Re: Texas FD Goes Two Years Without Defibrillator Battery

[Guest guest]

They may get a grant for a free battery, but something tells me there's

no way money will solve the lack of interest in EMS that this is a

symptom of.

If your department can go two years without bothering to replace an AED

battery, that's proof positive that agency doesn't give a rat's ass

about providing EMS care. Better that they stop doing it altogether and

get back to fish fries and polishing apparatus during the 99% of the

time they aren't fighting fires.

>

> Aug. 07--RIO HONDO -- The volunteer fire department's defibrillator hasn't

> worked for about two years because officials failed to buy a battery to

> operate it, firefighters said Friday.

>

> The department failed to fund the purchase of a $159 battery to run the

> machine that is used to treat life-threatening heart rhythms in patients,

> Ray , the department's former assistant chief, said. " That's a big

> liability. "

>

> said he left the department in June after an argument with

> then-Public

> Safety Director Humberto Barrera, adding, " It's (the defibrillator) not a

> priority for them. "

>

> Arnold , the department's assistant chief, said officials with

> South

> Texas Emergency Care, the agency which oversees the department's

> equipment,

> knew the department was working without a defibrillator.

>

> But Pete Moreno, STEC's training director, said he was surprised to learn

> that the fire department went two years without a working defibrillator.

>

> " It's vital. It's lifesaving, " Moreno said. " We had no idea of that

> situation. They're responsible to make sure that the (defibrillator) is

> checked off on a regular basis. They make sure it's operational. If

> there's

> an issue with any of their equipment, they need to report it to us. "

>

> City Commissioner Gloria Barrientos, who took office in May, said she

> didn't

> know the fire department's defibrillator was not working.

>

> Barrientos said she wanted to find out why the department went two years

> without buying a battery for the unit.

>

> City Administrator Arturo Prida could not be reached for comment Friday.

>

> Moreno, who said his agency has donated defibrillators to the Arroyo City

> volunteer fire department and the Rancho Viejo Police Department, said the

> agency would donate a defibrillator to the fire department.

>

> " We're going to get what they need out there to help them out, " Moreno

> said.

>

> The department didn't buy a battery because it was awaiting a grant to pay

> for the purchase, said , who took over as assistant chief in June.

> The city would fund the purchase if the department didn't get the

> grant, he

> said.

>

> The Texas Department of State Health Services, the agency that

> licenses the

> fire department to respond to medical emergencies, will offer the

> department

> a grant to buy a battery, DeLoma, an agency spokeswoman in

> Austin,

> said.

>

> The state does not require that first responders such as the fire

> department

> be equipped with defibrillators, she said.

>

> said he worked with the department since 2003, and planned to ask

> Prida to be reinstated as assistant chief.

>

> said he left the department in June after an argument with Barrera.

>

> " I was questioning him because he wasn't going to our fire meetings, " he

> said.

>

> said Barrera asked him to fill in for him at the meetings. " He

> just

> told me to turn in my gear. To me, that was not an official dismissal. "

>

> Barrera resigned last month to take a higher paying job as an investigator

> with the Cameron County District Attorney's Office. He could not be

> reached

> for comment.

>

>