Pedaling paramedics to patrol Gasparilla parade
10 News, Tampa, January 28, 2016
There's a new lifesaving tool on the streets of Tampa. You've probably seen police officers on bicycles, but now there are pedaling paramedics.
A couple hundred thousand people will line the streets of Tampa Saturday for the city's biggest pirate party, Gasparilla. And each year, some of those people will need medical help. But in that crowd, they may not be easy to get to.
"The bike is fluid, it's always flowing back and forth it's always very quick, it moves through the people very quickly," said Lt. Ken Newman, part of Tampa Fire Rescue's new First Assessment Stabilization Team, also known as FAST. It's basically a paramedic riding a bike with 35 pounds of lifesaving equipment. "We carry IV setups, IV solution, advanced airway, oxygen and AED ... for say a cardiac arrest."
Sgt. Colin McCoy with the Tampa police bike unit put the wheels in motion to get this new rescue team in place after seeing a need for it at last year's parade. "I remember one in particular last year was a guy that had head trauma and we just couldn't get anybody to him and the police officers aren't trained for that so the most we could do was kind of stand by and feel helpless until fire rescue gets there."
Tampa Fire Rescue has 8 of these bikes its can put into service at any time. Each one, fully equipped, costs about $5,000. Newman says they hope to expand the program. "There's a lot more we can possibly do here, far beyond just doing special events."
The FAST team was officially put into action at last weekend's children's Gasparilla parade and quickly gave emergency care to four people.
McCoy firmly believes this team will mean the difference between life and death.
The Tampa Police Department bought the bikes for the program. The equipment was paid for through a public private partnership with Tampa Fire Rescue and the Gasparilla Distance Classic Association.