ROANOKE, Va. – A brand-new staffed ambulance made its way to the Roanoke Fire-EMS Sation 14 aiming to enhance emergency medical services in the 460 and Orange Avenue East area of Roanoke.
The city of Roanoke and the Virginia Department of Health helped with the cost of the fully equipped ambulance.
Since 2018, there has been a 45 percent increase in EMS demand and just this past year there has been a 10 percent increase.
“It reduces response time before the ambulance would take over nine minutes to get here, now we are down to under 4 minutes because we don’t have to fight the 460 traffic, we can get places a lot quicker because it departs right on Orange Avenue get out on King Street and get to the areas that are growing and the people that need it,” said Chief of Fire-EMS David Hoback.
Chief Hoback said this this will ensure that emergency services can keep up with the pace of the community’s growth.