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Crowds Don`t Faze Florida Rescuers on Bikes

Rich Mckay

Dec. 27--James Chapman and Hector Maldonado pedaled their Raleigh mountain bicycles through The Florida Mall parking lot, coaxed them through the glass doors by the Dairy Queen stand and rolled into a throng of post-holiday shoppers.

Onlookers did double takes as the rescue workers in lemon-yellow shirts rode past kiosks cluttered with cell phones and sunglasses.

Chapman, 50, and Maldonado, 40, were there to save lives, or at least help shoppers in distress. But mostly, people just asked them for directions to stores.

They were ready with a map of the mall and helpful smiles.

"A lot of people think we're police or mall security," Maldonado said, shrugging. "We're trying to change that. We want people to know we're here."

They're part of Orange County Fire Rescue's Bike Patrol -- an elite squad of 21 specially trained medical technicians and paramedics who, in tight spots and thick traffic, can be first on the scene.

They aren't as fast as cars and motorcycles. But they can do something those vehicles can't -- go up escalators, into elevators and right to someone's hotel room if needed.

In fact, there's not much the two-wheeled-ambulance workers can't do.

They can deliver a baby, electrically restart a heart and keep someone alive on bottled oxygen -- all from gear stowed in saddlebags.

"We haven't delivered a baby yet, but we're ready," Chapman said.

Team members are deployed in pairs at malls, fairgrounds, conventions and anywhere the fire department expects heavy crowds and cars that could delay rescue workers and cost precious minutes in life-threatening circumstances.

"As we become more urbanized, this is showing to be a great tool to get to places quickly," said Battalion Chief Rick Segrest, who is in charge of the Bike Patrol.

Recent calls involved a double stabbing and treatment of a woman who couldn't breathe because of an allergic reaction. In both instances, the medical bike unit was the first there.

"The only thing we can't do that an ambulance can is transport," Segrest said.

That, and blare sirens to get through crowds and traffic. Its members carry whistles instead.

The Bike Patrol, in various incarnations, has been around since 1995, working mostly on the West Orange Trail and sporadically at the Orange County Convention Center.

But as in many booming urban areas, traffic congestion and heavy pedestrian crowds are spurring those in the emergency-response business to get creative.

Next year, Segrest hopes to double the unit's size to about 40 members. Its operating budget comes out of the fire department's budget for emergency medical services, with the largest expense being bicycles and uniforms.

But even that larger force will still be on a part-time basis, as needed, with its members working the rest of their shifts as firefighters or on Orange County ambulance crews.

"It's all planned on a need basis," Segrest said.

At the Orange County Convention Center's large events, such as the National Association of Homebuilders, which attracts a crowd of 110,000, the Bike Patrol typically responds to several heart-attack calls, officials said.

Smaller shows usually don't use the Bike Patrol, and the patrol isn't at The Florida Mall full time. But its members will be there from opening until closing for another couple of days, as crowds continue to gather to return presents or to cash in gift cards.

Tuesday was quiet at the mall for Chapman and Maldonado.

That didn't bother them.

"A good day is a day when we're not needed. That means no one's in trouble," Chapman said.

Rich McKay can be reached at 407-420-5470.

Copyright (c) 2006, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email , call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.



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