"As stewards of the community, we are committed to providing the finest in emergency, prevention and education services. We prepare for these services as if lives depend upon it - because they do."
Message from Chief Cathleen Orchard:
Like many other cities, Monterey Park is feeling the financial impacts of the recession, and its effects on local and state government. In spite of, and because of that, the Monterey Park Fire Department is in position to seek out innovative programs, resources, and solutions, with Department members committed to continued provision of excellent core services, as well as supporting programs as appropriate. Relative to service delivery, the Department is proud of its participation in the Verdugo/Area C Unified Response automatic aid agreement. This system provides service to twelve communities with 43 fire stations through a single dispatch center.
From an operational standpoint, the Department remains active with Area C on Wildland Urban Interfaces responses, with a place on two designated strike teams in the region. The Department has benefitted as a member city of Los Angeles' Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) with grant-funded replacement of our entire cache of SCBAs, ongoing support of the San Gabriel-Monterey Park Urban Search and Rescue team, and replacement of communication equipment including radios and infrastructure.
Our Emergency Medical Service Division is working toward bringing the Department into compliance with AB2917, the Torrico Bill that deals with EMT registry and background checks. Staff also continues to build our Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program with fundraising, citizen CPR training and installation of AEDs. Other significant achievements this past year include the addition of E61 as a Paramedic Assessment Unit, the addition of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) as a paramedic skill, and the addition of Dr. Joe Englanoff as the Department’s Medical Director in a newly created position.
The Fire Prevention Division is heavily engaged in managing fire code compliance on several large development projects under construction in the City. Staff is also working on adoption of the new State Fire Code as well as adoption of an ordinance that manages installation of rooftop photo-voltaic systems.
In Disaster Preparedness the Department led the City in provision of two H1N1 PODs to deliver 5,600 vaccinations to the community with full activation of the City’s Emergency Operations Center for two days. The Division is in the process of developing a disaster cache in an outfitted and temperature controlled storage container. And most noteworthy, the Department has received FEMA approval for a one-week, custom emergency management class for fifteen essential City Emergency Operations Center staff members at the Integrated Emergency Management Center on the grounds of the National Fire Academy.
The Monterey Park Fire Department, while participating in the City’s budget reduction actions, continues to meet the community’s needs through excellent all-risk service delivery and programs.The Monterey Park Fire Department strives to provide the highest level of standard care and emergency response support to fulfill our mission of life, property, and environmental protection.