Published: Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Snohomish medics ready
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Snohomish County Fire District 4 photo Theresa Dennis (left), Neil Broumley, Jason Leighty, Victoria Stewart and David Alberts are the new paramedics for Snohomish County Fire District 4 in Snohomish.
SNOHOMISH -- One paramedic is here and more are on their way.
Voters in Fire District 4 in Snohomish approved spending money on paramedics in April. Since then fire officials have hired five paramedics and sent four of them to training. One other paramedic is expected to be hired by November.
Fire Chief Mark Collins expects around-the-clock coverage by late-November.
Five times since 2001, voters turned down EMS levies. The district used paramedics from other districts, but fire officials were forced to cut a contract for paramedic services at the beginning of the year.
Fire officials worried that critical patients would have to wait too long for advanced medical care. Voters agreed and approved a $1.2 million levy.
Meet the first paramedic onboard, Neil Broumley.
Q: How long have you been here?
A: I started August 9. I'm one of the guys that used to come over from Monroe. I'm running some calls when I'm on shift during the day.
Q: Why did you want to join Fire District 4?
A: It's a good opportunity to start up a new paramedic service in a place I'm somewhat familiar with. I have some family that live in Snohomish as well.
Q: How long have you been a paramedic?
A: For 11 years. I was in Tacoma with Rural Metro, a private company. I was a paramedic in Monroe for six years.
Q: When will the other paramedics start and who are they?
A: Hopefully we'll have 24-hour coverage by Thanksgiving. The other paramedics are Torre Stewart, Theresa Dennis, Jason Leighty and Dave Alberts. Torre, Theresa and Jason were all volunteers in Snohomish. Dave comes from Mason County. They're all in training in North Bend at the Washington State Fire Academy.
Q: What's the biggest difference between a paramedic and an emergency medical technician and what kind of training does it take?
A: A paramedic provides basic life support and carries drugs, like cardiac and respiratory drugs. We're also able to intubate. It's generally about a year in the classroom and about six months of clinical studies.
Q: Anything else you'd like to say?
A: I'm just really excited to be there and bring a service that hasn't been here for 10 months. I'm happy that the community supported it.
Voters in Fire District 4 in Snohomish approved spending money on paramedics in April. Since then fire officials have hired five paramedics and sent four of them to training. One other paramedic is expected to be hired by November.
Fire Chief Mark Collins expects around-the-clock coverage by late-November.
Five times since 2001, voters turned down EMS levies. The district used paramedics from other districts, but fire officials were forced to cut a contract for paramedic services at the beginning of the year.
Fire officials worried that critical patients would have to wait too long for advanced medical care. Voters agreed and approved a $1.2 million levy.
Meet the first paramedic onboard, Neil Broumley.
Q: How long have you been here?
A: I started August 9. I'm one of the guys that used to come over from Monroe. I'm running some calls when I'm on shift during the day.
Q: Why did you want to join Fire District 4?
A: It's a good opportunity to start up a new paramedic service in a place I'm somewhat familiar with. I have some family that live in Snohomish as well.
Q: How long have you been a paramedic?
A: For 11 years. I was in Tacoma with Rural Metro, a private company. I was a paramedic in Monroe for six years.
Q: When will the other paramedics start and who are they?
A: Hopefully we'll have 24-hour coverage by Thanksgiving. The other paramedics are Torre Stewart, Theresa Dennis, Jason Leighty and Dave Alberts. Torre, Theresa and Jason were all volunteers in Snohomish. Dave comes from Mason County. They're all in training in North Bend at the Washington State Fire Academy.
Q: What's the biggest difference between a paramedic and an emergency medical technician and what kind of training does it take?
A: A paramedic provides basic life support and carries drugs, like cardiac and respiratory drugs. We're also able to intubate. It's generally about a year in the classroom and about six months of clinical studies.
Q: Anything else you'd like to say?
A: I'm just really excited to be there and bring a service that hasn't been here for 10 months. I'm happy that the community supported it.
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