Aside from swearing in four firefighters hired by the Chehalis Fire Department during the pandemic and honoring retired Captain Steve Emrich at last week’s Chehalis City Council meeting, Chief Adam Fulbright requested the council authorize him to transition the department to offer advanced life support (ALS) emergency medical services by 2024.
Fulbright’s request was approved unanimously by the Chehalis City Council.
The department is currently staffed to support basic life support (BLS) services, which it has been historically, Fulbright said. BLS services include a general array of medical services the department’s staff provides.
“They continue, day-in and day-out, to provide exceptional service … But this level of service does have some limitations,” Fulbright said. “It does not provide the necessary level of protection that the citizens and community could have.”