25th Anniversary of the Manchester Paramedic Program

Manchester’s advanced life support (ALS) paramedic service, which brings the life-saving skills of an emergency room to the community, celebrates 25 years of service on Friday, July 11, 2008. The town’s paramedic service, based in and provided by the town fire department, handles more than 5,000 requests for help a year.  Over the past 25 years, town paramedics have responded to more than 196,000 requests for help, treating more than 75,000 patients. 

Paramedics are the second tier of the state’s emergency medical services system.  The first tier is Basic Life Support (BLS) which is provided by the two fire departments in town in concert with a commercial ambulance service.  Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) provide first aid treatment for those not requiring paramedic intervention.

More advanced life-saving care is given by specially trained paramedics.  Paramedics can perform cardiac monitoring and administer as many as 41 different medications.  They can intubate patients, draw blood, run intravenous lines, provide advanced cardiac care and rapid trauma management and give breathing treatments, among other life saving procedures.  Paramedics receive extensive training including rotations in the Emergency Department, Operating Room, Surgical Intensive Care Unit, OB/GYN, IV Therapy Team, Laboratory and Cath lab.

A 25th anniversary salute to the Manchester Paramedic Program will be held at Northwest Park prior to the Manchester Silkworms Thursday, July 10th game at 6:45 pm.  An anniversary recognition ceremony will be held at Fire Headquarters, 75 Center Street, on Friday, July 11, 2008 at 9:00 am.

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