The Placentia Fire and Life Safety Department and Lynch EMS presented their inaugural annual report to the Placentia City Council at the September 21st City Council meeting.  Information presented included the types and quantity of fire and EMS calls received, average dispatch to arrival times, comparisons from the previous service provider, training information, and more.  

During the Fiscal Year 2020-21, Placentia Fire and Life Safety and Lynch EMS responded to a total of 4,363 calls, reduced average fire and medical response times by 30-40% from 2019, and required significantly less mutual aid from surrounding cities into Placentia than the previous service provider.  

Placentia Fire and Life Safety personnel have completed over 23,000 hours of training in the areas of urban search and rescue, firefighter survival, leadership, wildland with US Forest Services, Mercy  Air, and fire tactics and strategy. In addition, Lynch EMS staff completed training in incident command systems, basic life support, advance cardiac life support, mass casualty incidents, and more.

Lynch EMS has also invested in the LUCAS device, which enables automatic chest compressions.  This device not only improves the chest compression rate but also reduces CPR interruptions. With the Paramedics’ advanced training, and Lynch EMS investing in modern medical technology, Lynch staff have achieved a 47% success rate in cardiac saves, which is 17% higher than the national average.

“We are tremendously proud of the success of our Placentia Fire and Life Safety Department in its first year,” said City Administrator Damien R. Arrula. “Since the City Council voted to establish our own locally controlled Fire Department, the City has worked diligently to hire the most experienced and qualified personnel and provide them with the most state-of-the-art equipment. We had an early  goal of significantly reducing response times and reliance on mutual aid, and in reviewing the annual  report, we have done just that; the data presented speaks for itself.” 

“Throughout our inaugural year, the Department has had many successes and challenges, but through it all, the personnel of the Placentia Fire and Life Safety Department have continued to exude professionalism, compassion, and generosity to the Placentia community,” said Fire Chief J. Pono  Van Gieson. “We extend a sincere thank you to our partners at Lynch EMS, without whom we could not have been as successful as we were. I look forward to many more years of this partnership and continuing to advance on our Department’s goals and objectives.”

“We were extremely honored to be selected to partner with Placentia Fire and Life Safety to provide  Paramedic EMS services to the citizens of Placentia. With the outstanding support from Fire and Life  Safety and the City of Placentia, we have achieved notable success in our first year in Placentia,” said CEO of Lynch EMS Walt Lynch. “We have many bonds with Placentia community members, and we are delighted to be part of the community. We look forward to continuing to serve as a partner to  the Fire and Life Safety Department, and together I know we will continue to save and improve lives  in the City of Placentia.” 

“We went through several hurdles as a City when we decided to start our own locally-controlled Fire  Department, so I am extremely pleased with the findings of this report. I know that our Placentia Fire and Life Safety Department will continue to thrive and provide the residents of Placentia with exceptional public safety services for many years to come,” said Placentia Mayor Craig S. Green.  

To view the inaugural report, please visit https://www.placentia.org/fireannualreport.