PROGRESS EDITION ALBERT LEA TRIBUNE | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2022
COURAGE
Albert Lea firefighters Andy Munson and Chris Harveaux and Capt. Bart Berven stand in the fire station in late January with some of the medical equipment they use while responding to medical calls. SARAH STULTZ/ALBERT LEA TRIBUNE
BEYOND FIREFIGHTING Albert Lea firefighters utilize EMT training to respond to medical calls in the community By Sarah Stultz sarah.stultz@albertleatribune.com
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side from their duties of fighting fires, conducting commercial and rental inspections, and leading the city’s reassurance program, Albert Lea’s firefighters are becoming increasingly known for their medical training and response. Anyone hired as a full-time firefighter with Albert Lea Fire Rescue is required to pass a seven-credit college course certifying them as a nationally registered emergency medical technician within six months of their hire date. Bart Berven, EMS captain with the fire department, said over the years the fire department has always responded if people don’t know who to call or if there are complex incidents. Berven said the firefighters have always had to have some medical training for some of their certifications, and in the 1970s, the city looked at if it wanted to be in charge of the ambulance service. Ultimately, it declined, and a private ambulance service has run the service in the years since — Naeve Ambulance,
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“We saw the need was there, we had the people that had the speciality training, why wouldn’t we do something?” — Albert Lea Fire Rescue Capt. Bart Berven Albert Lea Medical Center, Gold Cross Ambulance and now Mayo Clinic Ambulance. In recent years because of staffing shortages and after Mayo Clinic Ambulance consolidated services between Albert Lea and Austin, however, the fire department decided to provide additional service where they could and respond to all medical calls. “We saw the need was there, we had the people that had the specialty training, why wouldn’t we do something?” Berven said. Many of the firefighters had also previously
The firefighters carry various medical equipment with them while responding to medical calls, including burn kits, AEDs and oxygen. worked for an ambulance service. He said the timing was right with the start of Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Laskowske coming in from outside of the community, who was able to provide an outside perspective that other fire departments he had worked
with are doing the same thing. Though EMTs have some procedures they cannot do, as a whole they are certified in many of the same skills as paramedics, with the See MEDICAL, Page 2
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Meet A.L.’s new officers Eight new officers have started with the department in the last 18 months. Page 4
Helping on their worst days
Work underway on memorial
Mayo Clinic paramedic said he loves his job helping the community. Page 6
Emmons veterans memorial expected to take two to three years. Page 9