this is a remote meeting via teleconferencing. the link can be accessed on the we shall site. during the coronavirus disease covid-19 emergency the fire commission's regular meeting room at city hall, room 400, is closed and meetings of the fire commission will convene remotely. to receive a callback, provide your phone number when you join the event, or call the number below and enter the access code. the number is 1-408-418-9388, and the access code is

1461383270. item 1, roll call. president francee covington present. vice president feinstein present. commissioner nakajo i believe is listening, but not seen. commissioner ken cleaveland? muted. okay, let me unmute him. okay. commissioner ken cleave land? >> commissioner cleaveland: i'm here. >> commissioner rodriguez? >> present. and chief of department, jeanine nicholson? >> present. >> clerk: item 2. general public comment. members of the public may address the commission for up to three minutes on any matter

within the commission's jurisdictions and does not appear on the agenda. speakers shall address their remarks to the submission 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 the department personnel is not necessarily constitute agreement with or support of statements made during public comment. are there any members of the public that would like to speak at this time? >> there is no public comment. >> thank you. seeing there is no public comment, public comment is closed. next item, please. 0 item 3, approval of the minutes. discussion and possible action to approve the meeting minutes from the regular meeting on june 10, 2020. >> president covington: i would

move that we approve the minutes. >> second. moved by vice president feinstein, seconded by commissioner cleaveland. >> clerk: we'll do a roll call vote. president covington yes. commissioner rodriguez? >> yes. and i don't think we have commissioner nakajo, though we have four yeses, the motion passes. >> next item. is there any public comment on the minutes? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. public comment is closed. next item, please. >> item 4, chief of department's

request for leave to attend 2020 fire scope board of directors meeting. chief of department jeanine nicholson respectfully requests a leave of absence with pay for two days, wednesday july 8 through thursday july 9 to attend the fire scope board of directors meeting in orange county, california. deputy chief victor wyrsch will serve as acting chief of department. the cost to the department for this trip is $182. [laughter] >> thank you. question, please, is the chief sleeping in her car? [laughter] >> i will not be sleeping in my car. it's an rv. no, i'm kidding. >> i would move that we approve the expenditure and allow chief

nicholson to attend this training. >> before i entertain a second, can i please ask if there is any public comment? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. public comment is closed. moved by vice president feinstein, is there a second? >> second. >> president covington: thank you, commissioner cleaveland. >> clerk: i will take a roll call. president covington? >> president covington: yes. >> commission rodriguez? >> commissioner rodriguez: yes. and i still don't see commissioner nakajo, but the motion passes. >> president covington: thank you. before the next item on the agenda, i would like to hear from chief nicholson.

can you give us a little bit of background on this new position that you've been elected to? >> within the organization, sort of what they do is provide recommendations and guidance to california -- the governors o.e.s., and on matters that pertain to whether it's mutual aid or incident command service. so that other -- so departments can work more smoothly together. so -- and there are a lot of committees that work on different issues and they bring them up to the board to determine if we're going to move on them.

and it is statewide. >> president covington: okay. so a large portion of the responsibility is to discuss mutual aid? is that it? >> chief nicholson: yes, let me read some of the things that they work on. improved methods for coordinating multiagency resources during major incidents. improved methods for forecasting fire behavior. standard terminology for improving incident management. improved multiagency incident communications. trainings. regional operation coordination centers, et cetera, et cetera. so, yeah, it's all about being able to work together seamlessly, whether it's at a wildfire, earthquake or some other major incident. >> president covington: very good. thank you for the information. does anyone have any questions

for chief nicholson at this time? okay. next item. >> item 5. update on the current budget. mark corso, deputy director of finance and planning on the fire department's budget for commission review and discussion. >> good evening. good evening commissioners, mark corso giving an update on the legislative process. this is formal presentation -- discussions that are ongoing. in the current year, we are currently working like all the city departments, we're working with the mayor's office to balance $250 million deficit. then as for the year that ends in the end of june. we're working and reviewing projects such as capital and

equipment deferrals and modifications to change the way they're financed, just to assist with reducing the deficit. for example, we're working to convert some of our equipment purchases to a leased purchase financing model. i think the overall goal is to shift any cash obligations in the current year down the line a little bit, given the city's economic situation, but at the same time, we're still working with the mayor's office to ensure we're able to purchase the equipment that we're allocated. in some different way, we'll still be able to get the equipment. i'm working with the mayor's office on that. and over the next two budget years, we're working closely on the fiscal year 2021 and 2022 budgets to be proposed by the mayor. -- prepared by the mayor. that will go to the board on august 1. we talked about the delayed budget process. the mayor will be presenting the -- her budget to the board on august 1st for consideration and discussion at future budget hearings.

same thing along the lines, we discussed a little bit last meeting as well, we're evaluating all areas of departments for potential savings or efficiencies, but given that our budget is spent for frontline operations, fire suppression and medical emergency services and we serve the vulnerable populations, we don't have a lot of flexibility. they continue our position on that. and we're continuing to work with capital and equipment, things like that, hiring. a various number of initiatives that don't affect frontline operations which is the focus. the short answer is we're still working with the mayor's office. it's going to be a very busy next few months. a lot of the -- the whole schedule is compacted and policy decisions need to be made over that time. that's just a brief update. happy to answer any questions. >> president covington: thank

you. is there any public comment on mr. corso's report? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. public comment is closed. i'd also like to acknowledge that commissioner nakajo is in the meeting. >> president covington: great. yes, i see you there. welcome, commissioner nakajo. >> i believe he's muted. >> there he is. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you. >> president covington: good to see you. all right, so commissioners, do you have questions for mr. corso? none? all right. mr. corso, can you tell us a bit about the budget meetings that have been happening in headquarters and if you're ready

to talk about what the strategy is going forward to make sure that we have those lightest tap rather than a heavy hit on the budget. >> absolutely. so we've been meeting internally and the administration reconvened our budget committee, will the first meet -- had the first meeting a couple of weeks ago to discuss overall what we're looking at. i think everyone on the department side has agreed as far as limited flexibility and not impacting frontline operations, along the mine of the mayoral priorities of providing equity of services. that's the key core of our mission. so i think for further reductions of what the mayor's office has requested, we're not looking at impacting that functionality. so those are pretty much what the focus has been on so far. like i mentioned, we have communicated, the limited

flexibility we have as well as the importance we're placing on frontline operations. we're very lean outside of the operations that both on equipment, other infrastructure, so there is not a lot of room where we have that won't impact operations in some capacity. so i think we recognize that and that's kind of the communication we've had with the mayor's office thus far. >> president covington: thank you. chief of the department, chief nicholson, i believe all of the commissioners received a letter via e-mail from 798 union representing firefighters and they had a list of priorities. how is the conversation going to take place between the administration and the union regarding being lock step with each other in terms of our lobbying efforts?

>> chief nicholson: good evening, president, commissioners, chief jeanine nicholson. so, we have regular conversations with local 798 and especially during this covid time we've been speaking with them on a weekly basis. and sean, the president and i, keep in good contact and we understand the importance of having a unified voice moving forward. so we just had a meeting on monday and we are -- we have really good communication. so we are working to ensure that we're not, you know, singing two different songs and confusing everyone which has happened in the past. >> president covington: very good. i know those conversations are going on. was someone else getting ready to speak? any questions for the chief? all right. thank you.

can i ask for public comment? >> you have not. >> president covington: is there any public comment on mr. corso's briefing? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you, public comment is closed and we can go on to the next item. >> item 6, chief of department's report. report from chief of department, jeanine nicholson, on current issues, activities and events within the department since the fire commission meeting on june 10, 2020, including budget, academies, special events, communications and outreach to other government agencies and the public and ethnic breakdown of the 126 academy class. >> chief nicholson: good evening. all right, can you hear me now? >> president covington: yes.

>> chief nicholson: okay. good evening. president covington, vice president feinstein, commissioners, and sister maureen. again, chief jeanine nicholson, and this is my report for the past two weeks. covid-19 as we know has been the number one topic over the last quite a few months and up until this week we had zero covid positive members. we've had one member of the department test positive. they do not have severe symptoms. they are, however, isolating and quarantining at home as are three people from work that had some significant contact or interactions with that individual. so that is what is going on on the covid front, but we continue to do our cleaning at stations

and wear proper p.p.e. and ensure that we have enough p.p.e. to go around. sorry, my computer is talking to me. so, right now we're in a good space with personal protective equipment thanks to all the hard work that has been going on in the department. also, in terms of covid-19, you know, there has been an emergency operation center over at centre that has brought the city together and coordinate in the best way possible. that will still be -- there will still be an emergency operation center. it's going to be scaled a little bit differently. so we may not have as many people in there, but we will be certain to have several people in there, so we are involved at

the beginning. it's basically going to a different command structure and the department of emergency management will be leading. it's basically, we have to scale back a little bit for the long haul because, as you said, this is not going to be over in a month. so we can't burn ourselves out. we did have a management meeting as well a couple of weeks ago. we're continuing to work closely again with them to ensure clear communication. also, sean buford became a father this week, last week, recently. a healthy baby girl. so he's doing well at home. and, yeah, so that's good. budget. we talked about that. mark spoke about that. and, again, just to reiterate,

and i've reiterated this with the mayor's office and local 798, i do not want to see any negative operational impact with this budget. we just can't afford to have that. so that has been clearly communicated. station 13 is the station that is going to be rebuilt and they're going to be putting housing there as well which will then -- luxury housing, which will then pay for some lower income housing in chinatown. so it passed one of the legislative hoops that it has to jump through at the board of supervisors last week. basically the transfer of the property to this company called related. and it is a long process. there are more hoops to jump

through. but if you would like, we can certainly get the head of the department of real estate to come give you all the intel you want on that, if you want to add that to a commission meeting at some point. we can make that happen. we are happy with the design and the project to date. we have been included and we have included our station 13 members as well in this. speaking of the real estate, we've had several meetings with them regarding a site for our training facility. we are working diligently with them to purchase a site. at this time i can't really -- i can't speak to it. again, because it's -- we're

undergoing negotiations, but we're doing all we can to make this happen. this is an absolute priority for us. and the city is aware of that as well. so that is happening. and then has been involved in many of the street challenges that we've been seeing. especially since covid-19. many of the congregate settings, the shelters are only at one-third capacity so people can social distance. so there is more and more issues on the street. but they have been instrumental of late in cleaning out parts of the tenderloin, getting people into housing. not just cleaning it, but getting people into housing or safe sleeping sites.

they've been working diligently with healthy streets operation center. and have been getting lots and lots of kudos. in fact, this week one of our members, dan, was really -- he was the pivotal person in getting two different pregnant women off the street into housing and services. and so i've been communicating that to the board of supervisors, to the mayors office, to the policymakers on our calls in terms of what they're doing and the benefit they bring to the city. and there are actually -- there are multiple departments that will be forming a work group at some point in the near future in terms of an alternate response

to the behavioral health crisis on the streets other than p.d. the police will not be responding to many of these calls any longer, so there may be a bit of a vacuum there. and we know that the program that we have is really, really effective and impactful. and so we are looking to clap wait with d.p. -- collaborate with d.p.h. in moving forward on that as well. so that is -- and then, yes, and i've been working with -- spoke with dr. colfax, the head of d.p.h. about this today, as well as the head of department of emergency management, mary ellen carroll, so we're all putting our heads together to work on that. we want to ensure that our members, because p.d. will not be responding to every single behavioral health call anymore,

we are working diligently to ensure that we have the proper processes, protocols in place for our members' safety. and we're also working with the police department in terms of what they will respond to. and that concludes my report. and i do have a 6:00 p.m. meeting with the mayor. oh, it doesn't conclude my report. my apologies, president. you also wanted a report on the demographics -- the demographic breakdown of the last 126th academy class. so first of all, what i can tell you is that our former fire chief had selected over a dozen of the members for this class. so we had a very limited number of people we could choose from

outside the department. so the final breakdown is 22 white, four african-american, eight hispanic, five asian, four filipino, and five multiracial. and that adds up to 40 members. >> president covington: does that conclude your report, chief? >> chief nicholson: yes, ma'am, it does. >> president covington: let's see if there is any member of the public that would like to speak at this time? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. all right, public comment is closed. commissioners? do you have questions? >> i do, president. this is katherine feinstein.

chief, are you there? >> chief nicholson: yes, ma'am, i am right here for you. >> vice president feinstein: question about station 13, i was unaware of this project and still remain relatively new to the commission. i'm familiar with related, so i understand what their work is. are they taking over the property to build luxury housing? is it still going to be a fire station with luxury housing on top of it? help me catch up a little bit here, please. >> chief nicholson: absolutely, vice president. and i think this is also really -- it would be a really good opportunity for us to have the department of real estate come out to spell it out for you, but basically, supervisor peskin was very involved in this project from the beginning, wanting to get affordable

housing into district 3. and so they went for this outside of the box idea. we have a station at the corner of washington, that is station 13. and there are also some buildings sort of behind it on washington that related purchased. and so we're going to be moving the fire station to a little further back onto washington basically. it opens on to samson right now. and then there will be -- there will be housing going in sort of next to and all around it. and we are getting a brand new fire station out of it. and we have gone through the plans with -- sorry, my phone keeps ringing here -- so let me just turn it off. but it is -- it is -- yes, it

was worked out so that we are getting this paid for, you know, all of it paid for. it's not coming out of our budget or the city's budget. and then what this does is related will then be building affordable housing on -- i can't remember the address -- but in chinatown. >> vice president feinstein: chief, is it both luxury housing and affordable housing? or a combination or one or the other? >> chief nicholson: so related is building this luxury housing and there may be some office work space in there. i'm not certain. where station 13 currently is. the affordable housing will be

paid for from that sort of pot of money that they get and it will be paid for in another location in chinatown. >> vice president feinstein: understood. thank you. >> chief nicholson: you're welcome. >> president covington: any other questions? commissioner rodriguez is raising his hand. >> commissioner rodriguez: real quick. i know you have to go, chief. with the budget cuts and everything, i didn't quite understand, you said because the police department won't be responding to certain calls anymore -- how much more work is the fire department taking on for this? >> chief nicholson: yeah, so we are looking at that and looking at all the data around that in terms of, you know, if there are 20,000 calls that they're not going to be responding to, where -- you know, who is going to fill in that vacuum?

and so i'm not -- we're not completely clear yet, but we imagine that it will have an impact on us and, you know, it may have impact on h.s.h., 311 or whomever else. we don't know the exact impact, but, you know, the police get called to every single person on the street. and don't really, you know, have the services to be able to help folks. sandy, do you know a number by any chance? chief wyrsch? >> i do not have a number yet, chief. can you hear me? >> chief nicholson: i can hear you. i know you and chief tom have been talking with the police. >> correct and we have meetings in the future with operations of

p.d., mike redmond. >> chief nicholson: so i'm not really answering your question, commissioner rodriguez, but in my humble opinion, the work that our community paramedics are doing would be the absolute correct solution to this. and so we're having discussions about that. >> commissioner cleaveland: so on those discussions -- i'm sure they wouldn't say to redirect money from the police department as they're planning on doing supposedly, but they wouldn't say that the fire department is a community that needs money. would that be a possibility if they're going to restructure their budget? so they can get some of that money so you can do the work? >> chief nicholson: you know, anything is possible. i am not certain yet, but, yeah, i know they are reallocating a lot of money. and i know that the supervisors

are going to have a lot of say in this. and so i have been speaking with, you know, different supervisors over the last couple of days about this. i just talked to supervisor preston today. i brought it up to sean elz as well. we've got a good program that works. >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you. >> president covington: okay. thank you. let's see, commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: commissioner rodriguez asked my question and i appreciate the chief's answer and hopefully, we can get that money redirected to our ems 6. that's really an area of dire need for growth in my opinion. so the more responsibility, we

need to have a little more money to fund that service. so thank you, chief. >> chief nicholson: thank you. >> president covington: because you are due at city hall for your meeting with the mayor, i will hold my questions for now. and give you a chance to get there on time. >> chief nicholson: okay, so it's virtual. all i have to do is turn around and turn on my other computer. >> president covington: [laughter] all you have to do is swivel instead of pivot. >> chief nicholson: if you have to ask something, you can ask right now. >> president covington: i'm still concerned about the lack of a definite place for the new training center. and as time moves on, i become more and more concerned.

however, with the deep, deep dive in the economy, there may be some opportunities that come up for us. you know, maybe there is a very, very large developer that decides that things will not pencil out in the future because people are leaving town instead of coming into town in droves. so i'm hoping that there will be some opportunities. do you think that we're close to a site? >> chief nicholson: yes. we have a site located, yes. we are in negotiations regarding that site. >> president covington: okay. that wasn't clear. so that's apologies -- well, that's good news. you buried the lede. >> we are in negotiations and i'm hopeful and i know that the department of real estate is really working hard on this. i've also had a recent conversation with our city

administrator, naomi kelly about this, so they all understand what it is that we need. and that there is, you know, no time to waste. so, yes, ma'am. >> vice president feinstein: very good. well, my fellow commissioners, as things get closer to being inked, the deal being inked, it will have to come to the commission for approval. so at the time we will get all of the details. >> president covington: this is good news! i'm much relieved now. [laughter] okay. >> chief nicholson: apologies for not being more clear. >> president covington: that's all right, as long as we get clarity at the end, we're good. again, any more questions? okay, thank you. is there any public comment on the chief's report? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. public comment is closed. ready for the next item.

>> report from administration, deputy chief jose vel owe on report on administrative divisions, fleet and facility status and updates, finance, support services and training within the department. >> good evening, president, vice president, commissioners, can you hear me? >> yes, sir. >> here to present my report for the month of may. i have prepared a slight presentation of highlights in my report. if you would be so kind to put it in the center? >> yes. >> okay.

can you see that? yes, sir. >> thank you. so this is my report for the month of may. then i go over different divisions. one of the -- [inaudible] -- covid-19 response. chief mentioned this. we're working with the response. the management team with folks working on the incident action plan. we do have a two-week operational period, but also at the end of the operation, after six people a day working to assist the city. right now we have --

[inaudible] section chief. we have assistance from nerts, chief, and firefighter oxford, who are assisting in different functions of the operations there. as the chief mentioned, we're going down to a different mode of unified command starting july 6. we'll reduce, but we'll share information to make sure we're aware of what is going on. as far as the training division, one of the highlights, training during covid-19 was shut down, so we focused most of the resources and support to the covid-19 response. and eoc or the department, different -- [inaudible] common response, advice line for the members that were exposed with questions about the issue and we were busy doing training. it's a new device that is doing

cpr without being close to the patient. so division training. you can ask questions of chief tong about this, too. but this is we believe will provide us with results. the 125th class has completed testing. except one member who took time off to be off and has been unable to complete the probation time. the 126th class is completing their testing. all drills have resumed with new safety protocols. we're now back in full operation for training, drills. happy to see that. inservice training is resumed. and also, received training. again, with safety protocols we have to approve. it was great to see them back on

thursday night for the additional training, also great to see them on the fire on pier 45, assisting our troops and practicing their skills with the high pressure system. it was good to see them back in shape after a few months of being off. we continue to do live work training and the airport crew division, training at dallas, texas. our nert team has been very involved in the eoc response and the covid response, i mentioned that -- been getting a lot of praises for her work at the eoc, but her team, her members have been doing all kinds of outreach, support, food bank support and deliveries throughout the city. so you have seen many of the nert volunteers helping in all facets of the response to covid. we're really proud of the work. including testing facilities.

staff in testing facilities helping as well, too. very happy with the work. another facet of their response daily. not just e earthquakes, but now respondi responding tremendously. chief of wellness has been busy with the epidemic. working with tony boon. developing the launch of the new whatsapp that i'm going to show you later what it is. and health department members, mental health issues. and support and they can reach on the palm of the hand with a phone and get support right away. [inaudible] -- peer support team and the clinical response team to be fundamental in -- unit in being able to deal with the department. we have as of today, almost --

peer support team that are going to support the unit. they have training and will receive more training. from that team, we're going to create an elite group of members who have the critical incident response team. so the teams that will be on call. if major incident happens that requires mental health support, we'll respond to assist the unit because only two members can do too much for a big incident, so they'll need help. after we select the members for the peer support team, we'll put the application for the response team and get the team going and training. we have training coming up for them on july 21 and 22, whi. we put a general order. and now members do suffer incidents and we have members that suffer from members of the public sometimes on calls, they are able to track them, but now we can let them on the system

put into, so we have a better way of keeping track of the data of the issues we have now. it's been long overdue. we've been having monthly meetings with dr. brokaw about our members. we're happy that chief parks are working together to get the issue resolved. this is the look of the cordco app. it's for the smart phone, iphone. it has two sites. one is for the public. they can get information about the location of the stations and meet some of the folks in the command staff. and on the internal side for our members, on the right-hand side, you see that help now, identifications, message from the chief. we are able to get resources for

them they need. and then we have education. so we think it's very helpful and we have numbers logging into it and hopefully we'll see good results and feedback from them. this was launched by the health service system with the public service agency, so we'-- i want to share with you that we completed week 2 today, today actually of the antibody testing for the members. last week, three days, two more days this week -- next week for members at station 49. we have so far thousand members sign up. we hope to get more at station 49. this is provided to the credit union. and the goal for us is to study the exposure our members have to covid-19. i'm hoping to share those results soon and hopefully by

the next commission meeting i should have some results to share with you all those studies. and this happened this week. we've done training. the office has been busy. putting out health monitors and news letter with information to members to know. mostly covid-19-related. also mental health issues and mental health tips to be able to go through this pandemic. the chief coordinated the study for the antibody study. she completed probation physicals, 125th class just completed. they all have to go through the medical. and we started to plan for the flu immunization for fall. the goal is to go up to 70% of compliance of members getting the flu shot. we had an average in the last few years of 50%. due to the pandemic, i'm hoping to get more folks take the flu vaccination. this will help us all be

healthier. we're going to help us with that goal. i want to share with you our bureau assignments that lieutenant is going to retire. as of friday, 23 years in the department. so we're going to miss him greatly. a great resource for us on the administration side to help with many aspects of our jobs and really, really always a friendly smile and always willing to help. so used to work with him a few years back in station 39. sad to see him go, but happy for his retirement. wish him well in the retirement. support services busy. a lot of facility players. 162. we have station 16, station 5, a couple of things going on. electrical issues at station 16, we're asking them to finish it up. and station 5, issues in the kitchen we need to redo. we're finishing those up.

we continue to replace the doors and work on the emergency generators. we completed 31. and we have to go re-bid for station 2 because the bid came in too high. we're working on the removal of stations. this is safety issue that due to earthquake safety has to be removed. if you have been to a station, they traditionally have hoses hang and dry after a fire. they were not seismically safe, so we have been working for a few years for that to remove them safely. three trucks as we spoke in last meeting, one is doing the final inspection. we put two more on order. we're hoping to finish that. covid has put delays on that, but we're hoping to get it moving faster. we have a rescue boat that we're going to put out to bid.

six new command vehicles. some are in process of the different aspects of the construction, the lights, the radios and so forth. so we're looking for that. and we have two new ems six vehicles, one is already out there and been outfitted. the other one is coming soon. we have new jet skis for station 16. station 35, the concrete was poured. framing has started. metal stairs arranged. we're still on track for a completion date of march 21. in the report, you saw that there are tariffs imposed by president trump. there has been increase in the budget. that is out of control. the steel came from china. that jumped the cost of the project a little bit. and i know you're going to receive an update on station 49 from chief dewitt and chief tong. i leave it to them. i will share e-mail video that the chief did.

small walk through, through the station, mostly 49, but if you open it, you can see that, too. done a night job on showing everyone what every room is going to look like. so i can share it if you want it, but it's in your e-mail, too. i want to share a really nice event that the members of the department, different stations around general hospital, on may 1st this year. we did first general appreciation day. we went on the shift change to the health care workers and sheriff, p.d. and fire line up. just applaud them for their hard work they've been doing during the pandemic. it was really nice to be there. appreciate their work they do day in day out without concern for their own safety, because they're putting their lives on the line. that was a really nice event to go to. that's all i have for my report. any questions?

>> hello? >> president covington: hello? >> i think you're muted again. >> i just had a question as i'm still learning all of this. you know, i received some of the alerts that i know you received more than i do. and i have been really struck by the number of rescue calls.

is what i'm seeing reflective of the normal calls in a given year? has it gone up that you noticed? is it just that i didn't know much about the fire department's involvement in these calls? cliff rescue, surf rescue. i'm sorry to say bodies in the bay. it just really struck me. and i was wondering if you could give us a little information about that. i'm putting you a bit on the spot. i apologize. >> that's fine. i'm going to my cohort, deputy chief wyrsch on the spot. it's a little bit of what you said, but chief wyrsch? >> hello, commissioners, madame

president, deputy chief victor wyrsch. the type of calls have changed during covid, but as far as the rescues, this is very average. i mean we have a tremendous rescue, cliff rescues, bay rescues. we get a lot and we don't get enough praise on the news because it is such a common occurrence, but this is very normal. >> vice president feinstein: i'm just very stressed. i don't know if my fellow commissioners have been or not, but i'm just surprised at the variety and number. and who responds and how many people and animals, their lives are saved and you don't think of the fire department in that

light, but it -- it's really quite evident. and thank you for that. >> thank you. yeah, sometimes the only other difference would be seasonal. sometimes the winter will be cut back because there are not as many in the ocean and not as many people hiking. but traditionally right now, the numbers we're seeing are the same. >> vice president feinstein: thank you. thank you. >> president covington: any other questions? >> commissioner nakajo: if i could ask some questions? >> president covington: most certainly. >> commissioner nakajo: good to see the rest of the commissioners as well. chief velo, thank you very much for your comprehensive report. i wanted to refer to page 10.

and i know that's the airport division report. >> yes. >> commissioner nakajo: is this adc mark johnson's first report of this time period? >> that's correct. his first report. officially, he's still on chief ali is still on the books until the end of the month, but chief johnson has taken over as of beginning of june, so this is actually his report. i do have a report on training. chief wyrsch has it on the airport, so we get half and half of each report. >> commissioner nakajo: i appreciate that. at some point, if it's appropriate, it would be nice fort commission to be able to see chief johnson in terms of his new roles as airport division. and in that same frame of thought, i wanted to thank chief

ali for all of her services within the department, because under circumstances we're not allowed to see each other and embrace each other for services rendered, so i just wanted to put on the record of our appreciation to chief ali. >> thank you, commissioner. i must say that chief johnson, we have some connection tonight, so he was on the queue, but we couldn't connect. i'll pass the word and to chief ali as well. >> commissioner nakajo: on page 13, again, i always enjoy your comprehensive report with photos and such. i, like you, with the rest of our colleagues, are very happy that the nert team is back in training mode, but i wanted to refer to page 13 because i know there is all this set of dates

where the nert volunteers went to the food bank and served and supported the food bank. and i got it all the way to the 31st, which means one continuing month. we all know the effects of the general public in terms of job losses as well as hardship in terms of even going to the grocery store. so i wanted to definitely acknowledge the nert volunteers in terms of their service through the city by going to the food bank. gratefully acknowledge. >> thank you. >> commissioner nakajo: on to the physicians report. since we've hired dr. brokaw, again, this occasion of having meetings again, as many of us are given an opportunity to remark. but i very much --nd i know the

commission has noticed -- how much positive nature and information those newsletters are and the newsletters that come out in a timely manner. i really like the column which by name has the stats there as well, besides the doctor. i know the name is there with ourself. reminders from taking shots to other remedies. and even at the end of the newsletter there is even examples of something different like a menu, or efforts in terms of wellness. i just wanted to have you convey that to the doctor's office and the doctor how much i appreciate that as well. >> thank you, commissioner, i definitely will. >> commissioner nakajo: i'm glad you recognize and i see that in research and planning, we seem to have a tough time with

captain rob -- last name, how do you pronounce that? >> nueneck er. >> commissioner nakajo: he served for so long and been so recognized, i appreciate very much, chief velo, for you to have that photo and recognition to him. and my last question is on page 34. it's the human resource page. basically, i'm just asking for clarity. there is announcement of reporting the following permanent probationary appointment. it's about h3, talks about h3 emt, talks about h30. in terms of clarity, when you say permanent probationary

appointment, was that appointment effective may 30th, what does that mean? >> so, chief of the department appointed in this case captain silva, but after they finished their probation -- the probation is conditional to medical exams. so once the final probation and medical exam is completed, that is the permanent date of rank. so that's what the date indicates. the emt on the top of the page, there are five we just hired. that's the date they were hired, july 10. they're provisionary members. it's just the time we're able to complete the medical checks and then the probationary medical for those folks. in the case of the new recruits, it's when they would hire them. >> commissioner nakajo: the word of importance is the word permanent, correct? >> yes. >> commissioner nakajo: because otherwise, it's not like a

contradiction of terms in terminology, but probation usually means some extended period of phases of it. so i just wanted to get clarity in terms of this remarks to these members as a permanent position effective such and such date. >> our probationary members are probation. emt number 1s will be on probation until they finish the probation time. the firefighter rank, they have six-month probation they have to complete, too. that's why it's permanent and eventually become permanent. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you for the last clarification. did you say all ranks are affected by the 30-day period of probation? >> six months for most ranks. some of the ranks are different. i can tell chief tong and level 2 ranks that are different, level 1 are a little different, but lieutenant, captain, they

have six months probation time. and then after that, they come back to another medical check and then they become permanent employees on that rank. >> commissioner nakajo: six months is dictated out of where? >> the civil service rules for the practice. >> commissioner nakajo: okay. all right, chief, thank you very much for all those answers to my questions. thank you very much. >> thank you, commissioner. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you, madame president. >> vice president feinstein: thank you, commissioner nakajo. let's see, commissioner cleaveland? did you have questions? or comments? >> commissioner cleaveland: excellent report. comprehensive report. like commissioner nakajo, i appreciate the photographs. i am, too, very impressed by the work during this covid-19 crisis

and appreciate the leadership and the volunteers that are involved. i also think that dr. brokaw is doing a very, very good job. and what we can see on the outside and appreciate the newsletter and the engagement she has immediately got involved with in terms of meeting with and interacting with all of the rank-and-file members of the department. so just wanted to say, chief velo, keep it up. good job and good report. thank you. >> thank you, commissioner. >> president covington: thank you, commissioner cleaveland. commissioner rodriguez? any questions at this time? >> commissioner rodriguez: no questions at this time. very good report. if i had questions, i'm sure it would be have been answered by your report. >> president covington: thank you. let's see. i just wanted to give congratulations to chief ali on

her retirement. she has been a shrining light in the department for some time as has captain nueneker. i wish them the best, relax, have fun with the grandkids. [laughter] and we'll see you at some reunion at some point. so thank you very much for your service. regarding your report, thank you, chief velo, for the report. and vice president feinstein, thank you for your questions. there are so many things that go on within the department that people are unaware of. you know, fires have been down for many, many years because everyone was taught fire safety and we have all kinds of alarms that go off if there is anything in the house, that sort of thing.

but we have, i believe we rescue more people on water these days than we do from fires. and cliff rescue is a big, big thing. no matter how many signs we seem to put up to say, you know, this is dangerous, stay away from the cliff, the dogs get caught, the owners go and get the dogs and they get caught. so it's a very, very busy area for us that people aren't aware of. you know as well other areas. so maybe at some point for the new commissioners we can have someone come in and talk about what is going on, because there has been over the past few years, there has been loss of life with people getting too close or trying to go down too far and then they get stuck. okay.

let's see. nert. my goodness. the portfolio for nert has expanded [laughter] quite a bit. >> yes. >> president covington: and our commission secretary is a nert person. and she has regaled me with stories of going through, you know, the park and telling -- reminding people to wear their masks and door-hanging for testing and all kinds of things. i'm not nearly as active with nert as i should be, but we're both nert certified. so kudos to the captain for really extending at a time of need and going where the need is most. and the food banks have been extremely busy and need so much help because the people who usually volunteer at the food banks are the elderly.

the retired people. so now they have to shelter in place because they're in, you know, a vulnerable group and i don't know why i'm saying they -- we are in a vulnerable group -- [laughter] >> [laughter]. >> president covington: so we have to count on those young nert leaders. kudos to them and thank you to them. okay. did i ask for public comment? >> not yet. >> president covington: is there any public comment on chief velo's report? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. seeing none, public comment is closed. >> item 7. update on the progress of the new ambulance deployment facility and current developments and updates at station 49. assistant deputy chief dawn dewitt will report on the progress of the new ambulance deployment facility and assistant chief sandra tong will

report on current developments and updates at station 49. >> president covington: very good. thank you. who is up first? >> i am. good evening. good evening, president covington, vice president feinstein, chiefs, commissioners. all right, let's see if i can figure out how to share my screen. i'm not seeing any options here. >> did you pass her the ball? >> i sure did. >> so, dawn, next to the camera icon, the little arrow in the box, share content. >> i see it, but it's not showing my screen. i have the google chrome. i'm not able to select anything.

>> i have a backup plan. i can share the screen i have for presentation and chief dewitt can speak over it. >> can she speak then? >> yeah, she can speak. >> you just have control -- i >> i think i just got it. there it is. there we go. i'm slow, but i'll get there eventually. >> president covington: as will we all [laughter]. >> bear with me. oh, dear. it's not going to get the full screen, though. this was the one thing i wasn't able to practice before we started. >> president covington: madame secretary, is there somebody on the technical end? >> if you stop sharing that screen and then you go ahead and select the window that is the entire screen, you'll have to unshare and then share again to be able to share the entire screen. so you should be able to have a

selection of windows that appear at the bottom of your screen when you click the share button. unclick the screen. hit the share content button. >> there we go. okay. sorry. you'd think i did no computer ever. >> president covington: it's okay, we're just waiting. it's not a problem. >> okay, we're almost there. >> president covington: see. >> how do i start my slide show? not able to click on the screen i'm sharing. >> it looks like it's still loading. >> president covington: there.

this evening, i was giving you update on the san francisco ambulance deployment facility. the construction update as of june 2020. i will be giving you a short background of the project and then a very high level review of the budget as well as a look at the schedule from beginning to end. and then i'll just take you on a photo walk through and once i finish, you'll get the ems division update from chief tong. this project rose out of the 2016 public health and safety bonds with the budget of $48,600,000. and the goal was to seismically safe replace the station 49. some may wonder why we're building a new building in the first place. the reason is that ambulances were not originally part of the

fire department and so there were no separate facilities for the ambulances or for their members. when ems merged with the san francisco fire department in 1997, the ambulances and their staff were originally moved into the firehouses and they were deployed from the firehouse. after years of assessments, the ems division realized that wasn't working particularly well, so they reorganized in 2006 and brought the ambulances back to one central locality where they could deploy them more dynamically and stage them throughout the city where they were needed. when they moved out of the firehouses, we had nowhere to put them, so we put them in the san francisco fire department warehouse where they were co-located with the logistics team and they were pretty much crowded from the beginning. and now that they've grown, they have outgrown the place and they needed their own facility. so back in 2016, it was decided we would build them a new

building. that's how we got to where we are now. for the budget, like i said, a slight overview. the initial budget as $48,600,000 and then financing costs was taken out of the budget of $719,000. in 2019, the board of supervisors further reduced our budget by another $137,000. leaving us with operating budget of 47,million and change. the project is 100% on budget which is good news and we have 20% of the budget left to go. and considering that we're in the final stretch of construction, we're in really good shape to stay on budget for the remainder of the project assuming that covid doesn't resurge and cause any unforeseeable delays in the future. here's a picture of the schedule. it was a four-year project. it started in 2016.

constructi construction began in october 2018. and we're all the way over the right-hand side of the screen, the end of the yellow bar. we're in the homestretch of this. we were on budget, on time up until last month when the construction company gave us notice that they were projecting a 75-day delay for various reasons. after several meetings with them and d.p.w., they were now able to project it back to 55-57 days. if you notice the chart, right-hand side of the screen, we have the move-in date, it's supposed to be november. but our project manager of d.p.w. put in a month cushion in the move-in date, so even with delay of 55-57 days, we should be able to get into the ambulance facility at the same

time as we had originally suggested. as you can see from the screen, the substantial completion was suggested to be just around the corner in july 2020. and now we have a revised completion date of october 26, and likewise, the financial -- final completion date was supposed to have been september 28 and that has been moved to november. so it's not too much later and since we're still on budget and we're still moving fast, we're hoping to even reduce the delays even further. now i'm going to give you a little walk-through of the facility. i'll start with the exterior of the building. this is depiction of the artist rendering of the exterior. the slide on the left, the picture on the left is the front of the building from gerald street. you can see in the foreground we have a fueling station where the ambulances and automobiles can fuel up. we have both diesel and regular

gasoline. the building is in the background. on the right hand picture, you can see the back of the building. there is a two-story parking garage for staff parking and command vehicles to be parked back there. and here's a look at the building as construction began in september of 2019 when i first joined the support services. left-hand side, went together seamlessly. it was a beautiful project to watch the steel coming together. it fit like a glove. it went smoothly, quickly. everything fits great. it was very improjeipressive pr. on the right hand picture, you can see the signage on the building, most of the glass is in place. it's a little difficult to see, in the center of the photograph, there is a glass overhang at the

face of the building that enables the ambulances to pull up alongside the building and restock their ambulances under shelter and cover of glass awning. moving inside the -- nope, still in the yard. here's the picture the yard. we have the fuel tanks going in on the left-hand side of the building. in the right picture, it's a view from the roof to the yard. it's not a very good picture. it's a screen shot of a video walk-through we did this week, but the fueling station is there, protected also by a canopy so that members can fill up their ambulances and vehicles under the shelter of the canopy. here's pictures of the parking structure being constructed on the left-hand side. the stairs are going in place and they're putting the railings on. in the right-hand side is a impressive picture of all the concrete, the people putting the finishing touches on the second floor of the decking structure. now we're inside the warehouse,

the four-story building. the first comprised of warehouse. on the left side, you can see the warehouse and view of the second floor catwalk. from the catwalk, you can see down into the entire warehouse space, which gives anyone, the supervisors a view of anything going on in the warehouse. in the right picture, we're on the first floor. you can see the windows that look into the office. the r.c. is the office where all of the ambulance staff check in every morning when they get their assignments. directly above from the office, you can see the window, that is ems 1's office. chief tong will be up there. she has clear supervision of the warehouse space beneath her. adjacent to her office is ems 2 office, and that exits on the catwalk and will have a good view of what is going on in the warehouse space. more of the first floor.

the left hand picture is inside the office. the r.c. office not only has a view into the warehouse, but into the yard. they have supervision of the ambulance crews outside. in the center is all of the electrical cabinets going. we don't have power yet, the water will come last, but the infrastructure is in place. one bathroom, you can see the tile on the place, and the floors done and covered. and all of the tiling work is complete throughout the entire building. this is a view from the second floor. the left picture is from chief tong's office. she looks directly down into the warehouse space. she also has a view down into the yard so she can see the ambulances stage and the people out there getting ready for work. the second picture on the right-hand side is another view down into the r.c. office. you can see now the face of the doors on the r.c. office and all the other doors in the entire

building are in place as well. on the second floor, alongside the ems 2 office and within view of the ems 1 offices are biomedical or controlled substances room. chief tong will have a direct view into the comings and goes into that office. and on the floor is where crews will prepare the gurneys and then there is a eyewashing station. the third floor, is where the paramedics, ems, will have their break rooms, gym, lactation room, breakroom and restroom. the picture on the left-hand side is the breakroom for the kitchen area. there is a nice window. it's a pretty big space. the picture on the right side shows the same room but looking for the windows back into the

kitchen space. you can see now that they've put up the sheet rock on the roof system. all the duct work is in place and the painting has begun so everything has been primed. we're still on the third floor walking down the corridor outside of the break room and down the other side of the building. you can see the three windows with the blue tape marks. that is the gym. it's a decent sized gym with great windows looking outside. on the right hand picture, you can see a view of the interior locker room which has not yet been supplied with lockers yet. but that room is really nice in that the lockers will form dividers from one side to the next and we have the ability to shrink locker space depending on the balance between male and female employees. we'll be able to expand one space and condense another. you can see the painting.

all of the duct system in the hallways have been primed. and those blue cables hanging from the ceiling are the i.t. cables putting all of the data infrastructure in place. up to the fourth floor, the last floor. on the left is the main conference room. the best view of the facility and the outside. it's a really beautiful room. and then the right picture is a view from outside the conference room looking into the open office space and the remainder of the staff office is on the left. you can't see ems 6 office. they are behind the wall on the back side of the screen. but we're considering opening up that space to give them a better view of the office and better communication with that space. for the final slide, i thought i'd give you a picture of the entrance gate. envisioned by our artist. that gate has a field fence that

will be installed on the jairld street side. you can see the old carriage, ambulance on the left side. eye droppers, gurneys. and their logo on the front. and then as you're leaving the station, exit on mackinnon, there is that back section. that's all i have for my update. are there any questions? i think everyone is on mute. >> president covington: thank you for that. that's a wonderful report. commissioners?

vice president feinstein? >> vice president feinstein: great. >> before you begin, is there any public comment? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. all right. >> vice president feinstein: my question was just to educate myself. what is the biomedical control substance room? >> chief tong, do you want to answer that question? >> sure. good evening. in you shall flush -- it's the

durable stuff, the monitors. those machines that help people breathe better. those are the harder pieces of equipment that aren't disposable. >> vice president feinstein: what about the controlled substance reference? >> yes, that's the narcotics. is that down stairs? did i misspeak? >> no, i think it's on the second floor. >> vice president feinstein: i thought it was on the first floor. it doesn't really matter, i just wanted to know what it was. thank you. >> president covington: any other questions. okay. commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, madame president. thank you, chief dewitt for the very excellent report on the progress. i'm just delighted to hear that the project is going to come in more or less on time and certainly impressed that it's

coming in at this point under budget. that's pretty unusual. so kudos to everyone involved. you guys are kicking it to make that happen. i had a question regarding the measures that you're taking to make the facility secure. can you talk a little bit about what you're trying to do or what you are doing to make the facility secure? >> sure. the fence outside the decorative fence that you saw, that i put in at the end, that originally was slated to be 8-foot fence and they increased that to 10-foot and that will wrap the perimeter, not the decoration, but it will be 10 feet throughout. and then the facility itself will be controlled by the same system at headquarters, so someone will have to present an i.d. card to get into the building from the parking lot or from within a stairwell. the main rollup doors will be opened but there will be staff

on site at all times. and then areas such as the controlled substance room, the narcotics room, that has only certain people have privileges to go into those rooms. and then certain, like the staffing offices, that area is restricted to only members with specific key card access. so that's what we're doing to keep the whole building secure. >> commissioner cleaveland: will there be any video more monitoring of the site, inside or outside, around the perimeter? >> there will be exterior cameras only. we don't do surveillance inside, but we have a front gate camera. the only entrance is the jerrold street side. they have to ring a doorbell and they'll be able to ring people in and that includes trucks that come in to deliver supplies or pedestrians. there is a pedestrian gate and a vehicular service gate. there will be cameras on site

outside in the yard that the chief will have access to and the r.c.s to see what is going on. >> commissioner cleaveland: i'd also like to congratulate you on art. i know there was controversy on the original design. what you have presented tonight is great. it's really -- and it's noncontroversial and will be a great asset to the station, thank you. >> thank you, we think it's beautiful. i love it. >> commissioner cleaveland: agreed. thank you very much. >> commissioner nakajo: madame president? may i ask questions at this point? >> president covington: yes, commissioner nakajo. >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madame president. thank you very much for your presentation, chief dewitt. i just wanted to comment that it went really smoothly.

felt like you had it pretty well together, very well organized. and your sequence and your descriptions were very, very good as well as you have a nice narrative voice. >> thank you. i practiced. [laughter] >> commissioner nakajo: it's evident. the last time i was there was with yourself and i believe some of the commissioners as well as the president when it was all steel rig, in terms of the frame. at that time, when you go in stages and you go through a site and it's ground, the next time you see the still frame because of circumstances we haven't been there since the slide, i wanted to remark on how well the slides came out and came across in your sequence of it as well.

it's just like driving up from a perspective of the public, but also from a perspective of the paramedic. and i wanted to share it with our fellow commissioners in terms of commissioner rodriguez and vice president feinstein, is that the terminology that was used, this was a brand new building that was designated in plans in terms of architecture and design for that very station 49 and paramedics and emts. with age and time, i was here when the department inherited the ambulance services. that's where we use the term. later on it became emerge. as we inherited this ambulance service and their personnel, at that time i don't remember very much budget associated with

that. we have gone through several levels of training as well as growing pains in our endeavor to treat those members, all the way from hours of services to finding a house. and station 49 respectfully, i have been around long enough where that is a uniform shop or warehouse. it wasn't that conducive facility that was supposed to be for men and women with lockers. so i wanted to acknowledge the great service that the department has made over the years. the new facility, it's beautiful. and it's beautiful from the perspective that drivers can drive up the ramp, go to a section, refill their equipment, and as you described, dine-in, the social hall. the meeting rooms. chief tong's office as well. the lighting.

and the visual, it's just really beautiful. and, again, part of this is, it's amazing in five years, something can be built that was also with the commission as part of the beautiful phenomenon that new construction with station 16, 5, 35 now with the boat -- i can't remember the station number of the new fire station with the new police headquarters down on 3rd street. i felt like saying station 4. >> that's it. >> yep. >> commissioner nakajo: but since that time, we were able to sign our names and my name is on that station 49. again i thanked the mayor for reappointment because i'll be able to see that station open up. but it is very exciting to be able to see the progress and coming in at cost with the functionality of the services of

chief tong and such. that will be a great morale booster if you will. sorry i took so long in the description of it, but that's how excited i am in terms of how much accomplishment we've made. great job, chief dewitt. and to the men and women of the department and to the contract team that put that together. by no means are we done, but nothing but excitement ahead of time. thank you. >> president covington: commissioner rodriguez, did you want to say something? >> commissioner rodriguez: i mean, it's all been said. you know, when you have something come in on budget, on time and look as nice as it is, obviously it's a result of everybody being happy. i really -- it's good that

commissioner nakajo shared what he said. because it's been such a long history of why things happen. if you're not around, you really don't know until somebody explains it to you. so the i guess the end result is long overdue, but it was due and i look forward to being part of it. thank you. >> president covington: thank you. well, i think it's absolutely gorgeous. and i, you know, chief tong, your office is like an eagle's nest. i just love that you are able to see everything going on around of any import on the property, which is very, very good. our members on the medical side are so deserving of this lovely building because they have been cheek by jowl. they have been sardines in this

can and now they'll have a new space, ample space, and also enough room to actually congregate. and there are classrooms in that building as well. so it's very, very good to see the progress. especially given the fact that construction was shut down for a while all across the city. so for them to be able to catch up a little bit is very, very good. so i am heartened tremendously to see the progress. and i am so glad for the members for this. and to the new commissioners, i suggest that you -- you know, if you get a chance, you know, health and time permitting, that you go and look at the current facility so that you can see

what an unbelievable upgrade this is [laughter]. >> absolutely. >> president covington: night and day [laughter]. all right. and i think that we're in very, very good shape. you know, the bond issues and all of that has helped us tremendously in getting this facility. i see that it says 49, but all of the paperwork still says deployment. >> that's because we have a 49 currently active, we have to hold off on the name change until they've moved in. >> president covington: okay. all right. very good. it really does need to carry on the tradition of 49 on the ems and paramedic side. so, i think that was all i had. just lots and lots of

compliments. oh, i did have one question from way, way back. a lot of the renderings of the gate, which i agree is beautiful -- the gates are beautiful -- there was in the renderings, there was razor wire above the fencing. is razor wiring still going to be used? >> no, that was the change from the 8-foot fence with razor wire to 10-foot fence with no razor wire. i think it's a really good change. >> yes, that is an excellent change. as you may remember, i was not fond of the razor wire [laughter]. >> no, ruins the fence. >> president covington: it did, it did. and right now, the facility will be the only thing there, but with housing going in everywhere, eventually there will be neighbors i would assume. so -- >> we've got the art academy on

one side. i don't think they're going anywhere and we have old big buildings. we're sandwiched between other structures, who knows what the fate will be. >> president covington: right. the new neighbors, at least they won't be looking at razor wire and the department won't be looking at razor wire. i think it sends a negative message. so it's much more welcoming without that. all right. very, very good. thank you for your report. chief tong, you're up next. >> yes, i am. and chief dewitt is going to help me with the changing of the slides. >> president covington: okay. >> i think we're seeing my face, though, sandy. >> no, i see a picture. 49. so, thank you, chief dewitt. that was a great representation. if you go back to the one picture with the ambulance and

the backdrop, that one -- so one of the things that we will be getting for the new station is the art commission is helping us frame a number of large photos that we'll be able to put up for people to see. we've also asked for members of station 49 to bring in and share some photos that they've done. this is one of our members who took a picture. we have other ones that are beautiful and fantastic. these are going to be mounted on a 30 by 40 aluminum mount. some of these have rich and vibrant colors and they'll be shining through. we have a process we're trying to identify and then choose what these art pieces are going to look like. this is one of the examples from one of our members. so we're quite excited. by the way, i know chief nicholson is like, say your name. sorry. assistant deputy chief sandy

tong of ems. okay, next slide. i've been focussing on the last few months of since we've been in covid just to give you a brief overview of what has been happening since then. also, just being able to kind of really identify all of the things we've had to do during this time. and then at a later date, if you want me to go more deep in terms of what we're doing, i can certainly do that. so, in this brief slide show -- or in this go over what has been going on with our response to the crisis. give you a little bit of background in terms of our call volume. ems 6 has had a huge role in addressing a number of issues that have been happening during the last few months. just a few other things we've

been doing since that -- that are non-covid. so when we were first identified that we were going to be responding to these types of calls, we had really no ideas in terms of what we were dealing with and how we were going to be responding, how it was going to affect us, what our risk was. i have to say for our 49ers they rose to the occasion. at least in administrative point of view, we had to figure out what is going on with the virus? what is the possible disease that is going to come out of it? how are we supposed to address the things that need to happen on the calls? there is a lot of unknowns as you all know, we had to do a lot of digging. as information became available through the cdc or other sources, we were trying to

identify, what it is, how can we protect ourselves? we were creating documents to share. we had to figure out the proper p.p.e., personal protective equipment. do we wear masks, gloves? what do we have to wear in terms of protecting ourselves when we're exposed to folks? we were trying to figure that out as well. we were bombarding all of the members of the department, what do we know? how do we address this? so there are regular updates that we were posting and sharing in every way that we can. and so it was a lot of focus on just trying to best provide the information that our crews needed to be safe. we also wanted to prepare for a surge in terms of our staffing. there was definitely a lot of concerns that without understanding what this virus and this disease was, that we would not be able to maintain the staffing necessary in order to address an increase in call

volume. so we were trying to figure out all of the different things we could do to prepare for that. part of the other issue that we wanted to address was because there was so much unknown and because we knew that there was going to be people who are going to be exposed to a lot of people and we wanted to make sure we were able to document when they were meeting up with folks that might be covid positive, or even if they were, you know, under investigation. so we wanted to make sure we had a dedicated personnel, which ended up being rc5, which is a reassignment of some of our paramedic captains to work 24-7 to be able to respond to scenes, to make sure people are wearing p.p.e., and to be able to check in with all the medics and ambulances as well as the firefighters in terms of what was happening. and then we also created a covid advice line. that one was just an opportunity for people to call with just

general questions that they might have about what is happening. anything that was covid-related. any concerns they had, if they possibly got exposed. so that was another creation that we realized had to be addressed. and then i did not finish that sentence, but identifying and planning just for future in terms of how we're going to carry on in terms of the longer term. okay. something is missing. next slide? okay, so, i see that this -- i'm missing a bunch of slides that aren't complete here. flush -- so the next one is the

ems response. station 49 operations. i wonder if this is a potentially older version of the slide show. >> president covington: feel free to give us the information without. >> i was going to say, i can just talk. you can just stay there. i'll send you all a link to the presentation. i just wanted to really commend the members of station 49. they really -- i think when we talk about heroics, one of the things that is clearly a way that we can define that is people who go into situations that are completely unknown and

without regard for themselves and deal with what needs to happen. and that is really what happened with our members of station 49. they did not know what they were walking into, but they went in and dealt with the patients and dealt with patients with a lot of grace, with a lot of concern, with a lot of compassion, because if you were sick, you didn't know what was going on. so they had to step up and they did that. the other thing that was really positive for us, they came to work. so we had really good staffing levels. we were able to get people working overtime. we always had the sufficient number of people coming to work. they kept themselves safe. they wear their p.p.e. they took care of themselves. they were cautious, but they were also out there. one of the other things that we really tried to focus on, too, and much more recently is to try and acquire the safety equipment that is necessary to help protect them. and the two things that we're

working on and where there is a significant exposure is during cardiac arrest. and so we have, as chief velo mentioned, the cpr device which is a device we put on a patient who is in cardiac arrest and it provides compressions, cardiac compressions without us having to be bent over a patient. we also have potentially intubated or -- it allows them to maintain a safe distance from the patient while still providing them with life-saving measures. and then the other thing we're obtaining are the video. it's another way to put a tube down the person's tracheaia to help them breathe, but because it has a video, it allows us not to be right in their face to int interbait them. the -- intubate them. one of the upsides for us is that it created an opportunity for us to figure out how to meet

together and how to share information. so being able to do so with the digital technology has allowed us to communicate more regularly than we actually ever have before. we have daily video -- well, i guess they're team meetings, virtual meetings we have with all of the officers in the field and all of the section chiefs. so we're able to share a lot of information. so that's a positive for us during this pandemic. the next shot that i would show you is a sample of the response flow chart that we developed in order to show people, you know, as soon as you get dispatched, this is what you do. if you come across somebody who is exhibiting symptoms of covid, this is what you do. our initial attempts, they've changed significantly from what we had first. when we first started dealing with the calls, we had to rely on some of the information that our dispatch got and then if

they were able to be provided information that they believed they might be walking into somebody who was covid positive, they would put on all of their p.p.e. if you recall, you know, it was really difficult to get a lot of personal protective equipment. getting the n95 masks that were critical, gowns and goggles. those were in short supply when this first happened. we had to conserve and provide enough so they would have it if they needed it. we needed to isolate, what calls do we put on the equipment and what do we reserve for the next call? at some point we realized that everybody needed to be assumed to be positive, a covid patient. so by then we were able to maintain and acquire equipment

so that we could wear them for every call. then the next slide would have been just a little bit of information regarding our call volume. so unlike other places like new york and other places, our call volume actually went down. in total, it went down. i was provided with data. it probably went down for the last three months starting in march until now. between 10-20%. so that's a huge amount when you think about, you know, we were initially doing in the high 300, sometimes 400 depending on the weather and we were down to 300, 320, sometimes even less. so that was significant. we had a slight decrease in response times. i would attribute that one to significant staffing. so we didn't have medic follow-up types of calls and the traffic in the city was almost

nonexistent, so we could get to places a lot faster. the next slide. how long our calls were lasting? interestingly, the duration of our calls decreased, but as you might expect the time that we were at a hospital increased just a little bit. that was likely due to trying to the ambulance making sure the paperwork was done correctly, but in general, the duration of the calls actually decreased. so i don't know if it's just because transport times are a little faster so we saved time there. as i mentioned, our level zeros were rare. probably overall in the past few months, we've had level 0 a handful of times. so that's a relief for some of our members. not only were they dealing with the stresses of responding on these calls, but then you're also having to deal with, you know, hurrying up and finishing

a call and going to the next one. it really did help the members that the call volume went down some and that we had sufficient staffing. okay. then this slide would have said. this is for ems 6. ems 6 really stepped up to the plate. there were so many situations, especially with the population that they already serve, that they were able to come in and be able to assist. whatever was needed at that time. so they have been staffing 24-7. they've been co-staffing with d.p.h., the sobering center managed alcohol program. that is some of the members -- some of the patients that we have gotten that have chronic alcohol issues and they need to be in a monitored site. so our ems 6 captains have been staffing that 24-7.

we've also worked with street medicine to do covid screening and field testing. so our members have been trained to do the nasal swabs. they assisted d.p.h. in locating covid persons that they needed to put into isolation. so there are a number of homeless people out there that d.p.h. was looking for. they were able to identify them, find them and do a warm handoff to wherever they needed to go. we helped with the tenderloin testing site when they were trying to do mass testing. they served as safety officers. we created roles for them in case there was a surge, that they would be able to respond and take care of the lower acuity covid patients, in conjunction with one of the partners in d.p.h. would potentially be able to help them not end up having to be

transported. the next slide. okay. this looks right. so during this time, we had an h.a. academy. that is the per diem members. we were able to, i think complete 18 people. so these are folks that have other jobs but that are able to fill in and assist us with staffing. this was particularly important we got that done early in case there was a surge. and if a number of our members got sick, we had another backup full of people that we could put on ambulances. and then we had currently right now we have our level one, the emt academy. that began on the 1st, which will be as chief velo mentioned, graduating on the 10th. there is five of them. they'll be emts on our ambulance. another class is starting this.

the ems advancement academy. that is the other name we used to use a bump-up academy. those are emts who want to be fire paramedic or working an level 2 of the ambulance. next picture. i'm so bummed. i have pictures. >> chief tong, i think chief velo has a better copy of this. >> you know, we're almost done. so just finish and i'll send it over to you all. during right in the midst of covid, we celebrated ems week. that was may 17-22. we had a lot of food donated for all the members. they were well fed and very happy. at the end of the week, we had a barbecue and ceremony at station 49 with a visit from mayor breed. that was quite special. we were able to honor a number of our 49ers.

normally, the ems, they have events and since covid we couldn't do so, we had our own and we were able to have members vote for, you know, the coworker of the year, their paramedic of the year, the kindness award, community service. those are really nice events. and then i don't know if there is another slide. and then finally, during covid in march we -- the city of san francisco, celebrated 125 years of continuous municipal emergency ambulance service in the city. and that was, you know, something that has gone a little bit under the radar, however, i think i sent you a link to the slide show that captain smith did. i was reading a couple of things and there is a link in the slide show that -- in the presentation i'll give to you. but there was an article that i looked at. in it, it identified that in

1932 the average calls was five calls day that ambulances went on. and then in 1978, it was 150 calls. and now in 2020, we're up to 350, 400 calls. so we've significantly grown. and you know, happily, we're able to do so and continue to do so and hopefully, we'll be able to do so for the next 125 years. and then the last slide would have showed you a bunch of ambulances that came from the horse and buggy era to what we have now. oh, this one. >> my computer was frozen. >> that's okay. on the left is the -- oh. on the left are the awarding. in the middle is the ad hoc ceremony in station 49 in the ambulance bay. on the right, you see chief nicholson with the mayor. and maybe there is a picture of ambulances on the next?

>> nope. >> okay, that ends my report, thank you. >> president covington: thank you very much, chief tong. it was very good. i think you filled in m marvelously. i could tell what you were talking about. >> excuse me, i'm going to move -- i have to move myself because i'm running out of battery. get myself plugged in here. >> president covington: in the meantime, commissioners, questions? okay. let's see, commissioner rodriguez? >> commissioner rodriguez: hopefully, i can say, you know, without leaving anything out. i just want to congratulate you. i've been really impressed on the job that you've done and the job that you continue to do. you know, in the very beginning

of all this, the public and myself included just did shelter in place. and we just stayed home and were safe. i have two daughters that are nurses, you know. i think the stress they were going through all the time. but you took, like you said, you had to develop a program to respond to something and nobody knew anything about. and you -- you've done a great job. and i just want to congratulate you on the job that you've done. and what you continue to do. you know, we've seen it in other parts of the world. you know, it can be utter chaos and so many lives can be lost. and needlessly. and what you did really -- it just really amazing. i get choked up thinking about how things could have been, but how you handled it. so congratulations again. i'm very impressed. >> thank you. i think -- well obviously, it's

a complete organizational accomplishment. we had so much support from everybody, our command staff, from the doctors' office, from the people who were doing the work. we were really fortunate and i think san francisco is lucky that we closed down first and soon. i think that saved a lot of people, but i think we also worked really well together to figure out what is it that we have to do in order to make sure we stay safe and still provide the right service? so thank you. >> vice president feinstein: >> president covington: great, thank you. vice president feinstein? i don't see her. okay. >> vice president feinstein: i do. i just wanted to echo what commissioner rodriguez said. i can't say it better. and really want to thank chief tong and all the folks that she

works with for being out there when we didn't want to and were afraid to. and the difference, i think, that the efforts of the department personnel has made in terms of keeping us in a place where a lot of cities would love to be. just as incredibly -- it shows incredible foresight and really we owe her and her team a lot of thanks. really a lot of thanks as a city and county. >> thank you. >> president covington: thank you, vice president feinstein. commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: thank you, madame president. i also would like to congratulate you on a job well

done. you've had amazing responsibility and you and chief dewitt are leaders and have put together a program that addressed a critical issue here. none of us saw it coming. the proof is in the pudding. we had one paramedic -- pardon me if i'm wrong -- one paramedic contract covid-19 and that speaks volumes right there about how you managed the program and managed a response to this epidemic. i had a question. there was some controversy years ago in establishing the per diem program. it looks to be an asset to the department. certainly to the ems division. can you elaborate and tell me how valuable or what you think about the ems program? >> yeah, i think that the

program can definitely be -- i think it can definitely be a great fail safe for us if we can get enough people trained. we're trying to -- one of the things that might have been a failure in the past, was trying to ensure that we got work that they signed up for shifts. so we've created a somewhat complicated, but effective point system, where we're going to be tracking the amount of availability and amount of shifts that each ha would actually be working. and so that way, then, we can assure we're not wasting resources by training them and then having them at work, but also have them take some responsibility by either working, you know, holidays, working when we have a heatwave. so some of those things we're trying to make sure they do

their job. >> commissioner cleaveland: you mentioned that there is an academy for h8. i wondered what is involved in the academy? what do h8 per diem folks learn in academy? >> they go through our policies and protocols for the city and then they review a lot -- some of the more operational administrative things that we require of them from the fire department. most of them are all experienced paramedics, so that portion of it, we don't really have to do that much in a didactic and classroom setting. the h8 academy is actually only two in-class days and there are rideouts we do. it's a quick program in terms of training. >> you say the majority of the h8 paramedics want to become full-time san francisco fire department employees? >> i don't know that most do. i think there are definitely a number that would be love to be

an employee here, but others already have full-time jobs they're happy with, so they're just looking for a way to get extra money and expand their experience. >> commissioner cleaveland: in terms of the number of patients picked up that exhibited covid-19 or said they were positive or what not, do you have any idea what percentage of the number of pickups this past month, or the past two months, have been so-called covid-related, or suspected of covid-19-related? >> so that is a little bit hard to tell. the doctors office would have a better idea because they're the ones that do notifications of members that have been exposed to a patient that tested positive. they get that information from d.p.h. and they directly contact our members to let them know. i thought i had heard something about under 200 were identified

since we started of patients that have been tested and communicated to us. don't quote me on that. >> commissioner cleaveland: that's actually good news if that's true, or anywhere close. that's a small number compared to what you pick up every day. thank you very much for your report. >> thank you. >> commissioner cleaveland: good work. >> president covington: thank you. commissioner nakajo? >> commissioner nakajo: thank you very much, madame president. thank you, chief tong. it was a great sequence in terms of chief dewitt talking about the new station 49 and the remarks that came about the men and women who worked there, because the building facility is a facility. but the content of the facility is the men and women who are emts and paramedics in your division. i remember the day that you were one of those early public health ambulance employees that came --

>> let's not age ourselves! >> commissioner nakajo: we're just talking about that past experience that came as a paramedic for the public of health and today is division chief of ems. that's a great accomplishment. there is a lot of history behind that. so you know exactly what you're talking about. and you know exactly the growing pains in terms of the department inheriting the ambulance service. your description and all the things that the men and women have done are pretty descriptive, but also important. often times in terms of suppression or prevention, through the description of the chief becomes the visual. for me, in terms of all the work that has to be done. and in terms of the last four months since march 17th, as commissioner rodriguez made

reference, i, myself, have been sheltered in place, which is safe. the ambulance and the hospitals and the frontline workers, during all of this time, i think about our men and women, paramedics, emts, forever firefighters that have to go out there on a daily basis. you talk so easily about the equipment we didn't have that talks about the management and the ability of the men and women in terms of the performance of that. it's amazing because we're in the heart of it right now to me still. i feel that phase one, if you want to call it, or a surge -- i don't know when the resurge is coming, but it doesn't feel like we're done or close to that, which also leads me to concepts

and requests because here we are in the fire department that you and the membership are doing exactly what we need to be done. which is addressing members of this city that need that help. and in my mind, the homeless, the tents, all of the kinds of legislative lobbying and program and services that we still have to be able to do. and we're part of that. i really appreciate the description and all the work that the men and women have done within this department. and still have to be done as well. thank you very much. for your dedication and your presentation. thank you, madame president. >> president covington: thank you, commissioner nakajo. i have three quick questions about first -- but first i want to mention to our new commissioners, and correct me if i'm wrong if i am wrong, chief tong, but you had already

retired -- >> true. >> president covington: she had a short retirement and then she was recruited and wooed back by the chief of the department, nicholson, to have her current position. so we're very, very lucky that chief nicholson prevailed and that chief tong had to stop planting the petunia and having brunch with her friends and come back to the department. so welcome back again [laughter]. >> thank you, it's definitely an honor. thank you. >> president covington: now, i wanted to know, were there any department nationally that you could turn to for best practices? and if so, what were those best practices that are now being employed? >> you know, we didn't. and we couldn't. i think for everybody it was something new.

and if we could have been lucky, there would have been some additional planning that a lot of people would have done for a pandemic. there was definitely some documentation that has been available, but in general, this was everybody just flying by the seat of their pants trying to figure it out. >> president covington: i'm sure you're getting a lot of calls regarding best practices, so maybe you put together a manual for other folks. i also wanted to know about the covid advice line. can you talk a little more about that? >> so, the advice line was staffed by a member from training during the day and then answered also by rc5 when people called any time of the day. they could call and say, you know, i have this situation, i want to know what i need to do about it. i had this interaction with a patient and i was not wearing my mask, what do i do? i am afraid that the call i was

on, that the person was positive and i don't know, who should i talk to, what information can i get, how can i get follow-up? those were the initial concerns that people had. and then we sort of levelled off some now in terms of the kinds of calls that come in. they now can also field any reports that need to be done for exposures. and the exposures report that we do is just so we can make sure that if the patient they just had tests positive, that we have documentation that is easily found that they had exposure to this particular patient. the advice line was just really an opportunity to share information and to alleviate some of the people's fears about what they were dealing with. >> president covington: is it still operative? >> yes, it's still during the day. >> president covington: i think that makes a tremendous difference to people who are, you know, the avant garde of a

new way of doing things, especially in a health crisis situation that you have knowledgeable people at the end of the phone day and night. because we are a 24-hour operation. and you don't have to, you know, worry for eight hours until the opening of business before you can get an answer about things. that's very, very reassuring to people to be able to have access to that kind of information and feedback immediately. so that was a very, very good idea. and let's see. my last question, i think, was -- oh, very simple one. how are you taking temperatures now of people who have called? >> so for patients? >> president covington: yes. >> we do have hand held

thermometers, infrared, the same ones that we used for ourselves in the station to make sure we do our health monitoring. >> president covington: and we have enough of them? i'm sure they're probably in great demand now. >> we always have carried thermometers, but those were the kind that you ran across a person's forehead. we've ordered a large number of decent infrared thermometers early on in the process. so we had those, too. >> president covington: well, very good. and again, thank you to everyone on the medical side, the medical team for the s.f. fire department, you're doing a fabulous job. thank you. madame secretary? next item. >> so we did call public comment on chief dewitt's. >> president covington: is there any member of the public that

would like to comment on chief tong's presentation. >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: thank you. seeing no public comment, public comment is closed. item 8, commission report. report on commission activities since last meeting on june 10, 2020. >> president covington: thank you. what have you been up to, commissioners? anything you would like to share. all right, you've been sheltering in place [laughter]. as have i. so haven't been getting out and about. so i have nothing to report. okay. next item. >> public comment on that item. >> president covington: oh, my goodness. it would be horrible if someone said, the commissioners aren't doing anything, they aren't getting out. okay, is there any members of the public that would like to comment? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: therefore i will close public

comment. >> item 9, agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> president covington: fellow, commissioners, any suggestion for upcoming meetings? >> we do have lieutenant baxter. he's asked if he can give his update on july 8. >> president covington: yes, by all means put him down, please. well i think that because of the very, very critical role that the members of the fire boat and the fire boat had just about three weeks ago now, i think it would be a good idea for members of the public to know more about our fire boats. you know, how many we have and how they operate. and that sort of thing.

so that they know it's not just, you know, water displays at the opening of the giants games every year [laughter]. so, please add that. >> okay. >> president covington: is there anything else that people want to add at this time? >> yes, madame president. >> president covington: commissioner cleaveland? >> >> commissioner cleaveland: we talked about station 13 earlier today and i think it would be good to put that on the agenda at the appropriate time to give all of us an update on what we envision as our new station 13 along with any housing. so any kind of overview, if you will, of the project, architectural renderingrenderin kind of thing. >> president covington: it would be great to have an update on

that. we have seen schematics early on, but it would be nice to flf the new commission. something else? >> commissioner cleaveland: the other thing is to have updates from the employee groups. we've had those in the past, but it's been quite some time since we've had in i of -- any of the fire department employment come and give a presentation about what they're doing as a group. give us an idea of how we can interact or assist them. >> president covington: very good. anything else, commissioner cleaveland? >> commissioner cleaveland: i think that's it for the time being. thank you very much. >> president covington: so we have a number of things that we can put on future agendas. and as time goes on, commissioners, if anything comes to mind, then please just give me a call.

all right. thank you, all, very much for participating. i think that everything went quite well considering the number of people who are participating in the meeting and that we are still new at this. thank you, all, for your patience and your ingenuity. >> we just need to call public comment on item 9? >> president covington: any public comment on item 9? >> there is no public comment. >> president covington: okay, thank you. so no members of the public have suggestions for future commission meetings. so public comment is closed. and -- >> item 10, adjournment. >> president covington: i will entertain a motion to adjourn. >> so moved, madame president. >> president covington: thank you. a second? i'm sorry? >> i will second.

>> president covington: thank you. and we do have to have a roll call vote on this, so... >> commissioner cleaveland, yes. nakajo? vote to adjourn, thank you. president covington? >> yes, i do. >> that's unanimous. oh, one -- okay, she is. we need to hear your voice. >> commissioner feinstein: i concur in the motion. >> president covington: it's unanimous. thank you all very much. have a good rest of your evening. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. bye.

friday meeting of the government audit and oversight committee. chairman mar joined i have vice chair peskin and commissioner haney. >> the commit