Frequently Asked Questions 1. Most of the Downers Grove firefighters are cross trained as paramedics. If an engine is in the vicinity of a medical call, it may be possible for the paramedics on the engine to assist the patient before the ambulance arrives.
All engines carry emergency medical equipment.
Quite often moving a patient, or patients, takes more personnel than the two medics on the ambulance. Overall, the engine enhances the safety of both the patients and the firefighters. The letters M.I.C.U. stand for Mobile Intensive Care Unit. The range of equipment and medications they carry will allow the paramedics to treat life threatening situations as competently as the patient would be treated at the hospital. The medics are in constant communication with the Good Samaritan Hospital medical staff during the transport.