Support Services Bureau

Support Services Bureau Captain in Charge: Capt. Ken Rudominer

The Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department Support Services Bureau maintains a comfortable living environment for almost 400 sworn and non-sworn personnel at 13 fire stations and provides all of the tools, equipment and supplies for medical responses, patient care and firefighting.

The Support Services Bureau is also responsible for maintaining, repairing and inspecting the department's more than 83 fire-rescue vehicles. The bureau reviews all requests for repairs and equipment replacement, meets with vendors and researches and tests the latest, state-of-the-art technologies available.

The bureau operates with six full-time and one part-time employee. These individuals also distribute, collect and perform minor repairs on small tools and equipment. Two storekeepers and one service clerk maintain an inventory of office equipment, uniforms and tools that are stored in the warehouse.

The Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department depends on the Support Services Bureau to provide all of the everyday necessities from kitchen utensils to structural firefighting gear, as well as an exhaustive list of advance life support equipment, supplies and medications.

The Communications Center also falls under the scope of responsibility of the Support Services Bureau. The Communications Center operates 24 hours a day, dispatching apparatus to more than 37,000 calls annually.

Communications Center

Communications Coordinator: Marisol DiBernardo

The Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Communications Center is located at the Fort Lauderdale Police Headquarters. It is a multi-agency facility that serves the needs of 13 fire-rescue stations and two police agencies. The Fire-Rescue Communications Center has a dedicated and highly skilled team with more than 75 years of experience in public safety.

In 1999, the Fire-Rescue Department moved from contracting out dispatch services to employing their own dispatchers.

The Fire Communications Center currently operates with 14 communications specialists who are responsible for dispatching Fire-Rescue apparatus, answering non-emergency and emergency calls and coordinating efforts from other local agencies to expedite emergency scene management. The center also employs one communication center supervisor and one communications coordinator.

The City of Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department also implemented a new Computer Aided Dispatch System (CAD) in 1999 and the department is currently integrating an Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) into the system. These technological updates, along with automatic aid agreements and an enhanced 911 telephone system, greatly improve the delivery of more than 37,000 calls annually.