Spokane Complex
Fire Response
Providing Acute Medical Support to Firefighters on the Front Lines
Since Sunday August 9th, IHAN and Volunteer Fire Foundation (VFF) have been working side by side at the Spokane Complex Fire Incident Command Post, providing free integrative medical and environmental health support to those working across the wildfire response.
Our clinical teams have been embedded directly at the Spokane Complex Fire Incident Command Post at the Spokane County Fairgrounds, marking IHAN’s first out-of-state disaster deployment and one of the largest responses in our organization’s history.
Our volunteer physicians, nurses, acupuncturists, mental health and nervous system support practitioners, and operational staff mobilized from Washington, California, and beyond to provide care where firefighters were already working and resting between shifts.
Our clinical teams have been embedded directly at the Spokane Complex Fire Incident Command Post at the Spokane County Fairgrounds, marking IHAN’s first out-of-state disaster deployment and one of the largest responses in our organization’s history.
Our volunteer physicians, nurses, acupuncturists, mental health and nervous system support practitioners, and operational staff mobilized from Washington, California, and beyond to provide care where firefighters were already working and resting between shifts.
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Our Impact in Spokane
600+ FIRST RESPONDERS
1,600+ TREATMENTS PROVIDED
26 CLINICAL VOLUNTEERS
5 DAYS OF CARE
These numbers will be updated as the response continues, reflects 8/9 - 8/13
Our team began treating firefighters at base camp on August 9 and remained onsite through the demobilization of the Spokane Complex Fire base camp on August 13.
As the acute incident response winds down, our work is continuing. IHAN is transitioning care into the Spokane community, beginning with follow-up clinics at Evergreen Naturopathic, where local fire departments can rotate crews through for treatment.
1,600+ TREATMENTS PROVIDED
26 CLINICAL VOLUNTEERS
5 DAYS OF CARE
These numbers will be updated as the response continues, reflects 8/9 - 8/13
Our team began treating firefighters at base camp on August 9 and remained onsite through the demobilization of the Spokane Complex Fire base camp on August 13.
As the acute incident response winds down, our work is continuing. IHAN is transitioning care into the Spokane community, beginning with follow-up clinics at Evergreen Naturopathic, where local fire departments can rotate crews through for treatment.
Spokane Response in the News
We are grateful to the local media organizations helping bring attention to the health impacts firefighters face and the importance of supporting them beyond the fire line.
CBS - KREM Spokane
CBS - KREM Spokane
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NBC - KHQ Spokane
Spokane detox tents treat hundreds of firefighters, seek funding
Detox tents treat hundreds, nonprofit behind efforts seeks funds
Two California nonprofits are supporting firefighters in Spokane County by treating their bodies for toxins inhaled during firefights.
Exposure detox tents at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center are treating thousands each day.
Noah Boelter learns about another way two nonprofits out of California are treating firefighters for toxins in Spokane County.
Spokane detox tents treat hundreds of firefighters, seek funding
Detox tents treat hundreds, nonprofit behind efforts seeks funds
Two California nonprofits are supporting firefighters in Spokane County by treating their bodies for toxins inhaled during firefights.
Exposure detox tents at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center are treating thousands each day.
Noah Boelter learns about another way two nonprofits out of California are treating firefighters for toxins in Spokane County.
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Why This Care Matters
Wildland and structural firefighters face significant occupational exposures during a major fire response. Smoke can contain fine particulate matter as well as contaminants released when homes, vehicles, plastics, building materials, and other structures burn.
Our goal is to provide firefighters with immediate, accessible medical support during and following these periods of intense exposure.
Our Spokane clinical response has included:
This care is provided at no cost to firefighters.
Our goal is to provide firefighters with immediate, accessible medical support during and following these periods of intense exposure.
Our Spokane clinical response has included:
- Nebulized glutathione respiratory support
- IV glutathione
- Targeted nutritional supplementation and environmental health support
- Acupuncture
- Nervous system regulation and stress support
- Whole-person care addressing the physical and psycho-emotional demands of disaster response
This care is provided at no cost to firefighters.
From Base Camp to Long-Term Recovery
The end of a fire does not mean the end of its impact.
Our time at Incident Command is only the first phase of this response. This weekend (8/15 & 8/16), IHAN and VFF are transitioning to a local naturopathic medical clinic in Spokane, where we will continue offering free care to both on-duty and off-duty first responders from departments throughout the Spokane area.
As firefighters return to their departments and communities, we are working with local healthcare partners and fire departments to help make continued care accessible beyond the Incident Command Post.
Our goal is to support first responders across three phases:
Acute Response
Immediate care during active fire response and deployment.
Sub-Acute Recovery
Follow-up clinics in the weeks and months after exposure.
Long-Term Support
Building sustained access to environmental health, integrative medical care, and nervous system support for firefighters facing cumulative occupational exposures.
The relationships we are building in Spokane are helping us create a model that can continue long after the tents at base camp come down.
Powered by Volunteers
This response would not be possible without the extraordinary clinicians and community members who stepped forward.
Volunteer NDs, MDs, DOs, nurses, acupuncturists, administrative volunteers, and others have contributed their time and expertise to make this care possible.
Many joined us with very little notice, worked long shifts, and helped us adapt as conditions at base camp changed from hour to hour.
We are deeply grateful to every person who has been part of this response.
Volunteer NDs, MDs, DOs, nurses, acupuncturists, administrative volunteers, and others have contributed their time and expertise to make this care possible.
Many joined us with very little notice, worked long shifts, and helped us adapt as conditions at base camp changed from hour to hour.
We are deeply grateful to every person who has been part of this response.
Help Us Continue This Work
The Spokane deployment has demonstrated both the need for this care and what becomes possible when medical providers, fire departments, community partners, and donors come together.
But our work does not end when the active fire response ends.
We are raising funds to continue acute, sub-acute, and long-term care for firefighters affected by the Spokane Complex Fire and to help IHAN respond when the next disaster occurs.
$30,000 helps support the immediate acute response.
$60,000 helps us continue sub-acute follow-up clinics.
$100,000 helps us build sustained, long-term recovery support for firefighters.
Every contribution, at every level, helps us continue providing this care.
But our work does not end when the active fire response ends.
We are raising funds to continue acute, sub-acute, and long-term care for firefighters affected by the Spokane Complex Fire and to help IHAN respond when the next disaster occurs.
$30,000 helps support the immediate acute response.
$60,000 helps us continue sub-acute follow-up clinics.
$100,000 helps us build sustained, long-term recovery support for firefighters.
Every contribution, at every level, helps us continue providing this care.
With Gratitude to Our Medical Supply Donors & Partners
We are incredibly grateful to the clinics, pharmacies, healthcare organizations, supplement companies, and medical suppliers in Spokane and across the country who stepped up to support our response.
Their generous donations of essential medical supplies were absolutely critical to our ability to mobilize quickly and provide care to firefighters throughout the Spokane Complex Fire response. We truly could not have done this without their support.
With tremendous gratitude to:
Thank you for helping us show up for the firefighters serving on the front lines.
Their generous donations of essential medical supplies were absolutely critical to our ability to mobilize quickly and provide care to firefighters throughout the Spokane Complex Fire response. We truly could not have done this without their support.
With tremendous gratitude to:
- Seeking Health
- Bioclinic Naturals
- Orion Health
- Empower Pharmacy
- Koru Pharmacy
- Evergreen Naturopathic
- Integrative Therapeutics Inc.
- MGuff Medical
- Researched Nutritionals
- Community Health Association of Spokane
- Spokane Spine Center
- Prime IV Hydration and Wellness
- VisRX
- Mountain View Vital Medicine
- Longevity Health Center
- Emily Farish Acupuncture
- Quicksilver Scientific
- The Regenerative Institute
- The IV Method
Thank you for helping us show up for the firefighters serving on the front lines.
Deployment & Response Partners
We are deeply grateful to the partners who helped make this deployment possible. Their support with travel, accommodations, logistics, and critical resources allowed our volunteer clinical team to mobilize quickly and focus our resources on providing care to firefighters.
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