Fire - Ask a Firefighter Columns

Glendale Republic
10-04-08

Question: Why do firefighters on fire engines respond to medical calls?

Answer: The Glendale Fire Department, home to some of the Valley's first firefighter paramedics, staffs each fire engine with two trained firefighter emergency medical technicians and two firefighter paramedics.

The training of each member of the crew creates not only a sufficient firefighting team but a well- balanced medical unit trained to provide basic and advanced life-support care. The department also has ladder trucks, units with specialized equipment used to assist fire engine crews at a fire scene or a car crash. You may have noticed these trucks by the large ladder on top.

Ladder trucks are staffed with four EMT-firefighters, which allow them to also respond to medical emergencies.

Because fire engines are more prevalent than ambulances and because fire stations are strategically located throughout the community, this allows for a very quick response time, usually within four minutes.

In emergencies, time is of the essence. Survivability decreases with every minute that passes when a person has suffering a stroke, cardiac arrest or serious injuriy.

In Glendale, Southwest Ambulance vehicles are dispatched along with Glendale fire units.
Together, Glendale firefighters and Southwest Ambulance crews transport customers with basic and advanced life-support care to hospitals, where patient care will continue.

The Glendale Fire Department's mission statement is "Fast, Caring, Innovative and Professional." We strive on every call to display our mission statement through our actions and the way we care for our customers.

Firefighter Daniel T. Valenzuela is the public information officer for the Glendale Fire Department. E-mail your questions to him at askafirefighter@glendaleaz.com.