TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Firefighters are often the first emergency responders on the scene of an accident or emergency situation.
Firefighters also respond to EMS related calls within the city.
Terre Haute Fire Department Chief Jeff Fisher went on to explain that in order to better serve residents, all firefighters must be licensed paramedics.
“We are a full service department,” he said. “We want to make sure that we give our taxpayers, our citizens and anybody else that comes through the city the top care and response that we can give them.”
T.H.F.D. requires all incoming firefighters to obtain their paramedics license within five years, and the department will even pay for the program.
“We put them through the training. It’s not out of pocket for them,” Fisher explained. “We do the training, we send them to schools and they become paramedics.”
Paramedics are able to start IVs, intubate patients in rescue breathing situations and give doses of medication.
The program takes about a year and a half to finish and students must complete the state required amount of clinical hours and classes.
Kyle Osborne has been with T.H.F.D. since 2017, within a year he’ll be a licensed paramedic.
“You get a duel skilled firefighter that not only can fight fires, but can go out and perform ALS skills, life-saving skills,” he said.
Once earned, all firefighters must hold their paramedics license with the T.H.F.D. for ten years, according to Fisher.
“You have to do your time on the ambulance in order to understand what we do here,” he said. “This is the Terre Haute Fire Department EMS.”
