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Atlanta Fire Rescue Staffing
Released October 2011
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We undertook this audit of Atlanta Fire Rescue staffing because City Council members have raised questions about the department’s staffing during budget hearings in the past few years. The primary benefit of staffing a minimum of four firefighters on each engine and truck is to increase efficiency in handling fire incidents, but nearly three-quarters of priority one calls are for emergency medical services that typically do not require a minimum of four firefighters on the scene.
We found:
Staffing each engine and truck with a minimum of four firefighters will not improve response time for the majority of incidents
The typical time to respond to a priority 1 call in 2010, including call processing and dispatch, exceeded benchmarks by nearly two minutes
Adding enough firefighters to meet National Fire Protection Association standard 1710 would cost $5.7 million per year to start
Investing resources in options other than increased minimum staffing, such as turnout time, would have a greater impact on response time
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