STUDY: LA MESA CALLS FOR FIRE & RESCUE SERVICES PROJECTED TO INCREASE 168% FROM 9,696 TO 26,003 BY 2050

By Michael Howard

Chart, right: La Mesa calls for fire and rescue services are projected to increase 168% by 2050, according to consulting firm Emergency Services Consulting International. 

September 15, 2024 (La Mesa, CA) - La Mesa’s Heartland Fire and Rescue will face a 168% increase in calls for service by 2050 according to a consulting company’s findings shared with the La Mesa City Council during its September 10 meeting.

“It’s a significant increase,” confirmed Jeff Stone, the Project Manager for Emergency Services Consulting International, the consulting agency that conducted the research.

The study was the first of its kind for La Mesa resulting in an 84-page risk assessment report that identified risks factors the city is likely to face and an evaluation of its ability to cope and address them. The report also benchmarks the risks into quantitative risk scores and provides 11 recommendations to mitigate them.

Photo, left:  Project Manager Jeff Stone of Emergency Services Consulting International presents a risk assessment report to the La Mesa City Council on September 10 while Heartland Fire & Rescue Chief Bent Koch looks on.

Recommendations in the report ranged from increasing staffing levels to implementing a small team of responders to respond to “low-acuity” calls rather than sending fully staffed ladder fire engines, which require more resources and personnel. 

At the end of the presentation, Fire Chief Bent Koch reported to the council that several of the recommendations have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented already.

“We’re already doing a lot of this stuff,” the Chief said.  “I really want to say thank you to the council for the support, and the city manager’s office for us to be able to do this.”

As it relates to the low-acuity calls, Chief Koch reported his team is monitoring calls now to understand what will be needed to implement a non-paramedic squad to certain calls for service.

“Our goal is to see if we can address the low-acuity calls and not have to send fire equipment,” he explained.

Other recommendations the Chief reported have been implemented include allocating two additional staff to the Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement (HOME) team, which would address social issues that can lead to emergency calls, and expanding the Nurse Navigation program to La Mesa, which is an El Cajon program that diverts emergency calls to nurse practitioners who can handle non-emergency medical calls. 

“The first person for the HOME program will start September 30th,” Chief Koch reported, “and the second position is in the background checks as we speak.”

“I have exciting news about the Nurse Navigation program,” the Chief continued, “as of September 5th, we finally went live as a one-year pilot study for the City of La Mesa.  The goal here is that lower acuity level calls will get the appropriate level of care,” he added.

While several of the recommendations are long term and weren’t addressed during the presentation or the chief’s update - such as forming a Capital Improvement Plan to address funding shortfalls and upcoming capital purchases - the chief did address a recommendation related to cost sharing between the cities of La Mesa, El Cajon, and Lemon Grove.

“We’re putting together a plan,” Chief Koch announced. “There were committees who first looked at [a shared resources program and now] the committees that we’re putting back together are going to take a look at where we are now and where we’re falling short and where we need to bridge the gaps.”

During the public comments portion of the city council meeting, citizens spoke to other matters, but no comments pertaining to this report were lodged.  Vice-Mayor Patricia Dillard and Council Member Jack Shu both asked clarifying questions only.

In other business, the City Council re-appointed Alex Muller to the Mobility Commission and approved allocating $76,180 from the Downtown Parking fund to the Downtown Village Enhancement Fund budget.

SOURCES

City of La Mesa. (n.d.). City Council—September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024, from https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=ed6c98f9-04a6-43d4-aeef-fdf0417f0471&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English&Item=50&Tab=attahcments

Emergency Services Consulting International. (2024a). 2024 Heartland Fire & Rescue Community Risk Assessment. https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=16476

Emergency Services Consulting International. (2024b, August 30). 2024 Heartland Fire & Rescure—City of La Mesa Standard of Cover. https://pub-lamesa.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=16477