Reply to a comment

Waverunner: Please do not provide suggestions to the city without the authorization of the Fire Chief. He's the chief of information, in fact, he is quite the presenter. LOL

Here is another tidbit that Mr. Murphy did not clarify in his bar graph or perhaps I missed, showing amount of calls along with his response time: does it include the police who typically arrive on scene and may in fact precede the Advanced Life Support (ALS) team and act as Basic Life Support (BLS). Why you ask? They are mobile and can be anywhere at any specific time. In fact, many municipalities now provide cardiac defibrillators to police because many communities have found that first responders even less trained than ALS responders have made a difference in providing early intervention. Again, why you ask? Well, its less costly than manning remote stations with drugs etc. yet provides more personnel with life saving capabilities.

In fact, just over city border in North Naples, the county is denying ALS to firefighters.

http://www.marconews.com/news/2010/oc...

And in another commentary article from Dr.James N. Hampton, M.D. recently submitted in the Naples Daily News dated Oct. 22, 2010:

"Article after article in the medical journals have repeatedly stated that an emergency medical system should have a two-tiered program of first response (lay public, fire and police) followed by advanced life support AND that the advanced life support should be provided by a SMALL contingent of paramedics who frequently and constantly are making medical decisions. Otherwise, the cadre of medics becomes rusty, ineffectual, and more prone to error . Tober works on the widely accepted notion that a busy medic makes the best medic."

So may I ask the Fire Chief, are police included as first responders because they are part of the emergency response team on this island? I did not hear you acknowledge their presence or partnership in emergency situations. It may have been an oversight.