Morning Lineup – May 8 Fire 1st responders

Follow @FireGeezer

in Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, morning lineup, Urban Commander 1 day ago 0

Detroit starts sending fire companies as EMS first responders.

There are a handful of big city fire departments that do not send fire suppression units as EMS 1st responders to heart attacks, strokes or other life-threatening calls. Starting last month, Detroit is not one of them.

Steve Neavling has been reporting on the Detroit Fire Department for Motor City Muckracker

In his April 16, 2015, article Saving lives: EMS response times plummet under Mayor Duggan’s watch

When Mayor Mike Duggan took office in January 2014, the average response time was a miserable 18 minutes. Since then, his administration has nearly halved the average time at 10 minutes and 30 seconds after putting more ambulances on the road, using new technologies and incorporating efficiencies.

In an effort to further reduce response times, the city this week began sending select firefighters to emergency medical runs, which is the practice in many cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia.

Improving fire department ems response is not going to be easy: “Detroit’s fire rigs are breaking down at alarming rates; firefighters are fatigued; and the city continues to lead the nation in arsons.”

Today’s Drill: Medical Patient Assessment