By Ken de la Bastide
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON, Ind. — Since the City of Anderson added a fourth ambulance to its fleet, the additional manpower has provided more balance for firefighters’ workload and has lowered response times.
The administration of Anderson Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. made the addition in September and hired additional employees.
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“This new ambulance will allow for faster response time in emergencies and reduce the run load of our exceptional paramedics and EMTs, helping to reduce the stress and fatigue experienced by our ambulance crews who work constantly during a literal 24-hour shift,” Broderick said in a press release.
The four ambulances are located throughout the city, with crews at the department’s headquarters downtown, at 53rd Street, Eighth Street and Scatterfield Road and at a station next to Jackson Park.
Station 7 on Eighth Street was remodeled to house the additional staffing for the ambulance.
When the fourth ambulance was put into service, the number of employees with the Anderson Fire Department increased from 110 to 114.
Cody Leever, president of the Anderson Firefighters Local 1262, said Wednesday that last year, the Anderson Fire Department responded to 16,500 total calls.
He said of that number, 15,000 were emergency medical calls.
The fourth ambulance was put into service on Sept. 11; Leever said it had responded to 1,000 calls by the end of the year.
“The fourth ambulance absolutely reduces the response time,” Leever said. “There are still times we have to request mutual aid, but that number has been reduced.
“We appreciate all the work of the city administration to make this happen,” he added. “It was a long time coming. This allows us to provide better service to the citizens of Anderson, which is our main priority.”
The Anderson Fire Department has responded to several building fires during the current cold weather snap, as well as numerous emergency ambulance runs.
“The fourth ambulance has been a good fit,” Anderson Fire Chief Dave Cravens said. “It keeps our response times down and we’re able to provide advanced life support on all calls.”
The additional ambulance, officials said, has helped lighten the workload across the board.
“For the ambulance crews, you figure, if there’s about 100 runs a day — we’re about half that, but for easy math, 100 runs, you’re at 25 runs a day per ambulance instead of 33,” said Greg Vannatta a captain at Anderson Fire Station 2. “For a while, we had some crews doing 20 runs a day in a 24-hour period. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for anything else.”
Cravens said he estimates the fire department will respond to more than 14,000 calls in 2026.
He said the department has contingency plans in place for responding to fires in the cold.
“We have to keep the guys warm,” Cravens said. “We’re working with the other city departments, like CATS ( City of Anderson Transit System ) to have a bus available to keep the firefighters warm and working in shifts.”
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