SUBJECT:
Title
Fire, Rescue and EMS Fund - Fire Rescue Services - $102,262
Body
INITIATOR:
DEPARTMENT:
James Banta, Fire Chief
Fire Rescue
DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND:
The Deputy Chiefs were invited to the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) earlier this year and were able to leverage their relationship with the vendors that provide thermal imaging cameras (TICs). Fire-based rescues are not currently equipped with TICs and normally arrive to the scene 1 to 3 minutes before the fire suppression apparatus (engine or tower). Given the ability to have TICs on all fire-based rescues, firefighters can perform search and rescue procedures to locate trapped victims rapidly to increase their chance for survival, before an engine carrying a TIC arrives. These items provide visibility in smoke, detection of heat signatures, faster response in search and rescue, enhanced safety by identifying hotspots and potential hazards or structural weaknesses, and reducing risk of missing victims. Marion County Fire Rescue has the opportunity to upgrade the thermal imager kits for the fire-based rescues in the Fire Fund at the current model's cost before newer models are released with higher market prices. Since this opportunity was unanticipated and not budgeted, savings from some of the small projects that were planned that would not be completed by the end of the fiscal year were found to pay for this purchase to outfit the Fire Fund with thermal imagers for the benefit of the citizens of Marion County.
BUDGET/IMPACT:
Neutral
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
Approve attached Budget Amendment Resolution.
end