Department Hires 4 Firefighter-Paramedics

Four new firefighter-paramedics joined the Fire Department on Monday, marking the first time in 20 years that the agency has made so many hires at one time.

“Finally, we’re fully staffed,” said Fire Chief Bernard F. Heimos, adding that 12 fire personnel are on duty each day. The new hires resulted from two vacancies that occurred in 1995 and two retirements earlier this year.

Heimos said the new employees are certified paramedics.

“We made the determination that any new hires for the Fire Department would be paramedic trained as opposed to hiring a firefighter and putting that person in school,” he said.

Heimos said it is more cost-effective for the city to hire trained paramedics, given that the cost of sending a firefighter to paramedic school can be as much as $30,000, most of that to cover overtime pay to others who have to work in the trainee’s place.

The department switched in August from a system in which paramedics were dispatched in vans to one in which they ride on fire engines, a move that officials say has resulted in improved service and faster response time.

Under the new program, Heimos said, 12 of the department’s 15 firefighters are also paramedics.

The new crew members are Bryan McKay, a fire intern and ambulance operator with Huntington Beach Fire Department; Craig Weaver, hired from El Centro’s Fire Department; and Rob White and William McQuaid, both reservists with the Fountain Valley Fire Department and former ambulance company employees.