Seven of the nine Metro Fire’s Board of Directors stand in front of the Cancer Awareness Engine and Metro Fire’s Headquarters building. From left are directors Brian Rice, Robert Webber, Gay Jones, D’Elman Clark, John Costa, Cinthia Saylors and Ted Wood. Not pictured are Jennifer Sheetz and Grant B. Goold. Photo courtesy of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District

MATHER, CA (MPG) - The California State Emergency Medical Services Authority awarded the Distinguished Service Medal to Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District’s Battalion Chief Scott Perryman. Fire Chief Adam House announced the award, saying, “Chief Perryman is at the forefront of the MIH (Mobile Integrated Health) movement and has used his success to become a leader at the local, state, and national levels.”

The Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) stated, in part, “As the pandemic waned, Chief Perryman refocused MIH (Mobile Integrated Health) on providing high-quality in-field care, reducing ED (emergency department) and EMS (emergency medical service) overutilization. Integrated into the 9-1-1 dispatch system, Mobile Integrated Health treated low acuity calls at home, leading to over 60% of patients being discharged on scene, decreasing ED and EMS utilization. Chief Perryman's leadership resulted in substantial cost savings, exceeding $2.4 million in 2023, improved EMS efficiency, and enhanced patient satisfaction.”

 Battalion Chief Scott Perryman and his wife, Liz, are shown at the EMSA Awards where he received the Distinguished Service Medal. Photo courtesy of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District

The Mobile Integrated Health program frees up ambulances and ambulance staff to take other calls and helps to shorten the ambulance patient offload times (APOT) at the emergency department, and to relieve ED congestion.

Three health systems, University of California, Davis; Sutter Health; and Dignity Health funded the Mobile Integrated Health pilot program. The County Board of Supervisors, especially Frost and Hume, Perryman said, also have moved things around to help with funds for Mobile Integrated Health.

“The goal,” Perryman said, “is to have the insurance companies pay for this service.” At this point funding is in place for two more years.

Metro Fire has led the region in many ways. They implemented an ambulance service staffed with paramedics and EMTs.

“We call it the Metro Medic Program but it was formerly called the Single Role Paramedic Program,” said Assistant Chief Kiley Keeley. “Metro Fire also has a bulldozer and a full-time firefighting, hoist-capable and night vision-capable helicopter.” The district just acquired their third helicopter.

Metro Fire has nearly 700 employees, including many support staff. One of these is Kyle Macdonald, government affairs director and legislative analyst, who works with three others in the planning and development division. Macdonald’s father spent 30 years in the fire service.

 After a meeting of the International Association of Fire Chiefs in Washington D.C., Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Director of Government Affairs Kyle Macdonald, right, stands with (from left) Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Deputy Chief Ty Bailey, International Association of Fire Chiefs Executive Director Rob Brown and Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Deputy Chief Adam Mitchell. Photo courtesy of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District

“I remember the summers where summer vacations would be thrown aside for the fire season, and him being deployed out for fires across California,” Macdonald said.

“Effective government affairs is essentially making sure that we have a seat at the table where decisions are being made . . . It’s about forging relationships with our elected officials and our policy staff . . . We’re working on positive legislation that benefits the fire service as a whole, not just here in the Sacramento region, but across the state and with our federal work, across the country,” Macdonald continued.

One of many big challenges always present is funding for new technologies and new items, for new fire stations in areas of population growth, for programs.

“MIH delved into the importance of that,” Macdonald said, “and being able to make investments into new and trailblazing endeavors.”

In this position at Metro Fire for about a year, Macdonald said, “From my understanding, and the historical context I’ve gotten, this is a new role and the first opportunity to kind of create from scratch an effective government affairs program that doesn’t just take a month-to-month look at it, but a year-to-year and five-to-15-year view of legislative and policy advocacy and analysis.”

Though the news might seem full of doom and gloom to some, Perryman said, “When I sit down and talk with people, by and large, there’s just a lot of good happening in the world. Whenever I see or hear about bad things happening, I always see people rushing in to help, to be of assistance, to show love, show compassion. There are some really good people out there, and really good leaders who make it possible, like my fire chief, Chief House.”  

 Fire Chief Adam A. House was sworn in as Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District’s seventh fire chief on Aug. 10, 2023. He holds the distinction of being the first fire chief to serve continuously as a member of Metro Fire since its inception in 2000. Photo courtesy of Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District

House considers himself fortunate. “I love public service, I love the fire department, and I love helping people . . . ” House said. “We hire really good people. The citizens of Rancho Cordova and Sacramento should know that they’re protected by really good human beings that care about people. So, it makes my job easy.”