Mickuleit on COVID-19 and 2020
Looking back over the past year for the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District, Chief Ben Mickuleit said the department’s had its ups and downs.
“We survived COVID,” said Mickuleit. “We’ve fared pretty well. We ran quite a bit of COVID calls, but overall I think we did pretty well.”
The number of emergency calls for the year, he said, totaled 1,706, a 4.3 percent increase from the year prior, which did not include standby. This number is an average of 142 calls to the fire department per month and 4-5 per day. The increase in call volume falls in line with the population increase for the island, said Mickuleit.
The department also saw four Phoenix Awards, an award given to a first responder to cardiac or respiratory arrest, who is able to bring the patient back to life.
In 2020, firefighters were able to hire medical director and begin carrying Narcan on each truck, a drug administered to people who have overdosed on opiates. Mickuleit reports having used the drug six times last year.
In addition to getting through the pandemic in one piece, the department has decided to send the employees to paramedic school. The goal is to one day equip all the engines with advanced life support, although they will begin with one truck, said Mickuleit, with a gradual increase to all the others.
“It’s big for the community members,” said Mickuleit, “providing advanced life support on all the fire engines. The engines are always closer. There’s only one medic unit on the island, so the firehouse is always going to be closer.”
On the new fire department smartphone app, Mickuleit said they can never do enough to reach people. Because people always seem to be on their phone, hopefully they will download the new Matlacha/Pine Island Fire app, he said.