(Our camera’s flash helps prove how well those reflective strips work!)
Usually toward the end of Highland Park Action Committee meetings, there’s a “Local Business Spotlight” organized by HPAC vice chair Nicole Mazza, with information about an area business and maybe even a raffle. Last night, she threw a changeup, inviting Seattle Fire Department personnel from nearby Station 11, led by Lt. Russell Wiseman (second from left). They answered questions and shared details about how they work, including:

*They work in 24-hour shifts that change at 7:30 am, four people in the station per day. When they arrive for the day, they have to check all their gear, make sure everything works, from the vehicle to the “shocker” that might be needed to revive someone in cardiac arrest. Inbetween emergency calls, their day will include everything from cooking to housekeeping to exercise to training.

*Their training doesn’t just involve fighting fires – since they are first responders to many medically related calls, that requires a lot of training, not just CPR – earlier on Wednesday, they’d spent four hours in “street medicine” training, for example, and they’ve also recently received training regarding the flu and how to deal with patients without bringing it home to their families or spreading it between calls. And they are trained in counseling people in difficult situations, such as deaths that happen before or during the incident – “we see more dead people than most.”

Ahead – What’s the difference between a fire engine and fire truck? Is there a “fire station dog”? and more:

*Difference between a fire engine and fire truck? The former (like Engine 11, which is based at Station 11) is “the one with a hose on it,” focused on getting water on fires. The latter – like Ladder 11, which is actually based at Station 32 in The Junction – has a crew that’s “more tool-oriented – the people who go into the fire, cut holes in roofs, search for victims …”

*They also handle some non-emergency calls, like installing smoke alarms for people with special needs (here’s a recent WSB story on that) or visiting schools, and they also practice driving around their “district,” so that they don’t lose precious time getting lost or looking something up when a call comes in. Advice: “Be sure you have a good, visible house number.”

*Those “medic response, 7 per rule” calls you’ve seen on the live online 911 log mean they’re sending out enough equipment to have 7 people at the scene, because they may need to resuscitate someone – and help is needed beyond those doing the resuscitating – medicine, breathing tube, IVs, “shocking,” ask about medical history, “get the patient to a good place to work on – you’d be surprised at how small houses are, when you need to do CPR.” Seattle has a much-higher rate of bringing people back to life than other cities, the Station 11 crew reminded HPAC, in part because of techniques developed with Harborview Medical Center, the First Hill facility that is the region’s top trauma center.

*Why is a fire engine sent out on some medical/injury calls instead of an aid car? “We only have four aid cars in the city, but we have 33 engines. Aid cars can obviously go to a medical run but they’re not going to be effective at fighting a fire; our engines can do both so they are positioned around the city.” … Every Seattle firefighter is at least an EMT.”

They also talked about the additional ladder truck (first reported by Seattle Weekly) coming to Station 11 next April – West Seattle needs to have two ladder trucks available for major calls, and right now the second one comes from Station 14 in SODO, but that won’t meet response-time requirements once the Spokane Street Viaduct Widening Project construction intensifies. For Highland Park especially (where Station 11 is at 16th/Holden), that’s “better service … we’ll get here faster.” It also means there’ll be an extra trailer on the station site for more than a year.

Another reminder: Change your smoke-alarm batteries this weekend when you change your clock.

HPAC plans to show the team their appreciation by delivering a home-cooked meal on Nov. 13; they’re also organizing a neighborhood tour of the station for Nov. 21.

And one last semi-whimsical question: “Do you have a station dog?” Nope, not allowed. But, allowed Lt. Wiseman, “that might be me – they” – indicating his team – “dog me all day long!”