Firefighters Union Airs Summer Staffing Concerns

OCEAN CITY — Pointing to a day this summer when Ocean City did not have enough personnel available to cover emergency calls, the leader of the resort’s firefighters union requested a meeting this week with Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD) leadership to discuss the organization’s concerns over staffing.

In a letter to Ocean City Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Barton, obtained by The Dispatch, IAFF Local 4269, Ocean City Career Firefigher Paramedics Association President Ryan Whittington specifically refers to Aug. 5 when major shore break and rough ocean conditions resulted in a high demand for emergency services that exceeded the city’s manpower.

“I would like to meet and discuss with you as to whether or not the Fire Department Command Staff has any plans to address what should occur during a shortage of career Fire/EMS staff, units, and or both. Specifically if any thought has been given to a minimum number of units available before SOG 236.0, ‘Emergency Recall,’ is activated or the possibility of sounding the long dispatch tone to alert for personnel to staff Fire / EMS equipment,” the letter from Whittington reads. “With regards to the number of units available, last summer there was an additional unit in north Ocean City staffed at Fire Station 4, ‘Paramedic 4-1’, in addition to the ‘power unit’, staffed with two providers. This summer, there has not been a scheduled Paramedic 4-1 and when a provider calls out from the ‘power unit’, majority of the time the shift is not filled. This is concerning.”

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