Addition of an EMS Supervisor in the 1st Battalion

 By: Master Firefighter Tim Burns

On  Sunday July 14, 2013 Montgomery County Fire and Rescue expanded its Emergency Medical Services (EMS) supervision capabilities to include a 2nd EMS duty officer who will be quartered at Fire Station 19 on Seminary Road in the Montgomery Hills Section of Silver Spring.

While their responsibilities will encompass the entire lower county area as well as backing up the other duty officer county-wide, this addition brings much needed support to the paramedics and EMTs of the 1st Battalion.

The 1st Battalion is the home to a large number of EMS calls.  At the same time, the transport times are often short due to the relatively small geographic area and the

abundance of hospitals (including trauma centers).  When a responding duty officer is coming from Gaithersburg or Rockville they are ineffective simply because the entire patient interaction is over by the time they make it to the scene, let alone before the critical interventions that occur in the first few minutes of the event have taken place.

Along with on-scene support these EMS supervisors will provide enhanced quality improvement efforts and a more local liaison to the down county hospitals.

We in the 1st Battalion would like to welcome Captain Bill Phelps on A-Shift, Captain Jason Giza on B-Shift and Captain Stacy Jones on C-Shift.