City Of Overland Park Fire Department
Annual Report 2022
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Our Mission: The Overland Park Fire Department is a value driven team of dedicated professionals committed to providing emergency, educational and specialized services for the purpose of saving lives and reducing property loss for the community we serve.
Our Mission: The Overland Park Fire Department is a value driven team of dedicated professionals committed to providing emergency, educational and specialized services for the purpose of saving lives and reducing property loss for the community we serve.
The Overland Park Fire Department is accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and holds the highest possible rating from the Insurance Services Office, ISO 1 .
Welcome
Welcome
"It has been my honor to serve this department for nearly 30 years...I will miss it."
"It has been my honor to serve this department for nearly 30 years...I will miss it."
- Fire Chief J. Bryan Dehner
- Fire Chief J. Bryan Dehner
A Rich History
A Rich History
Established in 1919, the Overland Park Fire Department began as a band of volunteers and has evolved into a professional, metropolitan fire department serving the second largest city in Kansas and surrounding areas. However, we didn't get here overnight.
Established in 1919, the Overland Park Fire Department began as a band of volunteers and has evolved into a professional, metropolitan fire department serving the second largest city in Kansas and surrounding areas. However, we didn't get here overnight.
"OPFD 100 Years Of Service" is a window into our origins and evolution. We're proud of our history and mindful that we stand on the shoulders of the men and women who came before us.
"OPFD 100 Years Of Service" is a window into our origins and evolution. We're proud of our history and mindful that we stand on the shoulders of the men and women who came before us.
Multiple Jurisdictions
Multiple Jurisdictions
Service Jurisdictions
Service Jurisdictions
The Overland Park Fire Department serves the cities of Overland Park, KS, Merriam, KS. as well as portions of Southern Johnson County and Northern Miami County All of these jurisdictions are all located in Northeastern Kansas.
Service areas
Service areas
The City of Overland Park has a landmass of 75.6 square miles. Merriam's landmass is 4.32 square miles. The area of Southern Johnson County we service is approximately 37.5 square miles. The Northern Miami County area we service is roughly nine square miles. Add it all up and we're providing fire and EMS service to more than 125 square miles of territory!
Service populations
Service populations
Overland Park's population of 199,130 makes it the second largest city in the state. Merriam's population is 11,300. The newly added portion of Johnson County we cover is home to 6,337 people. In total, we protect more than 216,000 people!
Quality Of Life (Overland Park)
Quality Of Life (Overland Park)
Overland Park's 13.566 Mill Levy Rate is the lowest in Johnson County, yet this First Class City enjoys a AAA Bond Rating.
The average home value in Overland Park is $417,374 and the median household income is $92,769. Overland Park is an award winning city. It's rated as one of the "Best Places To Live," "Best Places To Raise A Family" and one of the "Best Cities To Start A Career."
Hazards
Hazards
Overland Park contains suburban areas, high-density urban areas and rural areas. This mix of densities and hazards requires us to be proficient in a variety of mitigation skill sets. For a comprehensive look at how we access the hazards in our community and plan for protection, take a look at our OPFD Standards Of Cover document.
We operate nine traditional fire stations, two squad houses and a training center, which also houses our Administration. These facilities vary in size, staffing and equipment. Scroll through our directory and learn more about the station nearest you!
Our Team
Our Team
The Overland Park Fire Department's most prized resource is our people. They respond with professionalism and compassion to make someone's worst day better. They're the kind of people you'd like living nextdoor.
Here's our makeup for 2022:
Firefighters, Firemedics & Paramedics 134
Battalion Chiefs 9
Captains 27
Fire and EMS Lieutenants 22
Administrative Staff 26.75
Volunteers 2
Total Paid Employees 218.75
OPFD Senior Staff
Left to right: Brian Redelsheimer, Mike Casey, Andrew Grove, Chris Roberts, Theron Hawley, Eric Gifford, John Heffernon, Chris Palmer, Alan Long, Bryan Dehner, Brad Cusick, Scott Finazzo, Shayna Hurst, Grant Wernicke, Angela Caruso-Yahne, Jason Houghton, Jason Rhodes (not pictured: Paul Fountain)
We are "Proud to Serve" the second largest city in the state. We respond to more calls than any other agency in our county and strive to do so with great professionalism and compassion.
We are "Proud to Serve" the second largest city in the state. We respond to more calls than any other agency in our county and strive to do so with great professionalism and compassion.
Fiscal Responsibility
Fiscal Responsibility
Our pledge to guard the public trust includes our fiscal stewardship. We operate efficiently and effectively and use data-driven analytics to ensure we're making the most productive decisions. Our 2022 Fire Department Budget was just under 30-million dollars. (This includes our contracts with Merriam and Johnson County, KS.) For a deeper dive into our finances, check out the City of Overland Park, Kansas 2022 Budget.
Our pledge to guard the public trust includes our fiscal stewardship. We operate efficiently and effectively and use data-driven analytics to ensure we're making the most productive decisions. Our 2022 Fire Department Budget was just under 30-million dollars. (This includes our contracts with Merriam and Johnson County, KS.) For a deeper dive into our finances, check out the City of Overland Park, Kansas 2022 Budget.
Our 2022 per capita cost was just under $150. At $150 per resident, we provided Fire & Emergency Medical Services, including Advanced Life Support (ALS) First Response. We also provided Special Operations Teams support, including Hazardous Materials & Technical Rescue. Additionally, we provided Prevention & Public Education services aimed at improving life safety for residents, business and visitors to our jurisdictions.
Our 2022 per capita cost was just under $150. At $150 per resident, we provided Fire & Emergency Medical Services, including Advanced Life Support (ALS) First Response. We also provided Special Operations Teams support, including Hazardous Materials & Technical Rescue. Additionally, we provided Prevention & Public Education services aimed at improving life safety for residents, business and visitors to our jurisdictions.
Numbers Of Note
Numbers Of Note
Because we serve the second largest city in the state and several adjoining areas, we respond to more calls than any other fire department in Johnson County. Here's this year's breakdown.
2022 Total Calls For Service 23,430
2022 Total Calls For Service 23,430
EMS Calls 18,460
EMS Calls 18,460
Fire Calls 4,970
Fire Calls 4,970
(Average 64.19 calls per day)
(Average 64.19 calls per day)
Response time:
Response time:
If you called 9-1-1 for a fire or medical emergency (code 1 call) in 2022, the first responding unit from our station got to your door in 4 minutes and 23 seconds, on average. That's well below the 5 minute gold standard for the industry!
Resource Placement
Resource Placement
We work to place our resources in the most strategic locations. As our city grows and response densities change, we adapt. We're constantly analyzing the most efficient ways to respond to your emergency quickly. This map illustrates call volumes for 2022 by areas of our city.
How many calls did we run each month? For what problems did people call 9-1-1?
How many calls did we run each month? For what problems did people call 9-1-1?
We Give 100% For The 80%
We Give 100% For The 80%
About 80% of our calls are for Emergency Medical Services. Since we began EMS service in the 1960s, we've always been early adopters of medical advancements, employing best practices. All of our responders are certified by the Kansas Board of EMS as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or paramedics and operate under the guidance of the Johnson County Medical Director.
Overland Park is one of the best places TO LIVE!
Overland Park is one of the best places TO LIVE!
If our fire department rescued 10 people from a burning building it would be big news! Did you know that in 2022 we saved 10 people who were experiencing sudden cardiac arrest? Our sudden cardiac arrest save rates are among the best in the nation. Many departments simply count the number of people for whom they are able to return a pulse rate. OPFD uses the Utstein Survival Score, which includes patient viability,
return of circulation and (here's the biggie) successful hospital discharge with little or no deficit. In other words, we're looking at patient final outcomes.
Our sudden cardiac arrest save rate for 2022 was almost 29%! According to the American Heart Association, the national save rate is typically about 10%.
The secret to our success is simple. We invest in all aspects of the chain of survival. We work with the Johnson County EMS system to adopt the highest standards for EMS care and delivery. We train our people intensely. We also work with our dispatch agency to ensure recognition and coaching consistency and work to increase awareness and training for bystander CPR and AED usage. In fact, we trained more than 1,331 people in CPR during 2022!
We're not resting on our laurels. We've got plans to further improve the "chain of survival" in OP! To help us share the good news, we worked with our media partners at KCTV-5 and Joe Hennessy helped spread the word!
An Ounce Of Prevention
An Ounce Of Prevention
We know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which is why we invest heavily in efforts to prevent emergencies. Our Prevention Division ensures fire code compliance, investigates cause and origin of fires and promotes public safety education.
Inspections
Inspections
Our fire inspectors develop relationships with business owners to help them along the path to compliance. With a fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, 5 inspectors and an administrative assistant, this group posts some impressive statistics.
Number of inspections: 4,500 Number of citations: 3,024
We can't know the number of fires prevented by these efforts, but we can tell you that the City's total fire loss for 2022 was about 16-million dollars. (For reference the total value of property we protect in Overland Park is almost 32-billion dollars.)
Investigations
Investigations
Unfortunately, some fires are maliciously set. That's why we've trained 16 people in fire investigation. We also partner with a team of 6 specially trained police detectives to find and convict persons involved in the crime of arson. Of the 95 fires investigated in 2022, 3 were determined to be intentionally set. In cases where criminal intent can be determined, our team works with the Johnson County District Attourney's Office to obtain convictions for these crimes.
Education
Education
Most of the fires we respond to are the result of human behavior. Here are the top 3 causes of fire in Overland Park for 2022:
Unattended Cooking: 42
Careless Discard Of Smoking Material: 31
Electrical: 20
We use data to drive our educational focus and engage in aggressive public education to try and change risky behaviors. We tailor our educational programs based on the changing needs of our community. For example, our total fire loss for 2022 was higher than normal specifically because of 3 large apartment fires that all resulted from careless smoking. In response, our Prevention Division immediately designed and delivered a smoking safety educational program specifically for our apartment communities. In fact, through our public education efforts, we delivered over 150 safety programs in 2022, reaching more than 20-thousand people! We used a hybrid mix of in-person and online programs to deliver education every way possible.
Additionally, we use electronic media to spread safety messages to broader audiences. Whether working with our traditional media partners or using our internally generated social media, these safety messages literally reach hundreds of thousands of people in our metropoliton area each year. (See our "Stories to tell" section to learn more.)
Despite our best efforts, we unfortunately experienced 3 fire fatalities in Overland Park during 2022. In at least one of these cases, investigators believe that no working smoke alarms were present. Immediately following each incident, we canvased the surrounding neighborhoods to be sure everyone had working smoke alarms and even installed them for those needing assistance.
Wellness
Wellness
We recognize that our people need to be physically, mentally and emotionally healthy to best serve others. Because we are relied on to field a team, we must take seriously the charge of personnel wellness.
Physical Wellness
Physical Wellness
Fire departments have long focused on phycial fitness. We expect our occupational athletes to maintain fitness levels commensurate with the requirements of our profession. All front-line responders must pass an annual fit-for-duty physical each year. We base our annual exam on a nationally recognized standard from the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA 1582). Not only does this confirm their ability to perform, but also aids in early identification of addressable health concerns. Preventative medicine is the best medicine.
Additionally, we continue to implement cancer reduction measures. We issue each responder two sets of firefigting gear so that contaminated gear can be pulled from service until cleaned. As we build facilities and remodel older facilities, we build in red, yellow and green zones. These zones help us issolate contaminates and keep them out of our living spaces. All these measures and more are aimed at reducing the likelyhood of cancer from long term exposure to the carcinogens produced by fire.
The COVID-19 Pandemic required us to increase our infection control measures and even innovate new measures to protect our people. Fortunately, 2022 brought a decline in COVID-19 cases and significantly reduced infection rates. Less than 2 percent of the patients we treated in 2022 showed COVID signs and symptoms. This number is down from 12 percent in 2021. To date, we have no known transmissions of COVID-19 from patient to responder.
Mental Wellness
Mental Wellness
Resiliency
Resiliency
According to the US Fire Administration, "Public Safety Personnel are 5 times more likely to experience Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression than their civilian counterparts, leading to higher rates of suicide." Additionally, "more first responders die of suicide than in the line of duty each year." Recognizing this, the OPFD invests significantly in mental resiliency.
Our Peer Support team members are trained to identify and address mental wellness issues early and to connect people with appropriate resources. The goal is to keep responders healthy for work and home. As our department and call load grow, so too does our exposure to risk and our member's need for assistance. Our Peer Support Team recorded 97 contacts in 2022.
Peer Support Team 2022
OPFD Peer Support Poster .jpgEnhancement Opportunity
Enhancement Opportunity
In addition to Peer Support, we provide our members with resilience enhancing activities each year. In 2022, we partnered with War Horses for an amazing activity. War Horses is an organization that assists returning veterans with mental wellness. They also offer workshops tailored to first responders.
Our entire department attended training aimed at understanding personality types and recognizing how internal stress affect relationships and actions. Most found the experience quite moving, as is evidenced by this short excerpt from one session.
We owe a special thanks to recently retired EMS Chief Jason Green who spearheaded many of these efforts. Chief Green helped develop our partnership with Johnson County Mental Health to ensure our efforts are appropriate and fruitful. This partnership continues to pay dividends for the wellbeing of our personnel.
Stories To Tell
Stories To Tell
Whether telling stories on our own or with our media partners, we strive to provide transparency and share some of the amazing interactions we have with our community! These stories help inform and educate, ultimately furthering our mission. Here are some of highlites from 2022.
"Family Fun Day"
"Family Fun Day"
Each year we host a Family Fun Day for kids with special needs/developmental disabilities and their families at our Fire Training Center. This day brings joy to these families and our responders! Check out this year's video and thanks to agencies throughout Johnson County who help make this day possible.
"CPR Awareness"
"CPR Awareness"
We work closely with our media partners to help us operate with transparency. We're also able to leverage these relationship to help us get important stories told. For instance, Fox-4's Sean McDowell worked with us to tell a CPR success story for National CPR Awareness Week. Sean's story was seen by almost 60-thousand people!
"Blue Valley Fire Science"
"Blue Valley Fire Science"
Another great example of leveraging our media relationships is this WDAF-Fox-4 report on the Blue Valley School District's Career-Ready, Fire Science program. Regan Porter tells viewers about this new partnership that's helping us develop young first responders who may one day wear the OPFD patch!
"KC Current @ OPFD"
"KC Current @ OPFD"
We're always looking for capable people to serve our mission. So, when the KC Current Women's Soccer Team wanted to honor our responders for their "Hometown Heroes" game, we turned their visit into a recruitment opportunity! The team produced this half-time video of their players experiencing firefighting firsthand. On game night we setup recruiting tables at the stadium entrance, where we encouraged women to consider careers in the fire service. It was an awesome night and the Current won!
"Water Rescue Training"
"Water Rescue Training"
We even have our own Overland Park FD Youtube channel. This channel helps us share our own content directly with the public. We produce education and informational videos and even share some of the things we're doing behind the scenes to keep our community safe! Check out our recent Water Rescue Training video and know that our crews are ready when you need them.
"Saving Our Own"
"Saving Our Own"
Answering emergency calls can be dangrous work. Because of this, our Training Division always has an eye toward responder safety. The look at cases of firefighter fatalities and designs training scenarios based on lessons learned from these incidents. Their work helps ensure that our people have the best chance of going home safely to their families. Take a look at our most recent "Saving our own" training.
CPR Smoke Alarms Home Escape Smoking Safety Replace Alarms Carbon Monoxide
CPR Smoke Alarms Home Escape Smoking Safety Replace Alarms Carbon Monoxide
Additions To Our Family
Additions To Our Family
Each year, we welcome new members to the Overland Park Fire family. These new family members typically go through a Recruit Academy to learn the OPFD way. Upon completion, they not only understand our protocols and operational philosophy, but also our culture. We invest significantly in these occupational athletes expecting that they may spend a 20 year career with us! In 2022 we held a Spring Fire Academy and a Summer Paramedic Academy. Check out these Academy videos to learn more about these new members!
Left to right: Colin Sickel, Andrew Ohman, Manuel Carrera, Wes Hoskins, Eric Taylor, Kory Robertson, Cooper Rottinghaus, Stuart Rudman, Joseph Titus, Nick Fisher, Tyler Anderson, Justin Flowers, Dylan Ochoa, Chase Murphy, Colin Pendelton, Tanner Oehm
Left to right: Mike Thomas, Luke Russell, Dan Heffernan, Reggie Wood
We also added 2 non-operational faces to our family this year. Help us welcome:
Becca Brown
Fire Inspector
Staci Mackey
Admin Assistant
We're always looking for amazing people to help serve our mission. If you want to know more about employment opportunities with the Overland Park Fire Department, visit our new JoinOPFD section on our City's website!
Fond Farewells
Fond Farewells
First responders will tell you it's not a job, but a calling. For this reason, many enjoy long careers with us. In 2022, we said goodbye to 5 family members. Combined, they represent 161 years of service to the people of Overland Park! It would be impossible to calculate the number of lives they impacted in the course of their duties. We owe each of them a debt of gratitude.
Before departing, two of our retirees shared their stories along with some words of wisdom for the next generation. Watch their interviews to get an idea of the caliber of people who wear the the Overland Park Fire Department patch.
Additional Retirements
Additional Retirements
Jason Green
EMS Chief 29 yrs. service
Jennifer Gurley
Admin Assitant 31 yrs. service
Kelly Ricke
Battalion Chief 26 yrs. service
Last Alarm
Last Alarm
This annual report is dedicated to the memory of retired Captain Harold Beech, who lost his battle with Alzheimer's on December 15th, 2022.
Harold retired from the OPFD in 1999 after 42 years of service. We owe Captain Beech a debt of gratitude for his service and friendship. May God richly bless the Beech family.
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