Stis approved for emergency medical transport

On November 4, the President of the Collectivité announced that he was "very pleased to have signed an agreement on medical transport between the Regional Health Agency and the Collectivité". Nearly three years after Erick Ambulances ceased all activity in Saint-Barth, this agreement only serves to formalize the heavy responsibility already assumed by the firefighters of the Territorial Fire and Rescue Service: that of providing an ambulance service, but only for emergencies. As a reminder, apart from medical evacuations, emergency medical transport and people requiring long-term medical supervision, firefighters are not tasked with carrying out any other medical transport. As such, Stis does not provide other transport services, such as return home, round trips to medical appointments, advance ambulance bookings or seated transport.
Furthermore, except in the event of a medical emergency certified by the Samu regulating physician, the Stis is entitled to postpone or refuse to commit itself in order to preserve the availability of its personnel and equipment for fire, life-threatening, accident and rescue missions.
The departure of a fire engine requires the presence of six firefighters, whereas three are needed for the departure of an ambulance. It is worth noting that in 2024, among the actions not covered by their missions, firefighters carried out 279 personal transports by Stis ambulances.