CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Lee County Commissioners approved a move to help get emergency services to you faster.
A vote Tuesday will add a seventh Emergency Medical Service Station in Cape Coral.
The new EMS Station will be located at the fire station on Burnt Store Road in North Cape Coral.
Officials say this is an area that is growing rapidly.
"The idea here is that as we know that growth is going to occur and that community is only going to increase in population and traffic, we want to be positioned so we can respond to those emergencies as the community starts to grow and people move in," said Benjamin Abes, Director of Public Safety for Lee County.
This new EMS Station will serve the roughly 14,000 people who live in the North Cape Coral area, including thousands more in surrounding areas.
Officials say EMS units are required to respond within nine minutes to major emergency calls, at least ninety percent of the time.
"South Cape Coral is around 96 percent compliance right now and North Cape is somewhere around 91, so they're both compliant but we have a lot more resources in South Cape," said Abes.
Officials say the new EMS Station will enhance the delivery of emergency medical services to the growing Burnt Store Road corridor, north to Burnt Store Marina.
The additional EMS Station is part of a five-year lease agreement between Lee County and the City of Cape Coral to house ambulances in Cape Coral Fire Station.
"The action that was taken by commissioners was essentially a rental agreement, so they are our fire stations that are owned by the city but then we lease space to the county to house the units," said Ryan Lamb, Chief of the Cape Coral Fire Department.
Right now six Cape Coral Fire Stations across the city house EMS units.
The additional seventh EMS Station will bring the total yearly rental cost to just over $128,000.00.
"When someone is hurt or injured in that area we want to make sure they have a quick response," said Lamb
Chief Lamb says when someone needs medical assistance, every second counts.
"Ultimately even though it is the county and the city we are the same team. When a county or a city resident needs those services they don't care what patch is on their arm, they want that high level of service," said Lamb.
The new Emergency Medical Service Station is set to begin operating by the first or second week of January.
