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0 CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK amount of time that it takes to have an individual trained to that level of certification takes years. So, for us, this was an unbelievably excellent thing that we were able to implement. The PSAP made that possible, and we've made that happen. The feedback from our employees has been tremendous. In our strategic plan that we did, that we wrote up in 2014 and submitted to Council, and was approved by Council, goal number four (4) was for us to be able to revise the way we provided service within the EMS system itself. This was one (1) of the bigger pieces to that part of our strategic plan. So,we really feel wonderful that we were able to make that happen. He went on, Under goals and plans for Q3 and Q4 of this year, we want to continue to prepare for the ISO audit expected at year's end. Eric spoke to the fact that they're doing hydrant inspections. ISO is the Insurance Services Office who comes in roughly every fourth (4th) year to inspect the City and identify risk associated with fire in the City. They utilize those scores to be able to set insurance rates,specifically with commercial properties,in the City.We actually,in 2015,we were audited. And in 2016, the report came back and we bumped up from a three (3) to a two (2). So, the levels are one (1)through ten(10), with one(1)being the best and ten(10)being the worst, in essence, no fire service at all. The three (3) areas in which we're evaluated are fire service, the water supply system or the water distribution system within the municipality, and the dispatch center. We attempted to identify those areas in which we could gain some additional points in our next audit to be able to put focus on that. The Water Works is doing their part. They're doing a wonderful job with this in regard to the hydrant inspections and flow testing associated with the hydrants. We are also looking at different training aspects in service delivery pieces in which we believe we can access additional points in order for us to be able to score a level one (1) on the ISO, which is the highest score you can achieve, in order to drive insurance rates as low as we possibly can. So, that's one(1) of our main goals remaining for the remainder of this year. He continued, We want to leverage the South Bend Fire Department Community Paramedicine Program to assist the State in developing this into a sustainable service delivery. So, what I mean by that is the State legislature, earlier this year,passed a law for us to be able to be reimbursed for community paramedicine visits to individuals through FSSA and Medicaid. The issue right now is that, although the law was passed, the mechanism has not been created within the State to be able to provide those reimbursements yet.Part of that is summer study and additional votes through the EMS Commission through the State of Indiana,which we're trying to make sure that we're part of that discussion at the State level to make sure that our community paramedicine program is, more or less,the one(1)that the State wants to utilize as the premiere program. That way, we get maximum reimbursement from that program.The idea being,we want that to become a sustainable program for us, and to be able to get reimbursement through Medicare and Medicaid for the program. He went on, Obviously, we want to celebrate obtaining LEED Gold certification for Station Number Four (4) and we anticipate also LEED Silver certification for Fire Station Number Nine (9). Then lastly, obviously, we've got a lot more going on at the Fire Department as a 30,000-foot approach here. We're applying for an Assistance to Firefighters Federal Grant to commission a study to identify cancer risk to our personnel in order to employ a focus, prevention, and early detection program. As you all probably know, one (1) of our firefighters passed away earlier this year from a brain tumor. We have a couple of other individuals within our department who do have cancer currently.They're in various states of the disease. It's really important for us to be able to make sure that we are focusing a prevention program, and an early detection program to not only reduce the amount of pain and suffering associated with cancer in the fire service because EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY ( INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building;227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601!p 574.235.9221'f 574.235.9173 ITTD574.235.5567;www.southbendin.gov 11