Emergency Medical Services
Division
Emergency Medical Services (EMS):
Division Chief Scott Isaacs
The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division is responsible for training, assigning and supplying equipment to the hundreds of EMTs (Emergency Medical Technicians) and paramedics in IFD. To ensure that IFD personnel are prepared to deal with thousands of medical emergencies each year, all firefighters in IFD – from the Chief to the most recent graduates of recruit school – are certified as EMTs. About 60 firefighters are certified as paramedics.
EMT certification requires 124 hours of highly technical classroom work. Since 1983, all IFD recruits have been required to gain EMT certification as a prerequisite for graduating for recruit training. Paramedic certification is voluntary and requires more than 1,324 hours of classroom and clinical work. Because of the rigorous curriculum, only those firefighters most dedicated to emergency medical work pursue paramedic certification.
The number of contact hours required in IFD to certify and then annually re-certifying the EMTs and paramedic is phenomenal. The EMS Division is responsible for ensuring that the training and recertification takes place and must coordinate with area hospitals to schedule the hundreds of firefighters for the necessary annual recertification.
The EMS Division is also responsible for ensuring that IFD EMS responders are properly equipped and thoroughly knowledgeable about the biohazards inherent in EMS work. The EMS Division includes Executive Duty Officers (EDO) who respond to numerous EMS incidents to ensure quality control of the care given citizens by IFD responders.