Fire Based Emergency Medical Services, a national and local focus

Paramedics have been prevalent in the fire service for nearly half a century. The importance of these dual role/cross trained first responders has proven itself greatly effective from a customer based patient care advocate perspective. This recognition of outstanding service recently prompted the Congress of the United States to direct the United States Fire Administration to promote fire based Emergency Medical Services (E.M.S.). Firefighter/Paramedics from Waukegan Fire and Rescue have been providing exceptional service to our citizens and visitors since 1976; today these Firefighter/Paramedics respond to nearly 10,000 calls per year. They staff 5 ambulances, 4 fire engines, and 1 ladder truck. The positive impacts of patient care are based on response times that place a paramedics and EMTs at the patient´s side within 4-6 minutes. By responding in that time frame, the patient has the highest chance of survival from an emergency such as a sudden cardiac arrest. Fire stations are strategically located to accomplish these response times, and the number of Paramedic units in a station is related to call volume to better serve the citizens in that area. The dual role of the Firefighter/Paramedic creates an emergency services employee that is capable of multiple disciplines with thousands of hours of training and experience. Along with E.M.S., these personnel are well versed in fire suppression, vehicle extrication, swift water rescue, hazardous materials operations, and technical rescue operations to include structural collapse and confined space rescue. These capable individuals are currently available 24 hours a day/365 days per year. The City´s proposed cuts if implemented would reduce emergency personnel available to respond to all types of emergencies. We are encouraging citizens to get involved in Waukegan by attending city council meetings, signing our on-line petition, calling or writing the Mayor or your alderman. Please go to the How you can help tab on the Waukegan Fire Facts web site.

Waukegan´s ISO Class 3 Rated Fire Department

Acting up

Our department is extremely low on lieutenants. Each of our five stations normally has at least one lieutenant at them. A lieutenant is the next level up from a firefighter. They are in charge of the station they´re at and the calls they respond to. To be a lieutenant you have to have at least seven years on the department. You also have to have certain fire officer classes and/or a college degree which is usually in Fire Science. The candidates go through a rigorous testing process to even qualify for the position. Once they are done testing, their scores are put on a list and they are promoted based on what number they are on the list. The position of the lieutenant is as a leader. They are in charge of the fire engine that they ride on. When working on a scene or inside of a fire they are in charge of making sure their crew is safe. These lieutenants use their experience on the job and the officer training they´ve received to handle these situations. To lead others into dangerous situations is a skill that not everyone has. Because of the shortage, every day there is someone "acting up" as a lieutenant. This means the next firefighter on the list needs to play the role of a lieutenant. Some of these individuals have the classes and training and have gone through the testing process, but were never promoted. Other times it is just the next senior firefighter who happens to be working that day. They may not have any of the officer training and may not have acted in that position before. We are so short on lieutenants that some days we have only one lieutenant working on a rig and the rest of the stations have only firefighters "acting" as lieutenants. We should have up to six lieutenants working each day. This has not been the case for nearly a year.

Understaffed Firehouses

Jump station refers to the number of personnel at a station and how they respond to a call. Our two farthest west stations, #2 at 4505 McGaw Rd and # 5 at 3221 N. Green Bay Rd both have an ambulance and a fire engine at the station. Normally there would be 5 firefighters at each of these stations, two on the ambulance and three on the fire engine. Due to low staffing levels our department has been forced to have only three firefighters at these two stations. Sometimes only two of these individuals are licensed paramedics. They respond to calls in their district with whichever rig is required. For instance if it is an ambulance call they take the ambulance, for an engine call they would take the fire engine. Once that rig goes on a call there is no one left in the station to man the second apparatus. If a second call comes in, a rig from another station has to respond. In most cases this doubles the response time to the call.

District 2 is the far southwest end of Waukegan, which encompasses the Fountain Square area, the corporations around it, as well as the neighborhoods off of O´Plaine Rd south of Highway 120 and River Rd between highway 120 and Guerin Rd. For an example if someone calls for the fire engine because their carbon monoxide detector is going off, the three firefighters at that station would take the fire engine and respond to the call. If you now have to call 911 for an ambulance because someone in your family has been injured or has a life threatening emergency that needs medical help, you are stuck waiting twice or even three times as long for the next available ambulance to respond to your home. This would be the same scenario for District #5 which includes the area around the Airport and Midlane Country Club in the far northwest of Waukegan.

If the staffing levels were where they should be, there would be two fully staffed rigs in your district. All of our fire engines have medical supplies on them. If the ambulance was out on another call and you need help now, our fire engine would be able to respond right away and provide life saving emergency care. The next closest ambulance would also come to transport you to the hospital.