Suspension Of FD EMS First Response During High Fire Call Volume

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I'm looking to see who has protocols on this. This mostly affects urban departments that send an engine on first response.

If 95% of your department is out on fire-related calls, do you still send the one engine you have left in the city on an EMS first response? Excluding if it's a critical call, like a cardiac arrest.

What happens if a higher priority fire call comes out before you get to the scene? Do you divert to the fire call?

[STAT213 332]

Seth,

I work for a career department with four stations and fifteen members on duty per shift. We are frequently down to one single resource in town. (We only have one engine that doesn't cross-staff an ambulance.) We handle the calls as they come in, and yes, when an EMS call comes in and we only have one resource left, we send it. HOW COULD YOU NOT? Someone has called for help. You're going to tell them: sorry, can't come, there MIGHT be a fire. Good luck explaining THAT one.

It is far easier to explain that someone had to wait for help because ALL resources were tied up than to try to explain that you were saving an engine for a REAL call.

And yes, if ANY higher priority call comes in and you haven't made contact with the patient yet, I would divert to that call. Falls under doing what is right.

Rob