Staffing and Response
Time
The
optimal response time for medical emergencies is 4 minutes – the amount of
time the brain can go without oxygen before it begins to deteriorate. The
Cathedral City Fire Department’s average response time is approximately 6
minutes.
The International City Manager Association (ICMA)
recommends Fire Department staff for cities up to 50,000 have a minimum of 1
firefighter to every thousand residents and optimal staffing a t2
firefighters for every thousand residents.
As Cathedral City’s population has increased between 1988
and 2006, staffing has remained about the same due to budget constraints.
The Fire Department has dropped from .70 firefighters per thousand in 1988
to .63 firefighters per thousand in 2006.
At the same time, comparing January through June 2005 and
2006, responses to structure fires are up 69% (an increase of 16 incidents);
fire calls are up 49% (an increase of 49 incidents) and Medical calls are up
5.5% (an increase of 124 incidents).
It is forecast that the total calls for service to the
Fire Department will have a minimum increase of 26% by the end of the year.
The City’s low ratio of firefighters to population means
that if a call is received for fire and medical emergency services, there’s
greater chance that all Cathedral City units will already be committed and
that a fire truck or ambulance from outside the City will need to be called
– which increases response time.
Cone
Zone
There are several road projects to be aware of:
Work on the widening and repaving of the on/off ramps at
the Date Palm/I-10 interchange will begin Tuesday, August 22nd through
Thursday, August 24th. Construction will be at night (8pm – 5:30am) to
minimize the impact on residents and valley commuters. Work will be on the
eastbound off-ramp, westbound on-ramp, and westbound off-ramp. There will be
no work on the eastbound on-ramp.
McCallum Way from Santoro Rd. to Walden Way will be
closed on Thursday and Friday August 17th and 18th.
Thursday August 27th and ongoing Encilia, E Street, D
Street and Van Fleet will be closed for pavement removal as part of the Cove
Improvement Project.
New edition of
Quarterly E-newsletter
The latest edition of Cathedral City’s e-newsletter is
now online at
www.thespiritofthedesert.com . This edition has detailed information on
the recent community benchmark survey, information on public safety,
redevelopment and the City’s strategic plan. You can also find information
from the Cathedral City Senior Center and the Palm Springs Unified School
District. Sign up to be notified when each new edition is released – and
suggest a future article.
Planning Commission
Update
The Planning Commission approved a Conditional Use Permit
(CUP) to construct a soccer park with a parking lot, restrooms, concession
stand and picnic shelter.
CUPs were also issued for a Yellow Basket Restaurant and
Drive Through at 67-625 East Palm Canyon (former Burger King Location), and
a 4,331 square foot auto services facility on Avenida Valdez, east of
Avenida Maravilla and north of Ramon Road (in back of AM/PM).
The Commission found the proposed Redevelopment Project
Area Merger to be in conformance with the General Plan of Cathedral City and
recommended to the Development Agency Board and City Council that project
merger be approved.
The Wal-Mart renovation improvement plan check received
approval.
Sister City Bomberos
Six firemen, or bomberos, from Cathedral City’s sister
city of Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico are in town receiving training from
Cathedral City firefighters through Thursday, August 24th. They are
receiving training on basic firefighting techniques, auto extrication, CPR,
basic medical skills, and communicable diseases.
On Wednesday they had a special treat of visiting the
Palms Springs International Airport fire station and taking a ride on the
airport fire vehicles.
Hopefully, they will be driving home five donated
vehicles including two ambulances.
American History Trivia
August 17th, was the 113th birthday of what American
legend whose face appeared on the cover of the 1967 Beatles Sgt Pepper’s
Lonely Hearts Club Band album? “Love conquers all things but poverty and
toothache” was one of this person’s many colorful one-liners.
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