Disaster Response
When disasters strike, emergency resources can be quickly overwhelmed. One of the four main missions of the EMS Reserve is for its volunteer EMTs to respond when a disaster strikes the City of Pasadena. In the event of a major, wide-scale emergency, the EMS Reserve can be activated by the Pasadena Fire Department — and in recent years, that mission has moved from planning scenarios to real-world response.
When the Eaton Fire struck in January 2025, volunteer EMS Reserve members answered the call on every front. Reserves provided fire and medical dispatching, worked on the front lines of the fire, staffed Rescue Ambulances, and delivered emergency medical care at evacuation centers. In the weeks that followed, Reserve members continued to serve the community, providing logistics support and delivering supplies into the Altadena evacuation zone in unincorporated Los Angeles County.
The Eaton Fire was not the Reserve's first large-scale activation. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when California granted EMTs emergency authorization to administer vaccines, EMS Reserve members staffed vaccination clinics and performed thousands of vaccinations.
The Reserve also trains and prepares for disasters yet to come. After a major earthquake, Fire Department apparatus will leave their stations to patrol their districts for damage and injuries. EMS Reserve members can respond to fire stations throughout the city, providing aid from the disaster caches located at every station to patients who arrive seeking help. Depending on the nature of the incident, Reserves may also be deployed by the Emergency Operations Center to central triage points, or assigned to Rescue Ambulances to keep answering 911 calls, freeing Fire Engines for fire suppression.
The training and experience of EMS Reserve members — proven in real-world disasters — make them a valuable and versatile resource for an Incident Commander during any Pasadena-area emergency.