The purpose of the Fire Response program is to provide fire suppression and support services to residents, visitors and businesses of the greater Las Cruces community so they can experience minimal loss of life and property and recover quickly from the impact of fire. The Las Cruces Fire Department responded to 732 fire related calls in 2023 (see 2023 Annual Report).
Emergency Medical Response
The purpose of the Emergency Medical Response program is to provide treatment and transport services to the residents and visitors of the greater Las Cruces community so they can have quick arrival of life-saving care, relief of medical symptoms, and arrive at a medical facility as quickly as appropriate for their condition.
Our firefighters are trained to the minimum level of Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-Basic) and are encouraged to achieve additional certification to the EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic levels. More than 60 of our firefighters are licensed at the Paramedic level as of August 2024.
The EMS program is responsible for performing quality assurance and improvement of our patient care to verify that our patients receive the highest quality care, that any complaints are addressed to the best of our ability, and when necessary, patients are transported to an appropriate medical facility for further care. We work with the department’s physician medical director to update and change protocols to provide high-quality treatment based on the current medical research and standards of care.
We look for innovative equipment that provides better success rates for difficult procedures and better patient monitoring and assessment, which results in better care and improved outcomes. For example, we have adopted video laryngoscopy for airway management, and are looking at adding cerebral perfusion monitors, which will allow us to observe blood flow to the brain during CPR, which in turn lets us know the effectiveness of that CPR and decide what additional treatment may be necessary in the field.
We perform an analysis of patients’ response to our care, focusing on the improvement of complaints and relief of pain. At this time, we show an improvement of 84% of our patients that receive medications for the treatment of pain.
We also perform analysis on the return of pulses from cardiac arrest events— for which we have a current field save rate of 34% on all cardiac arrest types. We are working with community outreach to set up bystander CPR classes, as this is proven to have the greatest impact on survival from cardiac arrest. LCFD has three transport-capable units that assist with the conveyance of patients to our local hospitals when the City’s contracted transport agency is delayed or over-loaded, and we continue to explore other new ways to improve transport services in our city.
In 2023, the Las Cruces Fire Department responded to 14,527 EMS calls (see 2023 Annual Report).
Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting
The purpose of the ARFF program is to provide education, prevention and emergency services to all users and visitors of the Las Cruces International Airport so they can safely operate at the airport and receive quick and effective assistance in the event of an emergency.
HAZMAT Response
The purpose of the HAZMAT Response program is to provide hazardous materials guidance and mitigation services to residents, businesses and industry affected by the use or release of hazardous materials so they can quickly and safely return to daily life or normal business operations.
Technical Rescue Response
The purpose of the Technical Rescue Response program is to provide victim extrication and emergency stabilization services to entrapped persons and animals requiring specialized rescue so they can be quickly removed with minimal injuries.
Training and Professional Development
The purpose of the the Training and Professional Development program is to provide new and continuous educational services to Fire Department Personnel and Public Safety Partners so they can realize their potential and deliver the highest level of service to the community.
Fire Department Wellness and Safety
The purpose of the Fire Department Wellness and Safety program is to provide equipment, evaluation and education services to Fire Department Personnel so they can be healthy in a career free from work-related injury or illness.