Emergency Medical Services

Emergency Medical Services Division

The Hazelwood Fire Department provides its residents advanced life support services in their fire trucks. Accordingly, the fire department has elevated its minimum educational standard for new employees to include State licensing as a paramedic. The department now maintains paramedics and equipment on each fire truck. We maintain our own Advanced Life Support ambulance service, staffed with paramedics. We contract ambulance service from an outside agency when our ambulance is unavailable on another emergency call. We are proud to be able to provide advanced life support expertise and equipment on trucks that often arrive prior to an ambulance that may be traveling some distance to get to the emergency. The Emergency Medical Services Division is coordinated by Medical Officer Bill Theisen.

Community Emergency Response Team (CERT)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, using the model created by the Los Angeles City Fire Department, began promoting nationwide use of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) concept in 1994. Since then, CERTs have been established in hundreds of communities across the county including the City of Hazelwood. It promotes the idea of neighbor helping neighbor.

CERT training promotes a partnering effort between emergency services and the people that they serve. The goal is for emergency personnel to train members of neighborhoods, community organizations, or workplaces in basic response skills. CERT members are then integrated into the emergency response capability for their area.

If a disastrous event overwhelms or delays the community's professional response, CERT members can assist others by applying the basic response and organizational skills that they learned during training. These skills can help save and sustain lives following a disaster until help arrives. CERT skills also apply to daily emergencies.

CERT members maintain and refine their skills by participating in exercises and activities. They can attend supplemental training opportunities offered by the City of Hazelwood and further their skills base. Finally, CERT members can volunteer for projects that improve community emergency preparedness.

CERT Training will teach participants to:

1. Describe the types of hazards most likely to affect their homes and communities.
2. Describe the function of CERT and their roles in immediate response.
3. Take steps to prepare themselves for a disaster.
4. Identify and reduce potential fire hazards in their homes and workplaces.
5. Work as a team to apply basic fire suppression strategies, resources and safety measures to extinguish a burning liquid.
6. Apply techniques for opening airways, controlling bleeding and treating shock.
7. Conduct triage under simulated conditions.
8. Perform head-to-toe assessments.
9. Select and set up a treatment area.
10. Employ basic treatments for various wounds.
11. Identify planning and size-up requirements for potential search and rescue simulations.
12. Describe the most common techniques for searching a structure.
13. Use safe techniques for debris removal and victim extrication.
14. Describe ways to protect rescuers during search and rescue.

Target Audiences:

• Neighborhoods
• Businesses
• Communities of Faith
• Scouting Organizations
• School Staff/Students
• Clubs/Organizations
• Amateur Radio Emergency Services

Training is designed to cover the following:

• Disaster Preparedness
• Fire Safety
• Disaster Medical Operations - Triage and Treating Life Threatening Injuries
• Disaster Medical Operations - Assessment, Treatment & Hygiene
• Light Search and Rescue
• Team Organization
• Disaster Psychology
• Terrorism and CERT
• Practical Exercise

Sessions require about 20 hours to complete

Community Emergency Response Team
Hazelwood Emergency Management
Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
6800 Howdershell
Hazelwood, Missouri 63042
(314) 731-3424

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