Merced fire engines to be staffed with paramedics around the clock
Emergency services are expanding in Merced.
MERCED, Calif. (KFSN) -- A change to emergency services in the city of Merced will help save more lives.
Connie Hinesley's daughter 8-year-old Aryelle has eplipsey.
She's all too familiar with calling 911 in Merced.
"We call every couple months, sometimes more than once a month, to be transported to Valley Children's because we cannot control her seizures," said Hinesley.
She says when ambulances arrive, they're not always able to provide the care her daughter needs.
That's because there are often only EMTs on board and not paramedics who can provide a higher level of care.
"Last year, Arielle actually coded while the ambulance was here," said Hinesley.
"The ambulance that showed up was not an ambulance that had a paramedic on board who could give the medication."
Hinesley says on several occasions, she's been left driving her daughter all the way to Valley Children's Hospital alone.
"Most of the time she does have seizures in route, and we had had to give emergency medication while in route to the hospital, driving my own car," said Hinesley.
She's hopeful care will improve after the the fire department became Advanced Life Support certified.
With this upgraded in status, paramedics will arrive on fire engines and be able to assist local ambulances with transporting patients like Aryelle to hospitals.
Merced Interim Fire Chief Casey Wilson says EMTs normally have about 170 initial training hours.
"The advanced life support comes with a much higher level of training, between 1200 and 1800 hours of training for paramedic training that can provide advanced life support meaning they can do advanced airways, IVs, advanced medications," said Merced Interim Fire Chief Casey Wilson.
It's not just about increased level of care.
The change means a paramedic will be staffed 24/7, working directly with firefighters to provide critical care for patients faster.
"It basically means they're going to have access to services much quicker than if we had to wait for an ambulance perhaps to show up. Obviously timing is critical on advanced life support," said Merced City Manager Scott McBride.
Fire station 53 on Loughborough Drive and M Street is the first to begin deploying expanded emergency personnel as it is one of the busiest stations in the city.
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