The Fire Chief's office is the Executive Branch of the Fire Rescue Department. Its personnel report directly to the Fire Chief. This office provides guidance, defines standards of performance, fiscal responsibility, and provides overall leadership and direction for all Divisions within the Department.

The office of the Deputy Fire Chief provides overall administrative oversight for OCFRD while also coordinating and managing large scale projects, including the agency budget, union contract negotiations, and local government coordination - including automatic aid and mutual aid agreements. This office is responsible for managing special projects and also provides daily oversight to the six division chiefs.

The Operations Division is the largest and most visible division. It responds to emergency calls with personnel who are both trained firefighters and paramedics/EMT's. Emergency calls have been increasing at an average annual rate of about 8%. The Department has mutual aid agreements and/or first response arrangements with other municipalities. The Operations Division includes the following areas of responsibility.

Field Services operates the County's 39 fire stations, across six battalions. Under the Division Chief/Operations, Battalion Chiefs supervise each battalion supported by Assistant Chiefs who deal with daily operations. Field Services are performed by lieutenants, engineers, and firefighters, engaged mainly in fire/emergency response activities and community public safety-related duties. Frontline personnel work on a 24 hours on, 48 hours off shift schedule.

Squads 1, 3 and 4 consist of a vehicle and team, which handle the county's hazardous materials mitigation and containment activity in conjunction with other agencies in the county. These Squads also provide EMS services and assists with water rescue efforts. The Squads' four personnel, including a Paramedic, have been trained in hazard operations and hazardous materials handling measures.

Emergency Medical Services provides pre-hospital medical care and patient transportation to area hospitals, as well as proactive preventative health services to the community following local, state, federal and industry standards. EMS is provided by our personnel who are certified as Firefighter/EMT's and Firefighter/Paramedics. The EMS Bureau and Operations Divisions together employ about 85% of all Fire Rescue personnel.

FireStar is Orange County Fire-Rescue's transport helicopter for medical operations. It provides EMS transportation in the most critical of cases requiring prompt hospital care, transfers from remote locations, and other forms of assistance. FireStar also responds to other counties and jurisdictions as requested by agencies in and around Central Florida.

Quality Assurance - The EMS Quality Management Program consists of documentation review, scene observation, skills evaluation, patient outcome and customer satisfaction review for the purposes of recognition of excellence and the identification of processes that can benefit from quality improvement activities.

The Training Division conducts both certified and non-certified firefighter recruit classes and is responsible for the training of all field personnel. This is all inclusive from orientation through probationary status to ongoing career training and development. The Training Division consists of:

New Firefighter Training & Development – The purpose of this program is to establish through written and practical processes, the necessary skill level required of a new firefighter. Probationary firefighters' skills are evaluated on a daily basis and assessments are required at six and eleven months. Successful skill levels are required to maintain employment with the Orange County Fire Rescue Department.

In-Service Training & Officer Development – Continuing education and training ensures that the members of OCFRD perform their duties efficiently, effectively, and safely. Training is one of the core values of OCFRD with emphasis on providing excellent and safe training; assuring the members' families that they will return home safely at the completion of their tour of duty as well as providing excellent customer service to the citizens and visitors to Orange County.

Fire Rescue's Administration Division performs many of the central core functions necessary for the smooth operation of a large Fire Rescue agency. In addition to the following, the Administration Division is responsible for land procurement and construction of future fire stations. The Administration Division consists of:

Employee Services Bureau processes the payroll for all of Orange County Fire Rescue's employees. They are responsible for employment, compensation, employee relations, training and benefits, which include educational assistance, dependent changes, and family medical leave. Employee Services is geared towards providing quality service and support to all Fire Rescue employees, enabling them to better serve the citizens and visitors of Orange County.

Finance Bureau oversees the finances of the entire Fire Rescue Department. They are responsible for budget preparation, forecasting of revenue and expenditures, billing for all services, union contract financial analysis, and processing of all purchases. They are also a liaison with the Comptroller's Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Purchasing and Contracts Division.

Finance Bureau assists in determining the most responsible way to spend taxpayer dollars while delivering the highest level of public safety demanded by our citizens. In addition, they must also function in a supporting role during natural disasters to ensure that funds are available in emergency situations.

Safety & Wellness Bureau oversees our Safety and Risk Management program and has implemented a Fitness program whose mission is the prevention of injury and disease by providing fitness education techniques, prevention oriented healthcare, and job specific rehabilitative services.

Safety is comprised of 3 Field Safety Officers to aide in the prevention of injuries and accidents. The Safety Officers are responsible for firefighter safety on the scene, investigating injuries and accidents, and overall safety of our personnel.

Risk Management receives and reviews all notice of injury reports, vehicle accident and general liability claims, and provides assurance that all employees receive proper medical care. Risk Management also manages the Modified Duty Program and Annual Physical Program.

Wellness oversees the Fire Department's Wellness Program, coordination of PAT tests, fitness evaluation tests, and the design of individual fitness programs for our employees.

Planning & Research Bureau provides an important role to the Orange County Fire Rescue Department through the analysis of data and reports, monitoring trends, and tracking the agency's Performance Indicators and standards compliance. This team also manages ISO information requests, tracks land use changes, development process, and annexation issues. Staff are also responsible for coordination of GIS information and mapping, including the production of the emergency response map book. Additionally, this area manages a very large OCFRD intranet (internal internet) and the OCFRD public web site.

Recruitment - In order to meet the personnel needs of our growing department and to introduce the fire service as a career to segments of our community that traditionally has not been part of our candidate pool, OCFRD has established programs to support our recruitment effort. These programs include Certified Firefighter, Non-Certified Firefighter, Reserves and the Tech-Prep Program.

Those services include the processing of emergency and non-emergency calls, providing life saving medical instructions over the phone to callers in need, coordinating the dispatch and assignment of field apparatus, managing hospital emergency room and EMS medical director availability for the entire county, coordinating patient flow for any Mass Casualty Incident in the County and functioning as the liaison between Orange County and the State Warning Point for all major incidents.

During 2002, the Fire Communications Division implemented a new fire station alerting system. The new technology lets dispatchers alert each fire station in less than one second.

The Fire Departments 911 Center handles more than 1,000 phone calls a day and dispatches emergency units to more than 280 fire and medical incidents each day. Last year, fire rescue dispatchers processed more than 96,000 emergency alarms and were credited with saving the lives of several citizens through the provision of pre-arrival medical care.

Performance standards for the Center are tracked and personnel consistently answer incoming 911 lines in less than 10 seconds. Call processing time, which is the time from when 911 is answered until the time emergency units are deployed is consistently less than 60 seconds.

The Fire Communications Division also provides coordination of the agency's telecommunications systems, including tracking of all mobile and portable 800 Mhz radios, tracking alphanumeric pagers assigned to 1,000 personnel, and monitoring telephone, cellular, and FAX systems for the agency. The Division also manages more than eight million dollars in automated systems used in the Fire Dispatch center, including the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, Records Management System (RMS), Mobile Data Computer (MDC) system, Enhanced 911, and the Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system.

Fleet Maintenance – Responsible for the Specifications and purchasing of all emergency response apparatus and maintains it in its totality. Provides and maintains all small equipment, and self-contained breathing apparatus to increase operational safety, effectiveness and to minimize respiratory hazards encountered on many on-scene working environments.

Facilities - Ensures all Orange County Fire Rescue facilities are environmentally safe, secure and in good repair. This is accomplished through an aggressive building repair program and long term planning utilizing the Facilities Capital Improvement Program.

Inventory & Records Control – Oversee the entire inventory and records functions. This includes over $35 million in inventory and the tracking and maintaining all records in accordance with the State mandated Record Retention Schedule.

Office of the Fire Marshal - To reduce risk, frequency, number, consequences, dollar loss and casualties of fire in unincorporated Orange County. This bureau consists of three (3) areas: Plans Review, New Construction Testing and Inspections, and Maintenance and Code Enforcement Inspections. Most of the bureau's work is based on the requirements of Florida Statute #633 which directs every municipality to adopt a minimum fire code and establish uniform fire safety rules for certain occupancies.

Supply (Warehouse) – To provide goods and services to the Fire Rescue Department in a timely manner. This includes all uniforms, Personal Protective Equipment, furniture, appliances and office supplies for all fire facilities; and to serve as the liaison between County Purchasing and the various vendors who provide the goods and services contracted.

One of the primary responsibilities of the Orange County Office of Emergency Management is to develop a local emergency management operations plan. This plan addresses all emergency response functions of local government during emergencies and disasters. The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan is designed to assist in ensuring that jurisdictions in Orange County can effectively prepare for response and recovery from emergencies and disasters.

The Office of Emergency Management is also responsible for the activation and operation of the County's Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The EOC serves as the central clearinghouse for information collection and coordination of response and resources within the county. This includes the thirteen municipalities within the county.