Safety Knights

Short distances indeed, I had one hospital 2 miles away and another at 3 miles. The fire station was on the opposite corner of the block. However the block was huge, There were RR tracks between us, and a viaduct an ambulance has to drive over to get to our plant. So even though I could see the Fire House very clearly it would be impossible for an ambulance to get there in 5 minutes. I think the best we ever got was 10 minutes and the ambulance was rolling out of the station to get gas when we called. The average was around 15 minutes.

5 minutes is not very long? I can tell you this from being in many emergencies, 5 minutes is the blink of an eye! What happens if the ambulance is out on another call when you call in an ER? How many employees you have? What type of business you in? What is the age of your workforce? If you are an insurance company with 15 office workers ok maybe you can get away with no FA team per OSHA.

However, if you are a manufacturing plant with machinery and other high hazards, I sure would recommend a FA Team! What you going to do if an employee goes into cardiac arrest and your ambulance is delayed or on another call? Not only do you need a FA team but I would advise AEDs (your FA team should be trained to use them). You will also need a Blood Borne Pathogen Program.

I guess you could call the Fire Department and ask them to have a drill and time the event and the ambulance so you have some record of the time it takes. I would do it several times not just once. However, the big question I have for you is, "What is the best and safest thing you can do for your employees?" You answer that you will have your answer! Why would not want to have a FA team? You could be the one in cardiac arrest or hurt!

Ah, gotta love the shipyard industry's requirements - much stricter than the 1910 and 1926 standards. Haven't dealt with this one in a while.

To answer your question, no, a hospital 1.1 miles away and/or a fire department 1.3 miles away would not meet this requirement. If those are your closeset medical personnel (outside of your facility/job site), then there's no way that an injured/ill person could get loaded up in a car, drive over a mile down the road (even without any traffic), get to the hospital, and actually be TREATED within 5 minutes. That's the key wording here is that the first aid provider is able to REACH the patient in 5 minutes or less. You're likely to spend 5 minutes in triage and registration at a hospital ED (even if you tell them the patient is in cardiac arrest).

Regarding the fire department, regardless of what industry you're in (1910, 1926, 1915/1917, 1928, etc.), relying on the local fire department's station location is never a good way to go. They may be 1.3 miles away, but there's still two major issues with this:

(1) While most are, not all firefighters are EMTs or Paramedics. There are career/paid departments that do not require this, so they may not be able to help you beyond some CPR and basic BLS procedures.
(2) If you put all your eggs in one basket (rely on the nearby firehouse), what is your backup plan if that particular station is dispatched on another call? The next closest fire station that's able to respond may be 5+ miles away.

With all that being said, if this is your actual scenario, you would be required to train (your own employees) or otherwise provide first aid providers at your site that are able to reach the injured/ill patient in 5 minuntes or less and begin providing care. That would be the only way you could meet the 5-minute timeframe. In the aspect of serious, life-threatening incidents, such as cardiac arrest, once you go past 5 minutes without care being provided, your chance of survival less than 50%.