05/23/2026
🚑 EMS Week Wrap-Up! 🚒
Laconia Fire is a 100% Advanced Life Support Department
As EMS Week comes to a close, we wanted to share one more fun fact about the EMS system serving the City of Laconia.
Our EMS Week social media game may have been running a little behind, but our EMS team certainly did not slow down — including one shift this week that handled 25 calls in a single 24-hour period.
In our defense, we have also been sharpening our grant-writing skills to help bring new programs, equipment, and services to Laconia while helping save taxpayer dollars. Not a bad way to celebrate EMS Week!
We are proud to be the City’s fire-based EMS and ambulance provider. What many people may not know is that Laconia Fire is a 100% Advanced Life Support department.
That means whether we show up in a fire engine, ambulance, command vehicle, or even from the Fire Prevention office, you are getting highly trained EMS providers ready to help.
In EMS, there are lower certification levels, including Emergency Medical Responder and EMT. Those providers play an important role in many communities. However, in Laconia, we require a higher level of care. Every sworn member of Laconia Fire is certified at least at the Advanced EMT level.
And yes, even the City Manager is a paramedic, which is just one more example of how deeply EMS is built into this city.
Our department is currently made up of about 50% Advanced EMTs and 50% paramedics. So rest assured, Laconia, your EMS needs are covered.
We currently have four levels of EMS certification and specialty care within our department:
🚑 Advanced EMT
This is our minimum certification level at Laconia Fire. Advanced EMTs can provide important lifesaving care during emergencies such as allergic reactions, cardiac arrests, breathing problems, trauma, and other time-sensitive calls. They can perform advanced skills including medication administration, IV access, airway management, and other critical interventions.
🚑 Paramedic
Paramedics complete a rigorous 1- to 2-year program with hundreds of hours of classroom, lab, hospital, and field training. They can provide advanced medications, cardiac care, IVs, advanced airway management, and many other procedures. In many ways, it is like bringing parts of the emergency room right to your door.
🚑 Community Paramedic
We are very proud to have a Community Paramedic program serving Laconia. This program focuses on non-emergency care, follow-up visits, connecting residents with resources, and helping reduce repeat 911 calls. Our Community Paramedic is also fully ALS-certified and can provide advanced emergency care when needed. Best of all, this program is currently provided free to Laconia residents through grant funding.
🚑 RSI Paramedic
RSI stands for Rapid Sequence Intubation. These are paramedics with additional training and certification to give special medications that allow them to place a breathing tube in critical patients. This skill can be lifesaving in serious trauma cases, respiratory failure, and other major emergencies.
We currently have four RSI-certified paramedics, including the Deputy Chief, with four more paramedics recently completing their state certification process and awaiting final medical director approval.
We also want to thank everyone who came out for the NH CPR Challenge Hands-Only CPR class. The event was a success, and we appreciate the community members who took the time to learn a simple skill that can save a life.
Finally, we want to thank our crews for the outstanding work they do every day — not just during EMS Week, but all year long. And as everyone knows, one of the best ways to show appreciation to firefighters is through food. That is why, in honor of EMS Week, Deputy Lewandowski and Community Paramedic Tunstall cooked dinner each night for the shifts.
Thank you to our members for your professionalism, compassion, and commitment to the City of Laconia. We are proud of the care you provide and proud to serve this community.
