Paramedics can keep firefighters healthy

Firefighters take care of the fire. Who takes care of them?
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Firefighters are a pretty heroic bunch in the eyes of society -- battling huge fires and saving victims, sometimes risking their own lives in the process.
Often overlooked at that big fire, however, is an unsung hero.
He's standing under a tent by a chair with a cold bottle of water and a mist machine at his quick disposal.
He isn't in the thick of the heat and smoke, but he's playing a significant role by setting up and manning an oasis of relief away from it.
Yes, behind every good firefighter there's a paramedic.
He's offering cool-downs and checking vitals.
He's keeping the effects of exhaustion and dehydration at bay.
If he's trained in firefighting himself and knows what the job demands, he may just take the initiative to refill air bottles and put them within easy reach.
At the May 4 fire that significantly damaged the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center, paramedics kept firefighters out of the hospital, said Don Hutchison, deputy chief of the Cardinal Joint Fire District.
"We can't thank them enough," Hutchison said. "Everybody got to go home."
Rehab trailer
At the fire station behind the municipal building on Lisbon Street sits an unimposing little trailer. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it too had an important role in the tech center fire.
The firefighter rehab trailer has an oxygen tank, the machine that sprays cold mist, tents, chairs, ice, water and Gatorade.
Six paramedics from Lane LifeTrans took over and ran the trailer, Hutchison said. Three paramedics from Pellin Ambulance Service assisted for a while.
It's an automatic and free service Lane provides in the communities it serves as 911 contractor, said Randy Pugh, chief paramedic, who was field commander at the tech center blaze.
When paramedics get to the scene of a large fire, he said, they first get ready to take care of injured civilians. They stand by until they're sure the building is cleared of people.
"You don't know if there's four kids stuck hiding in a closet somewhere," said EMS supervisor Tom Lambert, who was also at the tech center.
If it turns out paramedics don't need to help civilians, they immediately turn to assisting the firefighters. Teachers did a good job of accounting for their students at the tech center, Pugh said. So, the paramedics concentrated on firefighter rehab.
Firefighters are supposed to come for rehab after about 30 minutes. That doesn't usually happen though, Pugh said, because there isn't enough manpower. Typically, firefighters work for about an hour before taking a rest, he said.
"We get them in the shade, get the mister going and take vitals."
Electrolyte problem
All the sweating firefighters do can lead to a health crisis. "Electrolytes get whacked, and you can have cardiac problems," Pugh explained. They had to start two firefighters on intravenous fluids at the tech center, he said.
Another big job the ambulance crews have, said Pugh and Lambert, is keeping firefighters down long enough.
"They want to go back to work," Lambert said. "They're impatient. You have to counter that thought and tell them to rest."
Many Lane employees are also firefighters, Pugh said, and they end up doing tasks they just know need done.
The paramedics who were at the tech center -- Pugh, Lambert, Joe Rossi, Dan Dumovic, Chuck Wise and John Jones -- have fire training, said Pugh, who is Weathersfield Township's fire chief. It was Jones, he said, who ended up filling and delivering the air bottles. Jones estimates he filled between 30 and 40 of them.
The Cardinal district and eight other fire departments fought the tech center blaze.
"When you get into major incidents like that, rehab of firefighters is critical," said Bob Tieche, Cardinal district chief. "We're fortunate to have ambulance providers with quality people who can oversee the whole proceeding."