By Leila Merrill
EMS1
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Mecklenburg EMS Agency has changed its response strategy again.
For high-acuity calls, crews should arrive within 10 minutes and 59 seconds, and ambulances’ lights and sirens will be used, WSOC-TV 9 reported this week.
MEDIC Executive Director John Peterson said that dispatchers will let callers know when to expect to see EMS providers.
For lower acuity calls, lights and sirens will not be used. A response may take longer — even as long as 90 minutes.
The new plan also includes local fire departments. Firefighters will respond to fewer medical calls and will respond to non-emergency calls without lights and sirens.
In October 2021, low-acuity calls were shifted from MEDIC to the Charlotte Fire Department and its EMTs.