Firefighters Union Airs Summer Staffing Concerns

OCEAN CITY — Pointing to a day this summer when Ocean City did not have enough personnel available to cover emergency calls, the leader of the resort’s firefighters union requested a meeting this week with Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD) leadership to discuss the organization’s concerns over staffing.

In a letter to Ocean City Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Barton, obtained by The Dispatch, IAFF Local 4269, Ocean City Career Firefigher Paramedics Association President Ryan Whittington specifically refers to Aug. 5 when major shore break and rough ocean conditions resulted in a high demand for emergency services that exceeded the city’s manpower.

“I would like to meet and discuss with you as to whether or not the Fire Department Command Staff has any plans to address what should occur during a shortage of career Fire/EMS staff, units, and or both. Specifically if any thought has been given to a minimum number of units available before SOG 236.0, ‘Emergency Recall,’ is activated or the possibility of sounding the long dispatch tone to alert for personnel to staff Fire / EMS equipment,” the letter from Whittington reads. “With regards to the number of units available, last summer there was an additional unit in north Ocean City staffed at Fire Station 4, ‘Paramedic 4-1’, in addition to the ‘power unit’, staffed with two providers. This summer, there has not been a scheduled Paramedic 4-1 and when a provider calls out from the ‘power unit’, majority of the time the shift is not filled. This is concerning.”

Whittington outlined in the letter other worrisome issues that the union believes impacts emergency response times, which in Ocean City have long been faster than the industry standard, according to previous OCFD reports to the Mayor and Council.

“Just after 3:00 p.m. [Aug. 5], there were no available staffed ambulances in town. Nor was it possible to staff the closest available fire apparatus, should a call for a fire or other emergency be dispatched,” Whittington maintained in his letter.

Later, on Aug. 5, an emergency call for neck and back injuries was made in northern Ocean City. Whittington reported, “again, again no available medic units and a Bethany Beach ambulance responded from Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, Delaware to Ocean City, Maryland.”

Although Aug. 5 was an exceptionally busy day, Whittington maintains inadequate staffing levels have caused issues at other times this summer, leading dispatchers when there are no staffed available units to issue a call for “any available unit respond.”

A similar day when active shore break and ocean conditions stressed staffs was on Aug. 13 when there were periods of time when no ambulances were available because two were out of service.

At that time, Ocean City Communications Manager Jessica Waters said the vehicle shortage should not be confused with a staff scarcity.

“While we have plenty of staff available, we do have two vehicles out of service which has been a challenge. Thankfully, we do have our mutual aid partners assisting and Ocean Pines is on standby if needed and Sussex is assisting in the north end,” Waters said at that time.

In times of high call volume, Ocean City resorts to assistance from Berlin, Ocean Pines and Sussex County and occasionally other agencies.

“It is not common for us to ask for assistance from our allied agencies for EMS services, but we do have to rely on them on occasion,” Waters said earlier this month. “Yesterday [Aug. 5] was a true example of the importance of mutual aid agreements and how critical it is to work closely with our partners in other areas, as well as our private sector partners.   With a large number of beach related injury calls, yesterday [Aug. 5] was a true demonstration of teamwork by both Town of Ocean City public safety personnel and our partners in neighboring districts.  It is so reassuring to have the ability to rely on our partners, and at the same time, have them rely on us if needed.”

Waters said the previous year’s call volume reports are utilized when determining staffing levels on any given day in the summer.

“In regards to the staffing, according to Chief Barton, we had every vehicle on the road and fully staffed.  We are in the busiest time of the year and the department staffs sufficiently, using calls for service from previous years to measure the needs without overstaffing crews. Also, we do have a system in place to call people in if needed, which is what we did yesterday [Aug. 5],” Waters said.

In an email dated Aug. 8, Barton commended emergency crews for the work on Aug. 5, which by all accounts was the busiest day of the summer for emergency responders.

“This was a very busy day for calls.  There were 41 calls during first 12 hours of the shift, including several incidents necessitating MEDEVAC transport,” he wrote to all members of the career division. “I appreciate your effort and hard work.”

Whittington was unavailable for further comment on the letter before Thursday’s deadline.