Prince George Fire Rescue Chief John Lane is seeking emergency medical responder status for the city's firefighters, following a 22-month pilot program that saw them perform many of the same duties paramedics provide.
Over that time, 60 per cent of the 9,795 calls firefighters answered were for medical assistance, in which they provided care at the upgraded licence level they achieved over the last several years.
With a physician providing program oversight, firefighters performed blood glucose measurement and intravenous maintenance, administered nitroglycerine and Aspirin to patients with diagnosed angina, and, on two occasions, delivered babies.
"We certainly believe that we have shown that firefighters under medical direction can perform these skills safely, effectively and cost effectively," Lane said. "We believe that as a result of the program, a number of our citizens have benefited from better care and more timely care than before we had it."
Particularly helpful, in Lane's opinion, were the times firefighters administered nitrous oxide for pain relief to patients in prolonged situations due to entanglement, difficult rescues or ambulance delay.
Firefighters also prepared patients for transport ,which Lane said significantly improved their comfort and reduced their on-scene times once an ambulance arrived.
"This has been particularly important in the winter months when patients have fallen outside and ambulance arrival has been delayed, or when ambulance crews have deemed the scene too risky to enter," Lane said in a report for city council.
Examples include an assault in front of the courthouse and, most recently, the Lakeland Mill explosion and fire, Lane said, where fire crews were required to evacuate and actually transport several patients to hospital.
Following changes to a provincial government regulation that allowed firefighters to increase their skills beyond the first responder level, Prince George Fire Rescue began training its personnel in 2006 to the emergency medical responder level.
Reaching the new certification is cost effective, Lane said, because the licence duration is five years, compared to three for first responder, and because the funding the B.C. Ambulance Service had provided for first responder training was discontinued in 2009.
Lane is now in the process of convincing the province's Emergency and Health Services Commission to make the Prince George program permanent. As part of that process, he will be seeking support from city council at an upcoming meeting.
Lane's proposal was on the agenda for last Monday's meeting but he was unable to appear and the item was deferred. On that same day, the provincial government introduced legislation to expand the scope of paramedics' work to such duties as triaging patients in emergency situations where no doctors or nurses are available.
The legislation would allow paramedics to work in more emergency health care situations and facilities, especially when their skills are needed in extraordinary or catastrophic situations.
Lane said he was unable to comment on whether this legislation would affect firefighters.
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)