Chapel Hill EMS to quicken response

For emergency personnel, every minute counts — and Orange County Emergency Services is working to cut minutes off the time it takes to respond to emergencies.

Last week, the Orange County Board of Commissioners reviewed a study on the emergency services department that outlined steps for reducing response times.

The study presented a 10 year, $15 million solution — including putting more emergency vehicles on streets and hiring more personnel — to help improve response times.

In 2011, Orange County EMS responded within 18 minutes to 90 percent of emergencies.

“In 2001, we set an emergency response goal for 12 minutes 90 percent of the time,” said Kim Woodward, operations manager for Orange County EMS.

“But over the years the systems have grown and EMS resources have not, so response times have lagged.”

The department has a response area of 398 square miles and receives 10,700 calls annually, according to the report.

Woodward said reducing response times is essential.

“In an emergency, minutes matter,” Woodward said. “If a patient is suffering from a catastrophic event, it’s very important to get resources to the patient as quickly as possible.”

Commissioner Earl McKee said the county has already begun to use some of the ideas suggested by the study.

“We have already implemented more ambulances and additional ambulance crews over the past few years,” he said.

But Woodward said additional measures are needed to improve response times.

“We can do this by putting additional units on the road and in more strategic locations,” Woodward said.

County EMS Director Frank Montes de Oca has pushed for shorter response times since becoming director in April 2008.

Montes de Oca will retire in January, the county announced Wednesday.

“Chief Montes de Oca is very driven and goal-oriented and has really helped us grow here and get us in the right direction,” Woodward said.

Even as Montes de Oca phases out of his position, McKee said he is looking forward to reviewing the study and implementing some of the ideas.

“This document can be used as a working guide,” McKee said.

“Nothing about it is set in concrete, and it can be used as a guide going forward of what the possibilities are to improve service.”

He said that a public meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27 to get input from residents on the report.

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.