EMERGENCY RESPONSE
stories like these showcase our firefighters’
valor in fighting fires. but these brave men and
women do so much more.
in 2008, the CsFD had 45,859 responses. of
those, 785 were fires. More than 28,000 were
medical calls for service.
the CsFD is the first response agency
for every emergency involving the health of
our residents. Why? because of their quick
response— 8 minutes, 90% of the time—and the
fact that every fire engine and pumper truck have
a paramedic onboard.
it wasn’t always that way.

in the early 70s, firefighters were only trained to do CPr and administer oxygen. the firefighters themselves realized that they wanted to do more. this grassroots effort led them to seek and obtain additional training.

Chief Cox tells of a structure fire in the old north end. Firefighters pulled up to the fire,

went inside and found an elderly woman. they
immediately rescued her and started advanced
life support procedures.
because they had that paramedic on board,
Cox said, “We were able to stretch a line, attack
a fire, perform search and rescue and stabilize
our victim all at the same time.”

in fact, the CsFD has one of the most progressive paramedic programs in the country. According to Captain Glenn Conklin, CsFD Medical Division, “we have the ability to transmit eKGs from scenes directly to the hospitals and initiate state-of-the-art hypothermia treatments for patients in cardiac arrest.”

Wildland fires are another huge concern in our city. “We feel that’s the major threat in our urban interface, the area west of i- 25,” Cox said. “We have two stations dedicated to the wildland program. their firefighters have higher levels of training.”

above left According to Chief steven W. Cox, “our whole model in staffing our stations is predicated on a quick, aggressive interior fire attack.” above steven W. Cox was appointed Fire Chief for the Colorado springs Fire Department on october 11, 2008. Chief Cox oversees a department of nearly 500 employees, 20 fire stations with more on the way, and a 53 million dollar budget.