Firefighters as paramedics

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is batting for the enactment of a bill that seeks to require fire stations to have fully trained paramedics round-the-clock, as part of a bold new strategy to reinforce the bureau as first responder not only to fire alarms, but also to other emergencies – from violent road crashes to terrorist attacks.

In a position paper, the BFP backed the approval of House Bill (HB) 5338 that I authored and which calls for the

selective training of the country’s next generation of firefighters as certified paramedics, or emergency medical technicians (EMTs).

Chief Supt. Leonard Bañago, BFP chief, presented the bureau’s position paper to Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, chair of the House committee on public order and safety, during a hearing on HB 5338.

“We support the posting of at least three uniformed BFP officers who are certified EMTs in every fire station, with at least one on duty per eight-hour shift,” Bañago said.

Bañago also wants BFP officers who are trained as EMTs to undergo periodic refresher courses.

EMTs are adequately trained in advanced pre-hospital care services. They can perform endotracheal intubations; administer life-saving medications orally and intravenously; run blood transfusions; and use complex emergency medical devices.

Once enacted, the bill will go a long way in upgrading the country’s public emergency services, and in helping to save lives, by simply adding greater value to every firefighter and to every fire station.

This is not just about providing our firefighters with superior life-saving skills, but also fully re-equipping our firetrucks to cope with non-fire emergencies such as vehicular smashups.

Firetrucks should have powerful lifting and cutting tools to quickly retrieve passengers jammed in car wrecks.

A case in point is the recent case involving a cement mixer that crushed a family car in Quezon City, killing the sedan’s driver – a 34-year-old husband and father – and injuring his wife and three children. Due to lack of equipment, it took rescuers two hours to pull out the victims and rush them to the nearest hospital.

Under HB 5338, besides the selective retooling of firefighters as EMTs, other BFP officers would be required to acquire minimum skills and accreditation as certified first responders (CFRs).

CFRs are qualified to provide less complicated pre-hospital care services, including advanced first aid level care and the operation of portable automated external defibrillators needed to treat sudden cardiac arrest.

At present, BFP officers are only minimally trained in elementary first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.--