Fire Department

Emergency Medical Services

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) comprises the majority of total call activity for the Spokane Fire Department. EMS care ranges from minor injury and calls for welfare assistance to immediate medical intervention of life-threatening situations. To provide the best emergency care service possible, all Spokane Fire Department uniformed staff are trained Emergency Medical Technicians or paramedics. All 16 stations are staffed with at least one paramedic 24/7.

The goal of this department is to provide patients with care that is as close as possible to the care a patient would receive in an emergency room. All of our paramedics have the trauma care experience necessary to provide exceptional and efficient care on all emergency calls. We also provide advanced treatment for pediatrics, elderly, respiratory, OBGYN, and drug incidents. We ensure that each paramedic has the expertise and tools to perform advanced cardiology procedures on-scene; this includes 12-leads, pacing, cardioversion, and defibrillation.

Our current methodology for providing CPR is based on observations of the most distinguished CPR programs around the country. Since the changes made to our CPR program in 2010, we have seen a significant improvement in the survival rate of cardiac arrest patients, jumping from mid-20% to above 50%. While we are exceedingly proud of this accomplishment, we will never stop making improvements to the patient care services we provide.

Along with these adaptations to our cardiac arrest care, we have significantly modified the CPR curriculum for bystander CPR. We have abandoned traditional means of instruction to focus on citizen and “Hands-Only” CPR. We encourage everyone to participate in our on-line method by watching our Citizen “Hands-Only” CPR instructional video.

Related Documents

• EMS Protocols (PDF 16 MB)