VANDALIA — One of our local fire departments is changing the way it responds to some 911 calls.
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Right now, if you call 911 in Vandalia, at the very least, an ambulance and either a ladder or a fire engine will respond.
“That’s causing some significant wear and tear on the larger vehicles,” Bryan Sowers with the Vandalia Division of Fire said.
But pretty soon, that’ll be changing. Vandalia Fire is rolling out its squad program.
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For less serious calls that don’t deal with life-threatening situations, crews in a truck will show up on scene.
“It’ll be staffed with two firefighter EMT or firefighter paramedics,” Sowers said.”Non-injury lift assist calls, some smoke detector chirping, CO detector chirping, they’ll handle all those type of service calls where we don’t necessarily need to put a fire truck on the road."
If the squad gets to a scene and thinks they need more help, they can add an ambulance or other firefighters to a call.
They’ll also be available to respond to other, more serious scenes, as backup themselves.
Ambulance, ladder, and fire engine crews will continue to respond to more serious calls like fires or car crashes.
The department said the move will help deal with increases in call volumes and demands for medical services.
It’s aimed at enhancing efficiency and extending the lifespan of the department’s full-sized vehicles by reducing wear and tear and maintenance costs on things like ambulances, ladders, and fire engines.
“This is one way to think outside the box to ... be good stewards of the money we have and the resources we have,” Sowers said.
The changeover to the new squad program here in Vandalia takes effect at 7 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
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