Kirtland cuts back on emergency services

Kirtland cuts back on emergency services
The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Dec 18, 2007 19:11:14 EST

KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — First responders from the base’s fire department will no longer be able to perform a host of lifesaving measures or transport people to the hospital via ambulance after the base’s emergency medical technician status was downgraded.

The Air Force downgraded the status to EMT-basic on Dec. 5, the Albuquerque Journal reported Saturday in a copyrighted story.

“Basically, they just took away our decision-making ability to respond with the level of care the community around us expects,” said Scott Mathena, who has worked for nine years at the Kirtland Air Force Base Fire Department.

Firefighters said the new status means they cannot perform intravenous therapies, intubate the trachea or use a variety of cardiac and anti-seizure drugs.

Without an ambulance, patients will have to wait for paramedics from Albuquerque Ambulance, which has provided support to the base for decades.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2007/12/airforce_kirtland_emergencies_071218/



uhc comment: According to The Center For Land Use Interpretation:

http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/NM3162/

Kirtland Air Force Base is one of the most vital and active military facilities in the country, with over 20,000 people working within its secured perimeter, at the south end of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Among the 180 tenant organizations at Kirtland are:
-Sandia National Laboratories
-the headquarters of the Air Force's Phillips Laboratories
-the National Atomic Museum
-the Department of Energy's Albuquerque Operations Office
-and of course the facilities and operations of the Air Force Base, which include the former Manzano Mountains nuclear weapons storage facility, recently replaced with a modern stockpile storage site under the runway, said to be one of the largest collections of deployable nuclear weapons in the Country.