From Salina.com:
Tummy ache? Go to the F.D.
For instance, Mullikin foresees a larger role for the emergency medical service portion of the department.
The EMTs already treat “walk-ins,” folks suffering from minor emergencies. Mullikin openly encourages that and hopes more people will consider stopping by a firehouse rather than going to emergency room or calling an ambulance.
“We want them to come into the station,” Mullikin said.
Mullikin said the EMTs can either treat the ailment or dispatch the sufferer to the hospital.
Someone complaining of indigestion might just have indigestion, or something more serious.
The solution might be as simple as popping several Tums, or a trip the emergency room, Mullikin said.
In the near future, the breadth of emergency medicine is certain to widen, Mullikin said, as EMTs are given more responsibility in the field. Soon, he said, they will be able to perform some treatment, such as suturing wounds, en route to the hospital.
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