Merced’s busiest fire station now has a service that will help first responders provide enhanced – and potentially life-saving – care to residents in the event of a medical emergency.
Merced Fire Department’s Station 53 near the Merced Mall has achieved advanced life support (ALS) status – the first fire station in Merced County to have that added capability.
Advanced life support training enables first responders to care for patients with a high level of care, which – according to the American Red Cross – can include advanced airway management, IV access, medication administration, and advanced cardiac life support.
Merced Fire Interim Chief Casey Wilson said there will now be at least one advanced life support certified paramedic on the fire engine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Previously, the station’s firefighters only had emergency medical technician basic life support training (BLS).
“There is just a great deal of difference when it comes to the level of training and care we can provide to the community from EMT/BLS to paramedic-level ALS,” Wilson said.
“There’s additional medications we can provide, advanced airway, the ability to read (electrocardiagram) monitors, which is really critical in determining cardiac emergencies and things like that, to make sure we get the patient the right care and to the right location they need.”
City officials held a brief ceremony at Station 53 on Thursday to reconize the launch of the service. In attendance were Mayor Matthew Serratto, along with city council members Mike Harris, Darin DuPont and Shane Smith.
“It’s really a big deal for us to be able to expand the service (and) offer a better service to the community,” Serratto said, adding that the capability could eventually help relieve stress among staff at the local emergency room level.
Training has already proved useful
Although the advanced life support service was just rolled out Wednesday at Station 53, Wilson said firefighters have already put those skills to work.
“Within the first 24 hours, we had a couple of patients with critical needs, and our paramedics assisted Riggs Ambulance with transport to the hosptial,” Wilson said.
While Station 53 in north Merced is the first to have advanced life support, Wilson said the city plans to eventually expand the status to its other four stations.
Station 53 was chosen as the inaugural site for the service because its firefighters respond to an average of 3,500 calls annually, making it the city’s busiest, Wilson said.
While Wilson said stations in larger urban centers like Los Angeles and the Bay Area have advanced life support systems in place, its less common among stations in the San Joaquin Valley.
Each fire station in Merced has a minimum of three personnel on a fire engine, and a minimum of four on a ladder truck.
“As we add additional paramedics onto the engine companies here in the city of Merced, we will choose to put them on the next-busiest engine company,” Wilson said.
One of the factors that made the training possible in Merced was the city was successful in obtaining funding through the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, during the tenture of former Merced Fire Chief Derek Parker.
“That grant provided all of the funding for the paramedic training,” Wilson said. “The Merced College paramedic program has been pivotal in allowing us to get our paramedics trained, because the training is here in town, it’s local. It’s been very convenient to get our employees over there and get them trained.”
The advanced life support status is the latest boost the department has recevied. Last year, Merced Fire obtained a federal SAFER grant, allowing the department to expand its ranks.
The department has a total of 87 sworn personnel.