Winthrop is revamping its emergency response system following a Boston Globe investigation that looked at three deaths, including that of a toddler, and ambulance shortages and overworked emergency crews.
The town’s fire chief and town manager released a statement in December outlining steps to improve emergency preparedness and response.
Among the planned changes are paramedic training for firefighters, a reevaluation of how ambulance services prioritize calls, and the adoption of software to track emergency vehicle availability.
This overhaul comes nearly a year after 2-year-old Yuna Feeley went into cardiac arrest at home. With no ambulance available, Fire Chief Scott Wiley drove the child to Mass General in Boston, where she later died.
The death was one of three that the Globe looked at in examining the shortage of EMS resources in the state.
Winthrop officials are working with Action Ambulance to update call prioritization systems and introducing paramedic supervisor vehicles to supplement emergency crews as well as training firefighters as paramedics.
Visit the Boston Globe for more.
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