2 Fire Agency Population Served Sworn Personnel Staffing to Population San José* 969,491 723 0.75 per 1,000
Santa Clara County 225,000 248 1.10 per 1,000
Sunnyvale DPS** 157,566 85 .54 per 1,000
Santa Clara 132,048 125 .94 per 1,000
Mountain View 86,535 80 .92 per 1,000
Milpitas 81,773 75 .92 per 1,000
Palo Alto 67,973 93 1.36 per 1,000
Gilroy 61,033 42 .69 per 1,000
Table 5: Santa Clara County Fire Agencies Staffing to Population *Excludes population within 26.81 square miles of Santa Clara County Zone 1 Contract coverage area. **Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety provides both law enforcement and fire protection. 3 4
Positions Civilianized and Apparatus Closures
1985 to 1991 *SJFD 1992 Yearbook
SJFD staffing- 770 members
2010
-75 Positions eliminated
2011
-28 sworn positions eliminated through Truck and Urban Search and Rescue daily staffing -5th person eliminated on the Truck and USAR
2018 Positions Civilianized:
Public Information Officer, Facilities Captain, Apparatus Captain, Bond Captain, EMS BLS Captain. Department Safety Officer (Battalion Chief)
2024
MED 30 eliminated
Apparatus Permanently Closed
- Truck 3
- Engine 33
- Hazardous incident team (HIT) 29. Cross staffed, unavailable if T29 is unavailable. 5 Current Eligibility for Statewide Eligibility List: 4000 EMTs 550 Paramedics 6 PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE Pg. 11 EMT Certification and Paramedic Licensure
To deliver advanced life support services on all response resources, the Department maintains 94 EMTs and 173 paramedics in the Firefighter rank. At the end of Fiscal Year 2023-2024, there were 35 Firefighter/Paramedic vacancies. Firefighter Recruit EMT applicants far exceed paramedic applicants, and the Department continues to hear of Firefighter/Paramedic recruitment challenges across the state from other fire agencies. Presently, the Department is evaluating recruitment and internal staffing options to increase the number of available paramedics to reduce mandatory overtime assignments. The Department has expanded the number of Support Paramedics, reinstating paramedic status within the Fire Engineer and Fire Captain ranks to expand coverage of paramedic functions along with Firefighters. As the number of Support Paramedics increased, mandatory call-back hours for Firefighter/Paramedics significantly reduced.
34% Vacancy Rate for Firefighter Paramedics
7 PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE Pg. 12 Department Status on Recruitment and Hiring
The Department engages in ongoing recruitment and training efforts to maintain authorized non-sworn and sworn staffing levels. In Fiscal Year 2023-2024, staff conducted a variety of entry-level and lateral hiring as well as promotional recruitments that filled 150 sworn vacancies. Each classification has unique job requirements and minimum qualifications and requires a separate recruitment process. External recruitments are conducted for the entry-level Firefighter rank, and internal recruitments are conducted for promotion to non-management sworn ranks. Ongoing career development and training are critical to delivering safe, efficient, and effective responses to all community risks, including fire, rescue, hazardous materials releases, and emergency medical services requests. The Department provides ongoing training that assists sworn personnel in achieving their career development goals. Department staff are engaged in all sworn recruitments in coordination with the Human Resources
Department. Communication and marketing for external recruitments are supported by the Public Information Manager in the Office of the Fire Chief. The Department is committed to advancing initiatives toward increasing the number of qualified female candidates who apply for entry-level and lateral positions.
Through the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Proposed Operating Budget, funding was approved to hire a consultant specializing in fire service recruitment to evaluate current hiring practices and recommend a strategic plan informed by industry best practices to increase the representation of women in the Fire Department. This Request for Proposal process is currently underway.
8 PUBLIC SAFETY, FINANCE AND STRATEGIC SUPPORT COMMITTEE Pg. 12 & 13 Recruitment Marketing and Outreach
The Department’s goal is to optimize recruitment marketing and outreach efforts within its limited resource capacity. These efforts leverage interest from employee resource groups, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, social media, webpages, and advertising platforms. In Fiscal Year 2023-2024, the Department conducted enhanced recruiting efforts through the following actions:
● Participated in over 30 job/career fairs;
● Held the 5th Annual San José Fire Department Women’s+ Boot Camp ● Advertised open recruitments across multiple online and social media platforms, as well as through Citywide messaging and fire station banners. "The Department strives to reflect the community it serves by attracting a diverse and qualified candidate pool through extensive outreach and recruitment activities.
In Fiscal Year 2023-2024, 935 applicants expressed interest in joining the Department, of which 528 were considered qualified to continue the recruitment process. Table 11 below illustrates the demographic data of the total qualified candidates by ethnicity."
9 Higher Classing for the Position of Fire Captain
10 11
12 13
Reference: Emergency Medical Services Authority California Health and Human Services Agency December 2024 14 Reference: Emergency Medical Services Authority California Health and Human Services Agency December 2024 15 Reference: Emergency Medical Services Authority California Health and Human Services Agency December 2024 16 Barriers to Recruitment
3 Hour Living Requirement
Subject to 96 Hour Forced Mandatory Work Week
No Sworn Recruitment Division
No Sworn Down Payment Assistance Loan Program
Impacts from SF Measure H Retirement Benefits for Firefighters Comprehensive Cancer Screening (Full body MRI Scans, Ultrasounds, enhanced blood panel screening, heavy metal screening)
17