Swampscott CIP: Fire truck not needed for medical aid

SWAMPSCOTT-A comment made at Town Meeting last week by the chairman of Capital Improvement Committee has raised some concerns as to whether the committee is overstepping its authority.Capital Improvement Committee Chairman Cindy Merkle was discussing the need for a new fire engine when she commented how calls were dispatched.Merkle said CIP met with Fire Chief Richard Carmody to discuss how calls are responded to and the rationale for sending a fire engine on every medical aid call.?We were doing our due diligence,” she said. “We were looking at different methodologies that might prolong the life of the equipment. A new fire truck is a significant investment.”Carmody admits not responding to medical aid calls with an engine would save wear and tear on the engines, but the price is too high.?We’re in the safety business,” he said. “We’re trying to save lives and help people in town. What’s more important, wear and tear or people’s safety? My primary concern is the safety of people.”Merkle said the committee asked Carmody if it would be possible to respond to calls with a four-wheel drive vehicle instead of an engine.?Driving a truck full of water to medical calls puts wear and tear on it,” she said. “I asked the chief why the trucks are going out as often as they do. I asked him to explain why a fire truck was going out on a medical aid call with two or three people on it.”Carmody said if three firefighters were sent to a medical aid call in a four-wheel drive vehicle there wouldn’t be enough firefighters left at the station to man the equipment if there were a fire.?We don’t have enough personnel,” he said. “We can’t leave an engine at the station without the manpower to staff it. It would be ludicrous.”Carmody pointed out most communities respond to a medical aid call with a fire truck and ambulance and for good reason.?I understand her concern,” he said. “But we never know what we’re walking into. Sometimes we have to break the door down to gain access or remove the door to get the patient out. In many cases we need the equipment on the truck at a medical aid.”Carmody added the protocol for CPR has changed and it takes several people just to keep up the chest compressions.?We need additional people when someone codes,” he said. “People don’t know what we have to do at a scene. Sometimes we need guys to move furniture just so we can get to the victim. You can’t move a guy on a stretcher down a flight of stairs with just two people without risking injury to the victim and rescue personnel.”Carmody said the fire department has been responding to emergency calls for 11 years and has never had a firefighter out on disability due to an injury associated with a medical call.?When the police department used to run ambulance, two police officers responded to a medical call,” he said. “We have police officers out on permanent disability because they were injured moving a patient. There are circumstances where two people just can’t do it.”Carmody said the town needs to have two engines and adequate staffing levels if it wants to prolong the life of an engine.?If we weren’t just running one piece of equipment it would make all the difference,” he said. “We do more than just emergency runs. We do a couple of thousand of non-emergency runs each year n mandatory fire drills, smoke alarm detector inspections and so on.”Gino Cresta, who is a member of CAP and the Department of Public Works superintendent, said CAP is not trying to micro-manage the fire department and Merkle was merely looking for ways to save the town money.?Her reasoning was it would save money to send a four-wheel drive vehicle on medical aid calls instead of a fire engine,” he said. “Chief said if firefighters took a truck to a medical aid and a fire broke out that firefighters would have to return to the station to get the fire engine. I understand why the chief said it wouldn’t work from a safety perspective.”