Valley firefighters being used as primary medical care?

Posted: 10:43 AM
Last Updated: 1 hour and 21 minutes ago
By: Brien McElhatten

MESA, AZ - It's a sign of the economic times.

Faced with little employment or no employment, people without medical insurance are increasingly relying on firefighters to serve as family physicians.

"We say 85 percent of our calls are medical in nature," said Captain Forrest Smith of the Mesa Fire Department.

Many of those calls are non-emergencies.

Each day, Mesa's 911 dispatchers take calls from people complaning of flu-like symptoms, sore throats or sprained ankles.

Because service can't be refused, dispatchers are forced to send firefighters to patients who would normally be better served by a quick clinic or a call to the family doctor.

"That costs a lot of money but it also takes a fire engine out of service which can increase the amount of time it takes us to respond to an actual emergency," said Smith.

That means a four-person crew must take a fire engine and all of its equipment to help a patient with a minor illness.

In response, Mesa firefighters have a new tool at their disposal.

It's called a TRV - or Transitional Response Vehicle.

It looks like an ambulance on the outside and resembles a doctor's office on the inside.

"This allows us to send a smaller vehicle with only two crew members," said Smith. "Most importantly, it allows us to keep a fire engine in service for true emergencies."

Inside the truck you'll find a stretcher/bed surrounded by three chairs and cabinents full of basic medical equipment.

But it's the personnel that truly make the difference.

A pilot program was launched to include a physician's assistant along with a paramedic on the truck, allowing crews to prescribe and administer medicine in the field.

In the coming months, more PAs may be staffing the vehicles.

That helps reduce overcrowding in the emergency room which is a major problem in area hospitals.

The department has four TRVs stationed in areas of town where the most non-emergency calls originate.

Smith says the trucks are leading to a reduced call volume for engines and ladder trucks as well as response times, although specific data won't be available until the close of 2011.

Although during the period of 2010 in which the trucks were used, they were called 1,635 times.

That means a fire engine or ladder truck was kept in service ready for emergencies nearly 2,000 times more than it would have if not for the TRV.

According to Smith, other fire departments have reached out to Mesa asking for specifics on the new strategy.

"It reflects a new way of business and a strategy we need to implement. It's a sign of the times," said Smith.

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