you increase public safety staffing to match those additions. It's common sense to me.
To me that means, that reads as 0.06% of Orange County's calls go to RCID. Not that only 0.06% of RCID need assistance. My guess is Orange County gets far more calls than RCID.From the linked article:
"In 2018, the county fire made 55 mutual aid calls with Reedy Creek with another 20 calls that were jointly responded to because they came near both county and Disney jurisdiction. The Reedy Creek help was a fraction of the 135,000 calls dispatched, according to the department."
Doing the math, less than 0.06% of all calls involved Orange County Fire Rescue in 2018.
I have no clue what the "normal" percentage is in other parts of the country. But, I'd say that less than 1% essentially means Reedy Creek Fire and Rescue is a self-sufficient agency.
Seems like the best course of action would be to track that percentage as new facilities are opened. If it jumps up, that means more personnel are needed.
Similarly, if some of the things cdoc29 mentions (especially something like forced overtime due to lack of personnel), that's a clear indication that more personnel are needed.
As someone who thrives on data when making important decisions, this statement perfectly sums up my opinion on this subject:
To me that means, that reads as 0.06% of Orange County's calls go to RCID. Not that only 0.06% of RCID need assistance. My guess is Orange County gets far more calls than RCID.
I'm not quite sure where you came up with the information you posted, it sounds like you are a strong IAFF supporter. Nowhere in any of the information provided was there ever a statement made that RCFD never responded to assist Orange County. In addition, an earlier poster provided factual data that showed that less than 0.06% of Orange County responses were to assist RCFD. You can provide that information I'd like to see it.
My thought is that anytime a story like this is published its simply to seek leverage for one of the parties in negotiations. As such I take them with a huge grain of salt.