3 7 07 Clerk's Skeleton NotesTO: JEANNE F. SCHNEIDER
CITY CLERK
YOU ARE HEREBY DIRECTED TO CALL A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE CITY
COUNCIL TO BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 7, 2007, at 6:30 P.M. IN
THE LIBRARY AUDITORIUM FOR THE PURPOSE OF DISCUSSING
VARIOUS FISCAL YEAR 2008 DEPARTMENTAL BUDGETS.
Roy D. Buol MAYOR
Motion to adjourn at ~ ~ `~~
Ayes Nays
Michalski
Braig
Buol
Cline
Connors
Jones
Lynch
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION, MARCH 7, 2007
COUNCIL MET IN SPECIAL SESSION AT 6:30 P.M. IN THE LIBRARY AUDITORIUM
PRESENT: MAYOR BUOL, COUNCIL MEMBERS BRAIG, CL,~NE, CONNORS, JQAIES,
LY~IVCH, MIC~iALSKI
CITY MANAGER VANjMILLIGEN
ABSENT:
Mayor Buol read the call and stated this is a special session of the City Council called for the
purpose of discussing various City departmental budgets.
Discussion of Departmental Budgets
Emergency Communications -- ,~=~ ,', ~/" -- r , ~/
Emergency Management ~ ~ ~~~~ -- ~> : '~'~%
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Fire ~-> ..~ ~ - .- , ~~
Police ~ '_ c:~ ~ `~- "
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Building Services ~:` ~ ~ - ~-" ~/~
~-
Ayes Nays
`rMichalski
/ Braig
~' Buol
Cline'
Connors~F~
Jones
Lynch'
1
March 5, 2007
Council Member Michalski,
I am writing you in regards to the Fire Department FY 08 Budget Proposal concerning the
changes to the current positions of Medical Officers. Our Association sent a letter to Chief Brown
expressing our thoughts and concerns in regards to his proposal. I have included a copy of tha# letter.
He did sit down with the members of our bargaining committee and myself and we relayed to him the
concems our membership expressed about this budget proposal. Chief Brown was open and
receptive to our thoughts but in the end let it be known that this proposal would save money and that
he was not going to alter it in any way.
Our concerns most importantly will be the inconsistency in care given to the citizens of
Dubuque. The current system of having the 2 Medical OfFcers permanently assigned to each
ambulance is an extremely important element in the quality of care the patients receive. With Chief
Browns proposal the people assigned to the ambulances may change on a day-today basis. Fire
Department records show that 70% of the calls that this department responds to annually are EMS
rela#ed. These are everything from someone feeling ill to major traumas. We never know when that
life or death call is going to happen but when it does, don't the citizens of Dubuque and its visitors
deserve the best that we can possibly offer? That is what they receive now, but with the changes
planned in the budget proposal that will drastically change.
The citizens and visitors in the City of Dubuque receive some of the finest care from highly
qualified and experienced professionals currently assigned to the ambulances. That is proven by the
fact that the Dubuque Fire Department is currently involved in 2 separated EMS related studies. The
first is the ROC study. This is a nation wide study concerning current and future procedures involving
cardiac related emergencies. Dubuque is one of only a handful of departments in the state of Iowa to
be chosen to participate in this nation wide study. The second is the use of a device called CPAP.
Currently we are the only department in the State of Iowa to be using this device in the pre-hospital
setting. The participation in studies of this magnitude does not happen by chance. Participants in
studies such as these must show a history of providing a product of consistently high quality and this
department has done that and it is our hope to continue #o provide the best emergency medical care
in the future.
One of the things we found extremely upsetting from our meeting with Chief Brown was that he
admittedly "has not worked out all of the details" of how this proposal will be implemented. If you were
proposing to completely res#ructure something that involves 70% of what your business does on a
daily basis and generates revenues of over $800,000 or nearly 10% of your annual budget, wouldn't
you have all the details worked out before hand?
Continuing to provide the highest possible care to the citizens of Dubuque and its visitors is our
greatest concern and we feel strongly that the proposal put forward by Chief Brown will not meet
those high standards we have worked so hard to achieve in the past and hope to continue to provide
in the future.
The proposal has some merits but not enough to go forward in its current form. We are asking
for your support in voting no on this item in the Fire Departments FY 08 budget proposal.
Respectfully,
David M. Beaves
President
Local 353 DPFF
February 8, 2007
Fire Chief Dan Brown
We the Members of DPFF Local 353 are writing to you because of the c~ncems we have with
your FY OS budget proposal in regards to the elimination of the Medical Officer position. Your
proposal to cxeate the positions of Captains and Lieutenants on the ambulance will be of great value
and a positive step forward in accountability and uniformity within this department.
Our c~cems are that the quality of care we provide to the citizens and visitors of this
community will be negatively affected. We truly feel that if the remaining six positions assigned to the
ambulances were to remain a permanent, promoted position, the high standard of care that the
citizens of Dubuque have not only come to expect, but deserve, would continue to be the finest any
where in the State of Iowa.
We feel that if the Officers assigned to the ambulances do not have a permanently assigned
partner, that future calls will not run as efficiently as in the past, and that patient care can and will
suffer. Having Fin3fighters potentially changing on a daily basis will certainly result in a lads of team
continuity and the comfort level that comes with a permanently assigned partner. That feeling of
comfort is vital when it relates to patient care. Teamwork is a vital part of this fire department, not
only as an entire department, but also within each individual unit of this department.
The care we provide to both the citizens of Dubuque and its visitors are of great concern to
us. As members of the team that is The Dubuque Fire Department, we would like the opportunity to
meet with you sometime over the next week and discuss our thoughts and ideas on how we can as
a team, make this not just a good idea, but a great idea for this department!
Sincerely,
The Members of DPFF Local 353
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