POCATELLO -- When you call for an ambulance and it's determined to be a life-threatening situation, you can expect a fully staffed fire engine to also pull up to the scene for one very simple reason, authorities said. They're needed.
"If you have something like a cardiac arrest, you need more than just the two people in the ambulance ," said Shawn Ralphs, a captain with the Pocatello Fire Department.
David Scott, a Pocatello firefighter who is also one of the department's paramedics, said a situation is deemed life-threatening by dispatchers using national guidelines based on certain information garnered during an emergency call.
He said almost every such incident requires the additional support in caring for those who are injured or ailing.
"You need more than just two sets of hands," said Scott, rifling through a list of all the potential aid that may need to be administered. "The faster you can get these things done, the more of them you can get done at once, the better the likely outcome is for the patient."
That often means that even when both paramedics -- each Pocatello ambulance is staffed with two paramedics -- are able to work on a patient, other firefighters are often contributing as well.
Ralphs said it can be something as simple as that patient needing to be removed from a particular place, such as a car or home, or moved from one place to another.
Those other firefighters, all of whom are EMTs -- a requirement to work for the Pocatello Fire Department -- can also provide some basic medical care, such as CPR, checking vitals or hooking up an IV, while the paramedics are assessing the bigger picture, using the information garnered by the EMT to make a decision about what specific services need to be administered.
Even when the patient has been cared for at the scene, if transport is needed , an EMT will often be needed as well.
"Any time you transport someone, one of the paramedics is up front driving," Scott said.
Neither Ralphs nor Scott knew what percentage of ambulance calls included the dispatching of an engine. But the numbers, they said, could be less than illuminating anyway.
"There are a number of times, when you get out there and realize you don't need (an engine), or times when one wasn't dispatched and we find one is needed," Scott said. "I would guess the majority of the time, inside the city limits, a fire truck is also dispatched."
While there is a fee charged for services as they relate to the ambulance, there is no charge for the services should an engine be dispatched.
Ralphs and Scott did not know how much that services fee was and whether it varied based on the services provided.
Ralphs said the Pocatello Fire Department only sends engines to lifethreatening incidents within the city limits. Pocatello paramedics, however, also provide service in Chubbuck and throughout Bannock County.
He said when in Chubbuck , Pocatello paramedics are assisted by the Chubbuck Fire Department when needed. In the county, they are assisted by local volunteer services where available, and by the Bannock County Sheriff's Office where they are not.
Bannock County currently has a referendum on the Tuesday ballot requesting an increase to the Ambulance District Levy. The increase would amount to about $15 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
Officials say there has not been an increase to the levy since it was established in 1978 and services are stretched today far beyond what they were back then.
To pass, the levy will need approval from a super majority, or two-thirds of voters.
