Photo by Jim Davis. Volunteer firefighter/medic Ryan Pickering checks equipment before his next run.

Published on: Thursday, January 26, 2012

By Jim Davis

After a year of planning and more than several hundred hours of training, Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department has placed a volunteer paramedic ambulance in service that will provide advanced life support medical care to the residents of Hyattsville and surrounding communities in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

The new paramedic ambulance will be a part-time unit operating only a few evenings a week and weekends until additional personnel have been trained. Then the unit will be placed in service full time during evening hours and on weekends.

“The paramedic ambulance program will positively display our EMS growth to the citizens of Hyattsville and beyond,” said President Dave J. Iannone, of the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department . “The Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department has played an integral role with our station to accomplish this goal and has been key to its launch and continued success.”

Prince George’s County Fire Chief Marc S. Bashoor said, “I am proud of the Hyattsville volunteers for placing a paramedic ambulance in service, thus enabling them to provide that extra level of advance life support service that is so critical to the citizens and residents of Hyattsville and surrounding communities. They have added this service while continuing to give excellent basic life support ambulance, fire suppression and rescue services.”

Currently, Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department operates 10 paramedic units staffed with two full-time paramedics, three full-time paramedic engine companies staffed with three firefighters and a paramedic firefighter, and three paramedic ambulances staffed with one paramedic and an emergency medical technician. The department plans to add more units when staffing and funds become available, officials said.

“We have three members who have successfully completed the requirements to be both Maryland licensed and Prince George’s County certified paramedics,” Iannone said. “Additionally, a large contingent of our active volunteer membership already certified as emergency medical technicians attended and successfully completed a program to provide advanced life support assistance.”

 Advanced life support equipment and supplies are maintained by the County Office of Emergency Medical Services and will be provided when the paramedic ambualance is placed in service, Iannone said.

The paramedic ambulance operates within the Emergency Medical Services Operational Program, as managed by the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department. It is expected to provide an emergency medical services team with equipment, supplies and a vehicle for patient transport and emergency medical care out of hospital. With the paramedic ambulance, the department is capable of providing advanced life support staffed with a minimum of one Maryland-licensed and county-certified advanced-life-support provider and one county-certified basic-life-support provider.

Last year, the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department received a state grant, adding Automatic External Defibrillators to its ladder truck and rescue squad, equipping the entire frontline response fleet with the critical life-saving tool. The department will purchase a new ambulance in 2012.

The Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department’s primary response area includes the Hyattsville and University Park. The department responds to about 6,000 fire, rescue and EMS calls annually throughout northern Prince George’s County and Takoma Park in Montgomery County. The department is staffed 100 percent by volunteer responders —including 14 college live-ins — after 5 p.m. weekdays, overnight and all weekends and holidays.