Most fire trucks and ambulances run by the Compton Fire Department have been stripped of defibrillator machines, a crucial lifesaving device that rescuers use to deliver a shock to try to restart the heart of cardiac arrest victims, it was recently reported. Los Angeles County regulators ordered the department to remove the devices last week after fire officials were unable to produce documentation showing Compton firefighters had been properly trained to use the equipment. The action came after the Los Angeles Times reported in March that nearly one in four city firefighters lacked a permit to perform emergency medical care, a key credential required by other local fire agencies.
“If they aren’t going to follow directions and it’s not going to be a safe use of the equipment, then you have to put a stop to the program,” Cathy Chidester, head of the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, which oversees 911 service in the area, said in comments reported by The Times.
Officials say it may take several weeks to train the firefighters or verify their credentials. In the meantime, some units that arrive first at the scene of a cardiac arrest could be limited to providing CPR until highly trained paramedic rescuers arrive to deliver an electronic shock.
“To delay (use of defibrillators) risks a catastrophic outcome,” Marc Eckstein, an emergency-room physician and medical director for the Los Angeles Fire Department, told The Times. “Not having defibrillators on first responders should be unacceptable by anyone’s definition.”
Compton Fire Chief Jon Thompson said that on most 911 calls, paramedics, who continue to carry defibrillators, are dispatched with lower-skilled firefighters.
