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Chief Scott Purcell reported that while the number of calls to the Lansing Fire Department has remained about the same, the number of calls not responded to has been cut by two thirds this year. He told the Fire Commissioners in their Tuesday meeting that he attributes the drop in "no responses" calls to the use of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) duty vehicle the department used this year. Ironically, the total number of emergency calls this year was 911, the same as the number you dial when you have an emergency.

All the "no responses" were EMS calls, mainly in the Village of Lansing and all on week days during normal work hours. During these times Bangs Ambulance responds. "They don't go because they know Bangs is there," explains Purcell. "By the time they get to the station and get en route they're going to get half way there and get turned around unless it's serious." The Department responded to all night and weekend calls this year.

Of the 911 emergency calls in 2005 Lansing volunteers responded to 394 fire alarms and 494 EMS calls. The remaining 23, all EMS calls, were "no response" calls. This is down from an average of 74 in the previous three years and 93 in 2001.

The EMS duty vehicle is a Chevy Tahoe with EMS equipment needed for rescues. Volunteer Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) sign up to take the vehicle home with them so they can respond immediately when calls come in. "That gets the unit on the road as soon as they get out of bed," says Purcell. "That way they don't have to come to the station and then go to answer the call."

When there is an emergency the call goes out to Lansing volunteers, who are alerted on pagers. They have 12-15 minutes to get to the nearest fire trucks where there is a device that lets them press a button to indicate to the 9-1-1 Center they are responding. Responses are tracked electronically. If there are no responses the next closest mutual aid company is dispatched. "Say if we had a fire alarm at the mall," explains Purcell, "If nobody from Lansing responded after 12 minutes Cayuga Heights would be dispatched."

"With EMS calls Bangs dispatches at the same time as our medical rescue," he continues. "Typically on weekdays Bangs has a rig in the fire station in the Village." That makes it conveniently located if there is an emergency in Ithaca or in Lansing. The upshot is that all the calls are covered, even if Lansing volunteers can not make it.

Considering that the number of volunteers has remained constant at around 50, the fact that more calls are responded to and fewer missed is impressive. While many employers let workers go to answer calls, this is dependent on how busy their businesses are at any given time. Yet all but 23 calls, already covered, were handled by the department.

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