By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
Several months after the release of a report highlighting the need for additional resources for Orange County Emergency Services, county EMS and the South Orange Rescue Squad have launched a cooperative effort to improve emergency services.
Earlier this month, the all-volunteer South Orange Rescue Squad began incorporating one of its two ambulances and two EMTs into the county response fleet three nights a week. The squad is providing additional help to county EMS as needed.
The report, released by county EMS in March, states that it takes an average of 17 minutes for a paramedic to reach a patient in Orange County, five minutes more than the goal set in 2001. In 2009, there were 220 instances of an ambulance being unavailable when a county resident called for one.
“Over the years, as our resources have stayed the same but our workload has increased, that 12-minute mark has started to slide,†Orange County Emergency Services director Frank Montes de Oca said.
According to the report, the county population has increased 13 percent since 2000, while calls for service have increased 68 percent, which emergency personnel attribute to the county’s aging population. Meanwhile, the number of dispatchers assigned to each 12-hour shift has only increased from 6.25 to 6.5.
For the 2010-11 fiscal year, county EMS requested 29 additional positions; under budget constraints, county officials were only able to fund 10 positions.
But with the help of the South Orange Rescue Squad, county EMS officials hope the department will be able to improve response time.
This isn’t the first time the squad has collaborated with the county: South Orange always has provided “surge†EMS coverage when the county’s resources have been overwhelmed, and until last August the squad provided an on-call ambulance and EMTs stationed on the UNC campus.
“Our agencies have been working together for 30 years, so this is just kind of a new chapter,†Montes de Oca said. “We’re very pleased.â€
Fred Stipe, chair of the South Orange Rescue Squad board of directors, said the squad is eager to help county EMS provide improved services.
“There’s total agreement that us putting one truck on … is not going to solve all the problems, but every bit helps,†he said.
The rescue squad has relied on volunteers to provide emergency services since its establishment in 1971. Though the organization has about 80 volunteers, officials have seen a decline in the volunteer force over the past 10 years, squad Chief Matthew Mauzy said.
“We’re always looking for more [volunteers],†Stipe said.
With more volunteers and a group of cadets scheduled to become certified over the next several months, the squad hopes to be able to increase its participation in the county response fleet to seven nights a week in spring 2011.
In the meantime, county EMS officials are recruiting across the country to fill its 10 new positions and working on improving the technology in its communications center. Within the next month, county EMS will again check response times, which will hopefully average closer to the 12-minute mark.
“Any improvement is a positive thing,†Montes de Oca said.