Page 94 - History of the Colton Fire Department

In the battlefields of Vietnam it was proven that (Fire Service Resources of Southern California Organ-
the sooner a patient received advanced life support, the ized for Potential Emergencies). FIRESCOPE is head-
better his chance of survival. The idea of para medicine quartered in Riverside, California. As a result of the de-
was to take the doctor to the patient or at least have a velopment of the FIRESCOPE program, things that are
person that could be the eyes and ears of the doctor and common place in today’s fire service such as the“Incident
administer a variety of drugs and procedures under a doc- Command System” was developed.
tor’s orders.
In 1969, nine Seattle firefighters began their para- 1971
medical training, while all firefighters received basic CPR There was a Public Educational meeting at
and first-aid training. The Medic 1 Training Program con- Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in Colton where
sisted of 150 classroom hours, followed by 10 months of Chief Temby spoke about the Fire Department. Some-
physician-supervised experience on the ambulance. By one asked the question of Chief Temby, “Why is there
1970, they were ready to hit the streets in Medic I. The no Hispanics on the Fire Department”? Chief Temby
large motor-home, “affectionately referred to as ‘Mobey Replied, “Because no Hispanics have applied”. Colton
Pig’ by the paramedics,” responded to all cardiac emer- did and still does have a large Hispanic population. Nel-
gencies throughout the city from its base at Harborview lie Cortez was in attendance that day and went home to
Medical Center. tell her husband Eddie Cortez what she had heard. Eddie
had admired the job for some time but never pursued it.
1970 Nellie Convinced Ed to apply. It took him a couple times
While Seattle was making progress in the para- to pass the test and finally made it to an interview with
medic frontier, California was not far behind. Seeing the the chief. The chief asked if he had any concerns about
need for legalizing the utilization of pre-hospital para- being the only Hispanic. Eddie replied, “No”. Chief
medic care, Dr. Graf from Los Angeles County took his Temby also asked Nellie Cortez if Ed had to miss an an-
issues to Kenneth Hahn, a prominent and powerful Los niversary or special occasion because of work, would that
Angeles area politician. Hahn carried the proposed leg- bother her, and she replied “No”. There was not a job
islation to Sacramento, State Senator James Wedworth opening at the time but later that year, Eddie received the
and State Assemblyman Larry Townsend. The proposed call and became the first full time Hispanic to work for
bill was introduced to the state government in March of Colton Fire. Ed Cortez (Haus) soon became one of the
1970 and signed into law by Governor Ronald Reagan first paramedics in the County and later became captain,
on July 14, 1970 as the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic retiring in 1994.
Act. The Act provisioned that, “A county…may conduct
a pilot program utilizing mobile intensive care paramed- 1972
ics for the delivery of emergency medical care to the sick California soon followed Washington in their de-
and injured…” It also stipulated the scope of practice un- velopment of the paramedic program. This would prove
der the orders of a physician or nurse, “Administer intra- to be such an exciting topic and career that they made a
venous saline or glucose solutions, perform gastric suc- television show from the idea and called it “Emergency”.
tion by intubation, and administer parenteral injections The show captured the imagination of emergency services
of any of the following classes of drugs: Antiarrhythmic personnel, the medical community, and the general pub-
agents, Vagolytic agents, Chronotropic agents, Analgesic lic. When the show first aired in 1972, there were exactly
agents, Alkalinizing agents, Vasopressor agents.” Harbor six paramedic units operating in three pilot programs in
General paramedics began to work free of CCU nurses the whole United States. By the time the program ended
the day the act became law. In 1973, a three-year evalua- production in 1977, there were paramedics operating in
tion of Los Angeles’s paramedic program stated that, “the every state.
increased utilization of the paramedic and his ability to
render effective treatment was demonstrated”. 1973
In the 1970’s Southern California experienced The Colton Fire Department has provided a serv-
several major fires which utilized vast amounts of fire re- ice to the community for 84 years. Colton is now a fully
sources statewide. As a result Southern California fire paid professional fire department, operating with 2 sta-
agencies such as Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara tions, 34 personnel-2 engine companies and 2 rescue
County, Ventura County and the State Office squads, providing fire and rescue service for an area of
94 of Emergency Services created “FIRESCOPE” 13 square miles. Colton Fire Department has provided