Falls at assisted living facilities often result in a 911 call—even when there are no apparent injuries. In many cases, fire crews are dispatched primarily to assess the resident and help them back into bed or a chair.
As demand for emergency services continues to grow, these non-emergency responses can tie up firefighters and paramedics who may be needed for life-threatening emergencies elsewhere. At the same time, firefighter burnout is increasing, and departments are being asked to do more with the same—or fewer—resources than ever compared to increasing call volume rates.
Many assisted living facilities employ trained caregivers, and residents and their families pay significant fees for the services these facilities provide. This raises an important question:
Should assisted living facilities be charged a fee for non-emergency lift assists and similar calls that meet clearly defined, non-emergency criteria?
Facilities also have licensed nurses (LPNs or RNs) on staff or on call. Those clinicians often have assessment skills that may equal—or exceed—the training of many firefighters in evaluating non-critical medical conditions. Whether they are available 24/7 varies by facility.
This is an important topic for a city of roughly 8,000–9,000 residents with half a dozen care facilities. Combined with Sequim's large retiree population, these facilities can generate a significant share of fire department call volume, making them a meaningful part of the discussion about resource utilization.
We'd like to hear your thoughts. Share your perspective in the comments below.When patients at assisted living facilities or nursing homes fall down without injury, staff are often forbidden from helping the residents up due to liability concerns, according to officials. Instead the local fire department is called. www.firerescue1.com/legislation-funding/mass-city-considers-500-fee-for-nursing-home-lift-assist-...
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Leonard “Len” Horst, a firefighter/paramedic, was honored for his 29 years of fire service both as a volunteer and career firefighter on July 1 following his retirement on June 30 from Clallam County Fire District 3.
He joined the department as a volunteer firefighter/EMT in May 1997 and was hired full-time as a firefighter/EMT in July 2001.
Four years later, Horst was promoted to firefighter/paramedic after receiving his paramedic certification and attending Paramedic School at Tacoma Community College from 2003-2004 while working for FD3.
More about Horst: www.sequimgazette.com/2026/07/23/horst-retires-honored-for-service-with-fire-district-3/
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A Fire Weather Warning has been issued for the Olympic region⚠️ The red flag warning (fire weather warning) has been extended to encompass most of the Washington Coast, and the Olympic Mountains. Looks like the last time there was a red flag warning out there was 2022. Details about the warning are in the comments. #wawx #weather #wafire #fire #washingtonstate 07-22-26
-Benjamin J
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Fan submission - Medic 34 and Engine 33* spotted in the wild in Sequim today running a medical call. Hey wait I thought it was always sunny in Sequim?? 🧐
*May actually be Engine 34. So far the engines don't have unit identifying graphics or placards.
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From the Archives - April 7th 2025 7:52AM. A completely empty firehouse. A rare moment when emergency calls occurred right at shift change, creating an overlap with enough personnel to staff all six Station 34 rigs for response. Two ambulances, a rescue, an engine, a tender, and a chief buggy all out on calls at the same time. In firefighter lingo, this is when you "empty the house" aka send everyone you've got.
All rigs at FD3 are cross-staffed which refers to a situation where a single crew or set of personnel is assigned to operate more than one fire apparatus or service unit at the same time. This is typically done when staffing is limited, and the department must deploy resources efficiently to meet multiple needs. So under normal non-shift-change circumstances, crews cannot take every vehicle at the station because there are not enough people on hand to do so.
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