When Firefighters Ride Ambulances with Ben Thompson

Lots of departments require you to be a paramedic as well as a firefighter, but that can lead to conflict. In some departments, this cross training means firefighters are assigned to ambulances. Many of them end up wanting to get out of otherwise excellent work environments because they don’t want to deal with an EMS role as their primary job. How you view this situation is largely a matter of attitude, of course. Ben Thompson wrote an article on firefighting from an ambulance a while back for FireRescue1.com. He’s a lieutenant for the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. He’s been the coordinator of the department’s mobile integrated health program, Birmingham Fire and Rescue C.A.R.E.S., since 2016.