Rescue, V.I. Fire Service And VITEMA Form Closer Partnership For Faster Emergency Response

ST. CROIX — In a move that may wind up saving more lives of Virgin Islanders involved in accidents, the Virgin Islands Fire Service, along with the Virgin Islands rescue organizations in both districts and the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency, on Tuesday announced a collaboration to work even closer than they have done in the past.

A major part of the announcement, which was made at the St. Croix Rescue facility in Five Corners, was the V.I. Fire Service’s ability to now dispatch its employees to aid with extrication of individuals from vehicles involved in accidents, with V.I.F.S. Director Clifford Joseph stating that the partnership begins as soon as Wednesday.

Mr. Joseph said he tasked his fire chiefs in both districts as of January to ensure that firefighters received enough extrication training to meet the requirements to respond to accidents. Part of Mr. Joseph’s motivation came following the recent Vigilant Guard exercise in the territory, which he said made him aware of the amount of resources available for collaboration between first responder agencies.

VITEMA Director Mona Barnes, who reminded that collaboration between the first responder units has been ongoing, nonetheless applauded the effort and its aim to hasten response time following 911 calls. VITEMA perhaps plays the greatest role in all three organizations, as it provides most of the funds for training, and 911, which is part of VITEMA, not only receives stress calls and dispatch units, but has trained emergency medical technicians as well. Ms. Barnes said she was first approached by her 911 employees about the benefits of such a collaboration, as these employees experience firsthand the response time and where improvements can be made.

“The beneficiaries are the people of the Virgin Islands,” Ms. Barnes said. “Our response time will be a lot quicker, a lot smoother, and so today I say it’s a great thing for the people of the Virgin Islands.” She also thanked Governor Kenneth Mapp for allowing the collaboration to take place.

Fire chiefs from both districts spoke of months of instruction that has been ongoing, with firefighters receiving over 200 hours of extrication training.

Alvin Henley, president of the St. Thomas Rescue Board of Directors, praised the effort and thanked VITEMA for its years of support in providing funding for some of the best rescue equipment on the market. “We are prepared to do this,” he said, speaking of the collaboration. Mr. Henley added that St. Thomas rescue, which was formed in 1979, also includes a marine unit. “We are ready for any call 24 hours a day,” he said. The rescue organizations are non-governmental agencies that receive support from both the local and federal government.

St. Croix Rescue Chief Gregory Richards said the collaboration represented a great day for residents of the territory, and praised Mr. Joseph for the vision, and VITEMA for the funding it continues to provide.

“I expect that response time will improve, meaning that we’ll get to those who are sick or ill or injured. We’ll get to them quicker, and we’ll be able to provide a higher level of care to our constituents,” Mr. Richards said.

Asked about how coordination will work now that Fire Service personnel will be able to put their extrication training to task, Mr. Joseph said whoever arrives on the scene first will make a determination whether an ambulance is needed, and if it is, said team will prepare the patient for the ambulance.  As for EMS, its role is already established, however, the collaboration serves to provide even more help, according to Ms. Barnes.

Firefighters went through three levels of training: the awareness level, operational level, and the technician level, which is the highest. There are 10 firefighters in each district who are trained to the technician level, according to V.I.F.S., which also made known that every firefighter, except those who joined the Fire Service within the last two years, has received training on either the awareness, operational, or technician level.

As for a training criteria, Mr. Richards said several federal agencies are responsible for ensuring that certain guidelines are met, among these organizations are the National Fire Protection Association and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mr. Richards said the training comes with stringent curriculum requirements for certification, as well as an examination after each training. “Whether you’re at the awareness level, the operational level or the technician level, there is a competency evaluation that is done in order to have certification in various disciplines,” Mr. Richards said.