In 1986, Modesto joined other large cities in California with a "first responder" policy. It meant that firefighters would be dispatched to medical emergencies along with ambulance personnel, with the worthwhile goal of getting help to life-threatening situations as quickly as possible. This policy has no doubt saved lives, and it should not change. When someone is not breathing, is bleeding severely, has fallen from a rooftop or is otherwise at serious risk, the closest emergency personnel should get there fast — moving Code 3, with red lights and sirens.
But over the years the definition of a life-threatening situation got a little fuzzy. Firefighters were sometimes sent rushing to the homes of people with persistent headaches or stomach aches or who had simply tripped on the carpet. Or occasionally, a person used 911 to get an ambulance ride to the hospital, trying to avoid a long wait in the emergency room. (Hospitals have thwarted this by triaging everyone, no matter how they arrive.)
We believe it's appropriate that fire agencies are, as one fire chief describes it, pushing the reset button, standardizing dispatch practices so that the first responder program returns to its original intent. Most of the local fire chiefs are working with the regional and ambulance companies' dispatch centers to see that consistent questions are asked of people calling in. All those who request aid will still get it, but if the situation is not deemed life-threatening, then the aid might be an ambulance only and it might not be sent Code 3.Modesto Fire Chief Jim Miguel said his department will continue to respond to public assistance calls, for such things helping to lift a person who has fallen out of bed but is alert and OK.
For years now, medical calls have constituted well over half of the fire agency responses. That won't change much. Miguel estimates that the more thorough monitoring will reduce his department's calls by about 10 percent. The point is to make sure that firefighters are only rolling Code 3 in life-threatening situations."If you are going to be busy on a call, you want it to be a necessary call," said Stephen Mayotte, chief of the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District.
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