Wilmington Fire Department took over emergency medical services for the city earlier this year after the previous provider’s contract ended.
St. Francis Hospital owners Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic addressed EMS needs from 2008 to June of this year before deciding not renewing its contract with the city due to staffing issues.
The Wilmington Fire Department took on emergency services starting April 17, according to Wilmington City Councilmember Yolanda McCoy.
“The EMS team has taken on the challenge of meeting the urgent medical needs of residents throughout the city,” McCoy said. “Despite the intense demands of their existing responsibilities, including fire suppression, rescue and other critical services, there was no lapse in service during this major transition.”
The team has 30 new staff members with its added responsibilities and manages an average of 2 thousand incidents per month.
Councilmember Coby Owens commended the Department for its response times, which he said shrunk since the transition.
“Now that we have an operating EMS service right here in the city of Wilmington, we're able to save lives a lot quicker,” Owens said. “And that's thanks to y'all, and I know y'all are still working everything out, but y'all have done a great job in a very short time period.”
WFD Chief John Looney said his team had support from City Councilmembers, Human Resources, IT Department and the mayor’s office.
“The Chief's office was faced with a challenge, pretty significant challenge…” Looney said. “That's your responsibility to come up with a plan, a model, develop it and implement it… I'm not here to take credit for all this. It's the men and women that are out there.”
WFD saw its largest graduating class in August with 36 new recruits. The Department hired more recruits than usual to account for the new services it was taking on, which includes 9-1-1 emergency ambulance response.
