I had the honor of my first meeting since the election to be with our brave firemen of the City of Pensacola. Our fire department was established in 1810, that's 35 years BEFORE statehood, so we have the oldest fire department in the state of Florida.
We discussed many issues important to their department and they shared their concerns and needs for the future. Pensions, fire safety education, manpower levels and grant funds were among the most important issues we discussed.
I learned a great deal from their years of experience and it would do us well as a city to listen even closer to their needs as a fire department. They have done a wonderful job with community education as fires happen less often than in the past. The fireman's safety goes hand in hand with their ability to protect us as citizens; we need to fund their department in order to maintain safe levels of manpower so when they are responding to our fires they are able to do so safely and quickly.
I see the need to work closely with their department to get more grant money for equipment, community support and education and even fire rescue trucks. We are leaving funds on the table that could go a long way to making our community even safer and reduce the citizens cost of funding the fire department.
Our firemen do a job that puts them at risk every day and I honor their quiet courage and look forward to working with them to maintain a safe and efficient fire department for the citizens of Pensacola.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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About 65% of Fire Department responses are medical-related. The next council should partner with the county commission to authorize our Firefighter/Paramedics to provide Advanced Lifesaving Support (ALS) care and coordinate the “Transport” of the injured to the hospital. City Firefighter/Paramedics have the necessary skills but lack the County Medical Director’s authorization to do either function. With this policy change city residents should routinely reach the hospital sooner.
When city Firefighters respond to a medical-related call the department receives no reimbursement. However, the County EMS department that shows up later is reimbursed by the patient’s health care insurer. When a city Firefighter/Paramedic handles all aspects of a call under the direction of County EMS the Fire Department should receive the majority of the health care insurer reimbursement. This money should only be used to support the Fire Department Rescue function to include training and equipment purchase.
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