A decades-old question on how to deploy sustainable emergency resources still remains in fire service circles today writes Thomas Wieczorak, director of the ICMA Center for Public Safety Management and author of the July PM’s cover story “No Cause for Alarm: Sustainability in Fire Service Depends on Change.

He goes on to explain that one of the changes that has occurred in the United States has been the incorporation of emergency medical services (EMS) into the fire service. EMS had traditionally been provided to communities by funeral homes or through police agencies using one-person paramedic response vehicles.

The concept of fire-based, station-deployed response was adopted by the U.S. fire service, and today, many fire departments find they respond to far more EMS calls for service than fire—usually in the range of 80/20, with fire continuing to decrease. Yet the focus of equipment, training, and staffing is on fire response.

A trend that is not confined to the United States but has also become a concern in the United Kingdom is the struggle to find and, more importantly, maintain paramedic personnel. To find out more about this, read “Fires Don’t Have Labels,” written by Tony McGuirk, fire district chief, Merseyside Fire District, England.

For more information on sustainability in the fire service, read “Fire Service at a Crossroads” written by Randy Bruegman, fire chief, Anaheim, California.