More Than Half Of Cookeville FD’s Calls Are Medical Response

A majority of Cookeville Fire Department’s calls are not fire responses, but medical responses.

Captain Daniel Snyder said that over the last four years, medical response calls have increased from 57 percent to 65 percent. He said that he attributes that to manpower.

“You know we have the same training as the EMS does,” Snyder said. “Sometimes they may be delayed. I don’t know their call volume but I know that they run a lot of calls. And so we are here and available, we have that same training and equipment.”

Snyder said that there are also a lot more medical incidents occurring than have before. He said that an increase in public fire prevention awareness has also played a part. He said that over the years, those efforts have made homes and communities safer from fires.

Snyder said that they’ve gone on so many medical response calls over the years, that the city approved to purchase a medical fast truck. He said that it saw so much use that city council approved the purchase of a second vehicle, which the department hopes will arrive in the spring or summer.

“So that’s actually cut down on us responding in the larger apparatus, reducing the wear and tear, and it’s a quicker response,” Snyder said. “Because you can get into a pickup truck and go, instead of waiting for the larger apparatus to warm up and get ready to go. And it’s saving those million-dollar fire trucks, the apparatuses, for the fires, for the alarms, for the ‘big’ emergencies if you would.”

Snyder said that at the end of the day, whether citizens are getting help from EMTs or firefighters, they’re getting care from trained professionals.