First Responder Program

First Responder Program

The Port Alberni Fire Department began participation in the First Responder Program on July 1st 1999. The purpose of the program is to provide immediate professional emergency medical care to the public prior to the arrival of the ambulance.

The Fire Department will usually be called out in a First Responder mode whenever the Ambulance is delayed or busy on another response.

Several of the Fire Department Members have many years of experience in Ambulance work from the years when the Ambulance Service was operated by the Fire Department under contract with the Emergency Health Services Commission.

All members of the Port Alberni Fire Department are fully trained to First Responder Level Three with Spinal Endorsement and Automatic External Defibrillator Endorsement (AED). One of the local Firefighters is a First Responder Level Three Instructor and is also an Instructor for the Spinal and Defibrillator Endorsement to the First Responder License.

Overview

The concept of First Responder has been in existence for many years. It refers to those people, specifically members of the police and fire services, who provide care to the public prior to the arrival of the ambulance.

In 1989, the Chief Coroner Mr. Vince Caine presented a document called the "Review of Pre-Hospital Care."This document covered a number of issues, one of which was the recommendation for the Emergency Health Services Commission and the Justice Institute of British Columbia to develop a First Responder Program.

Based on this recommendation, the Provincial First Responder Steering Committee held its first meeting. The committee included representatives from the Justice Institute of B.C., police, fire and ambulance services.

A validation committee was formed, in order to review the Provincial First Responder Steering Committee's working model for the program. The validation committee was comprised of individuals in each of the emergency services. It made a number of recommendations, one of which was the establishment of three levels of training.

In 1990, the first pilot program took place. In that first year, 56 First Responder Instructors and over 200 Providers were trained.

In 1991, the Health Emergency Act recognized the First Responder, referring to the Provider as an Emergency Medical Assistant First Responder Level I, II, or III. This led to indemnification by the Health Ministry for licensed departments providing first response.

By 1992, there were over 200 First Responder Instructors and over 2000 Providers in place. The Provincial First Responder Steering Committee recommended that training , along with the introduction of Instructor Trainers, be regionalized across the Province.

In recent years, the addition of two endorsement programs significantly altered the role of the First Responder.  In 1994, early defibrillation was identified as a key link in the chain of survival for pre-hospital cardiac arrest. For this reason, the use of Automated External Defibrillators was included as an endorsement in the First Responder Program.

The second endorsement program, Spinal Management, was developed for situations in which First Responders were the only ones able to reach patients that had to be transported to safe places for treatment by British Columbia Ambulance Service Paramedics. This endorsement program expanded the range of First Responder skills to include stabilization of the head and neck, use of hard collars, the Headbed II, backboards, the Robertson Orthopedic Clamshell stretcher and various strapping methods.

Although it has been only a few short years since the First Responder Program was first developed, there have already been many positive and significant developments within the program. Its success is largely due to the input from the various participating police and fire services, and support from the BC Ambulance Service and the Emergency Medical Assistant Licensing Branch in Victoria. Around the Province, more and more departments are becoming involved with the First Responder Program.