A Look at LACoFD Air Firefighter-Paramedics

LACoFD air operations firefighter-paramedics are trained for virtually any emergency situation.

Working with one pilot, two firefighter-paramedics staff each LACoFD helicopter air squad. The air operations section staffs three air squads 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, drawing from its total fleet of six Bell 412s and three Sikorsky S-70 Firehawks.

Each day, three multi-mission helicopters are deployed throughout the 4,000-square-mile expanse of Los Angeles County, meeting the emergency needs of its 10.5-million residents. One air squad covers the eastern part of the county at Brackett Field Airport in La Verne. The second is in the north at Fire Station 129 in Lancaster. The third is in the west at Camp 8 in the hills above Malibu during the day and returns to the centrally located Barton Heliport at the night.

During the high fire-danger months of July through January, each year, an additional two helicopters are staffed during daylight hours. One is a Firehawk, which is stationed at Camp 9 high in the mountains north of Barton Heliport. It is tasked as a fire ship and has a 12-person wildland fire fighting hand crew. The second is a Bell 412 command and control helicopter that is assigned as the helicopter co-ordinator platform. It has a wildland-qualified chief officer and pilot and is based out of Barton Heliport. Both of these additional aircraft respond automatically on all reported brush fires anywhere in the county.

Said Capt. Eric Fetherston, one of the three air captains assigned to Barton Heliport, “We operate 24/7, just like a fire station does, with an A, B and C shift, each starting at 8 a.m. and ending at 8 a.m. the following day.”

In addition to the normal duties of an LACoFD firefighter-paramedic, air operations personnel are also trained and equipped for crew haul, swift-water and ocean rescue, hoist rescue and even horse rescue. According to Fetherston, when ground personnel request a medical helicopter to transport a critically ill or injured patient, “they also request an engine company to set up and become a landing zone co-ordinator, which is responsible for scene safety. Sometimes they will use a football field or park, or even an intersection as the helicopter landing zone.”

During a typical mission, a firefighter-paramedic that has been assigned and trained as a crew chief sits in the left front seat and operates the global positioning system and internal communications system. He would also handle required radio transmissions with the dispatch center, and can talk to nurses and doctors at base station hospitals by using a special hospital frequency or the Los Angeles County Medical Alert Center radio channel, which is used for handling all multi-casualty incidents.

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