EMS cyclists bring help faster at crowded events
By Argen Duncan, Sunday, October 12, 2014, Rio Rancho Observer
Photo: Faster on two wheels: Brian Dolan of Rio Rancho Fire Rescue Department helped patrol the parking lot at Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta as part of the new emergency medical Bicycle Response Team on Oct. 4.
Rio Rancho emergency medical personnel have a nimble new way to reach injured or ill people more quickly at crowded events.
Rio Rancho Fire Rescue Department’s Bicycle Response Team can maneuver through crowds more quickly than an ambulance and go over curbs and down stairs to reach and treat a patient, said firefighter/emergency medical technician Jeremy Martinez, who started the team and is a member. The bikes are also cost-effective, he said.
Martinez, a 13-year veteran with the department, recalled once trying to drive an ambulance to someone with a broken leg at a busy event. In the end, the parking lot and crowd were impossible to navigate, so he and his colleagues had to park the ambulance and walk.
The four-person team has been active for several months, most recently during Saturday morning ascensions at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Members work in pairs.
“We’re just patrolling the parking lot, cruising around,” Martinez said of the Balloon Fiesta work.
He and teammate Brian Dolan came across a person having trouble breathing on the first day of the fiesta and cared for the patient until more equipment arrived.
The team first appeared at the Pork & Brew New Mexico State BBQ Championship and then at Oktoberfestival.
“We’re getting some good response,” Martinez said.
People say the team looks good, and firefighters seem more approachable on bikes, so they can connect with the community better, he added.
Santa Fe Fire Department and Albuquerque Ambulance have bike teams as well.
After Martinez received approval to go forward with the bike team, he and three other Rio Rancho firefighters took a local three-day training course with a retired Albuquerque Police bicycle officer in March, using their own mountain bikes.
“It’s nothing like going out and riding your own mountain bike,” Martinez said. “They’re tanks, but we’re still training to hop curbs with them, go down stairs.”
The full complement of medical gear, including an oxygen tank and an automated external defibrillator, adds 40 pounds to a bike.
The fire department supplied special, reflective uniforms to keep the team visible even in low light, and Martinez acquired two 15-year-old bicycles from the Rio Rancho Police Department. He’s looking for grants to buy four new bikes.
With two bicycles, only half the team can work at a given time and they can’t adjust the bikes to fit an individual. Martinez said the bikes are also “on their last legs.”
Plus, they’re double-suspension bikes, so shocks on the back wheels limit the team to carrying bandages and a few medications. Oxygen tanks and AEDs, part of most bike teams’ arsenals, are too heavy.
A single-suspension mountain bike outfitted for emergency medical work costs $2,000 to $2,500, Martinez said. Fire inspector Jessica Duron-Martinez said medical supplies would come from the department’s existing stock.
“It’s a lot cheaper than a $100,000-plus rescue (ambulance) being sent to an event,” Jeremy Martinez said.
The bike team frees up the ambulance to do other things, although bicycle medics can still call an ambulance or even a medical helicopter if necessary.
Martinez would like to see the bike team someday grow to eight to 10 people and work at parades and racing events, and even do search and rescue, since cyclists cover ground faster than searchers on foot.