By TIM MCGLONE
© 2001, The Virginian-Pilot 

VIRGINIA BEACH -- In the ongoing effort to improve emergency medical responses, firefighter-paramedics have been assigned around-the-clock duty at four of the city's busiest fire stations.

That means those areas will have paramedics available at any time, beginning today. It also means faster response times, city officials said.

The Fire Department has 26 firefighters cross-trained as paramedics. They are spread among the city's 18 fire stations, but have not in the past been assigned to specific locations.

Now, there will be at least one assigned to each shift in the London Bridge, Thalia, Oceana (Great Neck) and Woodstock sections.

``It's a significant change,'' said Ed Brazle, a spokesman for the Department of Emergency Medical Services.

``We've always had medics scattered around. Now we know that these four stations will have a paramedic and let us more effectively utilize them,'' he said.

More firefighters are being trained as paramedics, or advanced life support (ALS), and that will likely mean more dedicated paramedics at other fire stations, according to Capt. Hedley Austin, a Fire Department spokesman.

The city's emergency medical calls are handled by a mix of paid firefighters and volunteer medics. All firefighters have basic life support (BLS) training and typically arrive first on the scene of a medical emergency.

But when more serious medical emergencies require advanced life support, such as injecting intravenous drugs, the city relies on its firefighter-paramedics and the 108 volunteer EMS paramedics. The city also uses zone cars, staffed by either firefighters or EMS personnel trained in advanced life support, who rush all over the city to medical emergencies.

The move is the latest in a series of changes recommended by a committee studying emergency medical services. Officials said they expect no additional costs.

In December, the city changed a rule that prevented some firefighters from practicing their advanced life-support skills. 

The rule required firefighters to join a city volunteer rescue squad before they could practice their ALS skills. The Department of EMS dropped that requirement, which means more firefighters will soon begin practicing their ALS skills.