The City of Sacramento Fire Department recently launched a new program to address the increase in 911 calls to ensure quality and timely service to the Sacramento community.
The new “squad” program will help Sac Fire respond to the over 110,000 calls they receive annually, some of which are non-emergencies.
The program will use smaller wildland fire engines, or squads, to respond to non-urgent aid calls. There are currently two of these vehicles, which are located at Station 15 and Station 4.
“By deploying squads for non-life-threatening calls, we free up fire engines and ambulances for larger emergencies, optimizing resources and response times,” said Sacramento Fire Captain Justin Sylvia.
This concept is designed to have two firefighters, one of them being a paramedic, respond to less critical calls such as back pain for an extended amount of time, assisting with small outside fires, or other non-life-threatening calls, said Sylvia.
These vehicles have a 400-gallon water tank and a booster pump for extinguishing outdoor or wildland fires. They also carry the same complement of medical gear that is currently found on all of the fire engines and trucks.
The squads also feature newer “telehealth” technology to immediately connect people with a live doctor, thus helping patients receive expedited medical care and potentially freeing up resources for other emergencies.
The pilot program is expected to continue through March while staff collect data and make adjustments to the program as needed.