By Riley Bunch
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ATLANTA 鈥� Along Campbellton Road in southwest Atlanta on Thursday, elected officials, fire department staff and curious residents crowded around a new $4 million emergency services 鈥渕icro station.鈥�
The new facility is part of an effort by the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department to reduce 9-1-1 wait times that have been plaguing the city since the pandemic 鈥� especially in areas with less access to health care. Crews in EMS Station 37 will respond to medical emergencies, in hopes of freeing up other stations and vehicles to respond to other types of calls.
Atlanta Fire and Rescue Chief Rod Smith said that EMS Station 37 is a first-of-its-kind in the southeastern region of the country.
鈥淭his is a vital addition to our city鈥檚 emergency services network, especially here in southwest Atlanta,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e all know the need and the need is real. And the people of southwest Atlanta deserve the same opportunity to survive a medical incident as we do anywhere else in the city.鈥�
During to the Atlanta City Council, public safety leaders said that while the city had made progress at reducing its wait times 鈥� the average hold time fell from 29 seconds to 24 seconds last year 鈥� the numbers still aren鈥檛 ideal.
Call volumes increased by 14% to around 1.3 million calls in 2023, according to APD. Of those, the biggest chunk was requests for EMS services.
On Thursday, city officials cited a hole in emergency services left when Wellstar Health System decided to abruptly in 2022, saying that the city was taking on the responsibility of closing those healthcare gaps. Wellstar also closed its last month.
鈥淓veryone knows now what a health care disparity actually looks like,鈥� Council member Marci Collier Overstreet said of the southwest side of Atlanta. 鈥淏ecause for some reason, here in the heart of Atlanta, someone saw it fit to take away an important hospital.鈥�
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