Fire Rescue
Department Description
The Pasco County Fire Rescue Department provides various emergency response services throughout Pasco County, Florida. The service is provided Countywide from 27 fire stations, located across a land mass of over 750 square miles. The Fire Rescue Department's Mission is to prevent harm through community risk reduction strategies and provide professional, compassionate response to calls for service.
Core Services
Fire Rescue Administration
The Administrative service of the Fire Rescue Department is responsible for the effective and efficient delivery of emergency services to the citizens and visitors of Pasco County. Support services, such as division management, fiscal services, and operational support, play a significant part in the overall operation of the Department.
Ambulance Billing
The Ambulance Billing service is responsible for providing medical billing, payment processing, refunds, and medical record inquiries for the Rescue Division of the Department. Ambulance Billing submits claims/invoices to health insurance companies to receive payment for the ambulance services rendered. After a patient is transported by ambulance, the Billing Department prepares a claim/invoice in accordance with the insurance companies’ regulations. The patient care report data written by the crew of the ambulance is interpreted and entered into billing software. Additionally, the Ambulance Billing Division oversees the entire medical billing function required to service Hernando County Fire Rescue as well.
Emergency Medical Services (Rescue)
The Rescue service provides Advanced Life Support (ALS) emergency and non-emergency ambulance service to residents and visitors of Pasco County. The goal of the Rescue Division is to provide the highest quality of pre-hospital medical care as rapidly as possible. The Rescue Division hires State-certified Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and provides them with ongoing, in-service training programs established by the Department's Training Section and approved by the Department's Medical Director. These programs include: cardiopulmonary resuscitation, advanced cardiac life support, Paramedic and EMT State license recertification courses, and other State and Federally mandated continuing educational requirements.
Fire Suppression
The Fire Suppression service is responsible for response and mitigation of emergency and disaster situations, both manmade and natural, as well as providing fire suppression and pre-hospital emergency medical services, both basic and ALS, to the residents and visitors of the unincorporated areas of Pasco County.
Fire Prevention / Community Risk Reduction
The Fire Prevention service’s mission is to prevent or reduce the incidents of fire by increasing the awareness and knowledge of the citizens and visitors of Pasco County with regard to fire prevention and life safety; by providing professional inspection services to ensure new and existing construction aligns with current fire codes; and by providing expert investigation of fire causation to inform continuous improvement of County fire prevention efforts and methodology.
Fire Rescue Training
The Fire Rescue Training service provides department-wide training activities to maintain compliance with local, State, and Federal requirements, as well as providing educational programs designed to improve firefighter and EMT/Paramedic skills, enhance personnel safety, and ultimately provide a higher level of emergency service delivery to the citizens of Pasco County. Competent training ensures the safety of the public, as well as the safety and efficiency of Fire Rescue personnel. Coordinates all training requirements through Insurance Services Organization (ISO). Additionally, the Fire Rescue Training Division conducts annual physical ability testing and annual promotional testing, as well as provides new hire orientation programs throughout the year, as needed.
Goals and Objectives
Ambulance Billing - The net collection rate is the amount of revenue collected; the target goal for the net collection rate is 50%. Based on the revised fee structure from 2019, the collection rate needed to adjust down to acknowledge government insurance payment structures. The net collection rate is affected by bankruptcies, deceased patients, denials, and rejections. A denied claim is a claim that has been processed by the insurance company and found not to be payable. A rejected claim is one that has not been processed due to an unrecoverable error rate. During 2023, Pasco County Fire Rescue continued the billing responsibilities for Hernando County Fire Rescue with a goal of a net collection rate of 50%.
Fire Suppression - Response Time
Response time for a full suppression assignment on those calls requiring multiple resources to respond. These types of calls include: structure fires, hazardous materials incidents, or any other incident requiring multiple apparatus and equipment. The goal for this measure is a response time of 13 minutes or less, 90% of the time for an "effective response force" (ERF) or full first alarm assignment consisting of a minimum of twelve (12) firefighters. Fire Suppression measures the same goal as the Rescue Program does and is part of the calculation mentioned in the Rescue Program’s goal, which is 7 minutes and 30 seconds (This time does not include call processing through 911 dispatch).
Rescue - Response Time
Measured against a countywide goal in all response zones of 7 minutes and 30 seconds or less, 90% of the time. Response time is the component of time from the Department's notification of an incident up to the point of arrival of the first arriving ALS unit (this time does not include call processing through 911 dispatch). Only calls for emergency service are measured within this metric. This is the one segment of the overall response time that the Department has most control over.
First Unit Arrival Time
The data here is the full length of time from 911 to arrival. This is what the 911 caller experiences. This statistic includes the 911 center’s dispatch time, Fire Rescue unit’s turnout time, and travel time getting to the call.
Fire Prevention - Total Periodic Fire Inspections
Required Annual and Periodic Inspections - The goal is to perform state mandated required annual and periodic inspections per month (this does not include any new construction inspections). The goal and attaining 100% annual inspection of commercial occupancies cannot occur without a proposed fee schedule currently in review at the County Attorney's Office.
Fire Prevention - Total New Construction Fire Inspections
New Construction Inspections - This metric is measured by how often inspections are performed on the day they are requested. Our goal is to delay less than four per month.
Fire Rescue Training - Company Level
The Fire Rescue Training goal is to develop four new training classes per month that are distributed to all stations for self-delivery of training content. The training is conducted at the station level and administered by the Fire Rescue Training Division. Company level training is required to maintain cohesiveness among the members of all companies.
Fire Rescue Training - Classroom Sessions
The goal of classroom training sessions at the Training Center is to develop and deliver two new training classes per month. Most classroom level training is credited to continuing education credits. Recertification and continuing education are a critical component of every Fire Rescue member's development as a Firefighter/EMT/Paramedic, Company Officer, and eventually a competent Chief Officer.
