Firefighters in rural Caddo County were limited to what emergency care they could offer to patients while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
But, that's about to change for residents served by the Cogar Fire Department.
New certifications will allow them to perform more than just basic first aid, KOCO reported.
“It’s a huge weight lifted off our shoulders knowing that we can perform our duties that we’ve been trained to do,” Fire Chief Jacon Hickey said adding that some have earned EMRA licenses from Heartland Medical Direction.
“I would say 10 years ago we were under 10% medical calls, and this past year, we’re 60 to 70% medical calls," said Hickey. "We’ve really tried to put an emphasis on that and get some more EMTs and EMRs on the department.”
The team of 14 now has one EMT and one EMR, with four finishing school early next year.
