By Justin Muszynski
Hartford Courant
HARTFORD, Conn. — Medics respond to emergencies on average about a minute faster in urban towns in Connecticut compared to the suburbs and nearly three minutes faster compared to the rural areas of the state, according to a report by the state Office of Emergency Medical Services.
The report is released each year using data from the state’s 169 towns. The most recent report, released earlier this year, looked at data collected from 2024 during more than 730,000 emergencies reported in Connecticut.
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Towns were categorized into urban, suburban and rural classes by population density.
According to the report, urban towns had the most emergency responses (504,724) and the shortest average response time of 7.02 minutes. Suburban towns had 104,457 calls with an average response time of 8.03 minutes.
Rural towns had the fewest calls (93,324) and the longest average response time of 9.74 minutes, the report said.
The calls were also broken down into those classified as “emergent responses,” of which there were 560,712, and those considered “non-emergent.” The former classification had a mean response time of 7.14 minutes, while the 146,664 non-emergent calls had a longer average response time of 9.01 minutes, the report said.
The slowest mean response times came in towns of Woodbury (17.17 minutes), Cornwall (16.77 minutes), Washington (16.54 minutes) and Killingworth (16.46 minutes), the report said. The fastest mean response times came in New London (5.02 minutes), Meriden (5.31 minutes) and Greenwich (5.49 minutes), according to the report.
The distance traveled for a call was attributed as the number one reason for a response delay, with 12,687 such instances, the report shows.
Traffic was blamed for 10,387 delays, while weather contributed to a delayed response 3,856 times.
In 2,596 calls, a delay was caused by the directions or crews being unable to find the location of the call, the report said.
There were 2,416 reported instances of a “staff delay” and 1,656 delays attributed to a high call volume. In 1,112 calls, crews were delayed after being diverted to another call, according to the report.
The overwhelming majority of calls were requested to a private residence, with 149,534 such instances, the report said.
There were 70,522 calls for service at a health care provider and 27,065 calls at a particular street or intersection, the numbers show. Commercial locations accounted for 17,868 calls for service.
There were 15,303 emergencies reported at a recreational facility and 13,090 calls at an institutional residence, the report said. Emergency crews responded to 2,703 calls at schools.
When breaking down the demographics, the data shows just under 48% of patients in emergency calls were male, while a little more than 50% of patients were female. The report also said 45% of patients were white; 14% were Black or African American; 10% were Hispanic; and 3% of patients were reported as “another race.” The other 28% did not have a race reported.
According to the report, 98% of patients reported as having a single race, while 2% were reported as multiple races. Males and females between the ages of 50 and 90 represented the majority of emergency responses.
Complaints involving a sick party accounted for the most medical calls throughout the state with dispatchers fielding 135,809 such calls, the report states. This was followed by 92,423 calls for someone who had experienced a fall and 74,076 calls for a breathing problem, according to the report.
Traffic or transportation incidents accounted for 55,185 calls, while first responders fielded 50,417 calls for individuals experiencing psychiatric incidents or a suicide attempt, the report shows.
Overdoses or someone ingesting poison accounted for 14,761 calls for service, according to the report. Emergency crews received 10,028 reports of someone being assaulted.
There were 20,067 injuries reported during calls tied to motor vehicle accidents, the report shows. The majority of traffic-related motor vehicle accidents involved individuals between 20 and 40 years old, with most accidents occurring on weekdays between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., according to the report.
There were 7,210 injuries classified as intentional either by way of assault or self-harm, the report said. The majority of these injuries involved patients between 20 and 40 years old and were higher for male patients, according to the report.
Medics responded to 27,258 emergencies involving substance use disorders, the report said. Male patients, especially those between 30 and 60 years old, accounted for the most drug-related calls. There were 6,278 suspected opioid overdose calls, including 185 that led to fatalities, according to the report. About 76% of patients who received Narcan did not receive it before medics arrived, the report said.
There were 42,709 emergency responses involving patients with cardiac emergencies, according to the report. Males between 50 and 80 years old represented the most of these calls.
Medics also responded to 29,046 emergency calls for neurological issues, including 6,319 categorized as a stroke or TIA and 11,044 categorized as a seizure, according to the report. Females between 80 and 90 years old had the highest frequency of strokes or TIAs compared to other age brackets, and males between 30 and 40 had the highest frequency of seizures compared to other age brackets.
The report notes there were 20,735 EMS personnel licensed in Connecticut in 2024, and that number represents a drop from the number of licensed EMS personnel in 2022. It also notes that Executive Order 70, which suspended license renewal requirements between March 27, 2020 and February 8, 2023 accounts or at least part to the drop in licensed EMS personnel.
Read the full report here.
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