By Bill Carey
EMS1
OHIO TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Pennsylvania EMS department has begun staging one of its ambulance crews at a convenience store to reduce response times in a 55-and-older residential community.
Ross/West View EMS is placing an ambulance at a Sheetz closer to Ohio Township, CBS Pittsburgh reported.
“We are going from 14 minutes down to around eight. If you are the one on the other side of the 911 call, that six minutes makes a huge difference,” Assistant Director of Ross/West View EMS Steve Kline said.
Continued development in the area led to an average increase of 600 calls a year. One Ohio Township resident said that it would take 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at the neighborhood.
Kline said the EMS crew will be staged at Sheetz for two to three hours depending on call volume and the staging will rotate with other crews.