Tulsa Fire Department officials continue to press city councilors for more firefighters, saying longer allowable EMSA response times are one reason to bolster staffing.
The fire department has three firefighters per truck, while the national standard is four. EMS Chief Michael Baker said the fire department’s typical response now isn’t always enough.
"How many people does it take to work a trauma patient?" Baker said. "How many people does it take to work a cardiac arrest? To have the elements in place on a fire crew, it is a significant amount of personnel."
Baker added the burden of providing medical care has shifted to the fire department since longer EMSA response times were approved in 2013. EMSA’s response times are 10 minutes 59 seconds for emergencies and 24 minutes 59 seconds for other calls. The fire department’s response time goal is four minutes for basic medical response and eight for advanced life support.
"So we've become a more integral part of the EMS system. However, we have not developed our operational intelligence to support that," Baker said.
Baker told city councilors there isn’t a good system in place to let firefighters know when EMSA is delayed. He said last week about one-third of the time firefighters were at a medical call for more than 30 minutes without knowing EMSA was delayed.
