THE DEATH of mother and daughter in a fire in Arevalo, Iloilo City on Friday was unfortunate indeed. Firefighters had difficulty reaching the fire scene due to the narrow pathway to the burning house. The bodies of the two women were found huddled in the toilet; they hid there in their desparate attempt to escape the fire.
The incident prompted us to ask about the status of a relevant measure in Congress – House Bill 7465.
In order to save more lives in rescues, the 55-member House committee on public order and safety approved the in April this year requiring all fresh recruits of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to undergo training and obtain certification as emergency medical technicians (EMTs).
House Bill 7465 mandates the BFP and the Department of Health to design and establish a training program for EMTs that would be integrated into the Fire Basic Recruit Course.
The measure envisions a whole new BFP with highly improved capabilities to take action and save lives during fire as well as non-fire medical emergencies, including traumatic injuries and accident scenes. Once we train our firefighters as EMTs, they can take and actually use their life-saving skills wherever they go, even if they are off-duty in their communities.
EMTs have superior training in advanced pre-hospital emergency care services. They can perform endotracheal intubations on persons who are unconscious or who cannot breath on their own; administer medications orally and intravenously; run blood transfusions; and use complex life-saving medical devices.
Under the bill, the BFP must designate at least one firefighter per shift in every fire station to act and serve as EMT, regardless of rank, and supervise the rest of the officers in responding to medical emergencies.
The rest of the officers in every fire station who are not EMTs are expected to have adequate training as “medical first responder” – a rating below that of EMT.
A medical first responder is qualified to provide less complicated pre-hospital emergency care services such as advanced first aid level care and automated external defibrillator (AED) usage.
With a new House leadership, we hope this measure would be approved and become a law. It can save many, many lives.
