In 2009 Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue responded to over 30,000 incidents.
Of these, 24,000 were medical calls such as: car & pedestrian accidents, childbirth, cardiac arrest
and broken bones. In addition to our engine and truck companies with one or more paramedics, TVF&R has two tools that help us respond to the growing number of medical calls in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.
Medic Units
In May 2010, TVF&R added a third Medic Unit to its fleet. These units are staffed with two paramedics, carry advanced life support equipment and tools, and—as licensed ambulances—can transport patients when needed or requested by Metro West or AMR. The Medic Unit will respond to critical medical emergencies such as chest pain and breathing problems, assaults, overdose, pregnancy problems, seizures, and strokes.
The Medic Units are based at fire stations in King City, Progress, and North Beaverton
and are deployed Tuesday through Friday, from 7 am – 5 pm.
Cars
TVF&R is
one of first departments in the country to add Cars to its emergency response fleet. The Car—with one paramedic—is a cost-effective option for responding to situations that don’t require a traditional fire engine and four-person crew. Approximately 100,000 incidents were analyzed to identify the situations appropriate for a Car and single responder. The Car is outfitted with basic equipment and supplies, and a data terminal with computerized response maps and instantaneous information on every 9-1-1 call.
The Car will respond to non life-threatening medical and public service calls such as abdominal pain, ground level fall, headache, odor investigation, sick person, fire alarms, and smoke detector problems. Although the majority of situations responded to by the Car are non-emergency (Code1), the Car can be upgraded to respond more quickly or the paramedic can call for more units if a situation worsens. In addition, the Car can be added to a cardiac incident if closer than other units or a fire when more resources are needed.
The CARs are based at fire stations in Aloha, Beaverton, Tigard and Wilsonville, and are also deployed Tuesday through Friday, between the hours of 7 am – 5 pm. The stations and schedule were determined after analyzing incident data to pinpoint exactly where, when, and how often non-emergency medical and public service calls occur.
Beaverton Valley Times Newspaper Story