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Section Four: On-Scene Operations and Critical Tasks As many as 40 firefighters, augmented by civilian staff members, may be needed to accomplish the critical tasks necessary to control structure fires, according to type, in a safe, efficient, and effective manner, using the EFD's current staffing configuration. The exact number needed will vary from incident to incident. The fire scene is unpredictable in many ways. While it is possible to anticipate what critical tasks must be accomplished in order to extinguish the fire, it is not always possible to predict how many firefighters it will take to accomplish those tasks. The number of personnel and the amount of equipment necessary to accomplish the critical tasks listed will vary due to the following factors: c> Response time o Building construction o Number of floors the fire is located above ground level o Number of occupants o Exposures o Physical and emotional condition of occupants Extent of fire upon arrival (flashover) c> Built-in fire protection o Area of fire involvement o Firefighter or civilian injuries Apparatus or equipment failure The Eugene Fire & EMS Department has used its experience, knowledge, and historical information to determine what constitutes an effective response force. These staffing projections are accurate for the majority of the working fires within Eugene's response area. The need for more personnel may arise on any fire scene at any time. Fire conditions dictate the response needed for any given fire, even if that response exceeds the requirements listed in this document. The department relies on the experience and professional judgment of its company and chief officers to request additional resources early in an incident whenever their expertise suggests that those resources might be required. These resources can be readily obtained through on-duty staffing, automatic and mutual aid, or the callback of off-duty Eugene personnel. Critical Tasks (Emergency Medical Services) The Eugene Fire & EMS Department provides both EMS first response and ambulance transport services to a large portion of central Lane County, and responds to over 10,000 emergency medical calls for service per year. Because the majority of the department's call load involves emergency medical service delivery, every Eugene engine company is equipped as an advanced life support (ALS) first response unit, and staffed with at least one firefighter/paramedic. In addition, all Eugene medic units are ALS transport equipped and staffed with a minimum of one paramedic and one intermediate emergency medical technician (EMT-I) driver. In order to preserve the more limited ambulance capacity within the EMS system here, Eugene engine and truck companies are dispatched on a first-out basis to perform non-emergency patient 42