In addition to firefighting duties, the fire suppression personnel provide emergency medical care to the citizens and visitors to the City of Lawrence. The Fire Department joins with the contract emergency ambulance provider for the city in responding to most medical emergencies in the city. The contract emergency ambulance provider provides ambulance service at the Basic Life Support Level (BLS), while Advance Life Support (ALS) is provide by Paramedic 2 and Paramedic 200 from Lawrence General Hospital. All Fire Department personnel are trained and certified as First Responders, while some are trained and certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's). All of the fire apparatus are equipped with medical equipment and supplies to handle most regular medical emergencies. In addition, all of the fire apparatus are equipped with automatic external defibrillators (AED) which were funded through grants. These devices are instrumental in saving the lives of people in sudden cardiac arrest. All Fire Alarm Operators are trained and certified in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). These people are able to provide pre-arrival CPR instructions to callers prior to the arrival of the fire apparatus and ambulance. This effectively puts trained medical help on-scene (via telephone) in seconds, even while the fire apparatus are still responding to the emergency to provide hands-on assistance. By having these trained dispatch personnel, the proper response equipment, and trained response personnel sent to the medical emergency in the city, the quality of life of our citizens and visitors is greatly enhanced.
|
|
