The Moline Fire Department is adding six new firefighters/paramedics to its team starting on January 13th. This is the first major staffing increase in forty years. The new members will be able to reduce response time and staff a third ambulance.
Deputy Chief Jerry Sottos says the new firefighters will not only be beneficial to the city but will boost morale within the fire department. “When guys are coming on shift and they're running calls back to back to back. It gets stressful. It gets, you don't have time to decompress between calls, kind of thing. So by having a third ambulance taking some of that burden, it's really going to help these guys out.”
The Moline Fire Department receives over 9,000 calls annually, with 90% being emergency medical service (EMS) related.
The first round of members will join on January 13th, the second round will join on January 20th, and the last round will join later this winter. The new members will start as EMT basics while they finish their paramedic and firefighter training throughout the year.
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