Next year, the HT units, or handy-talkies used by the Los Angeles County Fire Department, will be obsolete. The manufacturer will no longer have parts for the outdated radio equipment.
In fact, a great deal of the department’s communication systems date back nearly three decades and are incompatible with wireless networks and other modern digital systems.
Local 911 fire stations and dispatch centers are sorely lacking in other equipment and staff, despite the rise in emergency service calls.
Last week, the County Fire Department launched its campaign to reach out to and educate voters, asking for help.
“We had more than 400,000 calls last year, making us the fourth-busiest department in the nation.” LA County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby said during a July 25th news conference.
“We do this with limited staffing and resources,” Osby said, adding that he feels bad for his staff who are tasked to protect and serve the community, but ran out of equipment during the largest fire in the county’s history, last November’s Woosley fire. More than 1400 structures were lost.
The news conference was aimed to inform the community of the department’s challenges and gain momentum for a ballot measure, which he hopes voters may see as early as March 2020.
To that end, Osby is gathering data for the LA County Board of Supervisors to review at the end of the year and encourages residents to visit www.wearelacountyfire.org to take part in a survey.
Three other fire captains spoke at the briefing, along with two emergency department doctors; a fire fighter/paramedic; a dispatcher; and one community member, Pamela Broom.
In October of 2014, Broom suffered a near-tragic complication from a back surgery. Her daughter found her on the floor and called 911.
“I was not responsive,” Broom, now 54, said. “And I am a survivor.”
Broom said she is grateful to the county fire department and all they do for the community.
“LA County Fire Department number 173 saved my life,” she added. “I went into cardiac arrest—flat lined—in my front yard.”
After reviving her, the team transported her to Centinela Hospital within five minutes.
“Thanks to the LA County Fire Department, I am here today,” Broom said. “So when they say funds are needed, funds are needed, because they do what they need to do to take care of the community.”
Chief Osby oversees the delivery of fire suppression and life safety services to residents and commercial business in 59 cities and all the county’s unincorporated areas.
“Our firefighters work in a busy, stressful environment,” Osby said. “It’s hard to even quantify the stress they have.”
In addition to working on their difficult jobs, firefighters and paramedics often have to do their jobs utilizing outdated equipment; they work additional 24-hour work shifts due to staff shortages; and a majority of them live in old stations.
More than 80 percent of the county’s fire stations were built before there were females on the force, so they do not have accommodations for women.
“There’s a fire almost every day from a homeless encampment.” Osby said, noting that the county’s increased homeless population has put yet an additional strain on the department. “We cannot address all of this with our current budget.”
