Fire brigade takes on new role in life-saving medical callouts

A SURF Coast fire brigade will help boost medical response times through a new program that pairs CFA volunteers with Ambulance Victoria at cardiac arrest callouts.

The Torquay Fire Brigade began operating under the Fire Medical Response program this week.

By dispatching CFA volunteers and paramedics together, the program aims to deliver medical intervention sooner. In a cardiac arrest, a patient’s chance of survival falls by 10 per cent every minute CPR or defibrillation is delayed.

 

Caption Murray Middleton said the brigade was approached to join the program after Ambulance Victoria identified 75 brigades across the state able to meaningfully improve response times.

He said the brigade welcomed the opportunity to increase the skills of its volunteers, strengthen local cooperation with paramedics, and build firefighters’ confidence when a medical response is necessary during fire calls.

Fourth Lieutenant and fire medical response coordinator, Jack Fry, said the joint approach will strengthen the overall emergency response system and lead to more robust and safer care for patients.

“It’s something that we can stand by and say, ‘This is a really important feature of our brigade and a service that we can offer’,” he said.

“It doesn’t replace ambulance; it augments their capability and helps everyone align to better outcomes. There are going to be times where we have limited success, and there are going to be times where we have really, really good success.

“Across that average, hopefully everyone can stand tall and say, ‘This was a meaningful thing for us to do’.”

Murray emphasised that community members should not be alarmed if firefighters arrive during a medical emergency.

“It might be first, it might be second, depending on the availability of the ambulance service at the time, but do not be concerned that you’ve called the wrong service,” he said.

“We are trained by Ambulance Victoria to support them, and we’ll continue to support them once they arrive.”

The brigade has also recently installed a 24-hour automated external defibrillator (AED) at its entrance, funded through the Surf Coast Shire’s rapid grants program.

The small, portable device is designed to deliver a controlled electrical shock to a person experiencing cardiac arrest and is available for public use in an emergency.