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City Manager's 2005 Budget Memo Page 16 of 27 years. Finally, I strongly recommend the Council authorize the Fire De- partment to respond to vehicle accidents with injuries. Under our Council-approved staffing program, we are already paying firefight- ers (with emergency medical technician training that the City's tax- payers paid for) to be on duty 85% of the time. (Weekday days con- tinue to be a challenge to staff with voluntary firefighters.) Why not use them and their training? Why not use these firefighters we have already trained at taxpayer expense and who are already on duty at taxpayer expense? Using them can only help. Vehicle accident scenes are not a place where you want to skimp on personnel. The scene needs to be secured so no further accidents are caused and in order that some traffic flow is maintained until the scene is cleared. Accident scenes are often law enforcement scenes since, more often than not, the "accident" was caused by illegal drugs or alcohol consumption in combination with some violation or viola- tions of traffic laws. Hence, witness statements must be gathered and the precise cause of the accident investigated and then depicted on a police report. Last but certainly not least, innocent victims and others often require some kind of inedical treatment if only in an attempt to stabilize a patient's condition until paramedics and an ambulance ar- rive. All of this requires trained, competent persons working to- gether as a team. Consequently, I recommend: Council Action Recommendation #72: Council motion authorizing [not authorizing] the Fire Department to respond to vehicle acci- dent scenes with injuries when they already have a trained crew on duty.