BUILDING A CHAMPION: ARE YOU OK WITH THAT DECISION??

THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI IS GROWING...NO REALLY IT IS, JUST LOOK AROUND. YOU WILL FIND NEW STREETS BEING CUT DAILY. YOU WILL FIND NEW SUB-DIVISIONS BEING BUILT BY THE DOZENS. THERE ARE HOUSES BEING BUILT ON ALMOST EVERY CORNER, IN EVERY PART OF TOWN.

THERE ARE NEW BUSINESSES OPENING HERE DAILY. WE NOW HAVE 2 WATER PARKS, HURRICANE ALLEY AND SCHLITTERBAHN (TO BE OPENED SOON), YOU WILL FIND NEW HOTELS BEING BUILT AROUND TOWN AS WELL. WE ARE GETTING READY FOR A LARGE BAYFRONT DEVELOPMENT CALLED DESTINATION BAYFRONT, THE 2 CITY GOLF COURSE HAVE BEEN RESTRUCTURED AND ARE NOW ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY, WE ARE ABOUT TO LAND A LARGE CHINESE PIPE FACILITY, THE PORT IS DOING MORE BUSINESS THEN EVER, OUR REFINERIES ARE NOT SLOWING DOWN NOR ARE THEY CLOSING...

THIS CITY IS GROWING..BUT ONE PART OF THE CITY THAT IS NOT GROWING IS THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPARTMENT....THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF ANYONE IN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, OH NO THE REASON THE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAS NOT SEEN ANY GROWTH AND IS FACING THE WORST PERSONNEL SHORTAGE IN OVER 25 YEARS IS BECAUSE THE CITY DID NOT WISH TO HIRE FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS.

THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPARTMENT AT THIS MOMENT IS 45 FIREFIGHTERS SHORT AND WILL SOON BE CLOSE TO 60 FIREFIGHTERS SHORT. ..THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI HAS A POPULATION OF OVER 400,000 PEOPLE AND YET THE CITY ONLY HAS 9 AMBULANCES TO PROVIDE ALS TREATMENT AND TRANSPORT FOR ITS CITIZENS. THIS IS WAY UNDER THE NATIONAL AVERAGE FOR A CITY OF THIS SIZE. LAST YEAR ALONE THOSE 9 AMBULANCES CARRIED THE BURDEN OF RESPONDING TO OVER 35,000 CALLS. TWO OF THOSE MEDIC UNITS MADE MORE THE 5,000 CALLS ALONE.

THOSE 2 SAME UNITS ARE RANKED IN THE TOP 25 OF BUSIEST AMBULANCES IN THE NATION. THIS IS AGAINST CITIES LIKE LOS ANGELES, HOUSTON, MIAMI AND OTHERS. NOW WITH ALL OF THAT BEING SAID EACH ONE OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI AMBULANCES HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE THAT BUSY...

THE MEDICS THAT RIDE ALL OF THE 9 CITY AMBULANCES PROVIDE THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF CARE POSSIBLE. THESE ARE SOME OF THE BEST PARAMEDICS YOU WILL FIND ANYWHERE AND THEY ARE BEING RUN RAGGED...

WE ARE HAVING MEDICS ON MULTIPLE AMBULANCES RUN 20, EVEN 30+ CALLS EACH SHIFT. THIS IS NOT ONLY DANGEROUS FOR THEM BUT ALSO FOR THE CITIZENS OF CORPUS CHRISTI. ANYTHING OVER 10-12 CALLS IS CONSIDERED EXCESSIVE AND ALMOST EVERY AMBULANCE IN CORPUS CHRISTI RUNS THAT DAILY.

THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI IS HAVING PARAMEDICS DRIVING HOME, AFTER MAKING 20+ CALLS WITH NOT A WINK OF SLEEP, GET LOST!! THAT IS RIGHT THEY FORGET WHERE THEY LIVE. YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT SLEEP DEPRIVATION MIMICS THAT OF BEING INTOXICATED. THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI IS HAVING PARAMEDICS TRANSPORT PATIENTS, POSSIBLY YOUR FAMILY MEMBER, WHILE NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE STRAIGHT BECAUSE THEY ARE SLEEP DEPRIVED..

IS THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL OK WITH THAT DECISION??

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT RIGHT NOW THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPARTMENT ONLY STAFFS ENOUGH FIREFIGHTERS TO COVER THE 9 AMBULANCES AND THE FIRE ENGINES/TRUCKS AT THE 17 STATIONS.

IN ORDER TO CORRECTLY PROVIDE THE HIGH LEVEL OF CARE THE CITIZENS OF CORPUS CHRISTI DESERVE AND TO HELP REDUCE THE CALL VOLUME OF EACH OF THE AMBULANCES AND THE MEDICS THAT RIDE THEM, IS TO INCREASE THE DAILY STAFFING LEVELS. RIGHT NOW THE DAILY STAFFING LEVEL STANDS AT 96, IN ORDER TO PLACE THE 2 NEW AMBULANCES IN SERVICE THE CORRECT WAY, THE CITY NEEDS TO UP THE DAILY STAFFING LEVEL TO 100...

THIS IS NOT A ACT OF CONGRESS, THIS IS JUST THE CITY MANAGER AND THE CITY COUNCIL SAYING, OK 100 IT IS!!

NOW I AM SURE YOUR NEXT QUESTION MAYBE WELL DOES THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPARTMENT HAVE THE MAN POWER AVAILABLE TO MEET THAT DAILY STAFFING LEVEL OF 100. AND THE ANSWER IS YES!!!

ON TOP OF THAT THE CITY STARTED THE FIRST FIRE ACADEMY IN 3 YEARS TODAY. THIS WILL PUT OUT 34 FIREFIGHTERS TO THE FIELD IN ROUGHLY 14 MONTHS.

NOW DO THOSE 34 FIREFIGHTERS HELP THE PERSONNEL SHORTAGE THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE DEPARTMENT IS FACING? WELL EVERY LITTLE BIT HELPS, BUT IN ALL HONESTY THE CITY NEEDS TO CONTINUE TO HIRE ACADEMIES FOR THE NEXT 4 TO 5 YEARS..

NOW HERE IS A TWIST IN THE STORY....THE ACADEMY THAT STARTED TODAY WAS BUDGETED BY THE CITY OVER A YEAR AGO. THEY BUDGETED TO HIRE 30 FIREFIGHTERS. THEY BUDGETED 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THIS ACADEMY. THE CORPUS CHRISTI FIRE CHIEF WROTE AND WAS APPROVED FOR A S.A.F.E.R. GRANT, THAT GAVE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT THE MONEY IT NEEDED TO HIRE A ADDITIONAL 34 FIREFIGHTERS, ON TOP OF THE 30 BUDGETED ONES...

NOPE I DID NOT MAKE A MISTAKE, THE CITY INITIALLY BUDGETED A ACADEMY OF 30 FOR 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS BUT NOW ARE HIRING A CLASS OF 34 THE SAME NUMBER THE S.A.F.E.R. GRANT WAS APPROVED FOR. RUMORS FLOATING AROUND ARE THAT THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI TOOK THE S.A.F.E.R. MONEY AND USED IT TO FUND THE ACADEMY OF 34 THAT STARTED TODAY. THE RUMOR ALSO SAYS THAT THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI IS ATTEMPTING TO TAKE THE INITIAL 1.2 MILLION DOLLARS THAT WAS BUDGETED FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AWAY FROM THEM...

THAT 1.2 MILLION COULD BE USED TO PLACE 2 MORE AMBULANCES IN SERVICE AS WELL AS HELP WE PAYING FOR ANY OVERTIME THAT MAY BE NEEDED TO STAFF THOSE UNITS UNITL THIS ACADEMY CLASS HAS BEEN TURNED TO DUTY...

BY DOING THIS IT WOULD HELP REDUCE THE CALL VOLUME EACH ONE OF THESE 9 AMBULANCES FACES, AS WELL AS HELP REDUCE THE SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON THE PARAMEDICS THAT RIDE THESE UNITS...

SO IF THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL WILL NOT DO THIS, THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY ARE OK WITH OUR FIREFIGHTERS/PARAMEDICS ATTEMPTING TO DRIVE HOME TO THEIR FAMILIES TO GET LOST.

THEY ARE SAYING THEY ARE OK WITH OUR FIREFIGHTERS/PARAMEDICS TRANSPORTING PATIENTS, WHILE NOT BEING ABLE TO SEE STRAIGHT BECAUSE OF THE SLEEP DEPRIVATION..

THEY ARE SAYING THAT IS OK FOR THAT FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDIC WHO HAS NOT SLEPT IN 23 HOURS AND THAT HAS MADE 20+ CALLS TO MAKE A LIFE OR DEATH DECISION WITH YOUR FAMILY MEMBER...

THEY ARE SAYING IT IS OK TO NOT PROVIDE THE CITIZENS OF THIS GREAT CITY THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF PRE-HOSPITAL CARE AVAILABLE. WE KNOW THAT ANYWHERE BETWEEN 10-12 CALLS IS CONSIDERED EXCESSIVE AND THAT THE LEVEL OF CARE DROPS OFF AFTER ABOUT 15 CALLS...THE CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL ARE SAYING THEY ARE OK WITH THAT!!! BY NOT GROWING THE FIRE DEPARTMENT LIKE EVERY OTHER PART OF THE CITY...