The story of the DC Fire & EMS Department is the story of how financial and political investment
saves lives.
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DC's cardiac arrest survival rate is now above the national average.
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During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, DC was the only major city that did not leave fire and EMS units unstaffed.
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It has not always been this way. In 2015, the Department routinely ran out of
ambulances, its apparatus broke down, its members received little training,
and the District's cardiac arrest save rate was half the national average.
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On January 6, 2021, the Department mobilized over 200 first responders and sufficient reserve apparatus to rescue patients and assist law enforcement with protecting democracy at the U.S. Capitol.
Protect our progress.
We cannot take for granted how far we have come. And there is more work to be done to save more lives, and to keep our first responders safe and healthy. During these uncertain economic times, we must be diligent in protecting our progress and keeping it going.
Seal the deal.
First responders “represent an ideal. An assurance by society, backed by money, that human lives are sacred and will be saved anywhere and everywhere they’re in danger. Society has often shrugged its burden and reneged on the deal…But it’s always been there.”
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-- Kevin Hazzard, American Sirens