REDMOND, OR -- Redmond Fire and Rescue unveiled its new Basic Life Support, or “B-L-S,” ambulance on Friday.
Redmond EMS Chief Doug Kelly tells KBND News, "80% of our total call volume is emergency medical services related. Of that 80%, 45% of our call volume is non-emergency calls." He says a new team of EMTs will help the agency increase efficiency. "We’re going to send the right resource at the right time to the right call. So, if it’s a non-emergency call, we can send our BLS unit and our EMTs, instead of sending the firefighter/paramedics. We can keep them in service to respond to the true critical calls."
Kelly defines "critical" as a life-threatening event like cardiac arrest. A "non-emergency" call could be a headache or helping an elderly patient who has fallen out of bed. The 17 new part-time and full-time EMTs are finishing training and should be ready to respond to calls by mid-October.