Staffed by six fire captains and firefighters/paramedics who work rotating 24-hour shifts in pairs, Squad 33 uses a custom Ford F-550 pickup equipped with a 150-gallon water tank and advanced medical equipment.
With one fire captain and one firefighter/paramedic on each shift, the set-up enables the captain to assess the scope of the emergency and request additional resources if needed.
Most of the calls in the area that the department fields — about 80 percent of them — are related to medical issues, said Frank Parra, the city’s emergency services director.