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County EMS lowers response times

By Staff | Nov 20, 2009

Lee County EMS has surpassed the county ordinance response time goal of 8:59 minutes of 90 percent for its most serious calls with 92.5 percent during the past five months.

This is a huge benefit to the community, said Kim Dickerson, deputy chief of operations for Lee County EMS. The improvement can be directly attributed to new programs, implemented this year, which are designed to utilize resources more efficiently, he said.

One program, SIREN Live directs EMS managers based on historical data as to where to expect the most calls at any given time of day. Another program, Medical Priority Dispatch, enables call takers at the E911 center to better identify the urgency of a call, insuring the most life threatening of calls receive the quickest response.

Traffic and non-life threatening calls have made the response time ordinance difficult to achieve in the past, Dickerson said. Data indicates the trend of decreased response times seems to be continuing throughout September despite the increase in back to school traffic.

“Saving lives is the nature of our business, and we are thrilled to be able to serve the community so well,” said Dickerson. “Utilization of the Six Sigma process will enable us to continue to make proven changes for the better of the community.”