- April 17, 2024
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After about a year of negotiations, the Flagler County and Palm Coast fire departments made their first motion as a united front.
In a workshop Thursday, April 12, at city offices, Palm Coast Fire Chief Mike Beadle presented to the City Council slides of the city’s tumultuous-turned-harmonious relationship with Flagler County’s fire department.
Where there used to be bickering over jurisdiction, medical protocol and drug distribution, there is now, and have been for the past 10 months, joint meetings to discuss how each department could “streamline operations, lower the cost of doing business and … get along.”
Some of their successes include battalion officers agreeing to cover each other’s districts when needed and making consistent the standard operating policies for fire and emergency medical services.
Also, within the next five years, Beadle said, all heart monitors in both agencies will need to be replaced, and a team approach has been established to research and price the market.
To reduce the need for equipment and training, Palm Coast has remained available for high-angle and confined-space incidents, Beadle reported, while utility functions, such as swift water and trench rescue, will be handled by the county.
The two entities have agreed that the county will be held responsible for Flagler Estates, which was previously city-zoned despite being 14 miles away from the closest Palm Coast fire station.
Primary to the presentation, however, was the decision to minimize the number of regional EMS directors from three to one — Dr. Andrew Coleman. The city approved this recommendation and will pay him $30,000 a year for his services.
Under the new model, there will no longer be an emergency room director, city paramedic director and county EMS director. The result should be increased consistency and efficiency, Beadle said.
