SERVICE

The Wauconda Fire Department (WFD) provides emergency medical services (EMS) for the citizens of the Village of Wauconda and the Villages and Towns in the Wauconda Fire Protection District. This service was established in 1976 when five members of the department completed training and were certified as paramedics by the State of Illinois. Three of the first five medics are still with the department today. To meet the demand for service the department has grown. Now there are 47 Emergency Medical Technician - Paramedics and 24 Emergency Medical Technician - Basics (EMT-B). These personnel respond in four modern and fully equipped mobile intensive care units that accommodate the transportation of patients to the hospital and two advanced life support fire engines

Each MICU is staffed with a minimum of 2 Paramedics.  If additional assistance is required following assessment, an ALS engine may respond.  On occasion, a fire engine may arrive first pending call activity & availability.  These units are ALS equipped & staffed with a minimum of 1 Paramedic & 2 EMT-B’s.

 It is not uncommon to have doctors, nurses, other health care professionals along with Paramedic & EMT students to “ride along”  Wauconda is viewed as a department that deals with a wide variety of medical & traumatic cases allowing for these professionals an opportunity to learn more about fieldwork in EMS.

The licensing agency for EMS is the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). WFD personnel are all trained to a minimum of EMT-Basic.  This particular licensure is a semester long course teaching personnel basic life support; use of AED’s , CPR, assist with administration of certain patient medications & basic assessment & treatment of medical & traumatic illnesses.  Paramedic training is much more extensive, with prerequisites of EMT-B, 6 months field internship and biology.  The Paramedic class itself is 2+ semesters in length.  Paramedics are licensed to perform multiple techniques such as advanced airway procedures, pharmacological therapy for medical & cardiac patients, EKG monitoring, interpretation, defibrillation & pacing of the heart.  EMS personnel are required to obtain 30 hours of Continuing Education annually. Additionally, personnel have achieved Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS) and Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) certifications

Wauconda Fire Department is under the medical control of the Condell Medical Center EMS System based out of Libertyville. Condell Medical Center is part of Illinois Trauma Region X.  Associate hospitals that WFD transports to are: Good Shepherd Hospital in Barrington and Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry.

 As expectations and demands continue to increase, the Wauconda Fire Department strives to remain on the cutting edge through education and technology to better serve the citizens we protect.