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Cicero, fire department reach new contract emphasizing EMS

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(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — The Town of Cicero and the Cicero Fire Department reached a new long-term contract after more than a year of bargaining.

The contract requires firefighters and paramedics be cross-trained as well as the hiring of 18 additional firefighter paramedics to the 76-member department.


"It's going to put paramedics on every rig of our fire department, not only the ambulance," Cicero Fire Chief Dominick Buscemi said Tuesday.

The move will "put more qualified people on the street at all given times to perform any type of EMS service," he added.

The Cicero Fire Department is applying for grants to help offset the cost. Buscemi said the town is no longer paying private ambulance service, which will redirect some funds.

The contract also requires all firefighters and paramedics to be cross-trained.