It’s no secret that Albuquerque Fire Rescue is busy. Their firefighters and paramedics are constantly responding to calls, and often times they respond to repeat calls from the same person.
That’s where the AFR H.E.A.R.T team comes in, which stands for Home Engagement Alternative Response Team. The crew consists of six paramedics, a service dog named Rigley, a peer support person to help connect people with city services, and a contractor to modify people’s homes for their specific needs.
“What we try to do is just connect those people to those services, and hopefully we can better their situation,” said AFR Lieutenant, Bryan Breeswine.
Lt. Breeswine said H.E.A.R.T. was formed over two years ago with the intent of minimizing calls from people who need more help than 911 can give. “Allows us to have our front line response units more available for the higher calls,” he said.