The Drumheller Fire Department has taken on acting as Medical First Responders to provide the needed service to the community.
In June of last year, the Mail reported the department was signing on to the provincial program. The Medical First Responder Program provides training and some supplies to the local fire departments and they are able to provide medical support when responding to calls.
“We signed up so citizens were not without some medical care when needed,” said Fire Chief Bruce Wade.
He says this allows the department to deliver first aid to people who may have been injured during a fire call. The department has been doing this for years, however, signing on with the Medical First Responder Program formalizes the arrangement.
The department is also paged out on calls when there is no ambulance able to respond within 20 minutes. These are for delta and echo calls, which are serious medical conditions, the department is not able to transport.
Alberta Health Services (AHS) has developed a model for Medical First Response. There is a number of agencies such as volunteer fire departments across the province that participate in the program to deliver a medical response. This model provides provincial standards for medical first response delivery, support for the agencies providing the response, and ensures safe patient care with medical oversight and patient care guidelines.
He says many of the Drumheller firefighters in all halls have basic first aid and AHS replenishes supplies that are used. AHS has also supplied the department with a new portable defibrillator.
