Open Letter to Ruston Council

The following letter was submitted to the Council for consideration during their 2008 budget decisions by Fire Chief Don Torbet. It contains important factual information about our fire department's response to the recent shooting.

Ruston Council Members:

The Ruston Fire Committee has presented the issues I am about to address and I don’t want to belabor the point. Part of the committee’s report spoke to our response times as well as our training and future needs. They recommended starting a resident program and increasing the membership to 20. The budget I have submitted reflects these recommendations with an additional increase in money for equipment.

As you consider the up coming Town of Ruston budget for the fire department, please keep the following incident in mind. I believe it is an example of what we now have and what we can expect if we contract our fire/EMS service to Tacoma Fire Department.

In the early hours of November 1, 2007 there was an incident in Ruston involving a shooting. The original call was for a “Man Down”. It was later upgraded to a “possible Shooting.” The Ruston Fire Department medical aid van with one EMT was at the scene in 2 minutes 31 seconds after being dispatched. Two additional firefighters were at the scene within 3 minutes of dispatch. Two more arrived within 4 minutes of dispatch. The ALS (Advanced Life Support) transport unit, Rural Metro Ambulance #51 arrived at the scene 8 minutes and 11 seconds after being dispatched.

During this incident, Tacoma Fire Department also responded to the scene. I sent an information request to Tacoma Fire Communication Center. I asked, “Could you research the incident and tell me what units were there, how and when they dispatched, and when they arrived.”

A Tacoma Fire Department representative sent me the following time line information:

00:53 – LESA request for TFD response to a reported shooting at **** N. ****** Street.
00:54 – Engine 14, and Medic 1. – Dispatched
01:01 – Engine 14 – Onscene
01:04 – Medic 1 – Onscene
01:07 – Medic 1 – Available
01:16 E14 – Available - investigate only, call in Ruston, and handled by Ruston Fire.

It took, Tacoma Fire Department Engine 14, 7 minutes to get to the scene after dispatch; as compared to Ruston’s 2:31 . Tacoma Fire Department’s Advanced Life Support transport unit, Medic 1, arrived at the scene 10 minutes after being dispatched; as compared to Rural Metro #51 at 8:11.

After receiving the information, I contacted a supervisor at LESA (Law Enforcement Support Agency). In case it is unclear, LESA is the agency responsible for answering and routing all 911 calls to the appropriate agency. I spoke with a lady named Kim. I asked how and when Tacoma Fire Department was asked to respond. After Kim reviewed the taped recordings, she called back and told me a Police Officer had requested medical aid to a shooting at this scene. The police officer did not know Ruston Fire was only moments away. This radio traffic was handled by a dispatcher that usually works as a Pierce County Sheriff Department dispatcher. The dispatcher had sent the call to Tacoma Fire Department by mistake.
Why is all this important? Because time does matter in life threatening emergencies.

Should we be surprised by this data. No. It is exactly what Tacoma Fire Department has outlined in their presentation and in their handouts.

These times also reflect those times posted by Ruston Fire Department. This call was exactly 3 seconds faster than our 2007 annual average of 2 minutes 34 seconds from dispatch to on scene time. These times are through the month of October 2007.

The most important concept to take from all of this:

In this incident the 4 minutes probably made the difference. The survival chances of this patient were greatly improved by the rapid treatment. If this was your loved one it may have had a larger impact.

Please keep Ruston Fire Department working for the Citizens of Ruston.

Thank you,

Don Torbet