There's no denying the trend in the Fire Service is toward Medical. In St. Louis County, EVERY Medical call is accompanied by the engine (ostensibly for crew). The only difference in most calls, is whether the engine leads the ambulance out of the firehouse, or vice-versa. EVERY hired Fire Fighter is now an EMT at least, if not full-fledged Paramedic.
In St. Louis City, Probationary Fire Fighters have one year to accomplish their EMT-Basic acredditation, or it's bye-bye. The pumpers go out on "sick cases" more than any other calls in most houses, and very often the dispatch is followed by "Medic Unit has an extended ETA . . .". Most of the Fire Fighters hate this, but there's lots more need for Paramedics these days than structural fire fighting.
That is, until THE BIG ONE hits . . .
-Michael
