LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Langley Air Force Base will improve the response capabilities and efficiency of its emergency response personnel with the implementation of an operational realignment, effective May 1.
The team of seven paramedics will move ambulance operations from USAF Hospital Langley to Fire Station 1, where they will begin 24-hour rotations. The move will improve response times, as 911 calls will be fielded from the fire department.
Langley's paramedics provide advanced life support for the base populace, transporting patients to USAF Hospital Langley and community hospitals. Traditionally, fire department assets accompany medical personnel on all calls.
Under the new "selective response" agreement implemented with the move, only paramedics will respond to medical calls, requesting additional support as needed, said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Beverly Lutz, 633rd Medical Operations Squadron emergency services flight chief. The fire department will still respond to major accidents and incidents - motor vehicle accidents, cardiac and respiratory emergencies and traumas, for example - but limiting the scope of fire department response will alleviate the burden on firefighters and save money.
"Selective Response is projected to alleviate the fire department form responding to 300 medical calls where they are not needed, [such as] a rolled ankle at the gym, where we don't need all the fire trucks plus an ambulance with two medics to respond," Lutz said. "This allows the fire department to be available for flight line, structural and fire-related calls while the paramedics respond to routine medical calls."
Whereas in the past there could be as few as one paramedic on duty, the realignment will ensure at least two Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support-certified paramedics are on duty at all times. On weekdays, an additional paramedic will operate out of the hospital's emergency department.
In addition to improving response times, having paramedics embedded within the fire department will build synergy between fire and medical response personnel, providing more team training and improving situational awareness and effectiveness on emergency calls, said Staff Sgt. Christopher Leonard, 633rd MDOS paramedic.
"We'll have more time to train and pursue job-related education, and work side-by-side with firefighters," Leonard said. "The more we practice with them, the better we'll be in real-world response.
Rather than show up at a scene separately and have to get briefed on what is happening - which can be time-consuming - we know what we're responding to and what everyone's role is the minute we get there," he continued.
"By mirroring the civilian [Emergency Medical Services] community, we can achieve a total team concept as our firefighters and paramedics will be working together all the time," Lutz added. "Having medics housed in the fire station will bolster our already great relationship with the firefighters."
While the move presents new processes for Langley's paramedics, the reporting process will not change for members of the community.
"The 911 call will still trigger the ambulance to respond; the only change is the logistics of where the ambulance and paramedics respond from," Lutz said.