F Fire Response Why is a fire engine sent on ambulance calls?
The Lexington Fire Department has operated the emergency ambulance service since 1941, with all of our staff having some degree of emergency medical training. During a medical emergency minutes in fact second count! The response of the closest fire engine to your emergency brings trained firefighter/EMT’s and paramedics to your home within four minutes or less. Emergency life saving equipment such as oxygen, semi-automatic defibrillator, epinephrine, and other medical equipment are carried on the fire engine for use by these trained firefighters. This is most often occurs in East Lexington, as the ambulance/rescue are stationed at Headquarters and are somewhat delayed due to distance they must travel. Additional staff on a fire engine also provide supervision and in some cases it is necessary to have extra trained personnel to assist in moving stretchers through buildings, particularly when stairways or slippery conditions are encountered. This helps to reduce back injuries to personne
