Newton Fire Department celebrates EMS Week - Newton Independent

Newton Independent

Emergency Medical Services personnel are being honored as part of the national EMS Week celebrations, a recognition first proclaimed by President Gerald Ford in 1974.

The Newton Fire Department is the sole provider of EMS services in Newton, a division of the fire department dating back to 1962.

EMS workers provide the necessary patient assessment and critical care decisions in emergency responses. They perform rapid scene assessments, triage, treatment and transports. Local department members are trained to the American Heart Association Health Care Provider level and provide basic life support, advance life support, critical care transport and routine and emergency transfers.

The Newton Fire Department uses a fully integrated system utilizing dual-role firefighters in the delivery of fire and emergency services. Each firefighter is certified to a minimum level of Emergency Medical Paramedic. Each crew is staffed with a minimum of five Iowa Paramedic Specialists and five of the department's Paramedic Specialists are Critical Care Transport endorsed.

In addition, firefighter/EMT's are trained in emergency cardiac defibrillation and on every cardiac call responde with an Automated External Defibrillator capable of providing cardiac interpretation and manual defibrillation.

Every two years, the department's EMT-PS's attend a minimum of 60 hours of continuing education in a variety of basic and advanced emergency medical topics.

In fiscal year 2010-11, the Newton Fire Department responded to 1,753 emergency medical incidents. Of those, 289 were for transfers between facilities.

As part of the EMS Week, the Newton Fire Department is offering local residents with a information on a variety of topics, including:

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