Fire Department Begins Belmont's First Advance Life Support Service

This article was written by Angus Davison, Assistant Chief of the Belmont Fire Department.

At noon on Sept. 14, a new chapter in the history of the Belmont Fire Department  started when after nearly 10 years of research, meetings, proposals and presentations, Advanced Life Support (ALS) became a reality to Belmont where department personnel will be bringing an "emergency room" to residents in need of live-saving help.

Since the BFD took on providing Emergency Medical Services to the town, this is one of the largest improvements in service that the Department has embarked upon. 

Advanced Life Support is what would commonly be known to the public as Paramedics. While we have had ALS provided by an outside private ambulance company since the late 1980’s, we are now able to provide ALS service to the citizens of Belmont pretty much as soon as the Fire Department arrives at the emergency. 

Almost every member of the Belmont Fire Department is an Emergency Medical Technician, and over the course of the past nine years, the Department has been able to hire Paramedics. We now have nine Paramedics on the Department. These Paramedics are able to intubate patients (put in a breathing tube) administer medications, start intravenous lines (I.V.’s), interpret cardiac monitor displays, and many other advanced medical procedures. They are pretty much bringing the emergency room to the patient. 

This is a tremendous achievement for the Department. This was accomplished through an investment of time, hard work, cooperation and collaboration between the department, Board of Selectmen, Town Administrator’s office and many people behind the scenes.  

The BFD will have a display and demonstration available at the Fire Department Open House on Monday, Oct. 7, at the Roland A. Weatherbee Fire Headquarters at 299 Trapelo Rd. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.