Why Does the Fire Department Go To Medical Emergencies?
All modern emergency medical systems are made up of two components and are referred to as two tiered response systems. The two tiers are composed of a quick response component to provide rapid intervention in cases of life threatening emergencies and an ambulance component to provide transportation to the hospital. In the Town of Plainville the quick response/ambulance component is provided by the Plainville Fire Department, staffed by the two on-duty personnel.

All requests for EMS generate at least an ambulance or single unit response. Any calls that indicate a potentially life threatening situation or that are otherwise labor intensive receive a dual response consisting of both the ambulance and a fire company.

When a call is received at the 911 center, the call taker initiates a procedure called EMD or emergency medical dispatch. A short series of questions are asked to determine the problem. A decision chart is utilized to designate the units that are to be dispatched, according to the answers that are received.

Severe medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrests, require a response time of no more than four minutes and a total complement of three personnel to efficiently perform all the procedures necessary to achieve a successful resuscitation.

Motor vehicle accidents are by nature labor intensive. There are usually multiple patients and often there are fire hazards or hazardous materials issues. These also receive a dual response. By utilizing cross-trained personnel in a two-tiered response system, the Department is able to increase survivability of critically ill and injured citizens through increased coverage and greatly improved response times, while significantly increasing the productivity of its personnel and equipment. In short, personnel who are able to do fire fighting, hazardous materials management, and emergency medical care, give our citizens more service for their tax dollar.