According to this month’s report, almost 65 percent of all the calls Pine Bluff Fire and Emergency Services responded to in July were emergency medical calls.
Firefighters responded to a total of 451 calls, with 291 of them being emergency medical calls. The 419 total was 24 more than similar calls reported in June, and neither figure includes motor vehicle accidents with injuries.
In July, there were 20 of those, 6 more than in June.
Appearing on the Oldies 1013 Morning Show Wednesday, Fire and Emergency Services Chief Shauwn Howell talked about that number of emergency medical calls.
Morning Show host Greg Horne said when people think of firefighters, they typically think only of people fighting fires but now firefighters have to be almost more of medical technicians.
Horne then asked about training to prepare firefighters for all the different things they have to do.
Howell said most of the training is done in-house as there are several firefighters who are adjunct instructors with the Arkansas Fire Training Academy. However, on occasion, specialized instructors are brought in to teach classes.
