Our members are part of our community – mothers, fathers, sports coaches, PTA volunteers – and the reason we do this job is entirely because we want to help our fellow Omaha neighbors. While this is a dangerous job, and one that requires long hours away from home (we work, on average, 12-14 hours per week more than an individual with a 40-hour work week), there are several aspects that make our job safer and help protect each of us as we protect each of you:

• Four-person engine/trucks: The majority of the fire engines and trucks in the city of Omaha are mandated to be staffed by 4 individuals. This is adherent to NFPA standards, but more importantly, in a job where the majority of our tasks are handled in teams of 2, this allows us to operate more efficiently than even a 3-person crew. For example, on a truck company, often our crews will arrive at a house fire and split the crews – 2 fire fighters will do an interior search while 2 fire fighters head to the roof for ventilation (which helps keep the fire from spreading). With a 3-fire fighter crew, however, only one of these tasks would be able to be accomplished, and it’d be done with 3 fire fighters instead of 2; although moving to 3 would reduce the rig’s staff by 25%, it would cut their productivity by 50%. The faster we’re able to do a search, and prevent the fire from spreading, and get water onto the fire (as an engine company with 4 personnel can do immediately), the more lives we’re able to potentially to save. Personnel save minutes, and minutes save lives – we advocate for our staffing so that we’re able to best protect each of our fellow Omahans.

• Two-paramedic ambulances: The ambulances in our city are staffed with two paramedics. Paramedics receive far more schooling than EMTs, their capabilities are far greater (as they are able to push numerous drugs, intubate, provide advanced cardiac life support, etc.), and they provide the highest level of pre-hospital care you will find.  Having two paramedics allows our ambulances to proactively provide the highest level of emergency medical care when you call 911 – fast response, immediate high-level care, and capabilities that you won’t find anywhere else. In worst-case scenarios, when a patient’s heart stops, having two paramedics on our ambulance allows immediate advanced cardiac life support to be initiated while life-saving drugs are being administered or the patient is being intubated to ensure the best quality of life following resuscitation. We care about each of our citizens, and advocating for the highest level of care for each of them should they ever need us in a time of need helps our community remain healthy, and helps our paramedics receive the support they need from capable partners when we arrive at your emergency, ready to make a difference.