Pacific Northwest

[jermic]

Question.  I know Engine 28 and 39 also got the new Pierce's aswell.  Can you tell me where Engine 28'S E\-One went??

 

Thanks

 

[rlukas1]

Question.  I know Engine 28 and 39 also got the new pierce's aswell.  Can you tell me where Engine 28'S E-one went??

 

Thanks

 

 

E28's former E\-One is now assigned at station 41

[jermic]

Thank you for the info.

[bbirmingham]

In May 2014, the Tukwila Fire Department took delivery of two Pierce Velocity pumpers.  Engine 51 is shown here.  It has a 500hp Cummins engine and a 2000gpm pump.  It carries 500 gallons of water and 20 gallons of foam.  It is Pierce Job number 27274-02.  Its twin hasn't been assigned to an Engine Company yet.

[rlukas1]

After funding became available Aid 10 was reorganized on 12-30-14, responding out of station 10 with a spare 2008 Ford E450.  
SFD
had been planning to place Aid 10 in service at station 2 but that changed because E5 had to be relocated there when station 5 closed due to sea wall construction.  The move displaced
<span style="font-size:18px;">AIR</span>9 which has moved to station 30. 


 

In about 1930,
SFD

began responding to first aid calls in vehicles with the designation of  First Aid Car.  First Aid Car 10 responded with a first aid kit and a mechanical resuscitator in a 4-door 5 passenger 1929 Packard.  The designation slowly evolved to Aid Car 10, Aid Unit 10 and simply designated Aid 10.  As other Aid Units were needed they were assigned spare chief cars and frequently went out of service when a chief needed to use one of the spares.  This practice continued until the department purchased several 1958 Ford Ranch Wagons enabling Aid Units to carry a stretcher. Records are incomplete but Aid 17 was organized in 1932, Aid 2, 1937, Aid 14, 1942, Aid 18 and 25 in 1947.  Aid 10 was disbanded in 1979 in order to organize the second advanced life support unit, Medic 10.

[srq2009]

Is this in addition to Aid 5 at Station 10?

[rlukas1]

Is this in addition to Aid 5 at Station 10?

Correct both now respond out of Station 10.  Since this photo was taken a new unit, MCI 2, a 2014 Freightliner MT55 with Utilimaster body also responds from Station 10.  It will carry supplies and a cashe of portable radios.  It replaces the trailor seen in the same bay as AID 10 is backing into.

[Bryce]

Are there any plans to add an additional aid unit to Station 25? The SFD website says all three downtown aid cars ran more than 6000 calls last year, so it's probably needed too.

[rlukas1]

Are there any plans to add an additional aid unit to Station 25? The SFD website says all three downtown aid cars ran more than 6000 calls last year, so it's probably needed too.

I haven't heard anything, there is bay space at 25's but they may need to add a portable for the bunk room$-$.  Probably the only station ready to accommodate an Aid Unit downtown would be the old station 10 where the museum is located.

[bbirmingham]

Here is the twin to Tukwila's Engine 51 shown above.  This 2014 Pierce Velocity is assigned to Engine 53.  It is Pierce Job number 27274-01.

   

[derry86]

I'd love more info about Seattle's Medic One program.  Are the AID units BLS? Medic Units ALS? Are they staffed with FFs, or EMS only folks?  And, any chance for some interior shots of those buggies?

[DaveYoung]

I'd love more info about Seattle's Medic One program.  Are the AID units BLS? Medic Units ALS? Are they staffed with FFs, or EMS only folks?  And, any chance for some interior shots of those buggies?

http://www.seattle.gov/fire/medics/medicOne.htm

 

AID Units are BLS, they do fight fires as well. My understanding is that they only transport when there are no other options. I remember a multi-vehicle incident last year on the freeway where there was a shortage of Medic Units and AMR units, and in that case one of the Aid Units did transport to Harborview Medical Center.

 

Medic Units are ALS, and my understanding is that they do not fight fires. They also only transport ALS patients. 

 

AMR transports BLS patients, but I read on an EMS board that AMR has transported ALS patients when no S.F.D. Medic Units were available. Doesn't happen very often though, again from what I read on an EMS message board that was a Q&A regarding procedure and scope of care with Seattle AMR employees.

[Bryce]

I'd love more info about Seattle's Medic One program.  Are the AID units BLS? Medic Units ALS? Are they staffed with FFs, or EMS only folks?  And, any chance for some interior shots of those buggies?

 

To add to what Dave posted above, it's part of King County EMS, which is a countywide EMS program.  It's very different than systems elsewhere, including Pierce County, where I live.  In King County there are 5 ALS providers: Seattle Fire, Bellevue Fire, Redmond Fire, Shoreline Fire, and King County Medic One.  Seattle obviously covers Seattle.  Bellevue covers Bellevue and everything eastward to the county line.  Redmond covers Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, and all points east of those areas.  Shoreline covers Shoreline, Northshore, and Bothell.  King County covers all of South King County.  All ALS providers other than King County use firefighter paramedics.  King County uses 3rd service paramedics, but they are IAFF members.  BLS services are provided by the various fire departments in the county.  

 

There are very, very few paramedic units in King County.  Seattle has 7 medic units for a city of about 84 square miles and 600,000+ people.  The entire county has something like 25 medic units for 2.5 million people.  The philosophy is send medic units to serious calls and serious calls only.  You can see a recruitment video for KC Medic One here that will probably give you a good idea of the philosophy and culture:  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwmBU8_Fs0

 

Depending on where you are in the county, you could be served by a fire department or district that still does BLS transports.  Most places have moved away from that, and use private ambulance companies for BLS transports.  There are no private ambulance paramedics in King County.  Any private ambulance that is designated advanced life support has a registered nurse, not a paramedic, and they pretty much only do interfacility transports.  You cannot lateral into the paramedic system in King County.  Every paramedic goes through their training program.  

 

The system has rightfully become a model.  There is a huge percentage of people here who have been trained in CPR, so the cardiac arrest save rate is very high in comparison to other places.  The system is funded by a countywide property tax levy of 33.5 cents per $1000 assessed valuation, which means a $300,000 house pays $100.50 a year in property taxes to fund the system.  The last levy passed with an 85% yes vote in November of 2013.  

[derry86]

Ok, so why have FD based BLS units that don't transport? Do they respond with the AMR ambulance and then turf the transport to them? 

 

Sounds like an interesting system for sure, but how it all works isn't clicking for me.

 

It sounds as if three ambulances can end up on one call. 

[Bryce]

Some FDs use a cross staffing concept, where personnel staff either an engine or an aid car. These departments will usually do BLS transports. For decades these transports were done free of charge, although this is gradually changing. Other departments staff engines, and don't have cross staffed aid cars. These departments will have private ambulances do BLS transports exclusively.


There could be a situation where there's an aid car or engine, medic, and private ambulance on the same call. The medics are dispatched only to the most serious calls, so this is rare, but it'll happen. Usually, though, private ambulances aren't sent to calls until somebody on the scene determines that there's a need for transport to the hospital.

[DaveYoung]

Good info Bryce. Thanks for the posts.

[derry86]

Yup. Thanks for the info. I figured that they had tons of those aid cars, not just four. Makes sense now.

[rlukas1]

Mercer Island Fire Department - 2014 Ford F550 4X4 Rescue body by
Braun NW. 


 

Equipped for confined space rescue and dive team response. 


 

In service April 2014


Bob Lukas Photo

[rlukas1]

Bellevue FD's Light Force 7 was reactivated at the beginning of January 2015 with a 2003 Spartan H&W, the only non Pierce engine now in front line service, and the 2001 Spartan LTI TDA.  Sorry for the poor quality of the drive-by photo.



 

Bob Lukas Photo

[DaveYoung]

Bellevue FD's Light Force 7 was reactivated at the beginning of January 2015 with a 2003 Spartan H&W, now the only non Pierce engine now in front line service, and the 2001 Spartan LTI TDA.  Sorry for the poor quality of the drive-by photo.



 

Bob Lukas Photo

Bellevue still has a Light Force at 3 as well? Thanks for the photo of the engine as well. On the Hughes Fire website I noticed that Bellevue has a couple of Pierce TDA's in construction, probably fairly close to completion.