The City of Riverside Fire Department began providing basic emergency medical service in the mid 1930's. All fire personnel were trained as Emergency Medical Technicians in the mid 1980's. We then implemented an automatic defibrillator program in 1998 and ultimately evolved to an advanced life support service in 2000 with the addition of paramedics.
Today, every fire engine, truck company and rescue squad in the City is staffed with a paramedic firefighter and advanced life support (ALS) equipment. It is our goal to respond to medical aid requests in the City within 5 minutes of receiving the initial 911 call.
Our Public Safety Communication Center utilizes an emergency medical dispatch program. EMD, as it is referred to, is a medical priority dispatching system that uses proven protocols in gathering medical information to send the most appropriate resources to medical emergencies and also gives post-dispatch instructions to callers to assist with such emergencies as CPR, child delivery, and bleeding control until emergency responders arrive.
