Message from the Chief

On January 23, 2018 District personnel responded to Wal Mart for a patient that was in cardiac arrest. On arrival they found the patient unconscious and pulseless with bystander CPR in progress. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital, the patient not only had a pulse, the patient was awake and talking! This was the second cardiac arrest “save” in the past two months.

In December, District personnel responded to a 38 year old patient in cardiac arrest. That patient is now at home recovering. These types of outcomes are the result of continuous quality improvement in an effort to strengthen what the American Heart Association calls “The Chain of Survival.”

The 5 links of The Chain of Survival are:

1) immediate recognition of cardiac arrest and activation of the emergency response system,
2) early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with an emphasis on chest compressions,
3) rapid defibrillation,
4) effective advanced life support, and
5) integrated post cardiac arrest care. 

These 5 links of the chain are why we have a response time goal of within 5 minutes 90% of the time, why we pursued faster dispatch using state of the art technology, why we upgraded our emergency medical services capability to advanced life support, why we educate the public in hands only CPR and defibrillator use, and why we place automatic external defibrillators in public places where they can be located (“Pulsepoint”), and finally, why we have a partnership with the ambulance franchise holder (AMR) so that we have an integrated team approach to patient care and transport.

Thank you to our and AMR’s crews for their quality of care!

American Canyon IS a HEARTSAFE Community!
Notable Incident

On Friday, January, 26, 2018, at 1622 hours, Engine 11 was dispatched automatic aid to a structure fire in Vallejo. Engine 11 assisted with water supply and the crew was assigned as the “Rapid Intervention Crew” (“RIC”). This is an OSHA mandated safety procedure which requires assigning a team of firefighters to stand by in the event firefighters themselves are in need of rescue during a structure fire operation. If an emergency presents where firefighters are in need of assistance it must be done by a properly equipped team and in immediate fashion. A staging/standby area must be established, followed by the evaluation of the incident and building, ensuring the proper safety equipment has been placed, identify all hazards, monitor the fire ground radio frequency and ensure they are ready to deploy on a “Mayday”. If a “Mayday” occurs it is the team’s responsibility to deploy and conduct the search, locate the downed firefighter, perform an assessment of the victim, provide an independent air supply to the victim, provide an evaluation to the incident Commander, and Initiate any extrication operation that would be required to prepare the firefighter for removal. American Canyon and Vallejo FD’s practice the same operational procedures for structural firefighting. 
Captain Churchmen, Firefighters Cia and Barnes preparing for Rapid Intervention
for the Vallejo Structure Fire Incident.
Training
Confined Space Rescue Drill (Vertical Extrication)
Annual Hose Testing
District staff performing annual Hose Testing