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Palm Beach County Fire Rescue reports rise in EMS calls, introduces whole-blood protocol and flags battery fires
Summary
Palm Beach County Fire Rescue told Lake Clarke Shores officials the department handled mostly medical calls last year, is carrying whole blood on some units for trauma care, and warned battery and EV fires are increasingly difficult to extinguish.
District Chief (presenting) Martinez gave the council an annual report on March 11 summarizing Palm Beach County Fire Rescue operations that serve the town.
Martinez said the department ran about 57,000 calls countywide last year and that about 80% of calls in the Lake Clarke Shores response area were medical in nature. He described the department’s emphasis on advanced life support, specialty units such as tenders and brush trucks, dive teams, and hazardous-materials and special-operations teams.
On clinical changes, Martinez and council members discussed a new protocol to carry whole blood for trauma patients. Martinez said the service uses a county whole-blood bank and that whole blood expires quickly; he described how, in one recent case, a pediatric patient became responsive within thirty seconds of receiving whole blood in the field.
Chief Martinez and council members also discussed a striking rise in fires tied to lithium and other batteries. Martinez called it “an epidemic,” said battery fires can continue to burn because the cells produce oxygen and can reignite, and recommended residents keep portable batteries and electric-vehicle (EV) equipment outside and away from enclosed garages when possible.
Council members asked about education and prevention. Martinez said the department has outreach materials, community-risk-reduction programs, and offers training and presentations for seniors and other groups.
The chief also described the county’s resources: 50-plus stations, ALS-equipped units, two or three dive teams, and specialized apparatus for aviation and highway incidents. He said countywide cardiac-arrest survival numbers exceeded national averages and that the department is expanding mobile-integrated health follow-up visits.
Ending: Council members thanked Fire Rescue for the report and asked staff to coordinate senior education programs and continued messaging about battery safety and disposal.
