City of Morgan Hill Public Safety Master Plan

SECTION 2. SCOPE OF PROJECT

The scope of this project was to provide an independent review of the services provided by CAL FIRE to the City of Morgan Hill and the South Santa Clara County Fire District (SSCCFD). This study provides a comprehensive analysis of CAL FIRE, including its organizational structure, workload, staffing, deployment, training, fire prevention, emergency communications (911), and planning and public education efforts. Local government officials often attempt to understand if their fire department is meeting the service demands of the community, and commission these types of studies to measure their departments against industry best practices. In this analysis CPSM provides recommendations where appropriate, and offers input on a strategic direction for the future.

Key areas evaluated during this study include:

■ Fire department response times (using data from the city/county computer-aided dispatch system and its records management systems).

■ Deployment and staffing.

■ Organizational structure and managerial oversight.

■ Fire and EMS unit workloads.

■ CAL FIRE support functions (training, fire prevention/code enforcement/911 dispatch).

■ Essential facilities, equipment, and resources.

■ The working relationship with Santa Clara County EMS.

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