VIDEO: Columbus Fire And Rescue Receives New Equipment

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Fighting fires and making rescues are all a part of a Fire Fighter’s job description but another large part is responding to medical calls.

The City of Columbus, which already has an emergency medical response vehicle, just added one more to the fleet.

After seeing the success a dedicated emergency response vehicle could bring, adding a second was a natural choice.

“When a medical emergency comes through, we want to get there as soon as possible to be able to provide the best possible care that we can,”says Columbus Fire Fighter Murphy Buckner.

Columbus Fire And Rescue got Med 1 in March of 2016. Since then, Rodriguez says it has taken quite a load off their fire trucks.

“It alleviates a lot of stress and a lot of pressure on the more expensive rigs, that are on the road especially during normal working hours, while we are training to meet the standards, it’s recommended or required that we maintain so many hours. So, to have 2 guys jump in a truck instead of 4 guys or even more to respond to an emergency, that does help out a lot,” said Columbus Fire And Rescue Engineer Marco Rodriguez.

Alone, Med 1 responds to 500, non-life threatening calls a year. Rodriguez says with such success they are excited to add another vehicle, with the same capabilities, to the team.

“Primarily for basic life support capabilities with in the city limits. Med One is going to be on one side of town Med 2 is going to cover East Columbus stations 4 and 5 area,” said Rodriguez.

With the second medical response vehicle, the department will be able to answer 700 to 800 more medical calls, faster and more efficiently.

“The biggest thing is it will definitely cut our runs in half splitting the calls between two trucks as well as make our response times more efficient,” said Buckner.

The Med 2 vehicle will hit the streets after the department’s next hiring period.