First In-- Compton Fire Department

[eveningsky339]

Has anyone been following this series? Not sure how it ended up on Black Entertainment Television, but it's one of the best shows I've seen in quite a while. It's a reality show which follows some of the firefighters in the Compton Fire Department (just outside of Los Angeles).

http://www.bet.com/video/shows/FirstIn

Don't bother trying to watch episode 9, the site designer apparently had too much to drink when posting it...

As an aside-- in the Western US, fire departments often run both fire and emergency medical calls. The firefighters are cross-trained as EMT's. I personally don't like the idea of men in the fire service being "forced" to run medical calls, but this should clear up any confusion when the fire truck flies away to assist people in wheelchairs...

 

[Linguofreak]

As an aside-- in the Western US, fire departments often run both fire and emergency medical calls. The firefighters are cross-trained as EMT's. I personally don't like the idea of men in the fire service being "forced" to run medical calls, but this should clear up any confusion when the fire truck flies away to assist people in wheelchairs...

I think it has something to do with the fact that it's a good idea for firefighters to have some training as EMT's in the first place (because of the general tendency of fires to cause medical emergencies), and that the fire department can often get to the scene ahead of the ambulance. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a couple instances when we lived in Colorado where a fire truck showed up somewhere followed a few minutes later by an ambulance.

 

[BHawthorne]

Fire department often is delegated with "first responder" roles depending on where they are located. It only makes sense that they have training in police, EMT and fire related issues as to properly assess the situation.

 

[eveningsky339]

I think it has something to do with the fact that it's a good idea for firefighters to have some training as EMT's in the first place (because of the general tendency of fires to cause medical emergencies), and that the fire department can often get to the scene ahead of the ambulance. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a couple instances when we lived in Colorado where a fire truck showed up somewhere followed a few minutes later by an ambulance.

Fire department often is delegated with "first responder" roles depending on where they are located. It only makes sense that they have training in police, EMT and fire related issues as to properly assess the situation.

I tend to agree; all fire departments/police departments require their employees to complete at least a medical first responder course. I personally don't have a problem with fire-based EMS so long as the firefighters are willing to run medical calls. Unfortunately, however, they often do not want to.