The Daily Herald has an article about new bike medics in Downers Grove
Seventeen years after first using bicycles to reach areas where ambulances can’t go, the Downers Grove Fire Department is bolstering its Emergency Medical Services Bike Medic program.
More parades, races and festivals are using the bike medic team, which provides support for heavily attended events that require a highly mobile emergency response. So the department recently added five people, bringing the total number of team members to about a dozen.
Earlier this month, … the new members [participated in] an International Police Mountain Bike Association EMS cyclist class. The 32-hour course covered topics such as bike repair, emergency stopping and slow-speed maneuvering.
When Downers Grove started its program in 1997, it was one of the first departments in Illinois to deploy a team of two paramedics on bicycles. The bicycles, which carry about 30 pounds of equipment and medications, allow the paramedics to get through large crowds quickly and administer care, officials said.
All of Downers Grove’s bike medics are certified paramedics. They provide basic first aid up to advanced life support before an ambulance arrives. The department owns four bikes, which are equipped with advanced life support equipment. Two are used for primary response and two are kept in reserve.
For years, Downers Grove’s bike medic teams were regularly used at festivals, parades and 5K runs. One reason for the program’s longevity is it allows firefighters to interact with the public.
thanks Dan
