May 01--The president of the firefighters' union says Albuquerque can afford to add a paramedic to its fire engines without pulling a medic off the rescue vehicles they're now stationed on.
That's because many of the city's fire engines already have someone qualified to handle paramedic duties, though they aren't used in that capacity, according to Diego Arencon, president of the local unit of the International Fire Fighters Association.
To start operating as paramedics, they need equipment and the speciality pay that comes with handling medic duties, Arencon said.
The city is already buying the equipment, and Arencon said the firefighters are willing to discuss giving up plans for a 1 percent across-theboard raise to make money available for speciality pay that would be needed by the medics on fire engines.
"I see an opportunity here to truly expand and not dilute the (Advanced Life Support) service that we provide the citizens," Arencon said.
Fire Chief James Breen said his staff is evaluating the union's proposal, but it appears to be impractical from a financial standpoint.
"The fire union's proposal is costly, inefficient, unsustainable, and is not supported by any known evidenced-based research, industry best practices, AFD's Medical Director, or the city's (Emergency Medical Services) Authority," Breen said in a written statement.
The debate comes after Mayor Richard Berry and the City Council approved nearly $1 million in funding to buy paramedic equipment for fire engines.
The Berry administration, in turn, wants to take one paramedic off of AFD's rescue units -- ambulance-like vehicles with two paramedics currently -- and move that medic over to a fire engine.
By splitting up the paramedics -- one on a rescue, one an engine -- the city essentially doubles the number of paramedic-staffed units available to respond to calls, the administration contends.
That will reduce response times and save lives, supporters say.
But not everyone is convinced it's the best option.
Max Heyman, an AFD paramedic, said it's useful to have two medics on the scene together. Moving toward a system in which the rescue units keep their two paramedics while a third is added to the engines could make Albuquerque a national leader, he said.
"That would make the Albuquerque Fire Department the pre-eminent fire-based EMS system in the United States," Heyman said. "We would be a model for all the others to follow instead of playing catchup."
A committee within the Fire Department is analyzing how to move forward.
Copyright 2013 - Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
