Eagle County medics to provide support on fire lines
JEMS Staff
EDWARDS, Colorado — Vail Daily reports that Eagle County Paramedic Services has created a wildland fire team, made up of six paramedics specially trained to respond to medical or traumatic events during wildfires.
In a Facebook post Eagle County Paramedic Services said the
team consists of Mike Gasell, Conor Moran, Chris Rauzi, Greg Sawyer, Joel
Simonson and Aaron Zinser. Hank Bevington is serving as wildland fire
supervisor.
The paramedics received wildland fire training and certifications allowing them
to serve on the fire line or from an ambulance equipped to deploy for weeks at
a time.
Members of the Greater Eagle Fire Protection District and Eagle River Fire
Protection District provided training for the EMS wildland fire team with
administrative guidance from Battalion Chief Ryan McCully of the Colorado River
Region of Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
The wildland EMS paramedics will work in tandem with firefighters and hotshot crews to ensure firefighters are at their best and healthy.
The medics will work 16 hours a day for 14 days straight when assigned to a fire. They will camp for the entire shift and carry provisions for three days.
In addition to working with hand tools, learning how to cut a fire line, deploy fire shelters and more, these paramedics have successfully passed a pack test: walking three miles in 45 minutes or less carrying a 45-pound pack. This training leads to the medics being “red carded” or receiving their Interagency Incident Qualification Card.
