Citizens Police Academy: Field Trip to the Fire House

There’s a good reason why you always see a police car on the scene when there’s a fire truck and ambulance.

Fire and police departments have a deeply entwined relationship, with each providing critical assistance to the other when responding to emergencies.

That relationship was explained during Wednesday’s meeting of the Citizens Police Academy, held this week at headquarters.

“We can’t really exist and do our job well without the police department,” said Bob Morris, director of Darien-Woodridge’s Fire Prevention Bureau.

Because police have more streamlined vehicles, they travel faster than bulky fire trucks and often arrive on the scene of an incident first. In the minutes before firefighters or paramedics arrive, police officers can provide life-saving assistance to the person who called for help.

If someone’s heart stops, for example, the person has less than a five percent chance of survival if no one performs CPR or uses a defibrillator within five minutes, said Lt. John Tabisz.

An officer can start those processes before paramedics arrive, buying valuable time that could mean the difference between life and death.

Police can also gather information from the scene that will help firefighters better do their job when they arrive.

Sometimes the situation at hand ends up being very different than what the caller told the dispatcher. One time, for example, Tabisz arrived to a call he thought was for a choking baby that ended up being a domestic situation.

“It can be very disconcerting to show up at a situation and find something you’re not even aware of,” Morris said. “The police officers can provide information so (the firefighters) can ramp up their preparation.”

The police also provide backup in situations such as the one Tabisz described. That time he arrived before the police did — but he said it was very reassuring when an officer got to the scene who was equipped to deal with a possibly violent person.

The two agencies respond with complementary equipment. Firefighters provide ladders when police need to get on roofs during barricade situations. Paramedics have more elaborate medical equipment.

Police, on the other hand, have firearms and other weapons for dealing with violent situations. They also have the ability to arrest someone and force them to go to the hospital for medical treatment if they are on drugs, for example, and refusing care.

Tabisz and Morris also did demonstrations of common lifesaving equipment, including a defibrillator and fire extinguishers.

It’s all equipment people should be well prepared to use before trying it out in a real-life situation.

“You don’t have a lot of time to make a mistake (with a fire extinguisher),” Morris said.

Before squeezing the handle, make sure you’ll be able to exit the room if the fire extinguisher doesn’t work, he said.

And if you haven’t used a fire extinguisher before, Morris said: “Just get out.”