As we begin 2024, we are wrapping up 2023 End-of-Year Reports and reviewing outstanding performances to recognize our firefighters and paramedics at our upcoming awards banquet.
For example, in 2023, Denton County ESD No.1 responded to 3,208 total calls – of which 60% were EMS-related and 39% were fire service-related. In addition to responding to emergency calls, our personnel completed 14,963 hours of training, performed 386 building inspections, and attended or facilitated 168 public education events.
As we review last year’s significant incidents, I find it’s easy to quickly notice the larger or more sensationalized incidents, such as the 58-car vehicle fire at a local automobile auction facility or the wildland fire earlier last summer where a baby fawn was rescued. However, what mostly goes unnoticed is that most of the lives we save every year are not related to fires or vehicles accidents. Instead, most of the lives we save every year are the results of performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, commonly known as CPR.
While I’m so very proud and thankful for the outstanding life-saving skills of our firefighters and paramedics, it’s equally important to recognize that many of these CPR saves involved bystanders who provided CPR before we arrived. Immediate CPR can double or triple chances of survival after cardiac arrest. Therefore, it goes without saying how it truly takes a village to keep a community safe.
A great example of this type of community teamwork occurred earlier this year when our crews responded to a local school for a construction worker who had suddenly collapsed and was not breathing. There is no doubt the advanced medical interventions our crews provided saved a man’s life and impacted his family for generations. However, the actions of our crew members might not have been so successful without the supervisor who called 911, the nearby teacher and principal who administered CPR and applied an AED, the dispatchers who calmly instructed the caller on what to do while dispatching our crews, and of course the many nurses and doctors at the local hospital who helped to facilitated this man’s full recovery.
As February is nationally recognized as American Heart Month, we recognize the level of local teamwork and interventions it takes to truly save a life. If you are interested in learning CPR or refreshing your CPR skills, please email Megan Reynolds at [email protected].
To reach Chief Vaughan, send an email to [email protected] or call 940.464.7102. For more information, please visit DentonCountyESD1.gov
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