Four South East Brigades Join Lifesaving Program

Credit: Hastings Fire Brigade

Four brigades in Victoria's south east are part of 26 CFA brigades now trained and ready to respond to select medical Triple Zero (000) calls as part of a new program that officially commenced in 2023.

The Fire Medical Response (FMR) program is a joint initiative of CFA and Ambulance Victoria that sees CFA brigades and Ambulance Victoria dispatched simultaneously to cardiac arrests.

Hastings, Phillip Island, Cockatoo, and Emerald fire brigades went live on 21 of August, with Sorrento and Wonthaggi joining the program earlier in the month. Ultimately, 50 CFA brigades around Victoria will undertake the FMR role in their communities.

Hastings Fire Brigade Captain Mike Willmott said the decision to join the program was an easy one given the benefits it will provide his community.

"When we asked our volunteers about joining the program, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Our members didn't hesitate to step up," Mike said.

"I'm just so proud of our volunteers, who are taking on this important role in addition to firefighting. When a person suffers a cardiac arrest, their chance of survival reduces by 10 per cent every minute that CPR and defibrillation is delayed.

"What this program means is that community members who call for an ambulance may receive both a fire truck and an ambulance. There is no specific order in which the services arrive to the incident. Our ultimate aim is to get to the patient as quickly as possible."

The four brigades have been training extensively with Ambulance Victoria and CFA in preparation for the program, which will complement Ambulance Victoria's response in those local areas.

CFA Assistant Chief Fire Officer Sean Kerr said the program was a natural fit for CFA because of the 52,000 volunteers across the state.

"CFA has more than 1,100 volunteer fire stations with more than 52,000 members," Sean said.

"This puts CFA in a unique position to complement the Ambulance Victoria response in 50 locations across Victoria to help deliver early intervention to cardiac arrests."

Ambulance Victoria Executive Director of Regional Operations, Danielle North, said Victoria has Australia's best cardiac survival rate and the third best anywhere in the world, thanks to high rates of early intervention.

"The Fire Medical Response program will improve survival rates for people in rural and regional Victoria," Danielle said.

"Quick intervention with CPR and a defibrillator has the greatest impact on improving a patient's chances of surviving a cardiac arrest."