General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

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Anecdotally, the fire departments typically reach an emergency call first.  Unlike paramedics, the fire department is less likely to be tied up at a hospital waiting to offload a patient.  Of the three EMS services, firefighters are likely the most versatile in terms of having enough first aid training that they can administer first responder level first aid and also a certain degree of the police officer's "first on site duties".  I'm not sure that the other two services would be able to cover the fire services "first on site duties".  I'm thinking in particular of car accidents (making the site secure from fire or explosion risk) nor of fires.

I think part of the problem with the fire service is that anywhere the truck goes, the full crew has to go with it just in case the truck is needed at a major scene.  Precious time can't be lost going back to the station to collect the rest of the crew.

I'm sure the every firefighter in the truck has an important role to play in most situations.  I wonder if the Cities would consider adding a vanguard paramedic level vehicle that could attend to most of the medical calls, while leaving the rest of the crew back at the station.  Should the vanguard crew be needed wherever the big truck ends up, they could immediately travel to the next site without having to go back to the station. The crews could rotate duties on the vanguard vehicle to keep everyone fresh.

I guess it ultimately boils down to this: which service are you prepared to be without if they are covering another service that is being overwhelmed? If the fire service level is reduced while the paramedic service is increased, what happens if there is more than one "firefighter" call that the reduced fire service can't respond to?


On a related note, there was a job posting for a probationary fire fighter with the City of Waterloo earlier this year.  The job duties are listed below.  The first five are the core fire fighting/rescue duties.  The others would likely be part of every EMS job description. The duties included:

• Perform fire suppression duties to extinguish and/or prevent fires to save life and property under emergency conditions
  
  
• Aid and provide emergency medical response,  including performing rescue/extrication operations to prevent loss of life or further injury
  
  
• Operate all equipment including pumps, hoses, manual ladders, mechanical ladders, generators, and automobile extrication equipment
  
  
• Secure the emergency scene for the safety of the public and other firefighters
  
  
• Drive and operate any WFR vehicles in accordance with policy and the Highway Traffic Act
  
  
• Support the work team and allied agencies to maintain public safety
  
  
• Perform station, equipment and vehicle maintenance
  
  
• Comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and other relevant legislation
  
  
• Comply with departmental policies, guidelines, and departmental rules and regulations
  
  
• Provide excellent customer service as well as being leaders in public fire safety education.  Support fire prevention efforts by conducting demonstrations, public education,  inspections and investigations
  
  
• Participate in training exercises and courses to continuously increase knowledge and skills to remain current
  
  
• Must be psychologically and physically prepared to respond to emergencies of any kind