09-19-11 Draft Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION— SEPTEMBER 19, 2011 6 William Snoke stated that the need for firefighters as first responders is fairly well established in their industry;patients do better when you get someone their quickly to administer oxygen or start CPR, or control bleeding, but also to control the scene. Law enforcement has other duties and may not always be able to respond. Having the fire department available to respond to those calls provides a higher likelihood that there will be a trained first responder on scene. Mike Salter stated there is a laddering effect; police and fire get to the scene first and the police have the least amount of medical training but at least they're on scene with oxygen and an AED. Beyond the patient care is the care of the family; some families fight during an emergency and the Sheriff's deputy must deal with those issues. Once the paramedics arrive on scene, the medical treatment is deferred to them and the first responders assist in moving the patient. If you don't have the Sheriff, LJFD and AMT on scene, it becomes very difficult to provide meaningful patient care in a timely manner. Mayor Grant commented that in a medical emergency you need someone who can be there immediately, especially as more technology and equipment is used in emergency situations. He also believes this follows along with the mission of police and fire to Protect and Serve. Tim Boehlke explained that when the Board of Directors made the decision to have the firefighters respond to medical calls when they're staffed, it made sense to utilize trained and equipped firefighters who are sitting in the station available to augment the current services. He added that it's rare for firefighters to be tied up on an EMS call for more than ten minutes. He also stated that when responding to an emergency medical call, they are walking into businesses • and homes of strangers and tensions can be high and having the Sheriff's Department there makes everyone feel better. Councilmember Holmes questioned what percentage of the time is the number of respondents "overkill". Brian LaCroix stated that is a difficult question to answer in terms of providing a statistic. But he added that having a uniformed presence is reassuring. Mayor Grant commented that there may be some calls when they are over-staffed but there are other calls when lives were saved. Eric Nordeen, Lake Johanna Fire Department, stated there are times when the deputy may be in route and gets called away to another emergency and they let LJFD personnel know. If they're going into a possible psych issue, they need the deputies there and the deputies do a good job of knowing when they need to be on scene. Scott Williams, Ramsey County Emergency Communications, stated other communities have the Sheriff and fire department respond to medical emergencies. Mayor Grant commented that if all communities respond the same way, it is easier for dispatch to handle the medical emergency calls without having to differentiate between various municipal policies.