![]() “This data will help us to evaluate the success of the six-month trial without incurring the cost of an ambulance. “During this trial, each transport will be tracked to enable the city to determine the impact to fire department operations,” Kennedy says. Firefighters normally assigned to the light-rescue vehicle will staff the AAFD ambulance.Īnn Arbor Fire Department fire chief Mike Kennedy. The longest delay in 2022 was 45 minutes. The number of delayed responses rose from 121 in 2020 to 209 in 2021. The improvement is the ability to transport a patient in a timely manner to a hospital.”ĪAFD began tracking delays in ambulance response times in 2019. The level of care and ability to provide care remains the same with this ambulance. “This will allow firefighters to transport a patient when an HVA ambulance is not available. “In calendar year 2022, we have had 125 instances of HVA having over a 10-minute response time,” says Mike Kennedy, AAFD fire chief. ![]() ![]() ![]() During the six-month trial period, AAFD can send its ambulance to the scene when HVA has no units available. However, neither of these are suitably equipped for transporting a sick or injured person to the hospital. Previously, when responding to a call for help with an emergent health crisis, AAFD would dispatch a fire truck or its light-rescue vehicle. “Then we can provide that advanced life support in between where the incident happened and the hospital.”Īnn Arbor firefighters are licensed EMTs who are trained to provide basic life support. was hit by a car, they can load the patient in the ambulance and rendezvous with us,” Rock says. “If you have a critically ill patient that, for example. Huron Valley Ambulance vice president Karl Rock. AAFD firefighters assigned to the ambulance can take patients directly to the hospital or, if they are far from a hospital and the patient is critical, meet up with an HVA ambulance equipped with advanced capabilities. The basic life support ambulance has emergency communications capability, oxygen (both in the ambulance and a portable oxygen tank), a stretcher, an automated external defibrillator, and medical supplies, including bandages, splints, back boards, cervical collars, airway management supplies, and a rescue pump for administering CPR. “We decided that it might be a good option for the Ann Arbor Fire Department.” ![]() We gave them a safety-net ambulance,” says Karl Rock, HVA vice president. “Actually, we've operated what we call a safety-net program for many, many years, starting in the early '90s with one of our more rural fire departments. The idea of providing certain fire departments with their own ambulances is not a new one. HVA currently offers similar "safety-net" programs in collaboration with the city of Plymouth, Huron Township, and Monroe Township. AAFD will have use of the ambulance for six months. To address this issue, Huron Valley Ambulance (HVA) provided the Ann Arbor Fire Department (AAFD) with its own ambulance last month. Increased turnover among paramedics and emergency management technicians (EMTs) has resulted in longer wait times for emergency ambulance services, and Ann Arbor is no exception. Like many industries, ambulance services are facing a nationwide worker shortage. ![]()
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