Menomonie (WQOW)- During an emergency situation an area fire department is now better equipped to provide on the spot care.
"We're able to provide the care and medicine they need long before getting to the hospital," said Jack Baus, Menomonie Fire Chief.
All Menomonie firefighters are trained EMT's but now they have eight members who are trained paramedics.
"It's a big step in the service that we're able to provide as far as emergency medical services. Paramedic level is considered the gold standard as far as pre hospital care. They're able to administer medications perform certain skills, for example, a surgical airway, various medications, cardiac medications, that are critical to saving a life," added Baus.
And that care can now be provided at the site of an emergency or on the way to a hospital.
"Particularly in a respiratory and cardiac emergencies time is important. Somebody's in a lot of pain, it's a life threatening emergency if we can get those drugs to the person 5, 10, 20 minutes sooner while they're at the scene rather than having to wait 10 or 20 minutes to get to the hospital. That can mean a difference in significant discomfort, loss of cardiac tissue or even death. So it makes a big difference in the quality of life for a lot of people," said Baus.
The fire chief explained what it took to make this upgrade.
"It's two full semesters of class, including classroom and there's a few hundred hours of ride along that you have to do…I believe it's close to 2,000 hours," said Baus.
Other fire departments have also moved in the direction of providing this higher level of service, Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls fire departments also have members that are trained paramedics.
"We've been working towards this for a good number of years now and very, very hard so we're very happy to be able to have this service now. To have the paramedics be able to use all their skills and provide this for the community is just, we're really excited about it and really proud that we're able to do it," added Baus.
