Since 1998, the city’s fire department has had a tactical paramedic team that assists the Summit County sheriff’s SWAT team whenever called.
With a 2018 change in state law, the nine members on the team and Fire Chief Jeff Funai are hoping that next month City Council will OK the paramedics to be armed during such calls.
The council approval could come Feb. 11 or Feb. 25. Team members have paid for their own 9 mm semiautomatic weapons, which Funai repeatedly stressed, would never be carried by Green paramedics when responding to routine medical calls, just on SWAT emergencies. The handguns would allow team members to protect themselves when needed
Funai noted that Green isn’t the only community in the region with specially trained paramedic teams working with SWAT units.