The Orion Township Fire Department is now an Advanced Life Support (ALS) service fire department.

The fire department began Advanced Life Support service effective at 8 a.m. June 12, according to information from Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett’s office.

The fire department’s transition from Basic Life Support (BLS) to Advanced Life Support took years of planning, including purchasing additional apparatus, specialized equipment and medications and hiring and training full-time paramedics.

“We are able to make this transition from BLS to ALS because of everyone’s hard work and dedication at the OTFD,” said Orion Township Fire Chief Rob Duke. “I also want to thank the board of trustees for their unwavering support to the community and the support of the fire department, without which this process would not be realized.”

Advanced Life Support is a set of life-saving protocols and skills that extend beyond Basic Life Support and is used to provide urgent treatment to cardiac emergencies, such as cardiac arrest, stroke and other conditions.

Paramedics qualified to provide ALS are trained and authorized to administer medication, perform injections and conduct airway procedures prior to arrival at a hospital.

Up until June 12, the Orion Township Fire Department was Basic Life Support and partnered with other municipal agencies and Star EMS for Advanced Life Support services. While effective in the past, the reliance on a third-party for this critical level of care was becoming unsustainable, Barnett’s office stated.

Now, Orion Township paramedics will be able to provide this critical care from the moment of first arrival, greatly reducing the time between the onset of the medical event and the start of critical care, which will increase survival rates of sudden cardiac arrests and other emergencies for Orion Township residents.

“We have seen tremendous growth in the professionalism and capacity of our fire department,” said Barnett. “Over the past many years, we have grown from a paid on-call department to a full-time department, now to an ALS department. I am incredibly proud of the OTFD team, under the leadership of Chief Duke, Assistant Chief (John) Pender and EMS Coordinator Cameron, who have dedicated countless hours to making this happen, and further thank the Orion Township community who has shown the fire department their support through the passage of a dedicated fire millage, which has allowed this advancement to be possible.”

For more information on the Orion Township Fire Department’s efforts in becoming ALS, contact Assistant Chief John Pender at jpender@oriontownship.org.

The OTFD does plan to host its annual Fire Department Open House later this year, where the community is invited to explore the fire department apparatus and meet with the men and women of the OTFD.