Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Oak Park’s first female firefighter made history again by being promoted to lieutenant Monday.
“I like the adrenaline, I like going into the unknown,” said Delayne Carson, when asked why she initially joined Oak Park’s fire department 19 years ago. “But I also like that I can go into bad situations and make them better.”
The promotion ceremony on Monday also included the swearing in of Jacob Haag, Daniel Leiner and Patrick Sanchez as firefighter paramedics. One of the three new hires was made possible thanks to the village board amending its budget back in March to allow for the hiring of a new firefighter paramedic.
The change restored a position that was cut a few years ago that prevented the regular deployment of the fire department’s EMS squad. The squad is an SUV outfitted with paramedic equipment and medication and staffed by two firefighters; it responds to advanced life support calls along with an ambulance to assist in patient care, eliminating the need for an engine to respond.
The new position is being paid for by shifting money away from the overtime pay the fire department was paying to fully staff its three shifts and moving it towards the regular salary of the new hire.
