City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: September 9, 2025
Agenda Item: 4.J
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Matthew Hallock, Fire Chief, Fire Department
Subject: Approval of First Modification to Software as a Service Agreement with Locality Media, LLC (dba First Due) for Fire Records Management Software Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a first modification to Software as a Service Agreement #11304 in the amount of $90,000 with Locality Media, LLC dba FirstDue, for fire incident pre-plans, fire inspection, inventory management and other Fire-related records management software (RMS) for the Fire Department. This will result in a five-year amended agreement with a new total amount not to exceed $430,000, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
The Santa Monica Fire Department (SMFD) currently utilizes software from Locality Media, LLC (dba “FirstDue”) for incident pre-planning and fire inspections. For the FY 2025-27 biennial, Council authorized the creation of an Advanced Provider Unit which requires specific reporting functions that the City’s current vendor for electronic patient care records (“ePCR”) does not support. FirstDue supports the required functions and can also support the ePCR data from the new Ambulance Operator Pilot Program, which the Council recently authorized. This allows all RMS related software to be hosted on one platform. Staff recommends that the City’s current agreement with FirstDue be modified to increase the contract amount by $90,000 for a total not to 2 of 4
exceed amount to $430,000. The modified agreement will allow FirstDue to provide an ePCR solution for the City’s Advanced Provider Unit.
Discussion
On August 23, 2022, Council authorized a five-year agreement with FirstDue for $340,000 for pre-planning, fire inspection, and other Fire-related records management software services. SMFD, which responds to more than 19,000 calls for service annually across its five stations, utilizes the software for relevant pre-incident plans associated with the building, then pushes notifications to department mobile devices – our responders are equipped with iPads and iPhones. This enables SMFD responders to determine the resources and actions necessary to mitigate anticipated emergencies at a specific facility.
FirstDue’s software interfaces with the City’s Computer-aided Dispatch (“CAD”) system and provides real-time data to responders.
In addition, SMFD also uses the software for nearly 7,500 inspections each year. Fire Prevention personnel utilize FirstDue software to:
• Access all of the City’s current fire inspection data • Conduct in-the-field electronic inspections of various occupancies • Create an inspection report following the inspection with capability to print or send to the customer electronically
• Create, issue, and track annual permits
• Create analytical reports for inspections, permits, and invoicing data The inspection data in the software is also transmitted to our third-party biller in realtime, which has significantly improved the department’s billing revenue.
Additionally, SMFD utilizes FirstDue’s software for all apparatus daily inspections and fire related incident reporting as mandated by the California State Fire Marshal and the United States Fire Administration.
For the FY 2025-27 biennial budget, Council authorized the creation of an Ambulance Operator (AO) Pilot Program and an Advanced Provider Unit (APU). The AO program brings emergency medical service transport in-house and requires the use of electronic 3 of 4
patient care records (ePCR). When SMFD responds to a medical emergency, an ePCR is created which contains the patient’s information, such as insurance, assessment (basic or advanced life support), and the type of transport. This ePCR is sent to our third-party biller which handles the insurance reimbursement on behalf of the department.
The APU is designed to treat vulnerable populations, such as the homeless, mentally ill, or elderly. The APU is staffed by a Firefighter Paramedic and a Nurse Practitioner, who is required to input certain patient information into the ePCR. However, because the City’s current software product does provide the functionality that SMFD is seeking and cannot be upgraded to provide this functionality, SMFD is opting to transition the Department’s ePCR system to FirstDue which can support both the AO program and the APU.
Staff recommends that the Council authorize a modification of the City’s current agreement with FirstDue to include ePCR records management services and to increase the total contract amount from $340,000 to $430,000 over the current five-year term of the agreement.
Environmental Review
The first modification to agreement #11304 is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The first modification increases the not to exceed amount for the department to add ePCR functionality to its records management system.
Therefore, it can be seen with certainty that the first modification is exempt from CEQA.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
08/23/2022 Award RFP 304 to Locality Media LLC (dba FirstDue) for Fire preplans, Fire Inspection and other Fire Related
Records Management Software for the Fire Department.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
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Staff seeks authority to approve funding from the General Fund to increase the amount of agreement #11304 with Locality Media, LLC (dba FirstDue) to add the ePCR functionality to the Fire Department’s records management system.
Agreement Modification Request
Current Authorized
Amount
FY 2025-26
Request Amount
Amount for
Future Years Department Account #
Total Contract
Amount
$340,000 $0 $90,000 01190001.529230 $430,000
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Jonathan Tang, Principal Administrative Analyst Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. First Due - Levine Act
B. First Due - Oaks