County EMS first in nation to enact ’Siren Live’
Lee County’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Dispatch Center are the first in the U.S. to fully enact a medical emergency locator prediction program called Siren Live. This new technology, fully enacted January 4, 2010, predetermines where ambulances may be needed and moves their standby location closer to that area.
“Siren Live already proved itself by cutting response times of several calls in half last Wednesday morning,” said Kim Dickerson, deputy chief of Operations.
“We were already meeting our response time goal of 8:59 minutes or less 90 percent of the time for all life-threatening calls and this has enabled us to move ambulances closer to the calls, reducing response time even more.”
This is the county agency that Lehigh residents pay for in their taxes. A vote of 3-2 a few weeks ago by the Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District board of directors turned down an offer to transfer Lehigh ambulances to the county EMS Center, which would pay for space in Lehigh fire stations and allow the reopening of Station 105 on Bell Blvd. Fire Chief Don Adams had asked the board to allow him to put more than two firefighters on firetrucks and take them off of ambulances and transfer the service to the county which is mandated to cover all of the county anyway.
In one of last week’s prediction-adjusted calls, SIREN Live moved Medic 6 from its station on Bonita Grande Drive to a station on Old U.S. 41, and while enroute received a call from Imperial Harbor allowing on scene arrival in three minutes instead of 8-10. In another call, SIREN Live moved Medic 7 from its station on Pondella Road to another station on Trail Dairy Circle, and while enroute received a call from Horizon Village allowing on scene arrival in three minutes instead of seven, said Dickerson.
Residents and visitors are expected to see immediate rewards of shorter response times, like those examples, while taxpayers are expected to see the long-term rewards of a more efficient EMS system, said Dickerson. The former geographically based system sent ambulances to areas with an ambulance void even during the middle of the night, when historically, there were few or no calls in that area during that time period.
The software works by analyzing up to four recent years of EMS 911 responses for each hour of the 24-hour day. It then evaluates 20 minutes ahead of the specific hour of the specific day and anticipates where the next call may be. The geographical method of ambulance positioning could not be measured for effectiveness, added Dickerson. SIREN Live’s recommended ambulance positioning is measurable for effectiveness.
Representatives of the Optima Corporation, manufacturer of the software, is in Lee County this week to answer any questions and create any changes that may be needed.