Hyannis Fire Department Summer Bicycle Patrol Hits the Streets

HYANNIS – The Hyannis Fire Department has launched its new bicycle patrol unit in response to changes on main roads in the community.

The units consist of firefighters on bicycles equipped with basic life support equipment such as bandaging, EpiPens, frontline medications, water-rescue supplies and an automated external defibrillator.

Hyannis Fire Chief David Webb said that the idea for the patrol grew out of the lane closures on Main Street and other changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was always kind of a need for us to have a bike unit for large-scale events in the downtown harbor area of Main Street in past years and the lane closure of Main Street put it to the forefront,” said Webb.

The lane closures were instituted to allow for more space to social distance, as well as provide more area for small businesses and restaurants to adequately space patrons.

Webb said that the main focus of the bike unit is to supplement emergency response teams during peak periods in the high traffic area.

“They’re not going to be responding to calls by themselves,” said Webb.

“They’re going to calls in addition to an ambulance or in addition to a fire truck. But they’re able to get there a minute to two minutes prior to some of our apparatus because they’re in those areas at the time of the emergency call.”

Webb said that a secondary goal of the patrol is to engage the residents and visitors as ambassadors for the fire department as well as the community at large, when they are not responding to emergencies.

Webb said that if the unit continues its success, it could be expanded in the future, especially during large-scale events such as Halloween in October.

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



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