I’m writing in response to The Herald’s Aug. 26 article about Fire District 4 (“Fire Dist. 4 seeks transfusion on advanced medical service”). The district is finally looking into providing paramedic service.
It’s about time. Kudos to Commissioner Roger Portmann for the outstanding job he has done in his first two years. I don’t think that this would have happened without him. The professional firefighters of Snohomish had urged Mr. Portmann to run for the office in 1999. It appears that his leadership will bring some real benefit to the citizens served by District 4.
The American Heart Association recommends that paramedic level care for cardiac problems have a response time to your door of eight minutes or less. Fire Chief Bob Merritt and the old board of commissioners have long been comfortable with a system that provides only EMT trained personnel from our own stations. Paramedics respond from their fire stations in the neighboring districts. Over the past five years, the average response time for this life-saving paramedic service has been over 13 minutes. They arrive far too late to be of optimum value to you and your loved ones. Mr. Portmann has given the district some better ideas and a new direction.
The professional firefighters of Snohomish are now endorsing another candidate for commissioner. They recognize the need for someone who will work with Mr. Portmann to keep the district moving forward with better service and value to the taxpayer. I urge you to elect Steve Towers as commissioner for Fire District 4.
Snohomish
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