Paul M. Anderson
GLENDALE -- Less than an hour since Glendale firefighters took over
the city's paramedic service Wednesday, they got their first emergency
call.
It was a woman having trouble breathing, said Assistant Fire Chief
Chris Gray.
The rest of the day it was the paramedics who were breathless.
"They've been running calls all day, all four of our rescue
ambulances," Gray said.
But American Medical Response, the private company Glendale has hired
to provide ambulance service for the past 24 years, handed the baton to
Glendale firefighters without a hitch at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. The first
official call for Glendale's municipal ambulance service came in at 8:17
a.m.
"All along, throughout the transition, AMR has worked really well with
us," Gray said. "It's been a smooth transition."
Glendale took over the paramedic service and trained 34 firefighters
to be firefighters and paramedics to cut costs and provide speedier
service, Gray said.
AMR had four ambulances rolling everyday with two paramedics in each
one, Gray said.
But Glendale firefighters can put additional paramedic/firefighters on
their fire engines and have them work out of the fire stations without
ambulances, Gray said.
"What that's doing is lowering the response time which can make a
difference between life and death in some cases," Gray said.
