| The Dunn's Corners Fire Department is now providing a new class of emergency services for the Westerly and Charlestown communities. On June 8 the State of RI Division of Emergency Medical Services, RI Department of Health granted DCFD a C-2 Basic Life Support (BLS) no-transport license. That means we can respond to emergency medical calls to assist Charlestown Ambulance Rescue Service (CARS) and Westerly Ambulance Corps (WAC).
For the first time in decades DCFD is adding a substantially new and different service. We have occasionally been called to assist CARS and WAC in the past, typically to provide lift assists. And our firefighter/EMTs have provided medical care when needed at the types of emergencies we normally respond to, such as fires and motor vehicle accidents. But our new role is dramatically different. We will now be responding as well to "pure" medical emergencies, such as cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, unconscious patient, and profuse or uncontrolled hemorrhage.
Squad 3 (the newest member of the DCFD fleet) and Engine 6 have been equipped with BLS equipment and supplies and licensed as BLS responding vehicles. Engine 6 will be used primarily for medical emergencies related to motor vehicle accidents, fires, etc., whereas Squad 3 will be used for "pure" medical emergencies. At present we have ten firefighters licensed as EMT's, with two more currently in training. We also have eleven firefighters without EMT certification who will serve as drivers for Squad 3 and Engine 6; though non-EMTs, these drivers will be able to provide helpful assistance at emergency scenes.
At the time of this writing, DCFD had already responded to three medical emergencies, two in Charlestown and one in Westerly.
DCFD would like to thank our medical emergency service partners, WAC and CARS, for their enthusiastic support and invaluable assistance in launching this new service. |
