"No Boundaries Agreement" For Palm Bay, Brevard County Fire Rescue
PALM BAY, Florida — The City of Palm Bay and Brevard County officials say that fire and
emergency medical response services in Palm Bay and South Brevard County
will benefit from a mutual agreement between city and county providers
that will significantly improve emergency response
to the public.
Effective February 11, 2013 under an inter-local
agreement, all fire and emergency medical calls will be handled by the
closest unit, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries. The agreement
creates an Automatic Aid Response Area (AARA) from
U.S. Highway 192 south to the county line, west to the Brevard County
border, and east to the Indian River Lagoon, excluding the city of
Melbourne and the town of Malabar; and allows fire-rescue personnel
within this geographic boundary from both city and
county jurisdictions to respond if they are the closest units to the
emergency. “The citizen that needs helps does not care if the rescuer
is from Palm Bay or Brevard County, they just want help fast,” said Palm
Bay Fire Chief Jim Stables. “By dropping jurisdictional
restrictions we are able to deliver better service to the public that
is mutually beneficial to all of the citizens.”
The parameters of the
so-called “Auto-Aid” agreement are defined in a six page document that
includes pre-defined unit response assignments, command structure,
service standards, non-required responses, and other
legal definitions that ultimately facilitate the sharing of resources
between the city and county. “It is a mutually beneficial agreement
that ensures the citizen receives the best possible response during an
emergency,” said Brevard County Fire Chief Larry
Collins. “This demonstrates a highly efficient and effective use of
government resources for the overall good of the public.”
The geographic boundary
includes five Palm Bay Fire-Rescue stations and seven Brevard County
Fire-Rescue stations. It effectively doubles resource capabilities by
joining 12 emergency response locations with shared
resources that will maximize the use and efficiency of fire-rescue
services in this area. “Every fire-rescue response agency is having this
discussion,” Chief Stables added. “We are all faced with shrinking
budgets and increasing demands for service. This
is the best and most efficient way to continue to deliver this
service.”