EMS

The West Metro EMS Division is responsible for providing Advanced Life Support care to the residents and visitors to our area.  Our goal is simple:  To provide the fastest and most professional EMS care available in Colorado.  We accomplish our goal by staffing each apparatus with a paramedic equipped with advanced life support equipment.  This way, whether an ambulance or fire engine gets to your location first, they have the equipment and training to provide the highest level of care available outside the hospital.  We currently staff 9 paramedic ambulances throughout the district 24/7 to complement our 18 paramedic engine, rescue and tower companies.
 
EMS continues to account for the majority of calls for service received by West Metro.  In fact over 67% of calls received are EMS related.  In 2008, West Metro provided competent compassionate care to 15,586 patients and transported 12,967 victims to local hospitals.

West Metro’s integrated EMS system consists of 244 paramedics and 71 EMT-Basics.  We work under the medical direction of Dr. Peter Vellman at St. Anthony Central Hospital and maintain close relationships with our neighboring hospitals.  These close relationships provide our patients high-quality seamless care. 

Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in American adults.  In simple terms, a heart attack occurs when one of the arteries supplying blood and oxygen to the heart is blocked.  Without oxygen, a portion of the heart dies.  In order to intervene cardiologists use a procedure called angioplasty to reopen the blocked vessel and restore blood flow.  The goal of the American Heart Association is to have a "door to balloon" (the time from hospital arrival to completion of angioplasty) average time of 90 minutes for heart attack patients. The current national average is 149 minutes.  In 2008, West Metro and Swedish Medical Center set a system record by achieving a door to balloon time of just 19 minutes.  This rapid intervention meant less heart damage and a positive outcome for our patient.  In fact, West Metro and its partner hospitals routinely record “door to balloon” times much faster than the American Heart Association’s goal.  We accomplish this by performing 12-lead EKG monitoring in the field, aggressively treating potential heart attacks, and alerting the receiving hospitals early to allow specialists to assemble for our arrival.  We employ a similar approach for potential strokes and for trauma patients.

The men and women at West Metro Fire Rescue are proud of the high-quality service we provide.  Our citizens and visitors entrust us to provide professional EMS care.  We take this duty very seriously and thank you for your faith in us.  If you have any EMS questions or concerns please contact EMS Division Chief Clint Fey at cfey@westmetrofire.org

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