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Odessa Fire Department Sees An Increase In EMS Calls
Odessa Fire Department Sees An Increase In EMS Calls 12/12/12
Felicia Bolton
fbolton@cbs7.com
CBS 7 News Reporter
December 12, 2012
ODESSA, TX - The Odessa fire department says they're seeing more emergency medical calls than ever before. This increased task comes with a price tag; many are not expecting to pay.
“There's really not a little call to us. What might seem little, it's big to them, it's important to them and we treat every emergency as that … an emergency, "said Bradley Reese, EMS & Firefighter Paramedic.
The Odessa Fire Department says that more people in the basin, also means more of a workload. Now they've surpassed last year's total on emergency calls.
“Every day is different. It's exciting; it changes just with the increase in calls…with the increase in people in our area. Each day is different. We don’t know what we're going to get into," said Reese.
The EMS department at the Odessa Central Fire Station has received up to 20 calls in one day. That number fluctuates every day. Just last week they had more than 50 runs.
“I believe last year we made 16,357 runs … the beginning of December we had already hit that mark. So we still have the full month," said Glen Hogue, Odessa Assistant Fire Chief & Head of EMS.
Every time an ambulance rolls, there’s a cost that the tax payers and the person in need must pay.
"Transportation cost can be … in the neighborhood of $600," said Hogue.
The Odessa Fire Department has 8 different stations. They're expecting to get more than 17,000 EMS runs this year.