Commission regular meeting, wednesday, july 24, 2019 and the time is 5 03. [roll call] item 2, general Public Comment. Members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter within the commissions jurisdiction and does not appear on the agenda. Speakers shall address the remarks to the commission as a whole and not to individual commissioners or Department Personnel. Commissioners are not to enter into debate or discussion with a speaker. The lack of a response by the commissioners or Department Personnel does not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during Public Comment. Thank you very much madam secretary. Is there any Public Comment . Seeing none. Public comment is closed. Item three, approval of the minutes. Discussion of possible action to approve the Meeting Minutes from july 10, 2019. On the item of approval of the minutes, is there any general comment . Seeing none. General comment is closed. Moved to approve. Second. Motion to approve by commissioner cleaveland and a second by commissioner. Four. All lives matter one favor San Francisco all favor. Item number four. Chief of departments review. Report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson. Report on current issues, activities and events within the Department Since the Fire Commission meeting on july 10, 2019, including budget, academic use, special events, communications and outreach of other Government Agencies on the public. Report from administration, deputy chief, jose velo. Report on the administered of divisions, fleet of, finance, support services and training with the department. Welcome. Thank you. Good evening. Chief jeanine nicholson, this is my report. Since the last commission meeting, i met with ive been meeting with a lot of different folks at the San FranciscoGeneral Hospital because it we so intertwined with the hospitals, in terms of specifically in terms of our homelessness call volume. I met with doctor susan ehrlich, regarding homelessness and other commonalities, trying to continue the conversation with all of them. I think i told you last time that i will be meeting with doctor grant colfax from dph and doctor coldwell who is the head of emergency at San Francisco general. To see what we can do together, to help address, not just the homelessness issue but the call volume that comes out of that crisis. We had labormanagement meeting on the 16th. We are doing well. Collaborating on some things and agreeing to disagree. So, we disagreed on a few things we are still. That is good. [laughter] we actually completed our station visits, and will begin again in september. I visited the last two stations, 32 and 37 last week. Again, in september we will setting up a schedule for the assistant deputy chiefs that work in the city to visit different stations. We do not want this to be a one and done. We need to king continue communicating with the field. Chief jose velo is getting ready to put out a video to the field talking about his role and what hes doing in the department. Chief hirsch will be coming out with a video shortly, as well, clarifying some operational directions. You know, this is a good way to reach out to them. We have met with several of the employee groups. We met with united fire service women. We met with the chief association which has started up after a dormant time. They are excited and energized to do some things with us. We met with the veterans association, black Firefighters Association and the asian Firefighters Association. We have not met with ems officers. Interviews for our support Services Assistant deputy chief are this week. Chief rivera will be leaving us in august, we have begun those interviews yesterday, today and we will continue through the week. We should have a decision hopefully very late, on friday. Once you complete that there is another position that needs to be filled in support services, the water officer. We will do interviews for that as well. I am currently working on i will followup up with you all on my Department Head performance plan. It goes to the mayor, they cant really do an appraisal of being over the last year because ive only been chief for a couple of months. I will let you all know what my priorities are moving forward, and what i think we could get done this year. We will get that to you shortly. I believe it is due by the end of the month. The budget; hopefully it will be signed in early august yet with the new positions we have gotten , we have already started the footwork for hiring those new positions. Once the money drops, we can be off and running with those positions. Strategic plan. I have been meeting with chief worship and chief jose velo, talking about the plan that came out a couple of years ago, seeing what has been accomplished, what our priorities are. Weve had a couple of good meetings. We are going to follow up with that, and really boil down to our most urgent needs, and then timelines and for of the other ones. So, that is moving forward. Our limitation really is, for many of those things, is financial, right . Its funding. We are doing our best to be creative. We are forming committees and workgroups to get things done. We are looking to do more inhouse training so that, you know we could train some of our members in a particular class or a particular skill set. Things like that we are doing our best to be creative. You know, i have stressed and asked for patients from the field as we are working on these new initiatives, it does take time for these to happen. Station 13, the new build that will go on their with the highrise that will go on with the highrise and the park next to it. We have had multiple meetings with public works on the developers, the architects, really pushing for our operational and logistic logistical needs at that station we were much closer than we were im feeling really good that we were going to come to an agreement, on thing again the next couple of weeks. To be able to replicate the amount of space, and you know, the things that we have right now in our current station 13. We are having an internal meeting tomorrow to follow up with the latest proposal from the developer. Chase center. The mayor came out today, when you buy a warriors ticket, you can get onto muni free. We did a video today to show mta and our partners what our response looks like in that area, but what our challenges are. The drill has ended. Im waiting to follow up on that. That is where chief wirsch and chief cochran are tonight. They are all really involved in making sure that we have access not just to taste, but a rounded as well. Dph was also taking part of it by sort of driving some vehicles , in the area, as if they were trying to get to, you know, to get a kick to the hospital, or something. Im looking forward to what they have to say about the traffic issues in that area when we respond with a full assignment. The academy; h 2 will be in september. After myself, and chief velo and wirsch met with over 100 candidate and we chose about 30 people for the class, and ten alternates. I know there is 54 in the class, some of those by the previous administration. When you offer a job to people, you have to make sure you have some alternate in there as well. So they can go through the medical and background and theyre not be any delay. And then we get 12 from station 49. So, they are currently going through background and medicals. I know we are also working on the h3 level one class, and the interviews for selecting those positions. Chief tom and her folks over at station 49 have been working on that. That concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you very much chief, nicholson. At this. Because im going to ask for Public Comment off the chief report first, then we will have comments from the commissioners and then we will go on to the deputy chief. Is there any Public Comment off chief nicholsons report . Seeing him. Public comment is closed. At this. , commissioner, commissioner cleaveland . Commissioner cleaveland than k you for your report. One quick question on the guardians of the city, any update there that you can report the commission sent a letter to them a couple of weeks ago and we gave them until august 2 to respond. We are waiting on that response for the counting of the funding in two different account. We are waiting on that. Commissioner cleaveland good enough. That is all my questions, thank you. Commissioner alioto veronesec hief, thank you for the update on the visits to the station. I think that is really important. I think it is really cool youre doing it. Just from my conversation, various conversations, from members they really appreciated too. It certainly out there that they appreciate that. Tran28 is being made clear to me in person, actually. Commissioner alioto veroneset hats really nice. I know its a different style of management than the previous administration. I know it has been appreciated. In regards to your concert conversations with the department of health do you feel like those are going well . Yes. With director colfax, doctor koufax, yes ive had a couple of conversations and again, i will be meeting with him, i cant remember when it is scheduled for, and doctor cole. I can see if we can brainstorm about sort of what our roles should be in terms of dealing with the high call volume, and dealing with us and up stamping staffing the hospitals by waiting for a bed. The hospitals are overwhelmed, a lot of these people do not need to be transported. What is dph role, what is our role in what is the hospitals role. I want to troubleshoot with them i brainstorm come and see, do we do some kind of pop up tent . Do we do out in the field . Do we do a, you know, para medicine van, with some from the Fire Department and a social worker . These are conversations that ive had with each of them individually. Comm. Alioto veronese we are in the educating phase which i think is important so they can get a better sense of what we are seeing out there . Yeah. We are bringing the statistics, the percentage of our calls and, you know, doctor cole sees it in his emergency room. Yeah. Comm. Alioto veronese i mean, im sure he sees it in his emergency room, but i think these conversations youre having is important, because it tells me youre getting those numbers out in the field because some of those people are not seeing the emergency room because they are being treated our people. Those of the conversations we going to have. Where the funding can come from for these programs that will benefit all of us. I think thats really important. In regards to other hospitals, are there other hospitals that arent under dph, right . I noticed driving up post or bush, on the side of st. Francis, now our ambulances are being parked across the street from the hospital, as opposed to in front of the emergency room entrances. I am hoping that is not to make room for ambulances that are at in the entrance and further up staffing at the hospital. Keep your eye on that. I will look into that. Comm. Alioto veronese there being parked not on the hospital side, but across the street now. Leaving that white zone in front of the emergency room open, which i thought was interesting. I mean, it could be that that is there staging. When they get released, when they are in service. It just depends. We will look into it and see what it is. Comm. Alioto veronese thank you. In regards, one kind of new thing i wanted to bring up to you to see if the department is doing, i know a lot of the technology that we use today in what we wear, helmets, hats, turnouts, you know, the pants and the boot. A lot of that technology is older technology. Im wondering if the department is looking at what other departments in the world are doing as far as updating that type of technology, maybe turnouts for wildland fires that do not have the chemicals and that type of stuff. I noticed when i met with the fire ambassador from france, who is around, his helmet is very different, shaped a different than ours. I am wondering if our department is looking at that, what is out there. I know tradition is hard to break your in San Francisco, the leather helmets and things that are historically a part of our history. I wondered if our department is looking at that . Yes, we are looking at speaking with manufacturers about different turnout gear, and having some of those chemicals removed from the turnout gear. Yes, we are. Our support services has been doing that. Comm. Alioto veronese thank you, chief. Thank you very much, commissioner. Commissioner hardeman . Commissioner hardeman thank you. Good report. Brief, i know youre busier than your report indicates. Good job. It was very disturbing, these reports since the last meeting, 10,000 people considered homeless on the street streets. A lot of people have been out there, 25 years now. They are not homeless, they are just panhandlers. In my neighborhood i have a few that go back over 20 years. They get their loot and go back to where they are living. And then oakland, they are staggering statistics that just came out. Maybe they are staying in oakland and of coming over here. It is mindboggling, these reports are. Seems no matter how much money we throw at it, it doesnt change. Its wonderful, in your review, local 798, they try to get this out there leadership in San Francisco so they could see the stats. Cant help, when you look at this one graph of the population , in San Francisco since ive been on the commission has gone up 10 , probably over 900,000 now, this is 897. The commission, in august of 2010, and the calls for service are up more than 45 . That is a staggering number. It is obvious, with all of these service calls, 45 , it is a staggering nine year increase in call volume. I can see why our members have their hands full the staffing and all. Anyway, good report. Thank you. Thank you very much. Commissioner cleaveland . Commissioner cleaveland than k you, mr. President. Just one followup question, chief, that is regarding, you mentioned Community Paramedic fans. Can you elaborate more on that, it sounds like a way to serve triage, treatment, not in a hospital was somewhere near the hospital . Is it legal to create Community Paramedic fans . So, there are all sorts of conversations going on at the state level in terms of Community Para medicine. We currently have a Pilot Project which is ems 6. We are hoping to make that Community Para medicine be able to do more, i know they are voting on some stuff at the state level. Right now, currently, it is not. We cannot do it unless we do a pilot program. Ems 6 is a small slice of Community Para medicine. It could also be going into someones home who calls 911 a lot, and seeing what resources they need to not be calling 911 all the time, keep them in housing. Ems 6 only deals with people who are frequent callers. Community para medicine is much broader than that. There are other cities that are doing all sorts of different programs. Some do where they go into peoples homes, who do not have family around. They are calling 911 a lot and figuring out what resources they need. Some do a physicians assistant, and a social worker in a van and go out into the field, and the physicians assistant can do stitches. They are funded partially by the hospital. There are all sorts of Different Things going on in the u. S. We need to have more of those conversations here, and figure out a way. Comm. Cleaveland thats not happening here in california . Do we have to change state law . They are voting on it. Do you know what they are voting on or when they are voting on it okay. I know, because our assignment runs msx going up to testify in sacramento, for this bill and another bill, as well. In terms of the para medicine as well. Comm. Hardeman is giving us more flexibility that we need to address the problems on the street then to divert, if you will, people that call 911 but dont necessarily need to go to the hospital and can be treated on scene perhaps. When you say Community Paramedic fans are not talking about a different type of man youre just talking about the amulets rarely have in our fleet . Tran28 could be, but it is not going to be a transport unit, a unit where we can, you know, bring people in, park at turk and taylor, or whatever, people can come in and bss by us and be assessed by us. I am just thinking out loud. The possibilities and where i see a lot of departments moving. Comm. Cleaveland is there a model youre looking at . There are several different models throughout the country, you know, and its really, you know, why you need to have conversations with the director of public health. Comm. Cleaveland all of us on the commission are very encouraged and enthusiastic about this kind of approach to treating our, you know, onslaught of the services we provide on the street now because of so many People Living on the street. This would be a big help to our department, and to everyone involved. Again, it will take some time to get it up and running. Comm. Cleaveland i am very encouraged by this. We need to do something different. I know our Quick Response vehicles have certainly helped in terms of changing our response model. We need more. We need some other options. Comm. Cleaveland fewer times at the hospital means fewer weights for our personnel and they can be back on the job. Vice president covington tha nk you. I also wanted to mention that i thoroughly appreciated the book from the union the retrospective of the last calendar year. I thought it was very good. Thank you for your report, chief i wanted to mention something that you did not mention, and that is the earthquake safety and emergency response. What we call the. [inaudible] there was, as you know, ceremony on thursday july 11. Our mayor has set to put this bond on the ballot for 2020. 153 million will be for emergency firefighting water system. And there may additional monies for fire stations, 275 mill