Pacific County Fire District 1 began providing advanced medical life support to South Pacific County residents and visitors in 1998. Eighty percent (80%) of the calls to Fire District 1 are requests for medical assistance. Not only does the District answer up to 911 calls, but also responds to local hospitals and extended care facilities for transport of patients to higher level care facilities in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, and Portland.
Delivery of pre-hospital Emergency Medical Services (EMS) requires a high level of skill and expertise; and, as in the hospital and clinical settings, medical technology changes frequently. Fire District 1 strives to keep abreast of these changes through Continuing Medical Education (CME) and by reviewing and testing the newest and most up-to-date equipment. Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) today provide some of the most advanced pre-hospital emergency care known to the world. Paramedics and EMTs can provide many of the high-tech treatments administered in hospital emergency rooms.
Other EMS Services Provided
Fire District 1 is dedicated to promoting community health and education. Besides responding to 911 emergencies and inter-facility patient transports, we offer:
- Address Signs, so we can find you when you need us.
- Car Seat Inspections, to protect your little ones.
- Bicycle Helmets, to protect your whole family.
- First Aid and CPR Classes, so you can help before we get there.
- Injury Prevention Programs, to help keep you safe.
- Safety Guide for Senior Citizens, a resource of safety information.
- Emergency Lock Box Program, so we can get to you, if you are unable to let us in.
- Free Blood Pressure Checks, so you can monitor your own health.
- Stand-by at Local Events, so we’re right there, if you need us.
- Other Assistance Requiring Medical Expertise, just give us a call.
EMS Funding
The EMS Division is funded by a combination of ambulance user fees and EMS levy tax dollars. Carefully spent, these funds enable us to maintain the high level of service our citizens and visitors have grown to expect. Fire District 1 has also been successful in procuring grant monies. With these grants, we have been able to keep up with valuable and ever-changing medical technologies and equipment. Grants have enabled us, also, to implement community improvement programs like the address sign program. This program has been so successful and popular that surrounding agencies have adopted it.
EMS Levies
EMS Levies have been a necessary component to the growth of the Fire District. Voting residents of the Fire District recognized the need to fund improvements to the EMS Division of the District. Since 1986 there has been an EMS levy in place.
- In May of 1986, voters approved the first EMS Levy of $0.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value, for a term of 6 years. These funds were used for; an addition to the Ocean Park fire station for the purpose of housing ambulances and aid vehicles, the training of medical responders, and the purchase of two 4x4 patient transport capable rescue vehicles, both of which are still in service today.
- In September of 1992, voters of the District approved a new 6 year levy, for the same rate of $0.25 per $1,000 of assessed value. This allowed the District to continue to improve the level of EMS by training additional responders and by providing quality continuing medical education for the already medically trained personnel.
- In February of 1996, two years before the 1992 levy’s end, it was decided by the Board of Commissioners that the need for Advanced Life Support (ALS) Paramedic service based in Ocean Park had arrived. The voters agreed, and approved a levy for $0.50 per $1,000 assessed value. This levy voided the last 2 years of the previous one. The District used this money to contract with an outside company to provide an ALS staffed ambulance. In 1998 Fire District 1 realized the District could use this funding to provide more constant and comprehensive service through a combination of volunteers, paid EMTs and Paramedics. By staffing their own ambulances, Fire District 1 was able to implement the plan without needing to ask for an increase of the EMS Levy.
- In February of 2002 the voters again entrusted the District with a continuation of the EMS Levy for $0.50 per $1,000 assessed value for the years 2003 through 2008. Because of taxation law, the District currently receives $0.4511 per $1,000 of that levy.
By carefully balancing the levy money and ambulance user fees, the Fire District has been able to provide a high quality, efficient EMS service that is as up-to-date as any service found in the major metropolitan areas in the Northwest.
In 2008 the Fire District will again be asking its voting residents for another EMS Levy at the rate of $0.50 per $1,000.00 of assessed value. This will not be a new tax, nor will it be an increase in the tax rate, but a continuation of the previous rate. The levy will allow the Fire District to continue to deliver a high level of EMS services as well as grow with the growing needs of our community. The community growth is reflected by the increase in the number of EMS calls since 1986. In that year the Fire District answered 306 EMS aid calls and in 2006 that number was multiplied by greater than seven times, at 2,185 EMS aid calls.
Our Personnel
Pacific County Fire District 1 employs highly trained and educated personnel who are devoted to providing excellence in their profession. This dedicated group of individuals pride themselves on their ability to provide the highest level of emergency care and treatment; as well as their caring, compassionate approach to every one of their patients or prospective patients.
Since the decision in 1998 to operate its own ambulance service the EMS division of Fire District 1 has grown to fourteen full time paramedics, one part time paramedic (volunteer), five full-time EMTs, five part-time EMTs and fifteen volunteers who are medically trained to the level of EMT or First Responder.
Our EMS Fleet
EMS Training
Through progressive EMS training, approximately 75% of all Pacific County Fire District 1’s career and volunteer members are Washington State certified Paramedics, EMT’s, or First Responders. Continuing education is a vital part of maintaining a high level of knowledge and expertise in emergency services. Training is conducted through an On-going Training and Evaluation Program (OTEP) and traditional methods, such as classes, seminars, conferences, and specialized training. Both methods are approved by the Washington State Department of Health who regulates EMS services in our state. OTEP requirements can be found in WAC 246-976-161. OTEP classes are taught the third Wednesday of every month.
The American Heart Association (AHA) provides curricula and certifications for Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) that are offered to our members by the local hospital in a cooperative agreement in which the Fire District provides CPR training for hospital employees. The Fire District also utilizes class curricula such as Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) and Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS) provided by the National Association of EMTs (NAEMT) who, like the AHA, provides certification for these classes. In the future, the Fire District is planning for all these classes to be provided “In house”, being taught by its own certified personnel. For a schedule of OTEP topics, click on our EMS Training Schedule link
QA/QI
In order to progress as a fire department, and to meet the growing needs of our community, and to keep up with the ever changing medical field; it is paramount for us to constantly evaluate and reevaluate the quality of the service we provide. For this purpose, we have developed a strong quality assurance (QA) and quality improvement (QI) program. Furthermore, we listen carefully to those we serve. We greatly value feedback from those who have used our service. Their input gives us the unique perspective of the patient, allowing us to “be in their shoes”. We have been able to make many improvements based on the information provided us from this valuable resource.
Division Chief of EMS
In 2007 David Hood was hired to fill the position of Division Chief of Emergency Medical Services. David has a fervent commitment to our community and is dedicated to maintaining the high standard of care delivered to our citizens by the Fire District. Chief Hood came to the District with many years of EMS experience. He first became a Washington State EMT in 1973 and volunteered his EMS services to the communities in which he lived. In 1989 David completed his paramedic training at Central Washington University and has worked as a paramedic answering 911 calls since that time. Early in his paramedic career David discovered a strong penchant for EMS education. He is certified by the State of Washington Department of Health Office of EMS and Trauma as a Washington State Senior EMS Instructor and has conducted many EMS classes including; Washington State EMS Evaluator, First Responder, EMT Basic, and EMT Intermediate, National Registry Paramedic 48 Hour Refresher Courses, and a host of various American Heart Association and Red Cross classes. Amongst Chief Hood’s goals for the fire district are; promoting community health and education, providing progressive in-house Continuing Medical Education, and to develop a Senior Citizen Advisory Board to the fire district.
