"Having this machine is like having another firefighter on the engine because with CPR, that takes one person out automatically," said Captain Jamie Rivera of Truckee Meadows Fire. "Usually our operator will start CPR and do it for two minutes, pause, do it again. He'll get tired, we'll switch. With this device we program it, get it going and it never stops, all the way to the hospital."

He says that leaves the other paramedics free to handle other aspects of the call. Eighty percent of their calls are EMS calls.

"Now, instead of one person being dedicated to doing CPR, they can start an IV, work on creating an airway, try to get information about what could have put that patient into cardiac arrest," Rivera said. "It's a lot safer in the back of the ambulance too because you don't have to have that person standing over the patient during transport."

All of the district's 11 engines now have the new compression system and monitors. According to Fire Chief Charles Moore, the total investment is $438,600.

Starting in early January, all fire engines will be stocked with more medicine and equipment to provide advanced life support to patients.

As of Friday afternoon, the fire department had responded to 9,795 calls since Jan. 1. Some 8,211 of them—or about 83.8 percent—were medical calls.

“What we've found is our ambulances are getting busier every year,” said Deputy Chief Jim Ponkauskas.

Increasingly, fire engines are reaching medical calls before ambulances. That's because ambulances can be at a different incidents when calls come in, which means fire engines are sometimes closer to medical emergencies, Ponkauskas said.

With that in mind, the fire department administration wants fire engines equipped to handle a variety of medical calls.

The new equipment will allow paramedics aboard fire engines to better respond to medical emergencies until an ambulance arrives. Each engine will have a medical box that includes IV fluids and medicine to respond to cardiac arrest and opiate overdoses, among other things, said Capt. Tom Brunner.

Ladder trucks typically have a 20-year lifespan, and the one at Station No. 4 on Municipal Drive is in its 19th year, Wingate said. It still works, but if it is not replaced soon, it could count against the Fire Department’s insurance rating, he said.

If the Fire Department were to order a brand new truck right now, it likely would cost $1.2 million and take 1½ years to build, Wingate said. The Fire Department has found a truck with a 100-foot ladder already built and loaded with the equipment Hoover needs and available for sale, he said.

The manufacturer is Kovatch Mobile Equipment, which is a company the Hoover Fire Department has used before, Wingate said. The truck has a platform at the top of the ladder and two water cannons that can process 2,000 gallons per minute, which is more processing capacity than any other truck the department has, he said.

If the City Council approves the purchase of the new truck, Wingate said he plans to keep the existing truck at Station No. 4 as a reserve truck.

There are two other ladder trucks in service right now: a 75-foot ladder truck at Station No. 7 in Inverness and a 75-foot ladder truck at Station No. 10 in Ross Bridge, Wingate said. The department also has a 1982 ladder truck in reserve that is stored at the Inverness station, he said.

The department tried to sell the 1982 ladder truck, but no departments wanted it because using a truck that age hurts on inspection scores, he said. It sickened him to sell it for $1,000 when it’s a fairly serviceable truck, so he kept it in reserve, Wingate said.