The Peoria Fire Department could respond to 2400 fewer calls a year. That’s according to a study by Fitch and Associates. Those calls are non-emergency medical calls like assistance in lifting a person who has fallen.
Fitch consultant Bruce Moeller told the city council last night he believes AMT Ambulance can handle many of those low priority calls without firefighter assistance.
"The fire department would not respond to those lower severity calls and because they are not responding to low severity calls - an overall reduction of about 2400 calls a year, 15% - they are available more of the time, more of the time to respond to the critical calls," said Moeller.
Changes would have to occur first in the dispatch center. 911 dispatchers would have to determine the severity of a situation before deciding the type of response.
The fire department went on more than $19-thousand total calls in 2017. Fitch will provide additional information in about three months.
The council took no action on the issue.