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Pinal Rural Fire Rescue will be presenting a program to the Mammoth Town Council on Mar. 21 for PRFR to provide advanced life support first-response Emergency Medical Services to the citizens of Mammoth free of charge.
Despite rumors to the contrary, there is no fee whatsoever to any citizen we respond to help. In fact, it costs PRFR $20 every time they are dispatched by Rural Metro/Southwest. What we do care about is that we have the ability to save lives with a higher level of care.
This will also create a “continuity of care” since it would be a paramedic releasing a patient to the paramedic on Tri-City Meds ambulance. This in no way affects Tri-City Ambulance because they are still the transport service for Mammoth.
It is a legal right under Arizona revised statutes for a city or town to contract for public safety coverage in however they consider best for the citizens they are charged to protect, because there are times when an ambulance can be delayed. This new system will allow PRFR Paramedics to stabilize a patient until the arrival of an ambulance.
Because of call volumes in the Tri-City area, there are times when Tri-City can be delayed. An average response time for Tri-City is 16 minutes if they are coming from San Manuel. This can be delayed if they are already on another call and a backup ambulance is coming from Oro Valley or Tucson.
The difference in care is tremendous. Mammoth Fire District only has 48-hour trained first responders that are not authorized to do anything but take vital signs and basic first aid. Then, they must wait for the ambulance. They are also one of the very few fire departments in the State of Arizona that has no EMT’s, not even Basic EMT’s. PRFR’s Paramedics can provide a far more advanced system of initial care until the ambulance arrives—in circumstances of heart attacks or strokes, that can be a matter of life and death.”
We are not here to take anyone’s fire trucks or hoses. We do want to be able to make the difference in saving people’s lives by providing Advanced Life Support Paramedics to our neighbors in Mammoth. Our Paramedics can be there in just a few minutes and start life-saving care right away.
PRFR also has plans in the works to provide many Community Outreach Programs to the citizens of Mammoth like it does to its own subscribers. This is not about turf fights, it’s not about egos—it’s about saving lives and doing what’s right by the citizens of Mammoth.
The public is invited, and encouraged, to attend this important meeting on Mar. 16 at 7 p.m.
/s/ Bud Paine
Fire Chief
Pinal Rural Fire Rescue
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