►
Description
On this episode of CityTalk with John McIntire, John talks to Mark Pinchalk from the Department of Public Safety and Alaa Mohamed from the Department of Innovation & Performance.
A
A
Welcome
to
city
talk,
and
you
might
ask
yourself
a
question.
We
ask
ourselves
all
the
time
around
the
city
county
building
what
these
people
do
all
day.
Let's
say
hello
to
our
first
guest
on
this
episode:
assistant
chief
mark
pinchok
of
the
department
of
emergency
medical
services.
Chief
welcome
to
the
program.
A
So
I
guess
you're
in
management
now,
but
like
everybody
else
or
most
everybody
else
in
this
department,
you
started
out
on
the
streets
as
an
emt.
B
Yeah
actually
was
hired
as
a
paramedic.
I
started
the
city
back
in
1990
and
I
worked
in
the
field
until
2014
when
I
got
promoted
in
the
administrative
staff.
B
A
B
Yeah
winners,
obviously
a
challenge:
traffic,
construction,
large
events,
there's
a
lot
of
different
things
that
can
cause
us
problems
from
time
to
time,
but
we
make
do
and
get
through
it.
A
B
I
think
it's
a
career,
a
lot
of
people
have
an
interest
in
getting
involved
in
medicine
and
emergency
medicine.
Like
I
said,
a
lot
of
people
kind
of
feel
like
I'll.
Do
this
for
a
couple
years
and
then
move
on
to
something
else.
But
then
you
know
people
have
a
passion
for
it
and
get
involved
in
a
lot
of
stuff
tend
to
stick
around
and
make
it
a
career.
A
So
let's
talk
about
a
couple
of
major
events
during
your
time,
both
as
an
emtn
as
a
manager.
You
were
there
well
just
recently
helping
out
with
the
bridge
collapse.
B
Yeah,
I
was
part
of
our
response.
That
was
a
good
team
effort
there.
Fortunately,
it
did
not
end
up
being
a
large
problem
as
far
as
having
a
lot
of
severely
injured
people
or
people
entrapped.
So
from
an
operational
standpoint,
it
wasn't
a
big
problem,
but
we
had
a
good
team
of
our
personnel
and
obviously
worked
with
police
and
fire
and
the
arrest
of
public
safety
to
mitigate
that
problem.
A
B
Yeah,
I
wouldn't
say
freaked
out
it's
kind
of
like
you
get
into
decision
making
mode
and
you
take
a
look
at
it.
It's
a
little
bit
surprising
at
first,
but
then
it's
come
over
hey
what
objectives
do
we
need
to
accomplish?
What
do
we
need
to
get
done
and
how
do
we
do
that?
So
we
integrate
and
we
call
an
incident
command
system
well,.
B
So
I
interfaced
with
the
first
district
chief
on
scene
who
assumed
incident
commander,
was
antoine
carter
and
we
discussed
the
situation
and
we
didn't
have
anyone
down
below
in
the
ravine
at
that
point.
So
he
asked
me
if
I'd
go
down
and
take
charge
of
the
operation
down
there.
So
I
made
my
way
down
with
some
police
officers
and
there
were
some
firefighters
there
and
then
we
took
care
of
some
injured
person,
personnel
down
below.
A
And
another
huge
event
that
you
took
part
in
organizing
the
response
to
was,
of
course,
the
tragic
tree
of
life
shootings.
How
did
you
handle
that.
B
Yeah,
so
we
had
actually
a
few
months
before
that
happened
put
together
a
joint
public
safety,
active
shooter
after
threat
response
plan,
so
we
had
had
a
preliminary
plan
we
had
built
and
actually
have
been
jointly
training
on,
so
we
weren't
completely
trained
as
an
organization.
At
that
point,
some
of
our
people
are
trained,
so
we
kind
of
managed
the
problem.
As
planned,
we
had
a
plan
for
how
we
would
work
with
police
and
insert
personnel
in
that
situation
and
go
for
casualties
and
stuff.
So
we
went
pretty
well.
A
B
Yeah
and
I
used
to
when
we
were
teaching
the
classes,
I
would
always
start
off
hey
well.
This
will
probably
never
happen
here,
but
this
was
just
an
opportunity
to
train
together
and
make
us
better
at
fundamentals
of
medical
care
and
integrated
operations.
So
obviously
don't
say
that
anymore,
but
we
we
had
worked
together
as
a
department
to
come
up
with
a
plan
for
that
contingency
and
we
were
able
to
make
it
work
when
the
time
came.
A
B
B
Batchel's
was
in
natural
sciences
areas,
that's
the
college
of
general
science
or
night
school
didn't
have
a
biology
program,
so
I
was
as
close
as
I
could
get,
and
then
there
used
to
be
a
branch
campus
out
here
for
drexel
or
something
more,
but
I
did
public
safety
and
emergency
services
administration.
A
Well,
you
mentioned
you
had
to
obviously
automatically
keep
your
cool
under
fire
at
the
bridge
collapse.
I
guess
that's
part
of
the
doing.
What
you
do
is
that
you
have
to
be
able
to
take
a
deep
breath
and
be
calm
about
whatever
your
next
activity
is
because
in
some
cases,
life
and
death
is
writing
on
it.
B
Yeah
and
it's,
I
think
it's
just
a
function
of
experience.
That's
what
everyone
in
every
position
in
the
organization
needs
to
do
when
we
face
a
problem,
and
I
think
it's
just
you're
getting
years
of
experience
and
seeing
a
lot
of
different
stuff
and
different
volumes
of
stuff.
I
think
the
longer
you
do,
the
job,
the
better
you
are
at
doing
that,
but
we
have
some
very
young
employees
that
are
very.
B
That
deep
breath
and
just
working
and
managing
problems.
A
It's
good
to
know
now
I'm
told
that
across
the
country
they're
having
trouble
recruiting
paramedics
these
days,
but
the
problem
isn't
as
bad
in
pittsburgh.
Is
that
right.
B
No
we're
in
pretty
good
shape,
we're
pretty
close
to
our
maximum
budgeted
number
of
positions,
so
we're
in
good
shape.
Our
system
has
a
good
reputation
nationally,
and
our
compensation
package
is
a
little
bit
above
everyone
else
around
us,
so
we've
been
keeping
up
with
the
problem.
I
know.
Other
areas
of
the
of
the
state
and
across
the
country
are
having
significant
issues
right
now,
but
we're
still
in
pretty
good
shape
here.
A
Was
it
strange
at
all
initially
making
the
transition
from
a
worker
bee
to
a
manager,
I'm
not
implying
that
managers
don't
work?
Of
course
they
do,
but
you
know
what
I
mean
from
from
not
running
the
show
to
running
the
show.
B
Yeah,
it
is
in
a
way
it's
nice
because
you
can
to
build
the
system.
You
want
to
build
it
now
and
make
decisions
and
just
implement
programs
that
I
want
to
implement.
The
hard
part
is
not
being
out
in
the
field
and
physically
working
with
everyone
and
doing
the
job
all
the
time.
So
I
get
out
you
obviously
on
occasions
and
larger
incidents
or
sometimes
stop
it
more
routine
calls.
But
I
do
miss
that
part
of
it.
B
Yeah,
I
really
love
going
to
national
parks.
My
family,
with
a
couple
of
friends,
we're
gonna
go
out
west
this
summer
and
out
to
a
glacier
national
park.
I've
never
been
out
there,
but
really
like
going
to
like
shenandoah
national
park
and
some
of
the
other
parks
as
region
and
getting
out
doing
some
hiking,
and
I
have
a
wife
and
two
girls,
so
they're
not
big
on
camping
but
we'll
stay
in
the
national
park,
lodges
and
stuff,
that's
the
closest
I
can
get
them.
A
B
B
A
Well,
it
sounds
like
your
hobby
of
hiking
is
perfect
for
covid,
because
you
don't
have
to
be
around
a
lot
of
other
people
to
enjoy
yourself.
How
have
you
and
your
family
been
coping
with
coke.
B
We've
been
good,
you
know
in
the
early
days
when
everyone
was
kind
of
sheltering
place,
we
we
had
netflix.
We
never
really
watched
it
a
whole
lot,
so
we
watched
a
lot
of
series
on
netflix
and
then
my
older
daughter
and
I
went
out
and
did
a
lot
of
hiking
on
the
weekends
during
that
first
year
and
found
a
really
a
lot
of
nice
places
in
southwestern
pa
to
go
hike
and
find
waterfalls
and
that
kind
of
stuff.
B
A
All
right:
well,
I
won't
keep
you
any
final
words
for
the
people
who
watch
city
channel
pittsburgh.
B
A
Welcome
back
to
city
talk:
let's
meet
somebody
from
my
department
within
the
city
of
pittsburgh,
the
department
of
innovation
and
performance,
we're
the
tech
people.
We
run
the
computers
and
such
say
hello,
to
allah
muhammad
who
has
joined
us
recently
in
the
department.
Ala
welcome
to
the
program,
hi
john
thanks
for
having
me
so
I've
had
some.
I
have
a
really
drab
background
here.
It's
just
a
whiteboard
in
the
daisy
lamkin
conference
room,
but
you've
got
some
like
really
cool,
colorful
stuff
behind
you.
What
on
earth
is
that.
C
Yeah
one
of
my
housemates
is
really
into
action:
figurines
and
anime
and
pokemon.
So
he's
got
quite
the
collection
in
the
room
that
I'm
in
right
now
and
I
thought
it
would
make
a
good
background
now.
C
Think
it's
the
best
part
of
work
from
home
life
is
seeing
what
what
the
homes
like
the
homes
that
come
up
on
screen
behind
people.
What's
behind
you,
you
have
something
written
on
the
whiteboard
behind
you.
A
Whiteboard
I
had
written
city
talk
earlier,
as
you
can
see,
but
one
thing
it
looked
like
you
know
some
third
grader
or
either
that
or
something
drunk
had
written
it,
and
so.
A
Sit
in
front
forget
that
I
never
tried
it.
I
like
it
all
right.
So
what
do
you
do
for
the
department
of
innovation
and
performance.
C
Well,
I
hope
so
it's
been
a
lot
of
fun
and
I
mean
I'm
just
over
a
month
in
right
now
so
still
learning
about
my
job.
But
it's
been
really.
A
C
Yes,
I
think
that
the
civic
innovation
team
is
kind
of
like
an
engine
driver
for
some
of
the
city's
priorities,
some
of
the
mayor's
priorities.
C
So
we
think
it's
really
important
for
both
to
get
exposure
to
the
kinds
of
things
happening
outside
the
technologies
that
we
can
be
bringing
into
the
to
the
city
to
help
address
civic
problems,
but
also
to
build
connections
with
those
innovators.
Those
people
that
are
on
the
front
lines
of
solving
civic
problems.
A
C
Well
right
now
we
have
a
program
called
pgh
lab,
and
that
program
is
what
we
we're
marketing.
That
program
is
what
we
currently
rely
on
to
reach
people
we
put
out
press
releases.
We
use
our
social
media
platforms,
we
use
word
of
mouth.
I
am
not
the
first
person
to
have
this
job.
C
They
did
a
lot
of
really
great
work.
I
also
have
a
partner
in
crime
within
civic
innovation,
trevor
saul,
who
I
think,
you've
interviewed
also
before,
but
he
also
has
done
a
lot
of
work
in
making
my
transition
really
smooth.
I
also
come
from
city
government,
so
I
worked
for
just
over
two
years
with
the
city
of
pittsburgh
before
this
role,
and
so
I
also
have
an
advantage
there,
where
I
have
some
pre-existing
knowledge
and
relationships
within
the
city
as
well.
A
So
you
are,
you
were
born
in
egypt,
which
I
think
is
a
really
interesting
and
fun
fact.
Yeah.
C
Well,
I've
been
back
since
we've
left
I've
been
back
every
couple
of
years,
so
I
have
a
pretty
good
understanding
of
my
culture
and
my
heritage,
but
I
also
actually
have
quite
a
few
memories
of
those
first
five
years
of
my
life
as
well.
Before
moving
to
the
united
states,
I
remember
coming
to
the
united
states
landing
on
landing
at
jfk.
C
It
was
the
winter,
and
so
I
remember
stepping
outside
and
like
being
amazed
at
the
tree
branches
and
how
there
were
absolutely
no
leaves
there
was
nothing
there
yeah.
That's
I.
I
have
a
few
memories
from
that
time.
C
C
Not
a
lot
of
things
happened,
yeah,
not
a
lot
to
do.
Maybe
that's
a
good
thing
for
someone
who
is
still
getting
used
to
a
new
country,
a
new
culture
trying
to
like
understand
the
world
around
them.
A
C
C
Well,
I
visited
pittsburgh
when
I
was
in
high
school
and
at
the
time
I
was
interested
in
medicine,
and
the
university
of
pittsburgh
obviously
is
really
well
positioned
for
pre-med
courses
with
all
the
different
amazing
ads
and
meds
in
the
region.
It's
really
appealing
place
to
be
also,
to
be
honest
with
you,
I
something
about
leaving
central
pa
and
that
rural
life
and
coming
to
pittsburgh
reminded
me
of
alexandria,
which
is
where
I
was
born,
and
so
I
was
like
this.
A
Oh
getting
a
advanced
degree.
C
Well,
I've
been
doing
a
lot
of
moving
around
living
with
different
people
at
different
times,
trying
to
figure
out
how
do
you
maintain
close
relationships
with
people
in
a
healthy
way
during
a
global
pandemic?
C
C
No,
I
cannot
claim
that.
No,
however,
I
do
have
friends
who
are
good
at
making
bread
and
I
enjoy
eating
their
bread.
A
C
A
lot
of
cooking
a
lot
of
reading,
I
have
been
reading
a
lot
and
then
I
also
started.
I
went
back
to
school
during
that
first
year
of
the
pandemic
too,
so
I
found
different
ways
to
keep
myself
busy.
C
Well,
all
things
in
balance,
but
I
I
am
not
surprised.
I
think
that
pittsburgh
in
in
particular,
one
of
the
reasons
why
I
was
interested
in
working
for
the
city
was
to
better
understand
how
to
make
the
city
better
for
people
like
me,
and
I
think
pittsburgh's
been
improving
drastically
for
the
last
several
decades,
and
I
I
knew
that
coming
in
and
it
was
just
amazing
to
get
to
meet
the
people
that
were
on
the
front
lines
of
that
change
and
get
to
learn
from
them.
C
I
mean
that's
a
that's
a
big
question
for
me
and
I
think
I'm
still
trying
to
figure
that
out.
I
think
that
it
opens
up
a
few
different
paths.
I
can
stay
within
government
and
there's
a
lot
of
ways
that
the
tools
that
I'm
learning
about
right
now
will
aid
that
kind
of
career
within
government,
or
I
can
move
into
different
kinds
of
ways
of
trying
to
figure
out
what
is
the
what's
the
best
lever
of
impact
that
I
want
to
use
to
make
this
world
better.
So
yeah.