The decision by Eastside Fire and Rescue to stop sending a fire truck to every medical call might concern some people. After all, such calls would bring a paramedic or emergency medical technician to the scene.

But the decision is the right one for all concerned. Emergency medical calls only make up a tenth of the agency’s call volume.

Better and smarter is the new plan, which has a trained medical technician handle non-emergency calls, freeing up fire crews to focus on heart attacks and house fires.

The medical technician still will be a firefighter or EMT, but they will have additional training in social services.

The program also will cut the cost of wear and tear on expensive aid cars and fire engines, saving the agency money that can go to other needed services. The trained medical technicians use a SUV.

The cost of the program – $243,000 a year – is being paid by King County Public Health, plus money for new equipment.

These days, more and more people are using 9-1-1 for non-emergency needs: someone has fallen, a person is drunk and can’t stand up, the caller doesn’t have medical insurance and doesn’t know where else to turn. A medical technician with the additional skills can deal with these.

The new medical technician program is based out of the EFR’s headquarters in Issaquah on Newport Way. That location means a technician can respond to Issaquah, most of Sammamish and parts of North Bend within 15 minutes.

As Greg Tryon, EFR’s deputy chief of operations, aptly put it, “The purpose is to create a more efficient emergency response system by sending right people to the right call.”

– Craig Groshart/Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter