Firefighters Across the City Now Taking Emergency Medical Runs After Two Year Cross-Training Process
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Fire companies now responding to nearly half of all priority medical runs, are first on scene 60 percent of the time.
Avg. response times for priority medical runs improved by 2 minutes since program started
Firefighters at 33 active fire houses across the city are now taking emergency medical runs, following a two year process to cross train all Detroit firefighters as medical first responders (MFR). Today, Mayor Mike Duggan and Fire Commissioner Eric Jones announced that all 871 Detroit Fire personnel have been trained, with 624 having completed their certifications, which allows them to take medical runs.
Before the city launched the training in April 2015, Detroit was one of the only major fire departments in the country that did not have firefighters cross trained in medical work. Since the first MFR-trained fire company (Engine 39) started taking medical runs in April 2015:
The city’s average response time for life threatening medical runs has gone down from 10:41 to 8:30 seconds, which is very close to the national average. When the Mayor took office in January 2014, the average response time was nearly 20 minutes.
Firefighters have responded to more than 30,000 medical runs, which is nearly half of the Code 10 (life threatening) calls dispatched since April 2015.
Firefighters have been the first to arrive on scene more than 60% of the time, frequently providing aid to stabilize patients and keep them alive until EMTs or paramedics arrive.
“This is a huge step forward for Detroit and our ability to protect our resident,” said Mayor Duggan. “I can’t say enough about the level of commitment we have seen from our firefighters and the work done by Commissioner Jones and his team to get this done.”
Today, every fire house in the city that operates with an engine or a rescue squad is taking emergency medical runs, including 27 engine companies and 6 rescue squad companies. As more personnel become certified, fire stations that house multiple companies will have added capacity to respond to even more medical runs, said Commissioner Jones.
“We are continuing the process of increasing the medical coverage for the citizens of Detroit. Our firefighters are exceptional and they are proud that they have added the ability to provide medical care to their skill-set to better serve the public,” said Commissioner Jones.
“Time was right” to cross-train
