FILE PHOTO — A Chehalis Fire Department truck is parked outside, while a Lewis County Fire District 6 truck is parked inside the Fire District 6 station on Jackson Highway in May 2020. The Chehalis Fire Department has since moved to a new temporary station.
Lewis County Fire District 6 has announced that it will no longer respond to medical emergencies that occur within Chehalis city limits, with the exception of specified Advanced Life Support (ALS) calls.
Up until the announcement, made in a letter dated Jan. 27 between District 6 Chief Ken Cardinale and Chehalis Fire Department Chief Ted Hendershot, District 6 had been filling in a gap in service from Lewis County’s contracted medical transportation provider, American Medical Response (AMR).
“Two thirds of the time, they beat us to the call,” Hendershot said. “They’re doing a terrific job of providing the units.”
According to Hendershot, AMR meets roughly 95% of the need for medical transport within the city of Chehalis, leaving a 5% gap where there are overlapping calls. To fill that gap, District 6 volunteered to respond to medical calls within the city of Chehalis when AMR units were unavailable.
“We were happy to do that for a period of time, until it became excessive,” Cardinale said.
District 6, which covers the communities of rural Chehalis and Adna, reported that the agency responded into the city of Chehalis 136 times on ALS and Basic Life Support (BLS) medical emergencies in 2020 when AMR units were unavailable.
“For every time we provide service within the city, we’re not able to respond within our own district,” Cardinale said. “My responsibility is to ensure that we have the availability to respond to calls that happen in District 6.”
While Hendershot said that the letter announcing District 6’s decision took him by surprise, he said the decision itself was expected, and Chehalis Fire will continue business as usual.
“I can’t really control what they do. All I can do is provide the best service I can in Chehalis,” Hendershot said.
District 6 will continue to respond to eight specific Lewis County 911 Emergency Medical Dispatch classifications if AMR units are unavailable:
• Cardiac arrest
• ALS-level choking (no air movement)
• Major rescue
• Gunshot wound
• Car versus pedestrian
• Respiratory arrest
• Active labor
• Stabbing
In other cases when AMR has overlapping calls, Hendershot said that one or two Chehalis Fire Department personnel can typically be called in to respond.
