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Santa Barbara County Fire Paramedics
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The Santa Barbara County Fire Department paramedic program began in 1974. Based on field advancements from the Vietnam War and awareness delivered by the popular television show “Emergency,” the paramedic concept showed that lives could be saved if early advanced life support is provided prior to arrival at an emergency room.
In the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, we have 16 stations in which every engine carries Advanced Life Support medical equipment. Within our system, we have 8 core Firefighter / Paramedic stations that are staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The remaining 8 stations operate with what are called "Paramedic Extension Kits". These kits contain advanced life support equipment that is placed into service when a paramedic is on duty at one of these non-core stations. Last year, we had the "Extension Kit" stations staffed with paramedics 76% of the time.
The reason we are able to staff these "Extension Kit" stations this frequently is due to our numbers of paramedics. We currently have over 50 well trained, professional paramedics in all ranks including our current fire chief. Santa Barbara County Fire Department employs more paramedics than any other department in the county including AMR (American Medical Response).
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department also has two fire stations that provide ambulance service and transportation for those in need. These are station 51 in Lompoc and station 41 in the Cuyama Valley. Station 51 also covers behind AMR in Lompoc City when AMR is out of their response zone. Medic 51 out of station 51 covers behind AMR approximately 15-20 calls per month. Medic 51 is can also provide long distance transfers from the Lompoc District Hospital to Santa Barbara and Goleta hospitals.
Our Firefighter / Paramedics at station 32 in Santa Ynez, also provide Advanced Life Support in association with our helicopters 308 and 309. If any other medical helicopter has an arrival time greater than 35 minutes, then our helicopters are dispatched to the call. Or, if the incident requires a hoist operation, our helicopter will respond with Firefighter / Paramedics and will provide Advanced Life Support treatment as well as transport the patient to the nearest hospital.
Our Paramedics are only as good as their training. Our Training Division, working in association with the Department’s EMS Coordinator, is continuously working to improve the skills and quality of care provided to the public by our Firefighter / Paramedics.