City of Romulus Fire Department officials were proud to announce to members of the City Council recently that the prestigious and coveted Advanced Life Support (ALS) certification has been awarded to the department.
Chief Kevin Krause, director of Fire Services and Emergency Management said that the new designation is part of a continued effort to enhance the city public service model and ensure the safety and well being of residents. The nearly two-year process included Emergency Medical Services (EMS) training for staff, a shift in recruitment and hiring policies and a rigorous inspection carried out by the State of Michigan and Health Emergency Medical Services, or HEMS, the local medical control board.
“Romulus residents deserve a state-of-the-art public service model that is at a consistent service level with surrounding communities and completing the Advanced Life Support certification is a critical step toward further strengthening our systems,” said Romulus Mayor LeRoy Burcroff. “The safety and well being of our residents are our number one priority. I would like to thank all of our firefighters for their dedication and commitment to advancing our fire department and providing a better service model to the Romulus community.”
The Romulus Fire Department averages 15 calls a day and around 80 percent of those calls require EMS support, officials said. With the ALS certification, Romulus firefighters will have the ability to treat patients on the scene and transport them directly to the hospital instead of waiting for EMS support to arrive-reducing the number of emergency vehicles on the road and improving patient outcomes.
The certification will also allow the Romulus Fire Department personnel to treat a greater number of severe medical conditions such as cardiac illness, Krause added.
In 2018, Romulus officials undertook a seven-month community engagement process to better understand residents' needs.
One result was the decision to increase public safety efforts and during that same time, the city administration worked to propose a fire and police millage that would support public safety over the next five years. In 2018, for the first time in the history of the city, Romulus residents came together and approved the current a public safety millage.
“It's important the Romulus Fire Department remains progressive and continues to make critical enhancements to increase the services and support we can provide residents,” said Krause.
“This latest enhancement is a direct result of residents passing the 2018 public safety millage and we're pleased to demonstrate to residents how their tax dollars are being used to assist their families and neighbors.”
Among the ALS certification and other public safety investments, the historic approval of the public safety millage allowed the city to utilize grant funding to reopen a second fire station located at 7221 Middlebelt Road, hire additional firefighters and retrofit fire department vehicles with advanced state-of-the-art equipment, officials said.
