Stafford to grow fire department after medical transport incident

Stafford County has until June to comply with state orders that mandate only trained fire and rescue personnel are dispatched to emergencies.

The Virginia Department of Health Office of Emergency Services delivered a report to the department March 25 mandating the county complies with state regulations. It comes after the two volunteer firefighters placed on temporary suspension, and then reinstated earlier this month after a child suffering a seizure was taken on a fire truck in late February to a local hospital, not by ambulance.

The volunteers were the first to arrive at a McDonalds restaurant in Ferry Farm where the child was choking. Stafford County Fire Chief Mark Lockhart said a medic unit that was five miles away in North Stafford was dispatched to the call, and a basic life-support ambulance, about 1 mile away, was also dispatched to the McDonalds.

Lockhart said the volunteers took it upon themselves to take the child to a hospital on a fire truck instead of waiting for an ambulance. The child made a full recovery.

Stafford County officials responded to the report, and noted the county plans to add new firefighters to the county payroll in the next year’s budget.

“We immediately started a review after the February incident to determine how we could improve our current practices and better serve our citizens,” said Stafford Fire and Rescue Chief Mark Lockhart. “We want to ensure that we always have trained, certified personnel on the scene who can provide the appropriate medical assistance in any emergency situation.”

Moving forward, the department will take steps to:
— Ensure EMS providers are all affiliated with the department and certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia.
— Require EMS providers be approved to practice by the department’s medical director.
— Create a policy requiring that the staffing and dispatch of basic life support first responders complies with state
EMS regulations.
— Provide at least one certified EMS member on any first responder unit that meets all these requirements.

Additionally, Stafford County is committed to enhancing public safety staffing. The Board of Supervisors authorized Fire and Rescue to apply for a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grant from Federal Emergency Management Agency that would add 16 additional firefighters, and there are 15 additional positions in the County Administrator’s FY2017 Proposed Budget.

At a press conference on March 7 about the medical transport incident, the two reinstated volunteers were represented by attorney Jason Pelt. Reached by email today, Pelt gave Potomac Local this statement: 

“Legal action is a possibility but not the preferred method of ensuring that the residents of Stafford have a worthy system.  Volunteers serve a invaluable part of this system and we hope that in the future steps will be taken by the County leadership to recognize their role.”