CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla. — Charlotte County Fire and EMS has started a new program, aiming to reduce ambulance response times during emergencies.
The ‘40-Hour Peak-Load’ ambulance service will bring three new ambulances to cover areas of the county with the highest number of calls, during the busiest times of the day.
“We started rolling out one of our future three ambulances that will kind of move around and roam throughout the county and hit areas of opportunity where we have increased call volume,” said Lt. Brendan Betancourt. “The idea is to try and minimize dispatch time from call to arrival.”
After a Community Risk Assessment and Standards of Cover study, Charlotte County Fire and EMS says it saw an opportunity to improve service through the 40-Hour Peak-Load service.
“In that study we found that we needed more ambulances to meet the demands of the increased population in Charlotte County,” Betancourt said.
The new ambulances will be staffed typically with one Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and one paramedic. They will work four, 10 hour shifts a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., instead of a typical 24-hour shift.
“That way we can have multiple ambulances working at times when we need them the most,” Betancourt said.
According to Betancourt, one of the new ambulances started serving the county on April 8, with the other two ambulances coming soon.
