We are very proud of the fact that in December, 2009 we became one of only two Fire Departments in the State of Indiana to have their Emergency Medical Services accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, (CAAS)
In achieving this goal, we have demonstrated that we are providing emergency medical service utilizing "Best Practices" as outlined with nationally-accepted standards.
The EMS Division is responsible for management, education, and oversight of the Department's 128 Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics providing service from 5 stations, on 3 ALS ambulances, 4 BLS/ALS engines, 2 BLS ladders and one BLS rescue.
Every one of the Towns police vehicles in the uniformed services division are equipped with an automatic external defibrillator, (AED) and one of our officers is also certified at the Paramedic level and responds when available on EMS incidents as well. The Fire Department also supports the police department by providing tactical paramedics for our Emergency Response Team.
Medical Direction is provided by St Vincent Hospitals, Indianapolis with Dr Michael Kaufmann serving as Medical Director.
In 2009, we experienced over 2400 patient contacts for everything from minor illness to major trauma.
One area of response that we are particularly proud of is the recognition, treatment and transport of patients experiencing a heart attack because of a blocked coronary artery. From the time that a call comes in to the 911 center, to the arrival of the patient at the cardiac cath lab after receiving treatment by our paramedics, reperfusion of the affected area of the heart is achieved on an average of 81 minutes; well below the national average.
Technology is also embraced by our department. We are fortunate to be at the forefront of a collaborative data collection project between Fire and EMS agencies in the Metropolitan Indianapolis area that will be largest repository of pre-hospital patient data in the United States. By utilizing this collected data, we will ensure that the treatments and procedures that we provide are measured against overall patient outcomes to ensure that we are in fact, providing the best care possible.
Since 2000, we have experienced a 78% increase in transports to area hospitals which equates to an average increase of 9.75% each year.
We shall continue providing the level of service that our community has come to know and expect. The Fishers Fire Department will continue to provide a basic and advanced life support EMS program to serve the critical medical care needs of our community by ensuring that we have highly trained, competent personnel, utilizing the latest technology while maintaining a high degree of compassion.
