Kaylee Remington, cleveland.com Express Desk
cleveland.com
EUCLID, Ohio — The Euclid Fire Department responded to more than 13,000 incidents in 2025, with emergency medical calls continuing to dominate its workload as the department looks for ways to keep non-emergency calls from tying up resources.
Firefighters responded to 13,080 incidents last year, or about 36 per day, according to the department’s 2025 annual report. Of those, more than 10,800 were rescue or emergency medical service calls.
EMS demand has climbed over the past five years. The department reported 10,163 rescue and EMS calls in 2021; 10,507 in 2022; 10,593 in 2023 and 10,871 in 2024 before reaching 10,901 last year.
Elsewhere in the annual report, however, the department lists 10,801 EMS calls for 2025. Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer reached out to Euclid Fire Chief Jay Womack for clarification on the discrepancy and comment.
The department said some calls that do not involve acute medical emergencies are affecting its ability to remain available for more serious incidents.
“Non-acute or non-emergency responses negatively impact our readiness to respond to emergencies,” the report said. “This is recognized and we are approaching this in several ways including exploring the Cleveland Clinic’s Safer at Home program, meetings with properties to address abuse of EMS, alternative transport protocols and social services referrals that can help get residents aligned with the services they need.”
The annual report does not specify how many of the department’s EMS calls were considered non-emergency or explain what situations the department considers an abuse of EMS.
Womack has been asked to provide additional information about those calls and their effect on the department’s resources.
Hospital transports are another factor affecting ambulance availability.
Of all the EMS calls reported in 2025, about 8,100 patients, or 75%, were transported to a hospital. The department said the 2022 closure of University Hospitals’ Richmond Heights facility and the continued centralization of hospital services have resulted in more patients being taken to hospitals farther from Euclid.
When all of Euclid’s ambulances are unavailable, the department sends a fire apparatus to begin assessing and treating the patient, according to the report. If the patient is stable, firefighters typically wait for a Euclid ambulance to become available. If the patient is critically ill or an ambulance will not be available within a reasonable amount of time, the department can request mutual aid from a neighboring community.
Despite the high call volume, neighboring fire departments provided assistance for only a small number of Euclid incidents in 2025, according to the report.
Euclid operates three fire stations with a minimum of 18 firefighters on duty across the city. Average response times in 2025 ranged from five minutes, 55 seconds at Station 3 on Lakeshore Boulevard to six minutes, 14 seconds at Station 2 on Chardon Road.
In its annual report, the department listed maintaining a fourth ambulance and hiring two additional firefighter-paramedics among its goals for 2026. The report said the additional staffing would be supported by federal grant funding and a commitment from the city administration.
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