Berry: New equipment will save lives

The Albuquerque Fire Department now has the go ahead to buy nearly $1 million in new paramedic equipment for its engines — a move the mayor says should reduce emergency response times.

City councilors approved the money late Monday in an 8-1 vote.

“It’s going to save lives,” Mayor Richard Berry said in an interview Tuesday.

Purchase of the new “Lifepak” defibrillator units is aimed at allowing the city to double the number of fire units that have a paramedic assigned from 20 to 42, according to the Berry administration. The new equipment would go on fire engines, which would also be staffed by a paramedic.

The city wouldn’t have to hire new paramedics. Instead of assigning two paramedics to each rescue unit — an ambulance-like vehicle — there would be just one, with the other going to a fire engine. A regular firefighter, in turn, would move to the rescue unit, replacing the paramedic.

The council authorization applies only to the purchase of equipment. The bill doesn’t express an opinion on whether AFD staffing patterns should be changed, which has been a point of controversy.

Councilor Rey Garduño was the lone “no” vote on Monday’s bill. Assigning one paramedic to each vehicle, he said, could cause problems if more than one is needed at the scene.

“I think we’re diluting the service that is serving the city well” already, Garduño said.

Diego Arencón, president of the firefighters’ union, said the department established a committee with field personnel to discuss how to proceed. Having two paramedics on scene is usually desirable, he said.

“We really need to take our time and develop this,” Arencón said. “… It’s a delicate balance between response times and patient care.”

The Fire Department uses a priority dispatch system aimed at ensuring that the appropriate vehicles and personnel arrive on scene based on what information a caller provides, Chief James Breen said. In some cases, both a rescue vehicle and a fire engine will be dispatched, meaning there would be two paramedics on scene, even if one is from each vehicle.

In other cases, just an engine might go.

Fire engines respond to many medical calls, not just fires. All firefighters are cross-trained as basic emergency medical technicians, and some are paramedics as well. Paramedics provide more advanced life support.

Breen is enthusiastic about the change. Putting a paramedic on fire engines is standard practice elsewhere, he has said.

When two paramedics are needed, both an engine and a rescue vehicle can be dispatched, he said.

Having more units staffed with a paramedic has a variety of benefits, Breen says. If a rescue unit is already dispatched to an incident, there could still be a paramedic available on an un-dispatched fire engine.

And if an engine crew is responding to a call, it will already have a paramedic on hand if one is needed.

The department “will have more tools to save lives in our community,” Berry said. “It’s one of the biggest changes from the fire standpoint in decades.”

Breen estimates the city will be able to reduce response times by 17 percent, or about 47 seconds on average.

It will take four to six months to roll out the plan and alter staffing patterns.

The Albuquerque Fire Department employs about 670 firefighters, roughly 200 of whom are paramedics. About 18 percent of the department’s firefighters will be affected, with 66 paramedics moving to engines and 57 regular firefighters moving to rescue units.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal