July 10--SALLISAW -- The Sallisaw Fire Department will officially begin responding to basic emergency medical calls within two months.
Following considerable discussion Monday about the scope of the proposed Emergency Medical Responder Service, that the city's firefighters are volunteers and potential liability for the city, the Sallisaw City Commission unanimously approved Fire Chief Anthony Armstrong's proposal.
Armstrong told city officials it would take about two months to achieve the needed state licensing for the service.
The Sallisaw Fire Department plans to join the Sequoyah County Emergency Medical Response Agency which will allow them to work under the supervision and review of a physician medical director and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services, which sets the standards, fire department Captain Jerry Hetherington said. There is no cost to join the agency, and Sallisaw could opt out at any time, Hetherington said.
Armstrong said the calls would be limited to basic emergency care such as controlling bleeding and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He said the department had tried to avoid medical calls, but "we're getting pulled in whether we want to be or not."
It is not unusual, he said, for the firefighters to arrive on an accident scene or other emergency call before an ambulance can arrive and find the people involved need medical care. Recently, he said, the firefighters were the first to arrive following a vehicle accident on U.S. 64 involving a pickup that had been carrying several children in the back. The children were scattered about the highway, and the firefighters were told the ambulance was coming out of Muldrow, several miles away.
City Administrator Bill Baker said medical calls are the bulk of most fire departments' calls now, and he lauded Armstrong for taking the initiative for having 15 of his 19 volunteer firefighters certified as emergency medical responders.
Armstrong said the firefighters gave up their summer last year for the 100-hour training.
According to Armstrong's proposal, an EMR is a basic medical responder who aids patients when an ambulance is not readily available. The service, he said, will give Sallisaw residents faster emergency medical aid, which can be an important life-death factor during critical situations.
According to Armstrong, the certified EMRs are also certified in applying automated external heart defibrillators and CPR.
Armstrong requested and the commission approved a $100 monthly pay increase for the firefighters who choose to participate in the EMR calls. If all 15 EMRs participate, the cost would be $18,000 a year, he said.
Commissioner Julie Ferguson asked if the city would have increased liability due to the service.
Baker said there is liability attached to any service a city provides.
"I think the question is: Do we owe this service to our citizens?" Baker said.
Ferguson said she thinks the $18,000 cost is minimal, and she thinks if the firefighters are willing to provide it, the city should offer the basic response.
Mayor Shannon Vann expressed concern regarding how the firefighters' volunteer status would affect the service.
Armstrong said, "If we can stick to the protocol list and divide the duty into shifts, I think it is doable."
The protocol list attached to the commission's meeting agenda shows that when an ambulance is available in the immediate area, EMRs would be dispatched to traumatic events such as vehicle and industrial accidents and situations with multiple patients. The EMRs would be dispatched in the event of situations such as cardiac arrest and child birth.
According to the attached protocol list, when an ambulance is not available in the immediate area, the EMRs would be dispatched to the situations listed above as well as to patients experiencing other major medical conditions and other significant traumatic injuries, including assault victims and patients suffering fractures.
Will Pope of Pafford EMS, Brushy Fire Department and an organizer of the countywide Medical Response Agency said the primary difference between emergency medical technicians and emergency medical responders is the EMTs receive more training. As far as the technical skills, the differences are minimal, Pope said.
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