The Reno Fire department and the regional ambulance service are moving forward with potential changes to how they respond to emergency medical calls. Reno Public Radio's Will Stone reports, among other things, they're trying to a better job coordinating between their two agencies.
Reno residents haven't had much positive news about public safety for quite a while. The City and its firefighters are locked in a legal battle that will probably go on for months as it goes through the appeals process. Meanwhile, city officials say they don't have the almost 4 million dollars needed annually to keep 33 firefighters on board. Those firefighters says the city could fund the positions, if it prioritized public safety.
But, if nothing else, all of this has increased scrutiny on how the city delivers emergency medical care. Right now, there are disconnects between the ambulance provider, REMSA, and the city's firefighters. For example, sometime firefighters and REMSA will both respond to a call they don't necessarily need to. Reno Fire Chief Mike Hernandez says they're going to make some much needed changes to the system.
Hernandez says right now the ambulance provider classifies calls as different priorities, but in the comings months Hernandez says they'll be reworking these changes. The fire department has recently stopped responding to the least serious calls because of layoffs. These changes don't depend on union negotiations or what happens with any pending lawsuits.