Stephen L. Demeter, CFO, MS
Fire Chief

Message from the Fire Chief:

"I feel it is an honor to serve the citizens of the Midway Fire District as your Fire Chief. My philosophy on the delivery of emergency services is very simple. In your time of need, you want highly-trained skilled individuals to respond to your emergency and immediately begin to make the situation better. Whether working a structure fire, medical emergency, car wreck, hazardous materials emergency or rescue situation, I am committed to making sure you have highly skilled professionals who can make a difference, arrive on scene in an average of 4.5 minutes, and competently and professionally perform the task at hand.

I am very proud of our professionally trained staff here at Midway Fire District. The men and woman who serve the citizens of the District work very hard each and every day to deliver the best possible service. The delivery of service by our personnel is accomplished through a team approach. It is through this approach that crews are able to stabilize the sick and injured, perform vehicle extrication while simultaneously caring for trapped occupants or fight a structure fire and accomplishing those critical tasks that are necessary to stabilize the situation. The building of a quality team has been accomplished through many hours of hard work, training and dedication.

Since becoming the Fire Chief for the District in June 2004, we have been able to make major improvements in the services you receive. In November 2004, the District became the first fire department in Santa Rosa County to provide ALS (Advanced Life Support) first response services. These services are provided by our cross-trained Firefighter/Paramedics who often arrive on the scene prior to the county contracted private ambulance company. Our dual-certified personnel immediately go to work and begin assessing and simultaneously treating victims of sudden illness or injury. Our desire to improve emergency services to the residents of the District resulted in improvements countywide through a more stringent county contract for ambulance services. The newer ambulance contract requires more stringent response times (time from dispatch to on-scene) for urban areas of the county reducing response requirements from 12 minutes under the old agreement to 10 minutes under the new contract. The contract also includes requirements that the ambulance contractor perform modern procedures such as 12 lead EKGs, utilize modern protocols, and require greater training for ambulance employees.

Realizing that response times are just half of the picture, the District’s delivery of EMS goes beyond that of just looking at response times. We continually track “Time to Treatment” (time from patient contact to time treatment is initiated) to ensure that patients suffering from more serious injuries or illness receive prompt, often life-saving treatment within minutes of arrival of the first responding Advanced Life Support unit. Simply put, it makes absolutely no sense to rush through traffic with red lights and sirens just to delay treatment of a sick or injured victim until he/she is placed in the back of an ambulance. District personnel, as well as the ambulance contractor, are now required to bring the needed equipment and medication to the patient, thereby reducing the time to treatment.

The District also made major improvements in the delivery of Fire Suppression services, as evidence by our ability to reduce our ISO rating from a 5/9 to a 3. The District utilizes modern firefighting techniques and aggressively performs interior fire attacks utilizing modern equipment such as Positive Pressure Ventilation fans and nozzles that deliver adequate fire flows. Crews work under an Incident Command System which greatly improves efficiency and safety on the fire ground. The District only employs trained and certified firefighters in accordance with Florida Statute 633.

The reality is that most of the residents living within the District will never actually have to rely on the Fire District’s services, but it is my commitment that when you do have a need for our services, whether emergency or non-emergency, we will be there to deliver quality services that meet or exceed your expectations.

If you ever encounter a situation whereby we did not live up to your expectations, please feel free to contact me immediately at 932-4771 or by e-mail at mdistrict@mchsi.com."

Chief’s Bio:

Chief Stephen Demeter has well over 20 years experience in the Fire Service. He is designated as a Chief Fire Officer by the Commission on Accreditation for Chief Fire Officers. He holds an Associates Degree in Fire Science from Hillsborough Community College, a Bachelors Degree in Fire Science from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters in Fire and Emergency Services leadership from Grand Canyon University. He is a graduate of the National Fire Academy Executive Fire Officer Program. He is also a Paramedic and a Florida certified Fire Instructor 3.