Rossmoor, We are Looking Out For You!
January 21st, 2012“Fire service is becoming more of an all-hazards organization,” said Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Chief Daryl Louder.
Firefighters are now trained in myriad ways to attend to emergencies of all sorts, ranging from vehicle and technical rescues to hazardous materials response, he said.
In the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, every firefighter is now also trained to deal with
- at a minimum as an emergency medical technician (EMT) capable of providing basic life support (BLS), or as a paramedic, capable of providing advanced life support (ALS).
Rossmoor has seen the need for this emergency medical training far more often than fire suppression. In fact, over the last fiscal year, 83 percent of the callouts to Rossmoor have been for medical emergencies.
With a fire station right outside Rossmoor’s gates, the response time is minimal, insuring residents will be tended to rapidly.
But some residents have voiced concerns. With only one engine company available at any given time, how will residents be served if there are two medical emergencies at once? Or what if there is a fire and an accident? Could there not be an independent paramedic vehicle to provide that emergency medical help when the engine is otherwise occupied?
“The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is committed to providing excellent service to our customers,” Louder said. “We attempt to be flexible and respond to the all-hazards mission with the limited resources that we have available.”
See the article at the Rossmoor News site http://bit.ly/wX2tHC .
Photo by sandstep via flickr