Mayor Weinberger Announces Deployment of New, Third Ambulance
Burlington Fire Department Placing into Service Additional Medical Capacity, the new Ambulance will be housed at Station 4 on North Ave
Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger joined Burlington Fire Chief Steven Locke and other local leaders to announce the City has placed into service additional ambulance capacity. The City's third ambulance will be housed at Station 4 on North Ave in Burlington, and will be staffed by a team of two firefighters each day. The City estimates the new ambulance will be deployed to over 1,300 calls for assistance a year.
“This is a very exciting day for our Fire Department and the whole City team who have been working toward the deployment of this essential new resource. We heard from the community and from our dedicated Firefighters that it was time to expand our medical fleet once again, and I am pleased that with the support of voters we are able to deliver a third ambulance.”
“Because of ongoing housing development across the City, our aging population, and an increased reliance on prehospital emergency services, we have seen calls increase steadily year over year,” said Chief Locke. “By placing this additional ambulance capacity into service we will ensure that our firefighters can continue to deliver the quick response times and quality care that our neighbors expect and deserve.”
Total call volume at the fire department has increased steadily over the last decade, from below 7,000 calls a year in 2011 to over 8,000 a year in 2019, and is projected to approach 10,000 calls a year by 2024. In 2018, the fire department relied on mutual aid ambulances to respond to more than 500 emergencies. This heavy reliance on outside agencies burdens the entire County Emergency Medical Services system. Additionally, the when an ambulance is needed from a neighboring community, the time to get the patient to the hospital is lengthened. The addition of the third ambulance will drastically decrease Burlington’s reliance on mutual aid ambulances.
When the City last ratified a new a contract with Burlington Firefighters Association, it agreed to take a proposal to increase the public safety tax to support an additional ambulance to voters on the March 2020 ballot. Burlingtonians overwhelmingly approved the measure, with 78% voting in favor of the increased tax.
Ward 4 Burlington City Councilor Sarah Carpenter said, “We have long needed a third ambulance crew in Burlington. I thank the voters for supporting this and am so pleased that we are now able to fully deploy it and enhance the safety of our New North End Residents."
Ward 7 City Councilor Ali Dieng said, “As a neighborhood, this fully staffed ambulance will provide much needed and timely ambulance services for our schools, seniors home residential care facilities, athletic fields and much more. When it comes to public safety response, every second counts. All the residents of the Neighborhood and beyond will continue to receive higher quality services from the Burlington Fire Department, but now in a rapid and speedy manner whenever it’s needed. I want to thank both Miro Weinberger, Chief Locke and others for their diligence and hard work making this need a reality.”
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