Huntsville Public Safety Director Applauds Firefighters Emergency Response

Huntsville, Alabama (October 12, 2007) Increased calls for service, enhanced educational and training requirements are a few of the reasons Public Safety Director Rex Reynolds is pleased that Mayor Loretta Spencer and the City Council approved the pay increase of some Huntsville Fire and Rescue personnel. Reynolds said, “We are adding new equipment, new technology and new facilities to respond to the growing demand being placed on our 141 Emergency Medical Technicians, as well as our 161 First Responders. Our personnel are doing an outstanding job responding to medical emergencies. Calls have been increasing because of annexation, growing neighborhoods and additional people moving here for BRAC.”
 

Two years ago, Huntsville Fire and Rescue began responding to medical emergencies from 17 Fire Stations across the City. In January 2008, the Department will add an additional 25 EMTs-Firefighters. Currently the Department, in conjunction with HEMSI, provides pre-hospital medical care and emergency services to the citizens of Huntsville. They stabilize victims with life threatening injuries at traffic crashes, provide basic life support to individuals during cardio-pulmonary arrest and provide medical care until advance life support arrives said Reynolds.

Fire and Rescue Chief Danny Loggins said since October 1, 2005, the Department responded to 38,107 medical emergencies. Responding to these emergencies is 75% of all calls made by HF&R. Loggings cited a recent study that revealed from January, 2005, nine cardiac arrest victims survived because of the training and quick response by our personnel. From October 2005, through June 2006, there were thirty people who survived heart attacks because of successful field resuscitation by HF&R. That’s a 300% increase of patients arriving at local hospitals alive because of the Department’s emergency medical response.