Since 2015, the Bend Fire Department (BFD) has hired a total of 43 Limited Term Ambulance Operators (AO), trained to the Basic Life Support (BLS) Emergency Medical Technician level, who respond to non-life-threatening medical calls. These are generally young people who are looking to gain experience in the field of emergency services, and they are paid about $15/hour while working 24 hour shifts alongside Bend firefighters.
This program has been funded with a 5 year local option levy approved by the voters in 2014 and up for renewal in the election ending May 15. This highly successful program has helped the BFD reduce response times by up to a minute and has allowed the advanced level paramedics to remain available for true emergencies. In addition, this program has allowed the BFD to place more response units on the street and to respond to calls with the most appropriate resource. Also, a BLS transport to the hospital is far less expensive for the patient than a transport with Advanced Life Support personnel.
A more subtle benefit is that the talented individuals whom we hire have taken the opportunity to develop their skills and better define what they want to do with their lives. Fully 44% (21of) our AO hires have been hired by fire and EMS agencies, including 11 with the Bend Fire Department. We currently have 23 AOs, and the 3 who remained from the first hire in 2015 have just “timed out” and plan to continue their careers in the medical field.
The value of this program to the community is obvious, with reduced response times, the optimization of our response patterns, and greater station reliability. Less visible but just as valuable are the things this program does for the individuals, for Bend Fire and for the fire service regionally. The BFD has demonstrated that an innovative EMS delivery system like this not only can work, but also will benefit everyone in the community.
