Every parent fears the time they will need to call 911 for their child. Recently, the State of Missouri’s Department of Health approved the Metro West Fire Protection District paramedic staff and the fleet of Paramedic Units for the “Emergency Medical Services for Children” certification. “I am proud that Metro West was the first in St. Louis County to acquire this certification, it just confirms our commitment to the highest level of care for the children we care for” said Chief Vincent T. Loyal.
A study commissioned by the Missouri State Advisory Committee for Emergency Medical Services found that, especially in rural areas of the state, equipment developed especially for use on children was old, missing, or had never been available. There were no standards for updating old equipment, and many departments did not even realize what equipment was currently recommended. Many people underestimate the special care and equipment needed to help pediatric patients. Paramedic Units must be equipped with appropriate supplies and life saving equipment. Furthermore firefighter/ paramedics must have training specific to assessing and treating children. Our district has recognized these needs and has been able to consistently respond to pediatric cases with success.
“From newborns to 18-year-old adolescents, Metro West stands prepared to assist in any pediatric emergency medical situation, I’m proud of the recognition our district has achieved, and hope that we serve as a role model to other districts around the state,” said Battalion Chief / Chief Medical Officer Bud Mantle.
May 16 through May 22, 2010 was designated National Emergency Medical Services Week. This year on Sunday May 16th, Metro West hosted our 2nd annual “Injury Prevention and Healthy Living Awareness” event at Metro West Station 3 in Wildwood.
At this event Firefighter/Paramedics were on hand along with fitness experts, nutritionists and other medical professionals to explain the importance of a healthy lifestyle. Chief Vincent Loyal said “this is an opportunity for residents and businesses to learn more about the highly skilled and trained medical professionals and the equipment that is used in emergency pre-hospital care that is provided by Metro West Firefighter/Paramedics”. Car Seat Technicians were also on hand inspecting and installing “Child Passenger Safety” seats.
In 2009, Metro West said good-bye to Candy, our Search and Rescue K-9. “Candy passed away suddenly” said her handler, Metro West Engineer/Paramedic Brad Stahlman. Candy’s brother Buddy has been aggressively working to take his sisters place as Metro West’s new Search and Rescue K-9 and is fully trained.
In memory of Candy, the Metro West Fire Protection District has purchased a new resource that is used to treat animals that are oxygen deprived as a result of smoke inhalation, carbon monoxide poisoning, or other illnesses that require oxygen during house fires. This special mask is shaped so that it delivers the most oxygen to the mouth and nose of dogs, cats or other small animals. The safety of your pet is as important to us as it is to you. Annually, over 500,000 pets are affected by fires in the United States and sadly more than 40,000 die each year due to the effects of toxic smoke.
The “Candy Masks” are on all of the fire apparatus that would respond to a fire in your home or place of business.
The West St. Louis County area has certainly experienced its share of storms, large fires, floods and other major emergencies. The chances are high that we could, at any time, experience an earthquake that would substantially impact our entire region.
In recognition of this potential, the Board of Directors in 2003 implemented a program called CERT to train the public to become better prepared for catastrophic disasters such as a major earthquake or tornado. Also, we began efforts to better prepare our facilities, staff, and learn from other agencies across the country on how we could better respond to disasters in our community. “It was our goal to learn from the experiences of others, determine how we could build on this information, and protect our residents and businesses when a disaster strikes” said Chairman Tim Flora. Our staff has identified plans that improve our responses during a disaster and is focused on building collaborative relationships with Ballwin, Ellisville, Wildwood, and St. Louis County.
“Emergency response to crisis events similar to those recently seen around the world can also challenge our region. Our staff at Metro West continues to take the necessary steps that prepare us to address the needs of our residents and businesses when any type of disaster strikes” said Director Mike Noonan.
To coordinate our emergency operations, Metro West opened a state of the art Center that houses all emergency service functions during a crisis. The facility is staffed during every severe weather event that could impact our area. It also serves as a training facility for disaster operations and provides an emergency operations center for coordination within the West St. Louis County Area. “This new facility enables us to guarantee that we are able to help when disaster strikes” said Chief Vincent T. Loyal.
Metro West is dedicated to the safety of residents and businesses. We recently initiated a new program focused on businesses to improve the ability to plan and become safer when disasters or other emergencies occur. Captain Jim Silvernail, the coordinator of this new free program, said “The goal of our Business Preparedness Program is to help businesses develop a plan, train their staff, and build resiliency should a disaster occur in our area”.
A Business Preparedness team from Metro West will visit with your staff to evaluate the safety plans in your organization, develop a process to train all staff on how to evacuate in case of a fire or other emergency, and recover systems in the event of a loss. “These programs are designed to help our businesses in many ways. First and foremost they are designed to protect the lives of the employees should an emergency occur and secondly they may result in a reduction in insurance premiums. We encourage all businesses to get involved in this free service” said Vincent Loyal, Chief of Fire & EMS Services.
To learn more or to schedule a visit, please visit our website or call our administration offices.