The Experts Have Spoken. What Will Bethlehem Do Next?
A public guide to the recommendations for Bethlehem
By Lou Jimenez, President, Bethlehem Firefighters IAFF Local 735
Bethlehem residents deserve a clear explanation of what the Center for Public Safety Management, or CPSM, recommended for our fire, emergency medical, and emergency management services. You should be able to understand the improvements it identifies and ask what the City plans to do about them.
Out of all the pages of data, maps, tables, and discussion, CPSM brings its formal recommendations together on printed pages 21 through 30. That section contains 46 numbered recommendations and two additional unnumbered items. On page 30, CPSM explicitly states, “End of recommendations,” followed by, “The main body of the report begins on the next page.”
Our two-page handout summarizes that entire list in plain language. Recommendations 1 through 25 address fire protection, 26 through 42 address EMS, and 43 through 46 address emergency management. The two unnumbered items concern recurring false alarms and a dedicated emergency planning position.
These are the recommendations CPSM formally lists for Bethlehem to consider. They should be the starting point for the public discussion about what happens next.
The rest of the report provides the findings and supporting analysis behind these recommendations. That information helps residents understand the improvements CPSM identified and why they matter for Bethlehem.
Put enough firefighters and officers where they are needed
Recommendations 18 and 22 through 25
CPSM recommends that the City consider increasing minimum staffing in stages. The near- to mid-term target is 22 personnel on duty: five engines and two ladders staffed with one officer and two firefighters each, plus one Assistant Chief. The recommendation includes maintaining three personnel on Engines 6 and 9.
That phase identifies 12 additional firefighter positions and upgrades 12 existing firefighter positions to lieutenant so every engine and ladder has a company officer. The new positions add staffing, while the lieutenant upgrades provide company leadership.
Over the longer term, CPSM identifies a target of 26 on duty, including the Assistant Chief. Engines 5 and 9 and both ladders would have four personnel each, while the other three engines would have three. The single-engine stations receive priority. This phase identifies 16 additional firefighter positions beyond the first phase.
CPSM explains why staffing matters: enough personnel allow critical work such as fire attack, search and rescue, ventilation, and water supply to happen at the same time. When too few people arrive, tasks must wait, and individual workload increases.
CPSM also strongly recommends considering a fifth fire station in the southeastern part of Bethlehem. Engine 3 could relocate there, so the station proposal does not itself require adding another engine company. The study also calls for stronger automatic aid agreements with Allentown and Easton. With current staffing, it recommends dispatching all on-duty BFD personnel and resources to reported structure fires and adjusting initial assignments to assemble enough help.
Strengthen training and protect our firefighters
Recommendations 1 through 5 and 13 through 15
CPSM calls for a comprehensive training program based on the needs of every rank, with centralized coordination and consistent operating procedures. It recommends additional officer development, greater use of National Fire Academy courses, and joint training with neighboring departments. It also recommends seeking an updated ISO fire protection evaluation as staffing, training documentation, and deployment improve.
The study calls for continued development of health and wellness programs, including medical, fitness, rehabilitation, infection-control, and exposure-control measures. It recommends a joint BFD and Local 735 safety committee meeting monthly, continued Training Captain oversight, and a designated Captain-level Health and Safety Officer on each shift.
Our members’ physical and mental health must remain part of every staffing and operational decision. CPSM’s staffing discussion specifically connects adequate staffing with reduced individual workload, fatigue, and operational stress. Those concerns deserve the same attention as the budget.
Prevent emergencies and address recurring false alarms
Recommendations 8 through 12 and the unnumbered false-alarm recommendation
CPSM recommends a comprehensive inspection plan with clear schedules, reliable records, and quality checks. It calls for public safety education directed toward vulnerable residents and people in higher-risk buildings.
The study recommends considering remote inspections where permitted and allowing appropriately trained and certified fire companies to conduct eligible inspections of lower-hazard properties. It also calls for reviewing the actual cost of prevention services and considering fees that help cover those costs.
The unnumbered false-alarm recommendation calls for enforcing the existing alarm ordinance, requiring correction of systems that repeatedly activate, and tracking repeat locations. That approach addresses the recurring problem at the property.
Send the right help promptly and measure the whole response
Recommendations 6 and 7 and 19 through 21 and 30 through 33
CPSM recommends that BFD, Bethlehem EMS, and Northampton County 911 coordinate medical call classifications so appropriate resources are dispatched immediately. It specifically recommends sending BFD and EMS simultaneously to all Priority 1 or high-acuity medical calls, meaning the most serious medical emergencies.
The study also separates the parts of an emergency response. Call processing is the time spent handling the emergency call and arranging dispatch. Turnout is the time from dispatch until the unit leaves. Travel is the time spent reaching the incident.
The 90th percentile means the target is met on nine out of ten applicable calls. These are separate measures, so a four-minute travel target is not a four-minute total response.
For EMS, CPSM also recommends measures tied to the seriousness of the medical call, work toward turnout under 60 seconds for urgent incidents, and quality reviews that examine dispatch decisions and the full response.
Maintain stations and emergency vehicles
Recommendations 16 and 17 and 26 and 35 and 36
CPSM recommends including replacement, expansion, or renovation of Stations 1, 5, and 6 in capital planning, with attention to space and modern safety features. EMS facility planning should address ambulance accommodations, crew areas, technology, decontamination, infection control, and secure medical storage.
The study calls for a funded apparatus replacement plan. For heavy apparatus, it targets roughly 12 to 13 frontline years, no more than 15 frontline years, and retirement by age 25. Planning should also account for reserve apparatus and command, staff, and utility vehicles.
For ambulances, CPSM recommends maintaining the replacement schedule, ordering early enough to account for production delays, and considering alternative-fuel, hybrid, or reduced-idle technology when vehicles are replaced.
Match ambulance coverage to community demand
Recommendations 27 through 29 and 34 and 38
CPSM recommends tracking development, population changes, workload, and overlapping calls to determine whether ambulance locations and staffing continue to meet community needs. Geographic travel-time analysis should help evaluate where ambulances are placed.
It also recommends considering expansion of the daily 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. ambulance to 24-hour coverage, requiring four additional paramedics. A separate ambulance operating three days a week would expand to seven days during an appropriate 12-hour peak period, requiring two additional paramedics.
For residents, the purpose is dependable ambulance availability when emergencies happen at the same time.
Improve medical care and EMS leadership
Recommendations 37 and 39 through 42
CPSM recommends developing a community paramedicine pilot with hospitals and public health partners, initially focused on follow-up care after hospital discharge and fall prevention. Results would guide expansion, potentially including a paramedic coordinator.
The study recommends considering a full-time Clinical Coordinator to connect quality review with education and field performance, increasing Medical Director participation in training toward quarterly scenarios, and continuing joint work with police.
CPSM also recommends considering a Deputy Chief of EMS title to give clinical quality, workforce development, budgeting, and strategic planning appropriate representation in department leadership.
Keep Bethlehem operating during a major emergency
Recommendations 43 through 46 and the unnumbered emergency planning recommendation
The second unnumbered recommendation calls for considering a full-time Emergency Management Analyst/Planner to support preparedness, coordination, grants, and required plans.
CPSM also recommends full National Incident Management System compliance, an operationally ready Emergency Operations Center at Police Headquarters, and a properly equipped backup location. The Mayor’s Conference Room would support policy decisions, with operational coordination handled through the EOC.
A formal Continuity of Operations Plan would identify how essential City services, personnel, and systems will keep functioning or be restored after a disruption.
Turn the recommendations into a public plan
CPSM recognizes that some recommendations require funding over time and bargaining with the affected unions. Its recommendations use terms such as “consider,” and the study does not establish a single deadline for completing every improvement.
That gives Bethlehem room to develop a practical implementation plan. It also gives residents a reason to ask for clear priorities, costs, responsibilities, and dates. The public should know which recommendations the City supports, which it plans to defer or decline, and the reasons for those decisions.
We are ready to work with the administration, City Council, department leadership, EMS, and our residents on that plan. Collaboration requires a willingness to act on the needs the study identifies.
I encourage residents to read the handout, review the full study, and ask what progress will be made. Your firefighters will continue advocating for the staffing, training, equipment, and protection needed to serve this community safely.
Source: Center for Public Safety Management, Bethlehem Fire and EMS study, formal recommendations on printed pages 21–30; introductory qualifications on printed page 20. References to recommendations retain CPSM’s numbering.