Wis. FD adds 10th ambulance to meet rising EMS demand

By Chris Rickert
The Wisconsin State Journal

MADISON, Wis. — A 10th Madison Fire Department ambulance went into service Thursday morning and is expected to help reduce emergency response times, the department said.

The ambulance, known as Medic 1, is headquartered at Fire Station 1 in the Downtown area at 316 W. Dayton St. It will serve the Downtown but will also address the increasing demand for emergency medical services across the city, the Fire Department said in a news release.

| MORE: Bringing evidence-based medicine to the streets

Fire Station 1’s response area generated 3,770 emergency medical calls last year, but all of those calls were handled by ambulances from other fire stations.

With the placement of Medic 1 Downtown, projected call volumes and drive times of all medic units in the city are expected to decrease, the Fire Department said. Overall total call volume continues to increase for the Fire Department.

“The overarching goal with the addition of the 10th medic unit was to identify the location where it may have the biggest positive impact across the entire system,” Fire Chief Chris Carbon said in the statement. “Our data analysis left no doubt that Fire Station 1 was the optimal place to assign our 10th ambulance.”

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