Fire Chief and Health Officer Andrew Turcotte in a video early on in the pandemic reminding people to sanitize and wear facemasks. Turcotte has expanded the department to focus not only on fires, but public health and safety overall. File photo

Burnout from 80-hour work weeks during the pandemic caused former Westbrook Fire Department Chief and city Health Officer Andrew Turcotte to resign this fall and the department is trying to keep that from happening again.

The department has created a new deputy chief position specifically to focus on EMS and health duties, parts of the department’s responsibilities that expanded under Turcotte’s tenure, especially during the pandemic.

Turcotte’s long hours prevented him from spending enough time with his family, he told the American Journal Monday, and handling all of the Westbrook department’s public health services, such as COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, added to his workload.

The new position is being advertised now and the chief’s position will likely be advertised in the new year, Mayor Mike Foley said.

“The current demand in the public health arena has really driven the need for this position and will be one of the main focuses for the EMS deputy,” interim Fire Chief Steve Sloan said. “They will be charged with developing an in-house continuing education program for all of our providers. Our EMS licenses are valid for two years, and in order to relicense with the state we need continuing education hours.”

Turcotte said the position will be good for the department, considering 85% of the roughly 4,500 calls annually are related to health and fewer than 1% are for fires. He predicts total calls to increase this year and in coming years to an average of 4,700 calls, based on the current trajectory.

The position is a good start, Turcotte said, though he said he would like the city to pay higher than $15 an hour for per diem firefighters and $18-$20 for full-time personnel.

“We’ve really turned into an all-hazards agency. Hazards, confined space, water rescue, and there aren’t too many careers out there where employees take on six-plus roles,” Turcotte said. “That’s a lot to ask.”

Turcotte is widely credited with expanding the fire department, not only in staff from 32 members when he took the office in 2013 to 45 now, but in services, including COVID-19 vaccination clinics and testing sites, public outreach and campaigns promoting public health.

“Andy brings to the position an absolutely incredible work ethic, energy, and is willing to go outside of the normal boundaries. That shows up in everything, but that showed up most during the pandemic,” City Administrator Jerre Bryant said.

“The downside of that type of approach is there is only so much time in the day, week and month, and if you are putting extraordinary time into work, other areas suffer,” Bryant said. “That’s the change he’s trying to make, a better work-life balance. If this move can make that happen, he will be a tremendous success and he deserves to have all aspects of his life be positive and successful.”

Turcotte stepped down Oct. 29 and has accepted a job as a firefighter and paramedic for the Falmouth Fire Department.

“If anyone was in my shoes, over the past two years spending 80-plus hours a week on the pandemic, they’d get burnt out and frankly that’s what I was getting. This allows me an opportunity to have time off, and focus on other important things in my life like family,” Turcotte said.