Tucson Fire Department's pickup truck ...

From the Tucson Citizen: Fire Dept. providing more primary care by Eric Sagara

... Known as the alpha truck, the pickup is a relatively new unit in the department and is used to handle lower priority calls such as Berato's.

The department created the program in April 2006 because emergency rooms are not the only portion of the medical system overwhelmed by patients with nonemergency medical needs, said Norma Battaglia, a pre-hospital manager with TFD.

Fire officials estimate that 1 in every 8 calls to 911 is for a low-priority medical need. Fire officials said the department responded to about 84,000 calls last year.

The calls range from people who have fallen out of their wheelchairs or need help getting to the bathroom to those with alcohol or drug abuse problems to people who have just had surgery and need follow-up attention.

"It's been a number of years in coming, but there is virtually no after-hours medical care available to citizens," Battaglia said. "If you call any private physician you will get an after-hours recording that says 'Please contact 911 if this is an emergency.' Basically, many, many people have turned to the fire departments and to (emergency medical services) to provide basic primary care." ...

Congrats to Tucson for coming up with and actually implementing a good idea. Just don't let Bush, Cheney, The Turdblossom and all the rest hear about the program ...

Questionable emergency-response plans for Pima County ...

Journalists (at the Arizona Daily Star) looking into the state of Pima County's emergency-response plans were met with obfuscation, delays, excuses and deceit.

"None of the five Local Emergency Planning Committee offices contacted in Arizona provided the complete plans. Some offices refused to give any information at all." [Plans not shared with public --County officials won't give info law says is yours by Monica Alonzo-Dunsmoor and Corinne Purtill]

A related article shows the length to which our ever increasing secret-minded government will go to to keep information out of the hands of the public:

"Often, privacy laws are taken to the extreme. In 2002 the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., refused to release medical records about Ryma the giraffe, claiming that the disclosure of such information would violate the animal's right to privacy, as well as veterinarian-patient confidentiality." [Accessing records --Freedom of information, feted this week, increasingly restricted, Opinion by David Cuillier]