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Firefighters to answer calls to 911

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Quicker response cited in change

Reprinted from: Richmond Times Dispatch, October 31, 1990

By Mark Johnson and Battinto Batts Jr.

Two cars smash into each other at a busy downtown intersection. A North Side man collapses from a heart attack. A youngster stumbles in her front yard, braking her arm.

A caller punches 911.

But instead of an ambulance and two paramedics rolling up to the scene, starting tomorrow, a firetruck loaded with firefighters in coats and helmets will show up first.

"We're still the good guys," Richmond Fire Chief Ronald Lewis said. "Most of the time the public is happy to see us arrive."

Beginning at 8 a.m. tomorrow, the city's First Responder program goes into gear. When a Richmond resident calls for emergency medial help, a fire engine will be dispatched at the same time an ambulance is called out.

With 20 fire stations around the city, firefighters will be able to reach an emergency within three to five minutes, city officials said. Ambulances from Richmond Ambulance Service Inc. or one of the volunteer rescue squads, coming from one of nine locations, have an average seven-minute response time, officials said.

In cases like heard attacks, those first few minutes are crucial.

"Anything that can benefit patient care is a plus for the city," said Andrew H. Farmer, president of the Forest View Volunteer Rescue Squad.

Forest View and other volunteer squads squabbled with the city in recent months over the city's demand for more advanced training for squad members. In July, Forest View voted to leave the city for their Chesterfield operation, only to reverse themselves two weeks later.

This time around, it appears the squads and the city see eye to eye.

"We need all the help we can in providing care to the city," Farmer said. "We're happy to have them with us."

Although the new program will mean a faster response time for victims, the workload for firefighters is expected to increase 40 percent, without an increase in pay.

"The last statement on the job description is 'other duties as assigned,'" said Lt. Kyle L Kyger of Engine Company 24 in South Side.

All 500 of Richmond's firefighters have received intensive medical training to treat the first few minutes of all sorts of trauma and ailments. Almost half of them are trained emergency medical technicians. Fire engines have also been equipped with advances medical supplies.

"We've done a good job [fighting fires]," Kyger said

The problem now, said Kyger, a 17-year veteran of the fire bureau, is that answering medical calls will sometimes take them away from battling flames.

"Hopefully we can do both equally well."

Fire officials recognize the potential problem of a fire breaking out and the nearest trucks being tied up on medical calls.

"Fire suppression is still number one," Chief Lewis said. Among the safeguards the city has built into the First Responder system is a clause that allows the fire bureau to stop responding to medical calls if two-thirds of their personnel are working fires or other medical emergencies.

Cities across the country, and even neighboring counties, have already gone to a First Responder program.

Richmond officials see the city's First Responder operation as yet another step toward a more rapid and more effective Emergency Medical Services system. In recent months, the city has revamped the ambulance service, spent about $2 million on new ambulances and required that paramedics have the highest level of training possible.

And, now it has mobilized the city's firefighters, who seemed up for the new task.

"We're a quick-response organization," said firefighter Ronald T. Jones, of Engine 24. "When we get a call, we're right out the door."