From Sunday January 29, 2023 through Saturday February 4, 2023, the Yuma Fire Department responded to 362 emergency calls for service:

                17    General Fire Responses
Including: 1 for a house fire, 2 for household gas leaks, 1 for an alley trash fire, and various alarms 

                  3     Mutual Aid
Including: 2 for assisting Rural Metro with medical emergencies in the County and 1 call to assist in the Wellton area

               27     Motor Vehicle Crashes 
Including: 4 involving motorcycles, 1 head-on crash, 1 involving a pedestrian, 1 rollover, 1 involving a scooter, 
1 involving a tree, and 1 involving a bicyclist 

             288     Other Medical Emergencies (both serious and minor)
Including: 44 for difficulty breathing, 26 for chest pain/cardiac issues, 36 for fall related injuries, 15 for unconscious people, 11 seizure cases, 3 possible stroke cases, 3 for an intoxicated person, 16 for psychiatric problems (9 threatening or attempting suicide), 4 for medical alarms, 2 for a child locked in a vehicle, 10 for altered or decreased level of consciousness, 1 for fever, 5 for diabetic emergencies, 8 for a man down call, 3 for gunshot wounds, 3 for an assault, 4 for back pain, 17 for abdominal pain, 3 for a deceased person, 1 for lacerations, 18 welfare checks, 1 for a person who stepped on broken glass, 1 for hot wax in the eye from blowing out a candle, and other illnesses and injuries (Note: 1 of the week’s total responses were to the USBP holding facility)

               27     Special Duty, Public Assistance, and Residential Assignments
Including: 1 for a special appearance at a school, 2 for assisting with disabled vehicles, 2 for strong chemical smells, 1 to assist YPD with a biohazard clean-up at a crime scene, 3 for illegal trash burning, 1 for power lines down, 1 for fumes from mixing bleach and a household cleaner, and various alarms

What is the difference between a Fire Engine and a Paramedic Transport unit (ambulance)? You might say that one is a lot bigger, can seat more passengers, and carries water and hoses to extinguish large fires, but if it involves an emergency medical response, there is not much difference. All of our units are Advanced Life Support (ALS) units. This means they each will have at least one paramedic on board, and both would have the same advanced life support equipment and medication administration capabilities. In fact, the biggest difference is that the Paramedic Unit is also designed to transport patients.

Paramedics receive advanced medical training (approximately 2000 hours) to become certified, and are continuously training and evaluated to maintain their certifications. This is necessary for Paramedics to be the eyes, ears, and hands of the emergency room doctor. Equipment advances (like 12 lead heart monitoring), and new capabilities (such as Tactical Emergency Medical Support to work with law enforcement in “active shooter” situations) continue to be added to our paramedic’s responsibilities.

We often are asked why a Fire Engine is sent on an emergency medical call. Emergency medical calls make up the majority of calls for service modern fire departments respond to. To make the best use of resources, equipment and personnel need to be able to do double duty. In addition, many procedures leading up to the transport of a patient may also be best handled with the extra personnel assigned to an engine company. Critical care tasking for cardiac arrest cases can also take additional emergency medical personnel. When a fire engine, or ladder truck, arrive first, they are not there to transport you, they were just the closest Paramedic unit. The goal of the Yuma Fire Department is to get advanced life support to city residents as soon as possible. 

For more information about fire and injury prevention classes we offer, contact the Yuma Fire Department Public Information Office at 373-4855, you can also “Follow” us at www.twitter.com/YumaFireDept or on Instagram @YumaFireDepartment