By Molly R. Okeon
Pasadena Star-News (California)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Los Angeles Newspaper Group, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
SIERRA MADRE, Calif. — While this Mayberry-like town is proud to call itself home to the county’s only all-volunteer fire department, that distinction comes with one main drawback: The department is the only one countywide that does not offer its residents paramedic service.
After decades of doing without, Sierra Madre may be on its way toward a solution by trying out a paramedic program model created by the La Habra Heights Fire Department. Through this program, created by Chief John Nielsen, the department hires a pool of paramedics from ambulance services and other sources as part-time, temporary employees to the city’s fire department to provide residents with advanced life support.
Recently, the Sierra Madre City Council asked its staff to begin developing a plan to put the La Habra Heights model in place in Sierra Madre. The plan, which would include a cost estimate, is expected to be presented at the Sept. 12 council meeting, City Manager John Gillison said.
“We want to provide our residents the same standard of care that they would receive in every other city in L.A. County and most other cities in the state of California,” he said.
Many of the more than 40 volunteer firefighters in Sierra Madre are trained emergency medical technicians (EMTs), which requires 114 hours of training at a local community college. However, none are paramedics, an occupation that mandates 1,032 hours of training.
Steve Heydorff, the department’s battalion chief and fire inspector, explained that EMTs can only provide basic life support. For example, he said, paramedics can provide medication to ease the symptoms of a heart attack and even slow down the process of a stroke, something EMTs cannot do.
“When we go on calls, especially for heart-related problems, sure, we can give them oxygen, use an automated defibrillator and transport them. But if their heart stops, we can’t do a whole lot about it,” he said. He said starting treatment on a patient experiencing heart trouble or a stroke 10 minutes sooner is a “huge deal.”
In January 2005, Nielsen said his department had to make a change in its paramedic service, which had been provided by the city of La Habra. At the time, La Habra’s fire department was facing a takeover by the county and had to raise its costs for providing paramedic services, he said.
After some research, Nielsen created a program in which he hired a pool of paramedics from various ambulance companies, other fire departments and the private sector. He now has 50 part-time, temporary medics on his payroll - two for each shift.
The program costs the city about $190,000 a year, including salaries, new equipment and medications required for paramedics. Nielsen hired a paramedic coordinator and a quality improvement coordinator to run the program.
Nielsen believes his program would work well in Sierra Madre, a slightly bigger butsimilarly sized town.
“Sierra Madre and La Habra Heights have a lot in common,” he said. “People want the best service for the lowest price. The paramedics in Sierra Madre would be well received because they’re part of the fire department, part of Sierra Madre.”
Gillison said the program would cost about $200,000 a year in Sierra Madre and, if approved in early fall, could be put into place by early 2007.