Overlapping fire and medical calls an issue for Coldwater fire in 2021

Coldwater Fire Chief Dave Schmaltz told the city council in his annual report Monday night the total 2021 calls for the department were 1,480.

"That's the most we've experienced in the department's history," Schmaltz said. "I am not necessarily surprised. That's the aging infrastructure, the aging population."

Emergency medical calls were the top service response for Coldwater Fire Department for 2021, back up to 825 from the 2020 drop to 760

That prompted a discussion with Commissioner Travis Machan about overusing a fire truck to answer those calls with added wear and tear on the expensive equipment.

The chief explained it was based on staffing levels with only three or four people on a 24-hour shift. f they take out a smaller truck for a medical call and then receive a fire call while out on that response, the men have to return to the station to take out the fire truck.

With vacations and other time off, often there are only three firefighters on duty at one time.

"If I'm spending all the time in a separate vehicle for EMS, I'm not going to be able to respond to the fire call with the appropriate staff. We can't respond to fire with one person on a truck," he said.

Schmaltz said the quick response to fire is critical with most homes now filled with petroleum-based plastic products that "flash over" quickly, more so than in homes just 20 years ago.

It is not just a Coldwater issue.

"Most fire departments in the country struggle with that same issue," he said. "What do we do? Should we risk it? And most fire chiefs and me say 'no,' We'll run that engine. Then we're ready to go for that next call."

Part of the issue is the medical calls and the availability of LifeCare to respond quickly. Those responding to the calls met with Medical Control at ProMedica to decide some types of calls could be answered as a Priority 3, rather than immediate emergency Priority 1.

The department already does not answer calls to medical facilities with nursing staff unless it is for a cardiac arrest or similar emergency.

Fire department EMS is on medical calls more often and for longer with short staffing at LifeCare.

"We stabilize the patient, wait for LifeCare, pick them up, and transport them. If a call comes in, that gives us the ability to respond right from the scene to the call, instead of having to go back and pick up a piece of equipment," Schmaltz said.

"We'll leave that one person there if we feel it's safe. Once we make patient contact, I can't leave because it's called abandonment," he said.

In 2021 there were 17% overlapping calls, a new one received while on another. Automatic mutual aid for structure fires from Quincy Fire helped in these situations.

The chief said not only is LifeCare short-staffed and busy, Marshall, Reading, and Steuben County often cannot respond with advanced life care transport.

The chief and fire marshal often respond with just a command truck if they are available until an apparatus can arrive. Last week, this situation happened with a kitchen fire at a fourth-ward home.

EMS calls topped out in 2019 at 840. Those dropped to 684 in 2020 at the height of COVID-19, then rose in 2021 to 739.

Fire calls dropped to 56 in 2017, but increased to 90 in 2021. Actual fires jumped from 13 to 50 during that period.

There have been many calls to the second ward in recent years. Schmaltz attributed those to smoke alarms from hotels in the Orleans Avenue area, which are now primarily residential living facilities for area workers.

In 2021, 13 of the calls were mutual aid, up from 11 in 2020 and 5 in 2019.

Two firefighters and six civilians were injured in fires in 2021.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Overlapping and medical calls an issue for Coldwater fire in 2021