Melton’s full-time CFA firefighters could receive medical training under a Labor plan to improve emergency response times.
Metropolitan Fire Brigade firefighters are already trained in emergency first aid – including oxygen resuscitation, CPR and defibrillation – and sometimes respond to incidents before ambulances arrive.
Emergency medical response (EMR) has been trialled at some CFA stations with full-time staff.
Melton MP Don Nardella flagged Labor’s plans to roll out the scheme at full-time CFA stations if it is elected in November.
Mr Nardella said EMR would allow the CFA to be more directly involved in urgent cases.
“It’s appropriate that Melton CFA, serving an outer suburban locale, be an integrated site,” he said.
“Any improvement that can save lives can only benefit our communities.’’
Where EMR is available, firefighters are dispatched at the same time as paramedics to attend cardiac arrests and cases where a patient is not breathing.
Labor has also promised that defibrillators would be installed on all fire trucks.
EMR training is presently undertaken by Metropolitan Fire Brigade firefighters, with limited trials at some CFA stations.
“In the first two years of an EMR trial conducted by the CFA, response times reduced by more than four minutes for 90 per cent of incidents,” Mr Nardella said.
“The system has worked in metro fire services.
‘‘There’s no reason why the same benefits can’t be delivered by CFA crews.”
Caroline Springs, Sunbury and Hoppers Crossing have also been designated as proposed EMR sites.
