NON-EMERGENCY (815) 286-7711
SERVICES
HOW WE HELP
Firefighters are essential to the safety and security of our local communities
Ambulance Services
Since 2001, the ambulance service has staffed one Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance 24/7 that will respond to any medical calls inside of our district. The district also has a secondary Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance that is available based on member availability when experiencing back-to-back medical calls.
Our ALS ambulance allows paramedics to start intravenous therapy, insert breathing tubes, provide advanced cardiac care, and administer many life-saving drugs. Beginning in May 2005, the ambulance service began performing 12-lead EKG heart monitoring with the ability to transmit the result directly to our resource hospital. This has greatly improved our ability to care for patients experiencing cardiac episodes.
Our BLS ambulance is able to provide basic care that primarily consists of providing oxygen, splinting broken bones, and providing supportive care while transporting to a healthcare facility.
Currently, the ambulance transports patients to their choice of three area hospitals: Valley West Community Hospital in Sandwich, Kishwaukee Community Hospital in Dekalb, and Mercy Center Hospital in Aurora. Patients who wish to be treated in any other hospital must arrange for transport by another agency, usually a private ambulance service.
Fire Fighting
The fire department consists of one part-time chief and a number of paid-on-call firefighters. This means that there is not necessarily anyone on-duty at the station for fire or rescue response at any given time.
Most firefighters and EMTs carry a pager on their person while in the district that allows them to be alerted upon dispatch receiving a 911 call. In recent years, the addition of smart-phone alerting systems has become more mainstream and allows members to be alerted to emergencies no matter their current location.
Upon receiving a call for a fire related emergency members travel to the station to don their turnout gear, hop on a truck, and proceed to the scene. For any confirmed structure fire, it is likely that the command will call for mutual-aid from surrounding communities which includes services that can range from staffed engines and water tenders to ambulance for firefighter rehab or change-of-quarters.
The district operates the following fire apparatus:
• Two (2) fire engines
• One (1) aerial truck
• One (1) support squad
• One (1) brush truck
• One (1) water tender
Rescue Services
Rescue services consist of a carefully curated mix of both ambulance and firefighter services in order to ensure that any incident is handled in a safe and swift manner.
When our department is dispatched for an incident requiring rescue services, such as a car accident, our members will don their turnout gear and proceed to the scene with a different set of vehicles than a normal fire response. The first two in route are always ambulance and the rescue squad which is often referred to as a "rolling toolbox". The rescue squad includes tools ranging from regular hand tools to our extrication equipment (jaws of life), powered saws, and struts for stabilizing unsecured vehicles.
To learn more about our apparatus, visit the "Apparatus" page under "About" in the main menu.
Community Safety
In addition to assisting the community in a multitude of real-time emergency incidents we take steps to ensure that we are ready for any emergency. Additional community safety items that many may not know that we handle include, emergency pre-planning for technical firefighting, activating the emergency sirens, community education, and outreach.