VIGO COUNTY, Ind. — Three Indiana townships have joined together to launch a paramedic ambulance service to better serve the residents of their county.
The ambulance, which went into service Jan 1, 2015, is a collaborative effort among Riley, Honey Creek and Sugar Creek townships, reported WTHITV10.
Although the ambulance has “Riley Fire Department” on its side, the paramedics serve all three townships.
“We’re seeing 70 percent of our business in emergency medical care,” said Riley Fire Chief Jeff Fox. “It certainly comes to the top of the table when you start looking at how we enhance our service.”
The ambulance, called Medic 51 by dispatch, will charge a flat fee for each run, regardless of the treatment provided. WTHITV reported that this means no tax dollars are used to fund this service.
Medic 51 is expected to be busy. The three townships have 2,100 EMS runs each year.
“What we get is a dedicated medic unit,” said Sugar Creek Fire Chief Darrick Scott. “That squad or that medic unit is only used for those three townships.”
The ambulance will be the primary paramedic ambulance for the townships, with Trans-Care and Care Ambulance to serve as backups in case Medic 51 is in use.
The new ambulance is already benefitting the community with faster response times and shorter total call times.
“Being able to deliver a paramedic to somebody’s door who just dialed 911 in four minutes,” said Fox. “We’ve seen transport times from the time they call to the time they enter the emergency department in 15 minutes. We think it’s fabulous.”