Larry Granzella: Turning down paramedic training makes absolutely no sense

Re “Modesto rejects $1 million firefighter paramedic grant” (Front page, Oct. 6): Being a retired Modesto firefighter, I and many others are concerned with the backward thinking of the Modesto City Council and city manager concerning the recent vote against receiving a federal grant to train firefighters to become paramedics. Domestic terrorism and major natural disasters such as earthquakes are the top two issues most valleys communities prepare and train for. If either was to occur, wouldn’t you be glad to have an emergency response from your fire department that included paramedics?

Private ambulance companies would likely be overwhelmed in such a situation. It’s likely that aid from other cities could not be relied on since they too could be in need of help. A better trained and more prepared fire department is something to be desired; not avoided. Would we want our local police and sheriff departments to be less well trained?

This story was originally published October 20, 2016 at 1:16 PM with the headline "Larry Granzella: Turning down paramedic training makes absolutely no sense."