The Orlando Fire Department plans to hire 25 paramedics, a move opposed by the city’s firefighters union but which Chief Roderick Williams says will help the agency handle the increased demands of a growing city.
The Orlando Fire Department plans to hire 25 new paramedics, Chief Roderick Williams said Monday. It would mark a shift for OFD, which currently doesn’t employ civilian paramedics. All of its firefighters are either emergency medical technicians or paramedics. The fire department handles 70 percent of the city’s medical emergencies, while paramedics working for a private ambulance company take the rest.
“This plan will not replace firefighters,” Williams said. “This is to increase our service delivery to our citizens of Orlando, not to decrease firefighters.”