NMCP Supports Collaboration with Portsmouth Fire Department

Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Kris Lindstrom | PORTSMOUTH, Va. (March 4, 2020) Portsmouth Fire Department firefighters pose with their newly purchased firetrucks, in front of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) historic building one. Portsmouth Fire Department’s new firetrucks will be used to provide assistance to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services, continuing a tradition of collaboration and comradery. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kris R. Lindstrom/Released)  

PORTSMOUTH, VA, UNITED STATES

03.04.2020

Courtesy Story

Naval Medical Center - Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (March 4, 2020) -- Portsmouth Fire Department showed off two new firetrucks in front of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth’s (NMCP) historic building one on March 4. The new trucks will be used to provide assistance to Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services Station 11 at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Hampton Roads.

Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services and Portsmouth Fire Department have collaborated for many years by training together, providing equipment, and working side-by-side during emergencies.

Station 11 are the first responders of NSA Hampton Roads and NMCP with the support of Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services.

Portsmouth Fire Department is also called in to provide aid with additional equipment and personnel, during a major event or drill such as a big fire, major flooding, active shooter or mass casualty drill.

“Everybody works together; your job is to work together,” said Thomas Ashe, lieutenant of Station 11. “You train with everybody to be able to do their job if you have to. They need to be able to come over here and know all buildings if they have to, so we all make sure we train and we all work in different stations”.

One of the new firetrucks would complement Station 11, helping in certain situations. The firetruck would allow firefighters to maneuver closer, and reach hard to access locations at NMCP and the barracks.

“It is important to have a close bond between Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services and Portsmouth Fire Department for not only the citizens of Portsmouth, but the folks who work and are stationed at the hospital, the civilians coming in and out, and for the firefighters,” said Jim Hoffler, chief of Portsmouth Fire Department. “There is safety in numbers, as the more people we can put on the scene of a serious incident, the better the outcome is normally going to be.”

Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Fire and Emergency Services has many stations and personnel in the region; however, Portsmouth Fire Department is closer and can provide faster support in a time critical situation.

“We have a long history of supporting each other by communicating back and forth,” Hoffler said. “Every one of us, all you have to do is make one phone call, one radio call, and you get whatever you want. So we all back up each other, support each other.”

As the U. S. Navy's oldest, continuously-operating military treatment facility since 1830, Naval Medical Center Portsmouth proudly serves past and present military members and their families. The nationally acclaimed, state of the art medical center, including its ten branch and TRICARE Prime clinics, serves the Hampton Roads area. Additionally, NMCP offers premier research and teaching programs designed to prepare new doctors, nurses and hospital corpsmen for future roles in healing and wellness.

• Date Taken: 03.04.2020
• Date Posted: 03.12.2020 17:14
• Story ID: 365077
• Location: PORTSMOUTH, VA, US