More skilled Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) are needed to assist with medical emergencies involving wildfire personnel, expressed experienced wildland firefighter Rob Palmer. His concerns over the disproportionate lack of qualified emergency service professionals, such as Richmond EMTs, assigned to wildland firefighting teams were expressed in a July 23 article published by Scripps Howard News Service. The story profiled plans to improve the rescue efforts of firefighters who become injured or endangered while battling California wildland blazes.
Sadly, Palmer knows first-hand the devastating risks faced by wildland firefighters. His younger brother Andrew was killed on July 25, 2008, while battling a wildfire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Northern California. Andrew was a rookie firefighter from Washington state when he was dispatched to California to assist with the blaze in the state’s largest national forest.
Just 18-years-old, Andrew died due to severe blood loss after debris from a collapsing pine tree hit and severely injured his leg. Much of the blood loss occurred during the 3 hours and 20 minutes it took to remove and transport Andrew from the accident scene to the airport in nearby Redding, California. Rob Palmer believes valuable time was lost during the prolonged rescue effort, due in part to a lack of qualified emergency services personnel immediately available to respond to his brother’s emergency.
Since the tragedy, Palmer has retired from firefighting in order to campaign for improvements to the emergency response plans for treating and rescuing wildland firefighters. His research and proposed changes are outlined in his 8-page proposal for national wildland fire reform titled “The Palmer Perspective.”
One of his key suggestions is to increase the number of skilled emergency service professionals assigned to assist with wildfire emergencies. According to Palmer, the National Wildfire Coordinating Group requires only one emergency service professional for every 499 wildland fire personnel. He identifies this figure as “the lowest medical ratio in the industry.” By comparison, says Palmer in his interview with Scripps Howard News Service, there are two to four EMTs for every 22 high school football players. Palmer recommends having at least one EMT for every 10 wildland firefighting team members.
As the summer months heat up and fire dangers increase throughout California, highly-trained wildland firefighters will prepare for the precarious job of combating dangerous and often widespread wildfires. Skilled emergency services professionals such as Sacramento EMTs are needed to help treat wildland firefighters during medical emergencies.
If you’ve considered pursuing an exciting a reward role in the healthcare field, consider an in-demand job as an Emergency Medical Technician. Whether you’re thinking of working as a San Jose EMT or a paramedic in Fremont, Unitek Education offers extensive emergency service training that can help jumpstart your career.
For additional information on Rob and Andy Palmer, and the wildland firefighting field, please visit:
http://wildfiretoday.com/documents/Palmer_perspective.pdf