By Channing Rucks
The Oskaloosa Herald, Iowa
OSKALOOSA, Iowa 鈥� The Oskaloosa Fire Department is expanding its operations to lend an even bigger helping hand to the community when duty calls.
As of Wednesday, Nov. 8 , the Oskaloosa Fire Department is officially Emergency Medical Services certified by the State of Iowa for the first time since 2001. This accomplishment means they will now be able to provide non-transportation medical assistance during emergency medical situations.
Fire Chief Scott Vaughan says the certification has been in the works for at least 10 years, but has never come to fruition until now. Captain Dan Hoy of the Oskaloosa Fire Department says the push for certification comes out of a desire to serve the community in as many capacities as possible.
鈥淭he citizens have us as a resource, and for us to provide just a little extra service, you know, a little bit more bang for their buck. So that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e really trying to do. We鈥檙e just, we鈥檙e here, we might as well be helping out on that stuff,鈥� Hoy says.
As part of the lead-up to certification, the fire department sent six firefighters to complete an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course taught by Emergency Management Administrator Jamey Robinson . One of the six has since moved away.
鈥淪everal of us had maintained our EMT license throughout the years, but just recently, we sent six of our people through an EMT course, and that鈥檚 about a six month long course. So we got them certified,鈥� Hoy says. 鈥淔rom there, we had to acquire equipment and get all our policies, procedures, our protocols approved by the state. So we had to have a licensed medical doctor agree to be our medical director. They鈥檙e the ones that kind of make sure that we know what we鈥檙e doing and we have the right equipment.鈥�
The department successfully passed their state inspection on Nov. 8 .
Dr. Kymberly Life of Mahaska Health is serving as the department鈥檚 medical director. Mahaska Health is also providing equipment for the department. Mike Lang , the emergency services director at Mahaska Health , says that the certification process was a collaboration.
鈥淔ire and I kind of collaborated,鈥� Lang says. 鈥淲e worked together. They had an interest in becoming EMT-level certified and really wanted to do that so that they can help out and respond on calls. They鈥檙e just more interested in being available and that EMS side of things.鈥�
Lang and his teams helped teach skills and perform assessments to prepare the firefighters to take their EMT test.
鈥淭hey came through with flying colors,鈥� Lang says. 鈥淪o really ... they did all the hard work, but we鈥檙e here to help them, support them and walk them through the steps needed to get that certification, which they did. We鈥檙e working closely with them on making sure that they have the supplies that they need and keep them in stock. So when they go out on a call, and they use some of their own equipment, we鈥檒l restock that for them. So as a service, we鈥檝e supplied them with all of the initial supplies, and then we鈥檒l continue to help them restock as needed.鈥�
The fire department will not be called out to every emergency medical call that comes through. Only the calls that require an elevated level of service.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not to go out on every single call that we鈥檙e dispatched to, but you know, when we say 鈥楬ey, there鈥檚 a need.鈥� Things that we talked about were traumas, trauma code, mass casualty, lift assists ... all hands on-deck, and we need somebody to drive the ambulance for us because we鈥檝e got us in the backseat working on patient care, and they鈥檙e there for that too,鈥� Lang says. 鈥淎nd then, if we have trouble getting in somewhere, we need an access-entry assistance, they鈥檒l help us with that too.鈥�
Lang says that having that extra resource in the fire department will be a useful tool for emergency medical situations going forward.
鈥淲e have a really, really good relationship with all the other first responders, or entities in the community,鈥� Lang adds. 鈥淟aw enforcement, typically, are first on scene a lot of times, and they help us out, you know CPR in progress to get things going and initiated there. Fire, we鈥檝e called them occasionally, but really, they can鈥檛 work out of their scope of practice. So it is a need that we鈥檝e had, when we need lift assistance, you know, there鈥檚 only so much that these other entities can do for us when they鈥檙e not medically trained. So having this extra training here on this resource is huge for us.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e there to back us up, and likewise, we鈥檙e there to back them up on their scenes,鈥� he adds. 鈥淭heir fire standbys, that type of thing. So yeah, it鈥檚 a great tool to have. And we don鈥檛 want to overburden them, but I have a feeling that we鈥檒l definitely be utilizing [them].鈥�
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