Bay Area firefighters provide mutual aid in the COVID battle in Southern California

A sizeable contingent of Bay Area firefighter-paramedics and fire EMT’s are now helping in the COVID battle in Southern California.

The state Office of Emergency Services requested the additional help, as hospitals in the southland continue to be overwhelmed.

The firefighters who volunteered to go have been dispatched under the state’s mutual aid system.

"It’s an extraordinary event. I haven’t ever heard of a time when OES has specifically requested paramedics or EMT’s solely for our medical skills," said Matt Colburn, a firefighter-paramedic in Napa.

"I was trying to think of another synonym for unprecedented, but truly unprecedented," said Fremont’s Fire Chief, Curtis P. Jacobson.

Fremont firefighters are putting their medical training to use at a hospital in Bakersfield.

The four-person team has already received at least their first COVID vaccination and has volunteered to help with the surge of patients.

Fremont’s fire chief says his crew is part of a wider Bay Area contingent that includes Hayward, Alameda County, and more.

"Our firefighters in Bakersfield are also working with firefighter-paramedics from Marin county, Palo Alto, Mountain View, and a host of other agencies as well," said Jacobson.

Napa fire has also sent three firefighter-paramedics and one firefighter-EMT.

They have been working at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, which has a large tent to help with patient overflow.

They’re assisting with patient intake, drawing blood, starting IV’s and a host of other things they’ve been trained to do.

But one firefighter helping in the effort says their biggest contribution is a morale boost by helping relieve some overburdened staff who are stressed and fatigued.

"You can see it in their faces, they’re tired, they’re wearing a mask all day and they got small abrasions all over their face," said Rodger Collinson, a Napa firefighter-paramedic.

On two different occasions, while being introduced to ICU staff, Collinson says the staff was so happy to receive the help, they gave his team a round of applause.

Amidst the daily deaths and sorrow, firefighter Collinson says he is seeing something he did not expect.

"Every bit of these people at this hospital where we’ve been have just been incredibly positive, and I don’t know how they do it," said Collinson.  "I think the best way to describe them is resilient."

Firefighters are not only helping, but also learning, and they’ll be passing along knowledge that could soon prove useful in the Bay Area.

"It’s kind of a wake-up call for all of our departments here in Northern California that, we need to be prepared because what’s happening in Southern California could potentially be happening in Northern California," said Colburn.

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