Aug 26

AVAILABILITY
FL 04 - AVAILABLE
FL 05 - AVAILABLE
FL 06 - Unavailable
FL 07 - AVAILABLE

Thank You For Your Support

Good Morning.

Just a quick note....All Frontline Medical Wildland Support Trailers are available for assignment.

Everybody has had rest and is ready to go again. Thank you to all the incident management teams who continue to support Frontline Medical. We appreciate your confidence in our service.

On another note.... I am seeing quite a few "Line EMT's" arriving to incidents with a physical fitness rating of "light". NWCG does not have a specific rating requirement as of yet. Everybody in the fire world is in agreement.... EMT's should meet the same requirements as a fire fighter, as per 310-1. A light rating should NOT be allowed on a fireline. A line EMT must be able to hike where ever and when ever he or she is requested. From staging in a vehicle to hiking the line, following a hotshot crew, a line EMT must be physically prepared to do all of the above. As a Medical Unit Leader, I will not place an EMT on the fireline with a light rating. I hope all other Medical Unit Leaders will follow suit. Safety is the key issue here. This season I have seen EMT's who can barely take care of themselves on the line, let alone care for a patient. NWCG needs to publish some sort of basic requirements for Line EMT. The physical fitness rating should be, at a minimum...Moderate...Arduous would be preferred. I know the requirements for Line EMT is a hot topic, let's not worry about what we carry in our packs yet. Let's set some standards for how we show up to an incident. The packs are heavy enough, showing up with an extra 80lbs on yourself and a "light" physical fitness rating is asking for a huge problem. Maybe not today...maybe not tomorrow...but you will go down. You will not be able to perform the duties you have been assigned to perform.

Off my soap box.....for now....

Stay Safe.

Dj

Ps. Toaka says..."Hey!! If I carry a pack on the fireline....would I get an extra snack?"